Often due to a life-long battle of personal disappointments, many individuals with ADHD are prone to...All-or-nothing thinking.
When we experience this type of thinking, we often believe that everything we do is simply put not "good enough."
We often become so overwhelmed with doing things perfectly that we end up not even getting started!
Us individuals with ADHD can spend what seems like forever ruminating on seemingly simple tasks such as:
Sending a message
Choosing an outfit
Submitting a paper for review
Picking a restaurant, choosing what to eat, what music to listen to, activity, or a movie. Especially when others are involved!
All-or-nothing, black or white thinking can cause havoc on us ADHDers:
Sometimes we may even attribute our successes to coincidence but feel that failures are entirely our fault... imposter syndrome anybody?
We can have difficulty neglecting to set boundaries with work which can cause us to stop working at a reasonable time.
We often feel upset over what we believe we should've finished instead of feeling accomplished for what we actually finished.
Let's look at some strategies for combating all-or-nothing thinking:
REFRAMING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
When we catch ourselves using words like "always" and "never", we can try to talk it out and reframe those statements with logical reasoning.
EXAMPLE
Instead of: "I'll NEVER get that promotion..."
Try: "Maybe it's time to seek a different position..."
STOPPING AT "GREAT"
So often we feel like we've done a great job..."But I could do better." We can practice stopping at ‘great’ instead of killing ourselves for an unreachable ‘100% perfection’.
Try some of these and let us know how they worked for you!
For more tips on, reframing, learning about your ADHD and how it shows up for yourself and others, email me at info@coachingwithbrooke.com. You got this!
-Coach Brooke
