Lowering the Bar: How to Lessen the ADHD Stress and Chaos

Hello and hi and I hope you had a good weekend and that today isn’t being too much of a “Monday!” 😏

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Speaking of ADHD Academy, a topic that came up straight away in our call last week was the idea of the bar being set so high that sometimes it seems impossible to reach. It’s like certain tasks or even the idea of certain tasks can be this insurmountable Mount Everest type deal that we avoid, AT ALL COSTS!

So I wanted to present a different idea…

WHAT IF WE JUST LOWERED THE BAR? 

I know, I know, you’re thinking “Leah, the bar is where it is, I can’t just RESET IT!!”

But that’s where you’re wrong my friend! You 100% can (and maybe should) reset the bar. If your task is to answer 57 emails, of course your brain is going to run for the hills and do anything to get out of it. That sounds freaking miserable! Or maybe the task is going to the gym, every single day for 2 hours. Sometimes that might as well be Everest itself! Soooo, what if you lowered the bar? Or lowered the barrier to entry. 

Can’t wrap your brain around responding to 57 emails all in one go? Just do 3 in the morning and 3 after lunch. 3 is better than none, right?! Can’t get yourself motivated to go to the gym for 2 hours? Do a 5-20 minute YouTube video at home in your underwear!

This goes a bit into all or nothing thinking as well as honoring your capacity (last couple of emails introduced these two topics), but this is also “a thing” in its own right.

Now you might be thinking, “what are you talking about? I don’t even know where I’ve set the bar to know if I can lower it or raise it or throw it out the damn window!” 

Fair enough. So the solution is to start LOOKING for where you’ve set these imaginary bars for yourself and where the barrier to entry is too high, or maybe it’s not even too “high” but there is something in there that is stopping you, besides executive dysfunction of course. 

ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

🧹 I must clean the entire house vs I can start with the corner of this room

📧 I must do 5 hours of admin I can do 10 mins of admin now and 10 mins later

 🛒 I must do an entire grocery haul I can just pop by the smaller shop for necessities (or get delivery if that’s available to you)

🧺 I must wash, dry, fold and hang up all this laundry perfectly vs I can just do this one load and throw things in baskets

🛀🏽 I must take a full shower, hair washing and all vs I can just hit the highlights and wear a shower cap

Some of these might seem silly, but I guarantee something along these lines has kept you in ADHD paralysis (more on this in a future email) a time or two or 10! And there is also the other side of the coin, looking at where can you actually raise the bar? But again, that’s for another time. For now, just give yourself permission to look for ways to lower the bar. Some is better than none and small steps turn into giant leaps. Want to chat about this concept in further detail? Sign up for a free coaching call and we’ll dive in!

Ok. That’s all. Love you. Bye. 

Leah