How To Fail At A Project — ADD Tip o the Day 302

Posted on August 16, 2012 by doug with ADHD

If we have ADD or ADHD, we have trouble finishing things. The man I was talking with had real doubts about his ability to complete his latest project.  He does have ADD.  We figured out how he could fail at it:

1. Continually think of the entire project as a whole, so that it will seem overwhelming; do not break it down into small steps and focus on one at a time.

2. When you run into an obstacle, be determined to work it out on your own; don’t ask anyone for help.

3. Be determined to make this the best project anyone has ever done; don’t simply set your goal as getting it completed.

4. If you run into anything particularly interesting in the project, chase it down to the end, whether or not it actually has any relevance to getting the job completed.

5. After you have committed to doing the project, keep questioning if it is really worthwhile.

6. Continue to remind yourself of all the projects you have failed to complete.

I have tried all of these and I can testify that they work!

doug  add,adhd,adult add, adult adhd,deficit,attention

Then he came up with another  I have not tried:

7. Start a new hobby at the same time.

on finishing clik here

on not getting it done  clik here

Thank you for your comments!!!!

About doug with ADHD

I am a psychiatric physician. I learned I have ADHD at age 64, and then wrote four ADHD books for adults, focusing on strategies for making your life better. I also published a novel, Alma Means Soul. The books are available at amazon.com (soft cover or E book), or smashwords.com (only E books). The prices are as low as they are allowed to be. Managing Your ADHD Your Life Can Be Better; strategies for adults with ADD/ADHD Living Daily With Adult ADD or ADHD: 365 Tips O the Day ( e-book). This is one tip at a time, one page at a time, at your own pace. It's meant to last a year.
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5 Responses to How To Fail At A Project — ADD Tip o the Day 302

  1. Pingback: Not Getting Things Done? – – – ADD Tip o the Day 258 | ADDadultstrategies

  2. addadultstrategies says:
    August 17, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    typical ADD, like me. The one thing is a great strategy.
    thank you for commentings
    doug

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  3. Lisa says:
    August 17, 2012 at 7:13 am

    Yep, I’ve tried all of those! And they are super successful at keeping you from finishing the project…lol. I’m particularly guilty of #3…I once had a web design project that I did for my church (for free, of course). It was pretty much finished, at least to the point where I needed to get feedback from the group sponsoring the site, but I kept putting off showing it to them (even though they were asking about it regularly!) because I was afraid they wouldn’t like it and I thought I could do better. Of course when they finally saw it, they were happy with it. It’s hard to accept “good enough” sometimes!

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  4. jncahill says:
    August 17, 2012 at 6:44 am

    My fiance’ has ADHD and we have found that breaking projects into parts really does work. This is typically how I get him to do things around the house. I will ask him to focus on doing one thing for the day. Starting hobbies keeps him motivated, but after a while he will get bored and move onto a new hobby. Good tips!

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