1. Find the barrier to actually doing the task
You know when you really need to do a simple, easy task, but for some reason, your brain just can't get behind it? There is often a barrier to actually completing the task. Does the program take too long to load into your computer? Or are there other items in the way of the laundry that you need to fold?
Neurodivergent brains often struggle with something called pathological demand avoidance. Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a specific syndrome within the pervasive developmental disorders family characterized by a sustained avoidance of ordinary daily demands (Newson et al., 2003). Individuals with PDA often feel placed under intolerable pressure by normal expectations and will devote significant energy to actively resisting them (Newson et al., 2003). Because traditional behavioral approaches using praise, rewards, or punishments are typically ineffective for this population, it is crucial to understand the exact nature of their resistance (Newson et al., 2003).
For neurodivergent individuals who experience profound demand avoidance or task paralysis, identifying the specific barrier to initiating an activity is a critical step toward accomplishing it (Annavarapu, 2024). Tasks are not frequently avoided out of defiance, but because the perceived activity is viewed as overwhelmingly anxiety-inducing or monotonous (Eagle et al., 2023). Sometimes, the simple task of identifying the barrier to doing the thing that you need to do is enough to help your brain understand why it doesn't want to do something.
2. Body doubling
Doing activities with friends always makes them more fun! So does the mutual accountability of body doubling. Body doubling is often described as a productivity strategy where an individual works on a potentially frustrating or monotonous task in the presence of another person to maintain focus and motivation (Annavarapu, 2024; Eagle et al., 2023).
Although it has recently gained widespread popularity within neurodivergent communities through social media platforms, the term was originally coined in 1996 by Linda Anderson to describe an organizational tool for clients with ADHD (Annavarapu, 2024; Eagle et al., 2023). Unlike traditional co-working or collaborative group work, body doubling requires little to no direct interaction among participants (Annavarapu, 2024; Eagle et al., 2023). Participants are often engaged in activities that are completely unrelated (Annavarapu, 2024; Eagle et al., 2023).
This practice operates on a flexible concept of space and time (as time does for many neurodivergent people). This means that the "body double" can be present in the same physical room, connected via a live video call, or even viewed asynchronously through pre-recorded videos (Eagle et al., 2023). Body doubling can vary in the level of commitment of both parties. This can range from explicit accountability partnerships, in which both people communicate about their progress, to ambient companionship, in which a stranger in a coffee shop serves as an unknowing anchor (Eagle et al., 2023).
For individuals with ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence, the presence of a supportive individual acts as a physical and emotional anchor that helps them regulate their emotions and dampen the mental noise that interferes with focus (Annavarapu, 2024). The strategy is believed to stimulate the brain's dopamine system, which is a crucial component of motivation and reward that facilitates task engagement (Annavarapu, 2024). To address the logistical challenges and potential social anxieties of finding a human partner, emerging research is exploring mixed reality environments where virtual avatars can serve as on-demand body doubles (Annavarapu, 2024).
3. Pomodoro Timers
The concept of pomodoro timers has become a buzzword over the past couple of years. I first learned about them from a meditation app I really love called Balance. The Pomodoro technique, which involves 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break, effectively addresses the significant time management and concentration difficulties commonly experienced by individuals with ADHD (Cirillo, 2018; Simon-Dack et al., 2016).
Scientifically, this method uses the concept of time-bound blocks of working time to alleviate anxiety about approaching deadlines while generating a positive tension that facilitates decision-making and task initiation (Cirillo, 2018). Experimental research indicates that applying the Pomodoro technique leads to measurable improvements in students' procrastination behavior by breaking daunting projects into short, manageable intervals (Dizon et al., 2021).
This short-interval structure is particularly beneficial because individuals with ADHD often suffer from delay aversion, which means that they experience negative emotions when waiting for distant rewards or prolonged task completion (Morsink et al., 2021). People with ADHD frequently show a lack of persistence during effortful tasks and rely heavily on external structure to maintain goal-directed behavior (Morsink et al., 2021; Simon-Dack et al., 2016).
Setting limits with a timer provides that immediate feedback and external structure that ADHD brains require to stay engaged and on-task (Cirillo, 2018; Simon-Dack et al., 2016). Additionally, the mandatory short breaks built into the technique prevent cognitive exhaustion and hyperfocus by giving the mind necessary time to recover from sustained mental effort (Cirillo, 2018). Finally, when combined with body doubling, joint Pomodoro sessions provide a crucial layer of external social accountability that further helps neurodivergent individuals maintain focus (Annavarapu, 2024; Eagle et al., 2023).
References
Annavarapu, S. (2024). Comparative Study of Body Doubling in Extended Reality (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Tech).
Boot, N., Nevicka, B., & Baas, M. (2020). Creativity in ADHD: goal-directed motivation and domain specificity. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(13), 1857-1866.
Cirillo, F. (2018). The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work. Crown Currency.
Dizon, R. J., Ermitanio, H. D., Estevez, D. M., Ferrer, J., Flores, S. J., Fontanilla, K. M., ... & Sugay, J. (2021). The effects of Pomodoro technique on academic-related tasks, procrastination behavior, and academic motivation among college students in a mixed online learning environment. Globus Journal of Progressive Education, 11(2), 58-63.
Eagle, T., Baltaxe-Admony, L. B., & Ringland, K. E. (2023). Proposing body doubling as a continuum of space/time and mutuality: An investigation with neurodivergent participants. In Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1-4).
Morsink, S., Van der Oord, S., Antrop, I., Danckaerts, M., & Scheres, A. (2022). Studying motivation in ADHD: The role of internal motives and the relevance of self determination theory. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(8), 1139-1158.
Newson, E. L. M. K., Le Marechal, K., & David, C. (2003). Pathological demand avoidance syndrome: a necessary distinction within the pervasive developmental disorders. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 88(7), 595-600.
Simon-Dack, S. L., Rodriguez, P. D., & Marcum, G. D. (2016). Study habits, motives, and strategies of college students with symptoms of ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 20(9), 775-781.