Sometimes, doing nothing is a good thing

After a busy day or week, it is nice to relax and do nothing. It is guilt-free because you feel accomplished, and this is your reward.

Doing nothing can also mean having international downtime to recharge; it’s healthy and restorative.

There is another type of ‘doing nothing’ that doesn’t feel good though.

It’s when you feel stuck and unmotivated and can’t seem to start your tasks.

Rather than enjoyable, this type of doing nothing can leave you feeling frustrated or anxious because the undone tasks weigh on you.

Why does this happen?

Here are 4 reasons you might find yourself ‘doing nothing’ when you have ADHD.

1. Distraction

You start one task, get distracted, move on to another, and another. A whole day can pass like this. By the evening, you feel like you’ve done nothing—even though you’ve been busy the whole time.  If this sounds like you, watch this video.

2. Hibernation Mode

You are in hibernation mode.

When something stressful happens—maybe a conversation with someone you look up to or you missed a deadline—you retreat from the world into your home to recover, sometimes for weeks.

3. Thinking About Your Task

You spend the day thinking about your ‘to–do’s‘.

You mentally jump from one task to the next, feel worried and anxious about one thing, and jump to thinking about the next. By the end of the day, even though you haven’t taken physical action, you are mentally drained.

4. Stalled

You feel stuck and feel resistant. You have a project or task you just can’t seem to start. This can happen with multiple tasks at once—both at work and home—and it can take a toll on your confidence and self-esteem.

Here are 3 steps to break free from that stuck feeling and doing nothing to taking action in a way that works for your ADHD brain.

Step 1: Get Specific About What You Need to Do

It’s easy to do nothing when you feel vague about what your tasks actually are. You might have lots floating around in your mind, so write down what tasks you have to do.

Writing everything down forces you to be precise, and it helps clear your mind, too.

Step 2: Identify What’s Blocking You

Next to each task, write down what it is about this task that is causing the resistance.

Ask yourself, what about this task makes me not want to do it?

Here are some common reasons:

• It feels overwhelming. I don’t know where to start.
• I don’t know how to do it.
• It involves talking to someone (making a phone call, talking to someone in authority, etc.)
• I have zero motivation.
• It makes me feel anxious.

Now you know what you need to do and what is holding you back, it is easier to move forward.

Step 3: Use ADHD-Friendly Strategies

Now you know what tasks you want to do and what makes each one hard, you can use ADHD-friendly strategies to get you moving.

💡Breaking each task down

Breaking each task down into doable tasks means they feel easier to start.

For example

‘clean the house’

becomes  

• Vacuum the living room
• Wipe down the counters
• Take out the trash

Sometimes, you might find it helpful to break the tasks down even further.

For example you might break down

‘Vacuum the living room’

into

• Take the Vacuum out of the cupboard
• Plug it in.

You can learn more about do-able actions here

💡 If you don’t know how to do something

A quick YouTube or Google search can help. Don’t judge yourself! Particularly if it’s something you think you ‘should’ know how to do, like how to clean a bathroom. Remember, many ADHDers find complex that other people find hard and easy but struggle with everyday tasks.

💡 If making a phone call is stressful

Try this: Create a document called “People I Was Dreading Talking To.”

After each conversation, jot down their name, the date, and what actually happened.

You’ll start seeing a pattern—that almost every call goes way better than your brain imagined! This helps make making calls easier in the future.

💡 If motivation is low,

Gamify your task.

Set a timer for 10-minute work sprints and reward yourself after each one. Small rewards keep you engaged, and a bigger reward at the end makes finishing the task exciting.

💡 If anxiety is holding you back,

 Dig a little deeper.

What exactly about this task is making you anxious?

Anxiety often stems from feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, or afraid of failure. Although it sounds counter intuitive when you take action anxiety starts to fade. The book is very helpful too ‘From Panic to Power’ by Lucinda Bassett.

Each time you cross something off your list, your brain gets a dopamine hit—making it easier to tackle the next thing.

If you find yourself “doing nothing” more often than you’d like, remember it’s not because you are lazy.

Your brain just needs an ADHD-friendly approach to help you get things done!

Take the next step with ADHD-friendly strategies and real support. Click here to learn more about the Untapped Brilliance Club.