I have executive dysfunction. I don’t have a diagnosis of ADHD, but I do have bipolar disorder, and executive dysfunction is often a symptom people struggle with and I am no exception. When I was in school as a kid it was common for me to either show up or do my homework, but it was rare I did both. Part of that was boredom. School wasn’t a challenge for me, and it was hard to be invested when I wasn’t learning much of anything. Instead of doing homework I’d do things I found more interesting, like reading my textbooks. English was always my favorite subject and so in a typical year, I’d read that textbook cover to cover instead of doing my homework. My history and social studies textbooks would often get the same treatment, getting read cover to cover instead of doing the assigned homework.
As a side effect of this, finding motivation for self-study and doing my own work on my own time was something I struggled with for a long time. Part of why my first book took eight years to finish was I didn’t know how to make myself write every day. Sitting down to read things to further my own education (be it “just for fun” or something on the craft of writing) is something that I still struggle with.
But I also finished my first book in 2014. And in between when I started and where I am now, I’ve learned a lot of things, mostly about my own process and how to make it work for me. Caffeine, for me, is part of the process. It doesn’t wake me up or energize me, but it often helps me focus enough to get work done. Having a daily schedule and generally structuring my days helps a lot as well. When I just fly by the seat of my pants, I often have difficulty doing even basic things but having that schedule to go by helps a lot.
Also setting goals is another way I get work done. Telling myself I’ll get done X number of pages or X number of words, or brain dump all my ideas, or whatever other goals I’ve set for that day are help keep me on track.
This isn’t a foolproof method, however. There are plenty of days where I don’t get anything done. Sometimes its genuine writer’s block. Sometimes it’s stress. Sometimes it’s nothing I can readily find. If it’s writer’s block, I can usually push through it since writer’s block is more procrastination than anything else. Filling out a blank document on my feelings on not writing can often enough kickstart me. Sometimes I have to just sit there and plunk out words key by agonizing key, doing maybe a sentence every minute or so versus the 600+ words I routinely get out during other times.
If it’s stress however, it depends on the type of stress. Mildly stressful things I can put to one side while I work. While I won’t be as efficient, I can usually add things to my mood boards, rearrange ideas in plot lines, or something like that. Massive amounts of stress can sometimes be mitigated by writing it down. Sometimes though the stress is too big to work around. In which case, the only thing I can do is give myself a break to relax. I know there comes a certain point with massive stress that my brain shuts down. In those times I’ll watch cooking videos, or catch up on TV shows, or knit. It’s gotten easier to deal with massive amounts of stress, but it still gets to me, and in those cases sometimes I have to step back for a day or a week and just deal with it.
At the end of the day, I can’t tell you the steps to take to mitigate the forces keeping you from writing. I can only tell you what I’ve figured out for myself through trial and error. What I will tell you, however, is to keep trying. Everyone is different, and so our coping mechanisms to deal with life’s daily struggles will be different too. It doesn’t mean you’re broken or there is something wrong with you. It just means that you haven’t figured out your own set of coping mechanisms yet. But if you keep trying, you’ll get there. I can promise you that.