25:59
You probably have a long to-do list, all of which demand your attention at the same time. They all seem equally urgent and important, so you don't know where to start. And while you procrastinate on deciding where to start, the tasks in your head become bigger and bigger. We end up putting off a five-minute task for almost a month. This is something I often struggle with, and I know you struggle with it too. In fact, this happens through three mechanisms. The first of these is decision fatigue. When we have so many options, we just get tired of even choosing. The second thing is task inflation. The more we rethink something, the bigger it becomes in our heads. For example, I know that doing my
taxes will take me an hour or two, but because I hate it and keep putting it off, it becomes so big in my head that I put it off for weeks until the consequences become really serious. The third mechanism is executive function. is essentially the function responsible for planning, organizing, making decisions, and sort of determining what is important and what is not. And those are three things I struggle with. But over the years, I've tried so many methods and techniques that have helped me overcome this problem, take a break, and stop feeling paralyzed by overload, just being in that " freezing" mode where you stare at a list for weeks and do nothing. The usual advice is always to just get started, but if it were that
easy, I would have almost been deported for constantly putting off renewing my residence permit. I am not a productivity machine at all. I'm just trying to survive and achieve some of my goals, you know? So the first problem is that when you have a long to-do list, it's really hard to prioritize, right? Because they all seem exactly the same. And ADHD makes everything even worse because everything gets blown up. A ten-minute task that I've done 100 times already still seems like the hardest thing to do all year in my head, and I ca n't learn anything. I will repeat this cycle again, and again, and again. So people tell you to prioritize, just start somewhere, because it's better than doing nothing. But what does it mean to " set priorities
" anyway? So, how should I define them? If I had known that, I wouldn't have gotten into this situation. So, let me share the methods I invented. First of all, we don't know what's ahead of us, right? We don't realize how much needs to be done, and these tasks just pile up in our heads. To solve this problem, you first need to get everything out of your head and visualize it. So I want you to grab a pen and paper, like a notebook like this one, or do what I do-get everything out of your head with the Kaizen system, which I created for those who struggle with procrastination and overwhelm. I just open the idea dump section and write down whatever comes to mind, using the WhisperFlow tool, which converts speech to text, and it's very convenient. By
the way, this is not an advertisement. I've been using this for a long time. This helps move everything out of your head into a visually clear space, allowing you to look at things more rationally. Because when they're in your head, the excitement, the anxiety, the feeling of being trapped, and the stupor-all of that just gets bigger, does n't it? But when it's in front of your eyes, you suddenly become more logical. When I'm less overwhelmed, I prefer a paper notebook, but more often than not, I'm too overwhelmed even for that. That's why I choose the digital version more often. I just open Notion on my phone and start dictating every commitment, every task I can think of. I'm just putting them in a neat list. And then I ask Notion AI
to turn them into a to- do list. To decide later what is important and what is just random thoughts that came to mind. When I unload my thoughts, they can even be experiences or fears, not just tasks. For example: " Oh, I really need to clean my room. It's such a mess." This also goes on my list of things to vent about This is extremely important because it frees up your head so much that this alone greatly alleviates the state of overload. Once you've cleared your head, it's time to filter the information and find something to work on. Most often, people say, "Oh, find the most urgent and important thing and work on it." Blah-blah -blah. But that does n't help me. So I started asking myself a
different question: instead of urgency or importance, I asked what task would have the worst consequences if I didn't complete it by the end of the day. This question is extremely important because when I think about a deadline or a project, I often feel like I absolutely have to finish it today. But what happens if I don't finish it today? Most often it's nothing to worry about. Of course, there are some negative consequences, don't get me wrong, but it's not as terrible as I think. I don't even know. This helped me a lot because I tend to overthink things and like to turn everything in my head into a big disaster. So when I think about the consequences of not completing a task by the end of the day, I usually have zero, or at most two tasks left with
serious consequences that I definitely want to avoid. And all the others are just things that would be nice to finish by the end of the day. Even just realizing this helped me get rid of the feeling of overload and paralysis, because at the end of the day, nothing too terrible will actually happen. This can hurt if you're not overwhelmed, but you need a little push to get started. So, this method only works when you are overwhelmed with the amount of things you need to do, okay? Use this method wisely. Let's say you have a few tasks that you want to avoid the consequences of not completing them in time-then I ask myself, "Okay, which one is the worst?"
Like, what am I willing to sacrifice? What exactly do you want to avoid at all costs? Thinking not in terms of importance, but in terms of consequences to avoid, helped me much more than traditional prioritization. And this is the method I use. When you find a case with the most serious consequences that you definitely want to avoid, you should just ignore everything else. Because right now there are so many tabs open in your brain that you just can't move. Therefore, we deliberately ignore all other things that are irrelevant or have less consequence than the current task. And we focus only on it. Usually when I do that, that's enough to get me started, unless it's something like legal stuff, paperwork, taxes, or government issues, because
I hate that. So, it could literally happen. This may not be enough. And in situations like these, where you know about the case and it has major implications, but you still can't get started, I have two options for you. The first is to review your " brain dump" list and start with what matches your mood right now. Of course? That is, everything you can do right now to get into the rhythm and start taking action. Because most of the time-maybe because I have ADHD-I have a really hard time making transitions. When I am in "freezing" mode or overthinking mode, it is extremely difficult to shift into doing mode. So anything that helps me get out of bed and start doing something is a really big breakthrough, even if I'm
wasting time on something that's not the most important thing. So I go through this list and choose what suits my mood, just to get started. And then, building momentum, I try again and again to tackle the most important task. And the important thing is that when I try to do this, I don't set a goal to finish the job. I'm just trying to get it started. If you know what I mean. For example, if I'm working on taxes, instead of saying "I need to file a tax return, " I'll say "open the government portal and fill out the first five columns" or something like that. And whenever I get bored or this task starts to overwhelm me, I immediately switch, do something else, and then come back to it. Many people say: never multitask, always focus on one thing until you
finish it. But it doesn't work for me. When I get bored with a task, I need to immediately switch to something else so I don't give up and keep procrastinating. That's why it's important to have that brain dump" list and choose what I can do right now. So, if the constant switching and turning method doesn't work-and it sometimes does-the last thing I do is use external control. That is, in essence, "body- doubling"-working together with other people. One of my favorite methods lately is using a platform called Focusmate. This is not an advertisement, but here you can find a stranger with whom you can have a focusing session together. You can book a session for 25, 50 or 75 minutes. At the beginning of the session, you tell your partner-the person who
will be working with you-your goal for the time being. While working, you both turn on the cameras and set the timer. And then you just go about your business. I usually use this for the tasks I hate the most. Sometimes I even use it when I'm making videos and people ask me, "Oh, are you a YouTuber?" Plus, you can make friends, which is pretty fun. That's what I do. Because when I'm overwhelmed, ideally I go to the library or a cafe, but sometimes it's hard to even leave the house. So Focusmate has been a real discovery for me recently. I hope they will become my sponsors. I reached out to them, but they didn't respond.
Whatever. Using such a " double" and external accountability helps a lot, but, you know, you can still cheat a little. So the ultimate solution is probably to find a friend or partner to work with physically in a coworking space, in your room, or in a library, where you share goals and check in on each other's progress. This is probably the most effective way, but finding people who are always free can be difficult. So if I'm really struggling, I just call a friend or family member, tell them I have to do this, and ask them to focus on it too -that usually helps. By the way, this is how I submitted documents for the extension of my residence permit. So, these are the options I have right now. And if those things still don't work, my last option is
to wait until the consequences of the task become so serious that they force me to act. I know this is probably not the answer you were expecting, but these are very real methods that I have tried out, and some of them really work. So I advise you to try it. Also, if this video resonates with you and you think a lot of the general advice just doesn't work and is nonsense, and you want to have a better system for completing tasks, prioritizing, and better managing your time, then I want you to check out my Kaizen system at rudyahuang.com. This is exactly the system I developed for people with ADHD, chronic procrastination, and overload to get more done without using generic advice like "just get started, " "the two- minute rule," "pomodoro,"
or anything like that. I consider the needs of people like me who struggle even when the consequences are very serious, and I try to offer a method that will help you get a little more work done so you don't feel guilty every night when you go to bed. This is the main goal of my system. Here you can see some of the feedback I received from our users. And when you get the Kaizen system, you'll also get access to our Discord community, where you can ask questions to hundreds of people with ADHD and similar issues, get advice, and make friends. So, if you're interested, visit uriohamma.com. And if you want to learn more about the system and get more detailed information, I want you to watch this video next.
