Why Your ADHD Obsession With Efficiency Is Keeping You Stuck
If you've ever spent an entire day "being productive" and walked away from it feeling like you got nothing really done, this one's for you.
Your obsession with efficiency isn't a character flaw, but a symptom. When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, the brain gets locked into a very specific kind of thinking: everything has to be done at maximum output, all at once, or it barely counts. Jenna calls it the efficiency trap, and the reason it's so hard to spot is that the dysregulated brain files "efficiency" under reasonable. ADHD perfectionism running the show through the back door doesn't look like perfectionism. It looks like logic.
Jenna also gets into what happens with transitions, because a lot of all-or-nothing thinking shows up as "I can't switch between tasks, so I have to batch everything." And that belief, which comes directly from ADHD messaging about how ADHD brains work, can actually deepen dysregulation rather than work around it. The regulated version of you doesn't need to run errands all afternoon. She just goes to the post office before her appointment, comes home, folds one load of laundry, writes two emails, and calls that a normal Tuesday.
What the episode covers:
Why ADHDers' obsession with efficiency is rooted in survival mode and all-or-nothing thinking, not in poor time management
How ADHD burnout cycles get reinforced when every action has to compensate for the last period of inaction
What ADHD nervous system regulation changes about how you approach tasks day to day
Why ADHD transitions feel harder than they are, and how dysregulation is doing most of that work
The difference between regulated and dysregulated approaches to the same to-do list
How ADHD time blindness plays into the efficiency trap and one concrete thing Jenna does about it
The shift Jenna is pointing at isn't "be less efficient." It's: can you do this sustainably? Not today, not in one big push, but for the next month, the next year, the next decade? Because the ADHD burnout cycle doesn't care how efficient your plan was. It only cares whether you crashed.
One errand done beats five errands planned, and none of them touched.
"If you are living in a more regulated state, that typically means focusing more on sustainability than efficiency."
Grab Jenna's free The ADHD Regulation Guide to start building the regulation practice that makes the efficiency trap stop working on you.
Join the waitlist for Jenna's ADHD Regulation Method certification if you're a clinician working with ADHD clients.
And Jenna's book, The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation, is available wherever books are sold, and worth checking your local library for.
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More about ADHD with Jenna Free
ADHD with Jenna Free is a podcast for adults with ADHD who are done surviving their symptoms and ready to start thriving with ADHD without the endless tips, hacks, and workarounds that have never really fixed anything.
Hosted by Jenna Free, a Canadian Certified Counselor (CCC) and ADHD therapist, this show exists to give you a completely different way of understanding ADHD in adults and the signs of ADHD in women. Because the reason you're stuck, overwhelmed, and exhausted isn't a lack of willpower, it's that your brain is running in fight or flight. And once you understand that, everything changes.
This podcast covers the full experience of living with adult ADHD: the real science behind procrastination in ADHD and ADHD task paralysis, ADHD executive functioning strategies that work, why ADHD and perimenopause collide in ways no one talks about, and the honest, solution-focused conversations that most ADHD podcasts aren't having. Jenna also shares her own story, what it looks like to go from chronically dysregulated to genuinely thriving, so you can see that this is possible for you.
This show gives women with ADHD, and anyone who has ever wondered whether ADHD can be diagnosed in adulthood, a path forward that isn't about coping harder, but healing.
I’ll answer questions like:
Do I have ADHD?
What is ADHD task paralysis, and how do I get unstuck?
Why is my ADHD getting worse in my 40s?
What does ADHD and perimenopause do to your brain?
How do I manage ADHD emotional dysregulation without medication alone?
Why do I procrastinate so much with ADHD?
Why don't ADHD tips and tricks ever work long-term?
What does it look like to thrive with ADHD
Can you heal ADHD symptoms without just white-knuckling through life?
What does nervous system regulation have to do with ADHD?
How do I stop feeling overwhelmed with ADHD?
If you're an adult with ADHD who's tired of the commiseration and ready for a show that believes your life can look completely different, you're in the right place.
The unedited transcript for this episode of ADHD with Jenna
The Trap of Efficiency and ADHD
Jenna Free [00:00:54 - 00:01:57]: [00:00:54] So I really want you to think about when you try to make things efficient, is that wasting any energy? [00:01:04] At first we might think, well, no, it's not because I'm trying to get things done where I'm not wasting energy. [00:01:11] But the trap comes in when one, if we don't do things as efficiently as possible, we can become quite dysregulated about it. [00:01:22] We feel guilt, we feel shame, we feel frustration. [00:01:25] And that can put us into overwhelm and into paralysis. [00:01:28] So, I mean, that's not efficient, right? [00:01:31] So if we feel bad that we're not being efficient, that makes us even less efficient. [00:01:35] Then that obsession with efficiency is hurting us. [00:01:39] The other trap and the thing that can happen and the thing that's most likely happening, which is why efficiency is not a great focus for an ADHD or in survival mode, is what does it take to make something efficient? [00:01:53] Usually planning, thinking. [00:01:56] Right.
Perfectionism and Planning Pitfalls
Jenna Free [00:01:57 - 00:02:36]: [00:01:57] Mental effort. [00:01:58] And when we're in survival mode, we tend to have a lot of perfectionist tendencies. [00:02:04] We're protecting ourselves through perfectionism. [00:02:09] So, yes, having a quick thought of, oh great, I'm going to also grab that thing while I'm at the store. [00:02:16] That's fine. [00:02:17] It is when we start becoming perfectionists about efficiency, where it is the problem. [00:02:24] So you might spend an hour planning how to make this project as efficient as possible. [00:02:30] When had you just started and took action inefficient or efficient, it would have been done in 45 minutes.
Overthinking Halts Action
Jenna Free [00:02:36 - 00:03:11]: [00:02:36] Is that efficient? [00:02:38] No, no. [00:02:39] And we probably see that a lot, right? [00:02:41] You might even have the awareness once in a while of, oh my God, I was stuck there thinking, okay, I have all these chores to do. [00:02:48] What's the most efficient way I could do it? [00:02:49] And because we were trying to figure out the most efficient way, I wasn't taking action. [00:02:53] Now it's been two hours and I haven't done anything. [00:02:56] Right. [00:02:56] That is not efficient. [00:02:57] This is the really tricky part of being in survival mode is logic kind of goes down the ladder of prioritization. [00:03:05] When we're in survival mode, we're gonna do the thing that makes us feel the safest, not the thing that's most logical.
The Safety of Inaction and Regulated Action
Jenna Free [00:03:12 - 00:04:05]: [00:03:12] So the thing that makes us feel the safest is sitting there in inaction, trying to plan so that when we take action, it's perfect because it's unsafe to do things imperfectly. [00:03:24] Whereas when we're more regulated, if you are, you know, doing your work, doing your nervous system regulation, your thought and belief regulation, your behavior regulation, this is what we do in the ADHD reset. [00:03:35] If you're working on that stuff, your system is in a place of, okay, I'm safe to just start working on this and I'm gonna just start walking down the path towards accomplishing this thing. [00:03:48] And it'll get done when it gets done. [00:03:50] And it's okay if I have to pivot, it's okay if I make adjustments, it's even okay if I have to go, you know, to the same area of the city twice this week. [00:03:57] It's not that big a deal. [00:03:58] Let's just get a move on. [00:04:00] In a regulated, non rushed way that is helping.
How Perfectionistic Efficiency Backfires
Jenna Free [00:04:05 - 00:04:28]: [00:04:05] More regulated, maybe you do things less efficiently. [00:04:09] As in, okay, I have five errands to do. [00:04:13] Well, they're kind of in the same quadrant of the city, so I should do them all at once. [00:04:19] Well, I don't have time today to do all five, so I'll do none. [00:04:22] And then the next day, well, I can't do all five, so I'll do none. [00:04:24] Oh, I can't do all five, so I'll do none. [00:04:26] Two weeks later, you've done nothing. [00:04:28] Right.
The Reality vs. Idea of Efficiency
Jenna Free [00:04:28 - 00:05:22]: [00:04:28] Is that efficient? [00:04:29] No, the idea of that, the ideal, the perfection, the thought of that is efficient, but in reality it's inefficient. [00:04:39] Right? [00:04:40] Nothing's happened now. [00:04:41] Whereas when we're more regulated and we are not so preoccupied with efficiency, maybe it's not the most efficient way to go. [00:04:50] Okay, I have time to do one errand before I have to go to that appointment, so I'll go and do that one. [00:04:58] Is that efficient? [00:04:59] Well, I still have four more to do and they're kind of in the same area, so I'm going to go drive back over there. [00:05:04] Okay, but now you only have four to do, right? [00:05:07] And then maybe another day you have time for two. [00:05:09] Now you only have two to do, right? [00:05:12] 1, 0, you eventually get them done. [00:05:15] Is that more efficient than sitting there with the idea of efficiency going, well, I can't do any until I can do them all.
Perfectionism, High Standards, and Action
Jenna Free [00:05:22 - 00:06:29]: [00:05:22] I can't do any until I can do them all. [00:05:25] That is the things we want to start looking out for, especially when it comes to efficiency. [00:05:29] We want to see what is the idea of efficiency here and what is the reality of efficiency. [00:05:37] Because how many times can I say efficiency? [00:05:40] Because the idea is going to seem like it makes sense, right? [00:05:44] That dysregulated brain is going to go, yes, that's logical, let's stick with it. [00:05:48] But I really want you to take a step back and go, but what's truly happening? [00:05:53] This is very similar to someone in one of my groups. [00:05:55] We were talking about perfectionism. [00:05:58] And they said, but when I hold that idea of perfectionism, then I perform at a higher level. [00:06:03] I said, do you? [00:06:06] How's that going for you? [00:06:08] And if we actually reflect and go, how is that working out when it comes to me taking action and actually achieving in the real world, not in our heads and not the idea of high standards or the idea of it being perfect, but actual execution, is it? [00:06:25] And she almost instantly was like, oh, no, right? [00:06:28] That's a false belief.
The Cycle of All-or-Nothing and Frantic Energy
Jenna Free [00:06:30 - 00:07:27]: [00:06:30] That is soothing my dysregulated mind. [00:06:32] It feels safe to try to make it perfect. [00:06:35] And that's why we're doing all of that, right? [00:06:37] Even though it doesn't make sense in execution. [00:06:40] So why do we have this obsession when we are in survival mode, we have a real focus on efficiency because of the cycle we are stuck in. [00:06:50] So when we are in survival mode, we're stuck in this all or nothing, frantic crash, start, stop, cycle. [00:06:58] Okay, I'm going to go really hard, but then I crash. [00:07:01] Now I've done nothing for two days. [00:07:02] Now I'm going to go really hard again.[00:07:04] Crash. [00:07:04] Can do nothing for two days. [00:07:06] Or paralysis, right? [00:07:07] I'm going, go, go, go, going. [00:07:08] Or paralysis. [00:07:09] I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. [00:07:10] And then I become so overwhelmed that I get stuck in paralysis, which is also part of Fight or flight. [00:07:18] And I'm now I'm frozen for two days. [00:07:20] Once I get moving again, there is a lot of pressure on that action to be efficient, right? [00:07:25] Because I've done shit all for two days.
The Pressure to Make Up for Lost Time
Jenna Free [00:07:27 - 00:07:56]: [00:07:27] That next step I take better be damn good to make up for it. [00:07:31] So there is a lot of pressure on that moment. [00:07:33] It does feel like you have to get all five errands done in one go because you've been doing nothing for two days. [00:07:39] So you gotta make up for lost Time, right? [00:07:41] The beliefs and the thoughts and the habits, they all intertwine and kind of domino effect off of each other. [00:07:48] And then it's a cycle, right? [00:07:50] So then you go, okay, it has to be efficient. [00:07:52] I have to go hard. [00:07:53] I have to get tons done to make up for lost time. [00:07:55] So then you do that.
Overwork, Crash, and the Value of Sustainability
Jenna Free [00:07:56 - 00:09:22]: [00:07:56] If you can something, sometimes it just creates more overwhelm. [00:07:59] So we still don't take action, but it's mentally still exhausting. [00:08:04] But say you do, say you do get going, okay, I'm going to do all the errands, I'm going to go, go, go, go, go. [00:08:08] Today, oh, well, now I've crashed again, where I'm frozen again, I'm in paralysis again. [00:08:13] And now I have to do nothing again for two days. [00:08:15] And then back at it we go, right? [00:08:17] This has to be efficient. [00:08:18] I have to perform well now, right? [00:08:20] Got to prove that, you know, I haven't wasted time or I got to catch up. [00:08:25] If you are living in a more regulated state, and that typically means focusing more on sustainability than efficiency, there's way less of a focus on efficiency because you don't really need it.[00:08:40] There's not so much pressure on each step you take. [00:08:44] So if you've been consistently moving along for two weeks, the next thing you do, it doesn't feel that important, right? [00:08:53] Or that heavy, you know, in a negative way. [00:08:56] Like, it feels so big, feels so important, feels so heavy. [00:08:58] Oh, my God. [00:08:59] Whatever I do do has to be huge and impactful and make up for lost time. [00:09:02] You don't have that because you've been bopping along sustainably for a good amount of time. [00:09:09] For me, honestly, two years. [00:09:13] If you've been walking like that for two years, then the next thing I do is, no, no big deal, right? [00:09:19] So I can just do that one errand and be like, yay, that errand's done.
Long-Term Perspective and the Importance of Rest
Jenna Free [00:09:22 - 00:11:40]: [00:09:22] Carrying on la, going about my day, and then maybe the next day you do another errand, and then maybe the rest of the week you don't have time, but the next week you get back to it and do a couple more, right? [00:09:34] You're living in this more sustainable flow because life is ongoing and so you can sustain that. [00:09:43] Efficiency is more about going hard, doing it all, doing it as fast as possible. [00:09:48] But we got to see what's that creating. [00:09:50] What problems is that creating? [00:09:52] Because it's creating a lot of problems, because it's rooted in dysregulation, it's rooted in being in survival mode. [00:09:58] So I want you to kind of sit and zoom out of your own experience. [00:10:02] Because when we are dysregulated, we're very zoomed in. [00:10:06] All we can kind of see is, oh, my God, I haven't done anything for the past two days. [00:10:09] This afternoon has to be hugely impactful so I can catch up, right? [00:10:12] That's what we're seeing.[00:10:13] This little snip at a time, very small. [00:10:16] We're not seeing, oh, life is bloody long and I've got to keep going for years. [00:10:23] Can I do it in this way? [00:10:25] And if it's a no, then we want to do it in a new way, because life is long, hopefully, knock on wood. [00:10:31] And so we want to be able to show up every day and do a little bit more now. [00:10:36] Do a bit more. [00:10:37] And part of that is rest. [00:10:38] Part of that's enjoyment. [00:10:39] Part of that's going on holiday.
[00:10:40] Part of that's having a coffee break. [00:10:42] Part of that's going out with your friend for dinner instead of doing the errands you decided to do. [00:10:46] Right? [00:10:47] It's not all about being this energizer buddy that's just, you know, good and always does the responsible thing and is always, you know, chore, chore, chore, errand, errand, errand, work, work, work. [00:10:58] That's no life, right? [00:10:59] We don't want that life. [00:11:00] But every day we're moving forward sustainably. [00:11:05] So if you are working on regulation, which I really hope you are starting to absorb, like, whoa, this is the move, the regulation is what I want to work on to thrive with adhd. [00:11:18] One of those shifts you're going to want to make mentally is observing kind of this little swap for efficiency, for sustainability. [00:11:26] So that kind of like going hard and getting it all done in one go versus, can I show up in this way in an ongoing basis, like, for work? [00:11:36] You want to think, okay, well, can I work like this for the next 30 years? [00:11:39] And I know some.
[00:11:40] For some people, it's like, oh, my God, no know. [00:11:42] And I totally got that, that I was a teacher, school teacher for a year and a half. [00:11:45] I taught grade two, I taught grade six. [00:11:47] I had a few different little contract positions. [00:11:49] And I was like, nope, I cannot do this for another 30 years. [00:11:53] I'm out. [00:11:54] But I was very dysregulated. [00:11:56] Had I been more regulated and had it been the right fit for me, I don't think it was. [00:12:00] I could have done that. [00:12:02] Right? [00:12:02] But I was very dysregulated, and I don't truly think it was the right fit for me. [00:12:06] I think this work is the right fit for me. [00:12:07] So it doesn't mean, you know, if you're in a job and struggling is only dysregulation, it might not be the right fit for you. [00:12:12] But we want to get regulated first, get you out of survival mode, get you out of this like stop, start, cycle and get you into more a sustainable way of living. [00:12:21] And then you may still discover this is not for me. [00:12:23] That's fine, right? [00:12:25] I hope you find whatever is like your thing. [00:12:27] But if you are in a focus of efficiency, if you are in the start, stop, cycle and in survival mode, nothing's gonna feel right, nothing's gonna feel good.
Sustainability vs. Efficiency
Jenna Free [00:12:39 - 00:13:21]: [00:12:39] Wherever you go, there you are. [00:12:40] So if you're in survival mode at your dream job, you're still in survival mode. [00:12:43] A little bit of a digression, but hopefully you're seeing what I'm saying. [00:12:46] So when we let go of obsession and replace it with sustainability, what's going to be happening? [00:12:51] So first and foremost we're gonna focus more on doing things slowly but surely. [00:12:59] This is going to take practice because you probably haven't ever prioritize that like, okay, going to do it relaxed, but I want to see. [00:13:07] Okay, could I keep going though? [00:13:08] At this rate, one little bit of a time and your brain's absolutely going to be like, this is uncomfortable, you're moving too slow, you're not getting enough done. [00:13:16] And it will kick you back into that all or nothing frantic crash cycle. [00:13:20] That's normal.
The Challenge of Changing Patterns
Jenna Free [00:13:21 - 00:14:31]: [00:13:21] You know, the part of you that is in survival mode, that thinks you're in danger isn't going to go quietly, it's going to be kicking and screaming. [00:13:28] It wants you to be in dysregulation so you don't die, right? [00:13:32] But it's not working, it's not helping, it's only hurting us. [00:13:35] So just know this is gonna, this is a bit of a grappling with this work. [00:13:40] So secondly, when we drop trying to make things efficient all the time, you will naturally do things more sustainably. [00:13:46] So even if it's just a focus on, I'm gonna really look at where things are tripping me up because I'm trying to do it efficiently, not make that a nice word, that, that's always good because sometimes it's, it's really hurtful, you know, to our progress, to our way of being, to our productivity, all that stuff. [00:14:07] Okay, so what might this look like? [00:14:11] Say my errands for example. [00:14:12] I kind of already alluded to it, but if you have five errands to do and in your Mind, you have got this rigid, all or nothing thinking of, I have to do things efficiently, and if I'm not going to do it efficiently, I'm going to wait till I can do it efficiently, therefore not do anything. [00:14:26] Okay, so say you're sitting there and you do have an hour and a bit, and then you have an appointment later.
Real Life Example: Errand Paralysis
Jenna Free [00:14:32 - 00:15:12]: [00:14:32] Okay, well, I have five errands to do. [00:14:34] Well, I can't do all of them, so I guess I won't do anything. [00:14:36] You sit there and you scroll or you're in waiting mode for your appointment, you do nothing, and then you get up, you go to your appointment, and then the day is done. [00:14:45] You don't have time anymore. [00:14:46] Okay, well, now the next day, okay, it comes along. [00:14:49] Oh, I should really do those errands. [00:14:51] Oh, well, it's already noon. [00:14:52] I don't really have time.
Paralysis, Scrolling, and Missing Out
Jenna Free [00:14:53 - 00:15:42]: [00:14:53] Right. [00:14:53] And then you go, why the heck do I have these errands and I never get to them? [00:14:58] I always pushing everything off, but then I'm doing nothing. [00:15:01] It's not like you're busy having the time of your life while not doing the errands. [00:15:05] That would be different if you consciously choose. [00:15:08] No, I'm not doing errands today. [00:15:09] I'm going out with my friend. [00:15:09] We're going on this big adventure and have a great day. [00:15:11] Awesome.
Sustainability in Practice
Jenna Free [00:15:12 - 00:16:09]: [00:15:12] I wish that for you we deserve to have a good, fun life. [00:15:14] But I know that's not what's happening, right? [00:15:16] Typically it's like I'm going to just stay here in paralysis, or I'm going to sit here and scroll and do nothing and just wait. [00:15:22] Instead, we would go, oh, I have an hour and a bit before my appointment. [00:15:26] And you might look at Google Maps to see what's possible. [00:15:29] You know, time blindness is very real. [00:15:31] I use Google Maps to, like, go to the store I always go to just to, like, contemplate, like, how long is that going to take? [00:15:36] And understand it. [00:15:38] But say you do Google Maps and you do your errand and then you do your appointment. [00:15:41] You go, oh, I totally have lots of time.
Devaluing Small Actions Keeps Us Stuck
Jenna Free [00:16:09 - 00:17:21]: [00:16:09] Now you only have four to do. [00:16:10] If we sustain that efficiency mindset, you would be at zero and you'd be feeling bad. [00:16:17] You'd be more dysregulated because you're like, why did I just sit there for an hour and a half before my appointment? [00:16:21] I wasted time. [00:16:22] There was so much I could have been doing. [00:16:23] Instead, I was scrolling. [00:16:25] Right, now we're more dysregulated and overwhelmed. [00:16:29] Devaluing small actions is a big part of being in survival mode, right? [00:16:35] Who cares? [00:16:35] It's just, you know, a 15 minute walk. [00:16:38] Who cares? [00:16:38] It's just one errand out of five.[00:16:40] Who cares? [00:16:40] It's just 1 load out of 10 loads of laundry. [00:16:42] Why bother? [00:16:44] Right? [00:16:44] That's not efficient. [00:16:45] I should do it all today. [00:16:49] It's keeping us stuck. [00:16:50] There is also a belief that could be also part of this efficiency obsession that, you know, we are bad at transitions inherently and permanently, and therefore we should do all of the one type of task at once. [00:17:07] But where does that leave us? [00:17:08] Okay, I'm bad at transition. [00:17:10] So instead of going, doing one errand, working, and then going to my daughter's dance rehearsal and then doing another errand later, I should do all my errands at the same time. [00:17:21] Okay.
Transition Difficulties: Rooted in Dysregulation
Jenna Free [00:17:21 - 00:18:41]: [00:17:21] But I don't have time to do them all at the same time. [00:17:23] Okay, I won't do them at all. [00:17:24] Right. [00:17:25] It's like sometimes the beliefs we have, which we're told to us from, you know, the ADHD messaging out there, and probably from your own experience, is that I'm bad at transitioning to. [00:17:39] So when I lock in, I'm really locked in. [00:17:42] So if I have five errands to do, I need to be on, like, errand duty all afternoon. [00:17:48] But how much of that is because we're in dysregulation? [00:17:52] It's so tricky because it's like this big ball of necklaces we're trying to untangle. [00:17:58] And you go, well, this one's linked to this one, but this one's linked to that one and that one's wrapped around this one.[00:18:02] And it gets a bit, like, confusing because even in this conversation before I started talking about transitions, that might have been an objection. [00:18:12] But I. [00:18:12] I'm bad at transition, so I have to do all my errands at once. [00:18:15] I can't go do an errand and then sit down at my computer and then eat lunch and then go pick up my daughter. [00:18:20] You can, if you are regulated, you can do all those Things when you are dysregulated, it is harder because there is this stop, start intensity to our system. [00:18:32] It's like, well, I got to build myself up for an hour to go do those errands. [00:18:36] So I don't want to waste that intensity on one errand. [00:18:39] But it doesn't have to be that way when you're regulated.
The Reality of the Task and Transitions
Jenna Free [00:18:41 - 00:20:14]: [00:18:41] When I'm regulated, I just decide I'm going to go do an errand and I walk to the car and I sit in the car, maybe I might return with me. [00:18:49] And I put the music on and I drive to Staples. [00:18:52] That's where I take my returns. [00:18:54] I give it to the lady, I drive home, I drive back. [00:18:57] Okay. [00:18:57] Then I maybe walk to the sink, get a glass of water. [00:18:59] Then I go to my office, sit down, write an email. [00:19:03] Right.[00:19:03] If you really think about the reality of those tasks, what is the transition we have a hard part with. [00:19:10] Right. [00:19:11] As Byron Katie says, which some of her work is radical. [00:19:14] I'm not saying I aligned with every single thing she's ever said, but I do like a lot of her approach, which is you're only ever sitting, standing, or laying down. [00:19:22] Right? [00:19:22] Right. [00:19:22] Everything else is judgment, is thoughts, is opinion, is perception, and it's all in here. [00:19:29] Right. [00:19:29] The reality of the task is really something to think about when you're thinking about having a hard time transitioning.
[00:19:35] Would love you to see that this week. [00:19:37] Just observe the reality, meaning, not the overwhelm about the task, not your thoughts about the task, not your judgment about the task, not your anxiety about the task, not your thinking about what you need to do next and trying to get this task over with. [00:19:51] But the true physicality of the task. [00:19:54] An email is like, click, click, tap, tap, right? [00:19:58] Oh, I'm sitting, moving my hands. [00:20:02] Okay. [00:20:02] What's the reality of an errand? [00:20:04] Walking to the car, opening the door, sitting down, closing the door. [00:20:09] Okay, I'm just sitting again. [00:20:12] But my hands are on the steering wheel instead of a keyboard.
Transitions and Sustainable Variety
Jenna Free [00:20:14 - 00:22:06]: [00:20:14] Right. [00:20:15] What is the transition there? [00:20:17] What is the hard thing? [00:20:19] It is our thinking about it. [00:20:20] It is our dysregulation about it. [00:20:22] It is all the mental processes and the nervous system stuff that makes it overwhelming and big.[00:20:30] When we quiet that down, we can be in the reality more. [00:20:35] And you will find transitions are not that big of a deal. [00:20:39] Nothing's perfect. [00:20:40] Nobody's perfect. [00:20:42] But you may find you actually do better when you're quote unquote, transitioning more often. [00:20:50] I definitely find that, for me, if you think of it this way, like, okay, if you work from home, okay, I'm going to sit here at my computer and type for six hours straight. [00:21:00] I'm not going to do anything else because that requires transitions. [00:21:04] To me, that's very draining. [00:21:05] That's very exhausting. [00:21:07] It's very intense and it's very all or nothing, right? [00:21:10] It's going to get you in that start, stop cycle because then once you're done, yeah, I'm going to be depleted after that too, and then feel like doing nothing. [00:21:18] But when I'm more regulated, actually variety in my day really feels nice. [00:21:22] And as someone who works from home, I have that ability and work for myself especially.
[00:21:26] I know not everybody has that freedom, but being able to, you know, write a few emails, then throw a load of laundry in, then get a glass of water, then, you know, go plan my next podcast episode, then go to my emails again. [00:21:41] Right. [00:21:42] The variety allows my brain to work in different areas and I find it much less exhausting. [00:21:48] For instance, even going to do like a quote unquote chore in the house, a go fold laundry. [00:21:53] To me, that's a break mentally. [00:21:55] So it like keeps me in that sustainable energy. [00:21:57] Right? [00:21:57] A little bit of mental work, a little bit of physical work, a little bit of mental work, a little bit of physical work. [00:22:02] For me, that really helps me keep that sustainability alive.
Is Efficiency Actually Helping You?
Jenna Free [00:22:06 - 00:23:19]: [00:22:06] So for you, I've really gone on a tangent here, but I do think that's important. [00:22:10] If transitions is what's making you feel stuck, like you have to do things efficiently and your version of efficiency means doing all the computer work in one sitting, do all the physical chores in one go, is that actually working for you or is that very exhausting? [00:22:25] Right. [00:22:25] Because running around physically all day for me is also tiring. [00:22:29] Then I like to have a little mental break where my body gets to rest and my brain's working. [00:22:34] So sometimes when we work on regulation, it's going to flip around the beliefs you had about yourself and about ADHD on its head. [00:22:42] Typically, balance in the middle ground is where we're going to thrive the most. [00:22:46] But right now, that belief of it needs to be efficient, I can't do. [00:22:50] Transitions may be keeping you stuck in that area.[00:22:52] So this mental shift from efficiency to sustainability will support your efforts to get regulated. [00:23:00] Right? [00:23:00] So the more regulated you are, the more you're going to focus on sustainability anyways. [00:23:05] But. [00:23:05] But the more you consciously observe. [00:23:08] Ah, I see the efficiency trap here. [00:23:11] I'm getting stuck and trying to do it all at once and trying to do it quote unquote efficiently. [00:23:14] Ooh, I see what's happening. [00:23:16] And then making that shift to like, okay, one little thing at a time.
Slow and Steady: Shifting from Rushing to Progress
Jenna Free [00:23:20 - 00:24:19]: [00:23:20] Let's keep it sustainable, slow and steady. [00:23:22] That's also going to help you get more regulated. [00:23:24] So they're really going to help each other. [00:23:26] So, just as a little note, as we wrap up, I do want to really have you focusing on this idea that efficiency is kind of rushing. [00:23:36] There's definitely nuance in this topic. [00:23:38] I'm not saying any sort of effort to be efficient is bad. [00:23:41] Obviously not. [00:23:42] But we want to see where is it coming into execution and where is it staying an idea.[00:23:47] Our obsession with the idea of efficiency is probably keeping you stuck. [00:23:52] And when we're stuck in that idea of efficiency, there's typically a rush underneath it. [00:23:56] Right. [00:23:56] I just got to rush to get these errands over with. [00:23:58] So we do them all at once and they're over. [00:23:59] They're off my plate, and I don't have to think about them anymore. [00:24:03] This inability to be with things undone or wanting to rush, get things off your plates, you can move on to the next thing quickly. [00:24:10] We know that rushing is a huge, huge part of dysregulation, whether it be, you know, internal, like an impatience, mental rushing, or physically rushing around.