Thread by @dustychipura

hey so sometimes I don't feel like doing anything and I like to use an #ADHD hack I call the 'reverse pomodoro'. I'm sure I didn't invent this & many others have thought of it too but if you're feeling super unmotivated - read this!

so a regular pomodoro is where you go between work and rest periods, usually like 20-25 minutes on and 5 minutes rest. There are mixed reactions from the ADHD community - on the one hand, breaking hyperfocus helps you check in with yourself and not overextend yourself

or if the work you're doing is super painfully boring, you only have to go 20 mins at a time. On the other hand, if you are in hyperfocus it can be almost painful to stop what you're doing and you can lose your place, making jumping back in a challenge.

I'm not here to debate the virtue of the pomodoro technique but even if you hate it, hear me out on this reverse pomodoro thing:

Let's say you are just a total potato and you can't even imagine getting up to make a pot of coffee. Just full on veg mode. What do we know about WHY the ADHD brain works like this? low dopamine (among other neurotransmitters). Our brains are lacking something they need.

another way of looking at that is saying the brain is low on fun or stimulation. The ADHD brain needs fun like it needs food or air. We have to fill our 'fun' tanks before we can really expect anything of our brains. Here's where the pomodoro reversal comes in.

Pick something that you actually *feel* like doing. It can be video games, reading, watching a show, whatever. Give yourself a generous interval of time to do this - 20, 30, 40 minutes. Whatever. But set a timer and a deadline and when you hit that deadline, pause the fun thing.

Now set another time for just five minutes and get up and DO THE THING. When the time is up you get to go back to the fun thing. Sure, this will feel hard but I guarantee you will be rushing to get that dishwasher unloaded or take that shower if it means getting back to the fun.

You can use the natural breaks in the fun thing, like the end of a chapter, between episodes or levels of a game. Don't put pressure on yourself to work for more than 5 or max 10 minutes.

You might be tempted to beat yourself up for how long it's taking you to get your kitchen clean, answer emails or just get going for the day. But the point is, YOU'RE DOING IT. Let's be real; you were just gonna sit there doomscrolling for 3 hours anyway

but now you're vegging out for 3 hours with 30 minutes of productivity in there and that can be the difference between 'no momentum' and 'enough momentum to get off the couch and walk the dog'.

I use the reverse pomodoro method whenever I am in the executive functioning dumpster and it really helps me. So there you go!