ADHD and Feeling Stuck: Helpful Tools to Get Unstuck

People with ADHD often swing between being stuck in hyper fixation and being stuck due to feeling overwhelmed. When we are stuck in hyper fixation, we are completely absorbed in an activity, sometimes spending hours on end doing something that ultimately can feel unproductive. Feeling overwhelmed can look like sitting on the edge of our bed for ages, trying to gather the energy and focus to start a task.

It’s hard to break out of being stuck, but there are a few practical and easy exercises to try to regain focus and stay on top of tasks. Having ADHD means that we will always function differently than our neurotypical friends and coworkers, and for many of us, the first step in becoming more productive is learning more about ADHD. When we know why we experience certain things, we will know what we can do to help ourselves.

Hyper fixation

The ADHD brain is in a constant search for dopamine. Dopamine is sometimes called ‘the feel-good hormone’ and comes from doing certain activities and eating certain foods. You don’t have to know everything there is to know about dopamine, suffice to say that people with ADHD crave constant stimulation, entertainment, and challenge

This is one of the reasons we might drift from task to task, never settling on anything. If we are not stimulated, entertained, or challenged, our nervous system will automatically look for something that it can latch onto, preferably something that will produce dopamine.

This also explains why we get stuck doing certain activities. We can become hyper fixated on an activity because it delivers satisfactory amounts of dopamine. It might be the perfect combination of stimulating, challenging, and entertaining to the point that we can’t stop doing it.

Common activities that cause hyper fixation for those with ADHD include video games, endless scroll apps like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, certain sports or workout sessions, and activities like spring cleaning and organizing.

Some who struggle with ADHD even get hyper fixated on a certain food, eating it and nothing else for weeks on end. Similarly, certain songs act as dopamine triggers. We might hyper fixate by listening to that song over and over again without tiring of it.

In terms of productivity and time management, hyper fixation can be a problem. Even when we are stuck doing useful things like organizing, cleaning, or workouts, we often keep going to the point of exhaustion. This is unhealthy in the long term and can throw us off balance.

Just like with certain meals or songs that we repeat until we are sick of them, we might spend too much time hyper fixating on a helpful activity (like cleaning), only to become never want to return to it again. This is problematic ultimately because we will always need to do laundry, housecleaning, and practice physical health even when we’ve hyper fixated to the point of exhaustion.

Feeling Overwhelmed

Another way we get stuck as those with ADHD is through feeling overwhelmed. A common ADHD thought process looks something like this: We know we need to shower and to get ready for work, but we don’t want to shower before we’ve worked out. We can’t work out until we’ve found our gym clothes, and we don’t want to look for our gym clothes because we haven’t done laundry all week. Instead, we sit on our couch staring at the wall for forty-five minutes.

People with ADHD tend to see the big picture in everything. For us, each activity is linked to another activity and has knock-on effects. Few of these necessary, boring, labor-intensive tasks give us the dopamine we crave, and it is overwhelming always to see the big picture.

We would rather do something that has no connection to anything else and avoid being overwhelmed. Rather than showering and starting our day, we would rather follow an algorithm and watch a few dozen YouTube videos before realizing we are late for work.

Beating Hyper fixation

A lot of the time, we don’t even realize when we’re being hyper fixated on an activity. If we did realize it, sometimes we wouldn’t want to snap out of it because, generally, whatever we’re hyper fixated on is enjoyable. The main reason to try and break the paralysis loop of hyper fixation is so that we can gain some time back and find a balance in our lives that will make things easier for us.

For example, scrolling on our phones for four hours a night means that we neglect tasks like laundry, leading to us feeling overwhelmed the next day as we realize we have no clean work clothes. Breaking up the periods where we become hyper fixated means that we avoid becoming overwhelmed somewhere down the line.

Make your phone less attractive.

Phones are the most common time-sap device. We can help ourselves with a few simple methods. Firstly, we can dive into our settings and disable notifications for games and social media. This will mean that we aren’t constantly getting distracted by non-urgent things.

Secondly, we can move our endless-scroll apps into a folder and place the folder somewhere other than the home screen. The simple act of having to swipe a few more times to get to time-sucking apps reduces some of the instant gratification we would otherwise get.

All modern phones have focus modes that you can set up, which reduces distractions. Some can even automate airplane mode at a certain point in the evening, cutting off Wi-Fi access. We can even jolt our brain out of hyper fixation mode by scrolling too fast and jiggling the page up and down.

Overcoming Feelings of Being Overwhelmed

Breaking out of a paralysis loop requires a fair amount of discipline and a lot of repeated actions. Some of these actions don’t come naturally for those with ADHD, but when we repeat them often enough, we begin to adapt. A big part of overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed is to practice being in the moment.

Being in the moment

This requires us to put devices down, turn screens off, go outdoors if possible, or get a good view out the window at whatever view is available, and simply take note of the current situation. Observe your surroundings: the weather, the sounds you can hear, the things you can smell. Take note of the emotions you are feeling, even if they are distracted, exhausted, or anxious. Remember to breathe and feel the oxygen entering and exiting your lungs.

These moments don’t have to last too long. Begin with a minute at the start of your day and a minute before bed. Just sit, observe, and breathe. You will be amazed at how much calmer you will feel after only a short time of reflection.

There are other tricks people who have ADHD can learn to beat the feeling of being overwhelmed. It helps to break down tasks and think smaller. We don’t have to attach the idea of going for a shower to all the other related tasks, for example.

We can train ourselves to focus only on the next task we need to do and not link it to one hundred others. It might be helpful to involve a loved one in these changes, asking them to help keep us accountable and motivated in doing them.

Those who have ADHD can learn to break out of being stuck and become more productive, but it takes time and practice. Sometimes, we just need to try something new. We might be surprised at how easy, effective, and refreshing it is to break our habits and do a new activity or a familiar activity in a new way.

Getting Help for ADHD in Oak Harbor, WA

There are resources available for ADHD, as well as support groups and counselors in Oak Harbor, Washington. Christian counseling in Oak Harbor is a great place to start if you need a bit of extra support. Contact us today at Oak Harbor Christian Counseling in Washington to make an appointment with me or one of the other counselors at our practice. We are ready to help you live well with your ADHD!