Activating Your Brain
The ADHD brain sometimes just doesn’t want to work. It can be hard to get your brain going when you get into a situation like this. So what can be done to jumpstart your brain? Read on to find out!
Sleep
Your brain works better when you have had plenty of sleep. I have written several blogs on the topic of sleep and the importance of it. If you are having trouble getting activated, try getting a better night’s sleep.
Interest
Your brain works better when it is interested in the topic at hand. If you want to use this to hack your brain, make the situation you are trying to get activated for more interesting. For example, if you need to get going to fold the laundry, you could make a game out of it. Create two imaginary teams. Each team gets one-minute to fold as many clothes as possible. You, of course, have to control each team, but that is part of the fun. Pretend your teams are made up of fictional characters. See if you can fold clothes like the fictional characters you know and love. This is just one example. What can you think of to manufacture interest in the task at hand?
Cheat
I know this one sounds a little strange, but if you do only part of the task at hand, you might trick yourself into doing all of it. For example, if you need to set up for a party, tell yourself that you are just going to blow up the balloons. You don’t have to arrange the balloons or set up for the rest of the party. Your one goal is to blow up the balloons. Once you have got the balloons blown up, it is not that big of a stretch to arrange the balloons. Once you have arranged the balloons, you have already gotten yourself in the groove and can ride that wave to get the rest of the party set up. Find sneaky little ways to get going.
Crank up the Tunes
Playing inspirational music can help you get your brain activated. For me, the song that always gets me motivated is “Thunderstruck.” I rarely listen to that song outside of times when I want to get pumped up. There is something about that song that excites me. I feel motivated when that song starts playing.
Time Yourself
When I was little my older brother could always get me to do the things he did not want to do by getting me to see how fast I could do it. All he needed to say to me was, “I’ll time you,” and I would do it. He ignited my competitive side and used it to his advantage. If you set a challenge for yourself, you generate that interest I wrote about above.
A Caveat:
The strategies mentioned in this blog post are strategies that have worked for me. They might not work for you. There is no magic answer when it comes to ADHD. You will have to experiment and find what works for your unique brain wiring. A coach can be a great help in finding that right recipe that will get your brain activated.