Getting Started is Often the Hardest!

Keeping in mind that we all have our individual ways of working, I have personally always found that getting started is the single most difficult part of any task or project.

It always feels like I have to overcome an extraordinary amount of inertia in order to take the first step... and once that is out of the way, the first few minutes (or hours!) feels like trying to swim through honey.

In retrospect, I seldom give up once I am well into something... but I have been known to give up before I even get started because the task ahead seems so insurmountable that I can't get going.

In truth, it's really annoying!

There's lots of good advice out in the world, about "forcing yourself to focus" and various such things... all of which work pretty well if you have a neurotypical brain.

It took me a really long time to learn and fully appreciate that (A) its not my fault because (B) I have an acute shortage of naturally occurring dopamine going to the frontal cortex of my brain.

Think of it this way: If you're like most people, when you're about to take on an important new task, it might feel like you have a little adrenaline going, and you're slightly excited and have slightly more focus and acute senses.

Now imagine that when you're getting ready for that next task or project, instead of a small energy lift, your brain instead sends a "message" to your body that you haven't slept in 72 hours and all you want to do is go to sleep!

Yup... that's what my life often feels like.

Over the years, I have learned various workarounds that are at least somewhat effective, including most notably "staggered starts" in which I walk away after 3-5 minutes and do something else, then come back for a couple more minutes, then chill out again... until I'm about 1/2 hour or an hour in, and seeming sleepiness dissipates and I can function like a normal human being.

It's not a perfect solution, but it has kept me from needing pharmaceuticals for some 30+ years.

Adult (inattentive) ADHD gets remarkably little coverage in the world of psychology and medicine... after all, we're all tuned into the the idea of someone with ADHD as the crazy energy person who's constantly bouncing around, causing disruptions and can't hole a thought for 10 seconds.

That's the stereotype, and definitely also the most common form of ADHD — as well as the one most likely to be diagnosed and treated.

As I have written before, I avoid treatment because (I feel like) I can ill afford to have my creativity dulled. And so, I have learned to manage my life, rather than drug it.

I am incredibly grateful that I am self-employed, because it allows me to set my schedule around my natural sleep patterns, including that fact that my circadean rhythms are somehow set for a 24-hour and-a-few-minutes day, rather than exactly 24 hours.

It may sound like voo-doo mumbo-jumbo to some, but it basically means that I slowly go from being a "morning person" to being a "night person" over a period of about three years, and then back again. I'm basically a little out-of-tune with planet Earth!

These days, I am heading towards "night," and my best working time lately has been about 6:00pm till 2:00am in the morning. By the middle of 2026, I expect to "roll over" and start getting up at 5:00am again.

As I said, it works, purely because I am self-employed.

Like most people with ADHD, I can "force myself" to work "NORMALLY" in short bursts, but it's very uncomfortable, and definitely not the highest and best use of my energies.

I've been learning about this stuff for most of my life, and I am still learning. And that's OK!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Do you ever have difficulty starting something new? What do you think holds you back, if you do? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2025.10.29 22:26 PDT
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