The thing about giving yourself permission to half-ass things is that it’s not just a way to ensure something-as-opposed-to-nothing gets done: sometimes it can also be a way to trick yourself into whole-assing things.
I know this ain’t universal, but for me, executive dysfunction often boils down to my brain balking at the number of steps a job nvolves. If a particular job involves, say, five different sub-tasks, my brain will go: “man, I can’t do five things - that’s too many things; this job is impossible” - even if each of those five things is quick and easy by itself.
So what I’ll do is pare it down. I’ll say to myself: “okay, I’ll only do one or two of the things”. It’ll be an extremely half-assed job, but half an ass is better than no ass at all.
Now, here’s the trick: once those two things are done, it’s much easier to say “hey, since I’ve gotten this far, I might as well do the third thing as well - I mean, I’m already here”. And, well, now that I’ve done the third thing, there are only two things left, and I’ve already demonstrated that I can do two things, so what’s my excuse?
Of course, that was the plan all along. The catch is that I can’t go into it intending to do the five things one at a time; five things taken one at a time is still five things, and my brain goes “nope - impossible”. I have to honestly intend to half-ass it, even though I know that once I start the momentum will probably carry me through doing it properly.
And that’s why brains are dumb.
great advice on dealing with executive dysfunction, which is common in ADHD as well as anxiety and depression!
