Getting started is half the task.
For people with ADHD, getting started is often the heaviest lift of any task.
We’re often exhausted before we even start.
What exhausts us is largely under the surface.
Illuminating the source of fatigue can help you solve the problem in advance and engage in the main tasks with more energy.
Here are 3 sources of fatigue that deplete your energy for a task:
(1) Decision Fatigue
Decisions deplete cognitive bandwidth and drain energy, attention, and focus.
We often underestimate the number of micro decisions we need to make every day.
Even the most banal decisions — like what to wear, what to eat, when to eat, or what to work on first — add up.
A common ADHD experience is that we can’t decide what to eat — even when we’re hungry — and then we just feel too exhausted to eat anything at all.
When it comes to a task, you might spin wheels deciding where to start.
The principle called the Paradox of Choice tells us that the more options we have, the harder it is to make decisions. Decision fatigue can create a paralysis where we don’t do anything.
Read: 3 Powers of Routines for People With ADHD
(2) Planning Fatigue
If you’ve ever planned your work for the day only to find yourself depleted when you turned to implementation, you know the travails of Planning Fatigue.
When I plan my own workouts, sometimes I can get so exhausted from creating the program that I lose all motivation to do it.
On the surface, Planning Fatigue can seem like Decision Fatigue. This makes sense because planning naturally involves a lot of decisions.
But planning is about more than decisions.
One key distinction is that planning is about the future — even if that future is only an hour away.
People with ADHD often rely on being in a certain emotional state to spark action in any given moment. Planning requires us to project our future state being — to anticipate of our energy, emotions, and capacity for a moment that is not this moment.
Deciding what to eat in the moment when you’re hungry can trigger decision fatigue.
Planning your meals for the coming week requires you to feel into what you’ll be in the mood for, or how hungry you’ll be.
It’s hard to plan ahead when you rely on feeling a certain way to take action, because you don’t know how you’ll feel, or what your capacity will be.
(3) Set-Up Fatigue
Some projects or tasks require a particular set-up.
If you’re cooking dinner, you need to prep your ingredients.
If you’re doing an art project you must gather your art supplies.
If you’re doing a workout, you need to load the barbell or get your sneakers or set up other equipment.
Works tasks may require you to use different apps or websites.
Setting up might not be physically hard or take a lot of time, but it takes energy that can deplete from the main task.
The First Solution is Awareness
The first step to solving any problem is to be aware of what you’re trying to solve.
I’ll address specific solutions for each type of fatigue in a separate essay.
In the meantime, you can take the first step by noticing which type of fatigue is causing you to be exhausted before you even get started.
Read: The Procrastination Matrix Will Help You Finally Get Things Done
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