I’m a lifelong procrastinator. It’s part of my ADHD. I can spend all day achieving nothing, shaming myself the whole time. Procrastination is horrible. It’s not work because you don’t get anything done, but it’s not rest either. In fact it’s very draining. And it’s definitely no fun. I don’t allow myself to anything that’s actually fun when I’m procrastinating, because I’m supposed to be working. But I’m not doing any work either. It’s just awful.

I’ve found a very weird way of breaking the cycle – take a break. It was hard at first. I told myself “I’m not entitled to take a break. I haven’t actually done anything”. But rest isn’t a reward for working. Rest is an essential necessity for human function. So is fun. If you’ve ever told yourself “I’m not entitled to eat food/drink water/sleep because I haven’t done any work today” then that’s VERY WEIRD AND WRONG. You don’t need to earn rest and fun, food, drink, or sleep. You just need to have them, regularly.

I make myself take a break by telling myself “You’ve spent all day saying you ought to start work, so here’s one last chance – make yourself start work now or else admit that berating yourself isn’t working and take a break instead”. Sometimes I find that ten minutes later I’ve got started and I’m getting on with work. But more often I find that I’ve just completed another level of Candy Crush. So I take a break.

Here’s the difference between procrastination and a break: when you’re on a break, you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. You don’t have to feel guilty about having a cup of tea and watching TV when you’re on a break. You’re supposed to be having a break, and that’s what you’re doing. You can even do something actually fun (in fact that’s a great idea if you can).

Another difference is that a break has an end point. When I take a break I decide how long the break is going to be. Maybe I just need 10 minutes. Maybe I need an hour. Maybe I need a week. I decide how long the break is going to be, and when it ends. Procrastination has no end point.

I tend to procratinate in the place I’m supposed to be working. Not always – sometimes I procrastinate getting out of bed or leaving the house. But most often I’ll sit at my desk and procrastinate. When I take a break I like to get up and go somewhere else. Walk around the block. Go to a nearby cafe. Walk to the kitchen to make a drink. Change the scene and also move my arms and legs, get the blood flowing and the heart pumping. Reset.

When the break is over (I usually set a timer on my phone or something – time-blindness is another part of ADHD) I go back to my desk and I get to work. Usually I start by making a plan – I identify what I’m supposed to be doing and what are the next small tiny minuscule steps I need to take. If there’s an obstacle stopping me I identify it and decide what to do about it. Having conscious deliberate thoughts about the task, maybe even writing them down, helps get me moving. If I can get moving eventually the work has a momentum of its own. At least until the next time procrastination strikes.

And it will strike again. But now I have a strategy for it, so I just repeat the steps. Maybe I need another break. Maybe I need a longer break. Maybe I need to ask someone for help. What I definitely don’t need to do is to keep staring at my computer and mentally shaming myself. I don’t need to try harder. It doesn’t work. I need to try something else.

Steps for breaking the procrastination cycle:

• Notice you’re procrastinating
• Give yourself an ultimatum – either get to work or take a break
• Decide how long the break is going to be. Set a timer
• Move. Go somewhere else. Do something else. If possible, do something actually fun
• Enjoy your break, free of shame or guilt. You are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing
• After your break return to work
• Write down the task you are supposed to be working on
• Write down the next tiny little action you need to do (e.g. not “answer the scary email” but just “open the email program”)
• If you are stuck on an obstacle, write down what it is. Then write down how to resolve it
• Keep going one tiny little action at a time until you have momentum. You’ll know you have momentum when it is easier to keep on working than it is to stop.
• If (when) you notice you are procrastinating again, go back to step 1. But also think “do I just need to do the same steps again or do I need to do something different this time?”
• “Something different” might include taking a longer break, switching to a different task, asking for help, etc.

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