The ADHD Guide to Motivation and Follow-Through with Russ Jones
Mar 10, 2025
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In this engaging discussion, Russ Jones, host of the ADHD Big Brother podcast and an expert in community-based ADHD coaching, dives into the challenges of motivation and follow-through. He emphasizes the pitfalls of traditional goal-setting for those with ADHD, suggesting more dynamic, interest-driven approaches. Russ shares valuable hacks like gamifying chores and the importance of accountability and community support in overcoming inertia. His insights illuminate how building a supportive network can empower individuals to take action and enhance their productivity.
Adopting a reverse mountain approach to goal-setting can transform daunting tasks into manageable steps, making progress feel achievable for individuals with ADHD.
Building a strong community provides essential support and accountability, significantly enhancing motivation and helping individuals overcome inertia in their daily tasks.
Deep dives
Strategies for Overcoming ADHD Inertia
Traditional goal setting methods may fail for individuals with ADHD, leading to inertia and difficulty in taking action. To combat this, adopting a reverse mountain approach can be effective, where one imagines themselves at the goal's summit and allows that visualization to guide their steps down. This shift in perspective not only helps in identifying smaller, actionable tasks but also makes the process feel more achievable and less daunting. With this technique, individuals can create a clearer pathway to their objectives, rather than feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of reaching the goal itself.
The Role of Accountability and Community
Having a strong support system is crucial for individuals with ADHD, especially when self-belief wanes. Community can serve as a powerful motivator, providing encouragement and accountability when personal motivation falters. This holds true when striving to achieve goals or tackling mundane tasks, as sharing intentions with others creates a sense of commitment that prompts action. Engaging in communal challenges, where members collectively pursue goals, can foster a supportive environment that helps individuals overcome their struggles.
Injecting Fun into Boring Tasks
Finding ways to make tasks more engaging is essential for maintaining motivation and productivity, particularly when dealing with ADHD. Boring but necessary activities can become more bearable by injecting elements of fun, novelty, or urgency to transform them into a more enjoyable experience. Setting a timer for just 10 minutes to start a task can also alleviate resistance, allowing individuals to break the cycle of procrastination and begin making progress. If one approach does not work, experimenting with different techniques to discover what resonates is crucial.
Managing Digital Distractions
For many individuals, managing digital distractions becomes vital to staying focused and productive. Tools and applications that create barriers to distracting websites can effectively reduce impulsive engagement with these platforms. By curating a device environment that limits access to temptations, individuals can lower the resistance to productive activities instead. This intentional structuring of digital space not only helps in establishing better habits but also promotes a healthier relationship with technology.
We’re back for part two of my conversation with Russ Jones, host of the ADHD Big Brother podcast and head of his community-based ADHD coaching of the same name. In this half of the conversation, we get into the nitty-gritty of how to actually get yourself to do the things you know you need to do—whether that’s tackling laundry, setting (and remembering) goals, or just getting yourself unstuck when ADHD inertia takes over.
We talk about how traditional goal-setting can fail for ADHDers (and to try and flip that around), why accountability makes everything more manageable, and how structuring tasks in a fun, interest-driven way makes all the difference. Russ also shares some of his best hacks for dealing with executive dysfunction, including gamifying chores, breaking through mental resistance, and using community as a force multiplier for motivation.
Now, you don’t have to listen the first half of our conversation to get a lot out of this episode, but just know that this is part two.
If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/214
All right, keep on listening to find out how to build momentum, follow through, and stop getting stuck at the starting line.
This Episode's Top Tips
When you’re stuck in a rut, having people who believe in you (even when you don’t believe in yourself) is a game-changer. This is one of the places where having a strong community can really help you flourish.
Traditional goal-setting doesn’t always work. If you're finding yourself stuck, try a “Reverse Mountain” Approach: Instead of imagining the goal at the top, imagine yourself at the top and let momentum pull you down, guiding your each next step towards your goal.
If something is “important but boring,” find a way to inject fun, novelty, or urgency to make it engaging. If the task still feels unbearable, set a 10-minute timer and see how far you get. If you still don’t want to do it, try switching things up and find an approach that does work.
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