Last week, my brain got stalled on a couple of projects and just flatly refused to be coaxed into action. I tried all my usual tricks and none of them worked.
Since none of my ‘get to work’ techniques were helping, I decided to turn to my ‘get your writing done’ techniques. Once I started journaling about not being able to get my brain in gear, I quickly figured out that the problem was that none of my projects felt fun. (An unfortunate situation for someone who is trying to reprioritize fun.)
And, yes, yes, I know that I was trying to WORK and work isn’t inherently fun but my stalled ADHD brain wasn’t interested in that kind of logic. It just wanted me to make the projects seem more interesting and it decided that fun was the missing factor.
But the projects were what they were and I knew that they did not have fun baked into them so I asked myself “What would make these tasks MORE fun?” – as in, they aren’t fun now but is there something I could do to move the needle towards fun, to make them fun-ish or fun-like or to add a bit of fun to them?
Now my brain had a challenge!
So, since I couldn’t change what I was working on (those things had to get done), I realized I had to change HOW I was working on them.
I had to make them feel new or interesting or challenging or very, very small or make my working conditions more fun.
So, I started by making a little chart of the tasks – with sections to fill in when I finished a task. (Visual evidence of my progress is always fun for me.)
Then, for each task, I asked myself “What would be a fun way to get this done?”
Sometimes the answer was challenging myself to do it in a set amount of time )or in a series of small chunks of time), sometimes it was to play loud music while I worked, sometimes it was to involve someone else (shoutout to my sister Denise who is always helpful when I need a virtual body-double), and sometimes it was as simple as using a different colour pen or standing up while I worked.*
None of things made the work any different but they all changed how I felt about getting started. They all made it easier for me to get my stuff done.**
So, Team, I’m sure this is the part where you are thinking, “This is all grand, Christine, but what does this have to do with fitness?”
Well, my friends, I’m wondering what would happen if you asked yourself “What would be a fun way to get some exercise today?” or “How can I make these stretches more fun?” or “How can I add something fun to my meditation?”
And, yes, I get that those things aren’t necessarily ‘supposed’ to be inherently fun but adding a layer of fun might just make them easier to do.
If you added some new songs to your workout playlist or if you invited someone to exercise with you (in person or just simultaneously in separate locations), you might feel encouraged to get moving.
If you listened to a podcast or alternated between stretching and working on a crossword puzzle, you might bring the fun levels up to an acceptable range.
And you might find meditating more fun if you picked a moving or drawing meditation or if you wore a cape to wrap yourself in instead of just using a blanket.
The key here is that it is worth adding fun to just about any activity, especially if adding fun makes it easier to do.
Why not give it a try?
And, as always, here’s your gold star for your efforts to add fun wherever and however you can.
*Just in case you’re interested: I also felt a bit stuck on the day I wrote this post so I made a numbered list of work tasks and fun things to do and then rolled a 20-sided die to pick my next task. The fact that my next task *could* be a fun one was enough to keep me rolling.
** Obviously adding fun by changing my approach is not an original idea, it’s a combination of personal experience and of watching/reading approximately 85 million videos/articles about ADHD.
