#69🏆 From Procrastination to Progress: A Strategy for PMs with ADHD to Conquer Large Tasks
A framework to let go of the fear of being wrong and showing up to do the work.
Welcome to Tech Atypically 👋, your weekly blog for navigating the challenges of ADHD and being in the tech industry.
I am a coach specializing in ADHD and product management, and I help you change one belief and take one action each week.
Part 12 of the Performance and Productivity series.
Before I start the newsletter I just wanted to share that I hit 1000 subscribers this week! Thank you to everyone who has supported the newsletter. Especially those from the Reddit community that caused the big jump you see below. Onward!
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🦋The Takeaways
Belief: I procrastinate and avoid starting or finishing big tasks.
Reality: It’s not about being right or wrong, done or not done; it’s about showing up.
Action: Focus on showing up and being 1% better.
⭐️Introduction
If procrastination was an Olympic sport, how would you do?
If you're like me, you probably wouldn't place because you'd be too afraid to show up or start training. That's a true procrastinator.
Procrastination, also known as task avoidance or impaired task initiation, is one of the toughest things I struggle with. You probably do too if you're reading this newsletter.
In today's issue, I discuss how a belief about ourselves holds us back from taking action, how to change it, and my 1% better strategy to help you stop procrastinating on your next big thing at work.
😵💫The Belief – I am a procrastinator
Sometimes procrastination can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I believe that I am someone who procrastinates things, I'm more likely to procrastinate.
It's like a shitty placebo effect for people with ADHD.
Believing in a self-imposed limitation is a powerful obstacle that may not accurately reflect your challenge.
I’m not saying you can wish away the procrastination. Not at all.
Science and lived experiences say that having ADHD and procrastination are common bedfellows. It's part of the ADHD impairments to executive function, which include task initiation, time blindness, and emotional dysregulation.
In a nutshell, it's hard not to procrastinate if you have to overcome a brain that wants to avoid uninteresting tasks, can't properly estimate how long something will take, and has a default fear that you'll mess up and disappoint others.
While all my previous data points of procrastination might be historically true, having the label that you'll always procrastinate is a belief you don't have to keep living up to.
🤝The Reality – Things are more than wrong or right
Often when I dig under the why of procrastination I find the same feeling: a fear of messing up or being wrong.
Let's look at some examples of things I've worked with people recently to overcome their procrastination:
Creating a set of product bets for the next year
Creating a medium for product updates
Improving their design portfolio or resume
Creating a pitch to start a new company
Creating an annual marketing budget (that's me)
All of these have one thing in common. The person asking had already done the task before but felt amiss about how to get it done this time.
In other words, it was not a matter of skill stopping them from doing the task; it was a matter of emotional regulation. They feared not doing the right thing. (This includes me; I've written marketing budgets before.)
The fear of not knowing what will happen if I start things is what often keeps me from starting or finishing the task. The uncertainty and ambiguity are like a black cloud ready to descend on me as soon as I start, mess up, and ruin it all.
So I don't do it. Because as long as I don't do it, the possibility of something awful can't happen.
Having a default mindset of right or wrong, done or not done, often keeps me from doing the most important thing: showing up.
🛠️The Action – 1% better at a time
Instead of thinking about the outcome of the task, think about how you can keep showing up for it to make yourself 1% better at it. Focus on doing a little better each time, and you'll eventually get to where you need to go.
Avoid the trap of emotional turmoil of fear, expectation, and disappointment by allowing yourself to be more self-aware of the emotions of procrastination.
Here’s a framework I created for my coaching clients you can use. If you’re a product manager, you might see some parallels in designing a product for someone in the framework.
🌟 The 1% Better Framework for Overcoming Procrastination
🔍 Understand the Overwhelming Feeling
What's under the feelings of task avoidance?
Validate and accept your feelings.
Example: I'm avoiding creating a marketing budget because I don't know how much would be reasonable.
📝 Determine Task Requirements
⏰ Time Needed: Determine how much time you'll need. If you're time blind like me, double your estimate as a default.
Example: I blocked off 30 minutes twice this week to work on my budget.
🌳 Ideal Environment to Focus: What's your ideal place and state to focus? How do you minimize interruptions?
Example: During my time blocks, I put my phone into airplane mode and closed all windows with emails and Slack.
📅 Deadlines & Check-ins: Break things up to give yourself breaks and milestones. Create ways to easily move around your schedule if needed while still keeping to target.
Example: I am setting a goal for next Tuesday to have my marketing budget done, but I know that I might have to move the date because I might have to do marketing emails. If that happens, I can push another week.
🎯 Procrastination Actions & Motivators: Schedule guilt-free breaks for enjoyable activities. Use "hooks" to pull you out of unproductive activities.
Example: I allow myself the option of 15 minutes of Unicorn Overload in the afternoon. I set a time and go for a short walk after 15 minutes to make sure I don’t keep playing.
🚀 Establish Processes & Execute
📋 Create a Clear, Accessible System: Use task lists, calendars, or visual reminders that provide constant reminders of what you want to be working on.
Example: I have a notepad next to my keyboard with my main tasks.
🛠️ Choose Execution Tools: Select apps or methods that work best for you (calendar, pen & paper, task apps). Keep it simple.
Example: I block off my calendar for the day or week based on my task list on my physical notepad.
✨Conclusion
Procrastination isn't a reflection of you having a broken mind. It's a reflection that you need to approach tasks differently.
The longer you believe procrastination is who you are, the more you'll ignore the other things your emotions and mind are saying.
My framework's goal isn't "fixing" you. Its goal is to help you access the person inside who knows what you need to do, even though you've learned to bury them to survive in a non-neuro-inclusive world.
Also, thank you. You helped me get 1% better at procrastination and completing my marketing budget.
🐼Work with a PM with ADHD to create your productivity strategy
⏭️Next Week
Understanding the Impact of Learning Disabilities on Product Managers with ADHD (Dyslexia)