A common misconception, especially among people with ADHD, is that motivation “fluctuates.”
Here’s the truth:
Motivation is unchanging. Our energy levels, our capacity to engage, and our connection with our motivation are what fluctuate.
That said, the issue that many people with ADHD run into is not a “lack of motivation.”
In fact, the real challenge we often face is that we can be highly motivated and still unable to take action.
In other words, we have a strong reason why we want to do something — in theory. But in the moment, we might feel disconnected from that motive.
What You Mean When You Say You’re Not Motivated
When you say you’re “lacking motivation,” what you most often mean is:
- You’re exhausted or burned out.
- You’re lacking energy.
- You’re lacking bandwidth.
- You can’t connect with your motivation.
- The reward isn’t relevant or meaningful to you, the reward is too far in the future to make it tangible, or you’re not confident you’ll get the reward.
Or, it could be that your system is in shut down mode, making any action impossible.
Even if we are connected to our motive, other things might be happening that are causing our nervous systems to short circuit, making action feel impossible or deeply unappealing. Sometimes what looks like “resistance” to a given action doesn’t have anything to do with that action at all; it’s about something else that is hijacking the nervous system.
This isn’t a situation calling for better “habits.” It requires addressing the actual cause of the issue.
Solve the Right Problem
When you catch yourself saying that you “aren’t motivated,” pause to check in with what’s really going on.
If you’re exhausted, perhaps you need to rest and recover.
If you’re lacking energy, you might need a starting push: a different context to facilitate action, or a catalyst like a body double. Sometimes just changing location or finding a group of people who are doing something similar can give you the starting energy you need.
If you’re lacking bandwidth or stuck in brain fog, you might need time to recover.
If your nervous system is dysregulated, you need to regulate it first.
For all tasks, but especially the ones you find challenging, it helps to write down your motives — the reasons why you want to do that action or activity. When you disconnect from your motive, you can revisit your notes.
In addition, it helps to have many reasons, so that even if you lose connection with one you can still find a compelling motive.
Disconnection from the reward is one of the most common issues for people with ADHD. Our brains simply struggle to anticipate future rewards of our behaviors. The solution for this issue is to learn to love the process.
Learning to love the process and find gratification in the action itself, rather than relying on a future payoff, is what sustains consistent action over time.
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