Just to preface, I have not been diagnosed with ADHD, but the symptoms have been running rampant lately. ADHD is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which affects attention span, ability to sit still, and self-control. Especially within the last month, my symptoms have been affecting not only my social life but also my school work and other important things.
The main way ADHD has been affecting me lately is the paralysis part. ADHD paralysis is when you get overwhelmed with say certain tasks, like homework, and you feel like you can’t do anything. Going slightly off-topic, if you’ve heard of girl math adhd paralysis is basically like adhd math. For example, say you have an event to go to at 5 pm, if you want to shower that’s going to take like 30 minutes for an everything shower, and it takes maybe 20 minutes to do your makeup and then you still have to wait for your hair to dry. Not to mention you need to pick out an outfit, but you want options that would take like 10 more minutes. That’s just getting ready for the event, traveling to the event is a whole other fiasco. If I keep going on with the explanation this article will get lost in getting ready for an event and how just getting ready is paralysis in itself. I know it sounds silly to those who don’t struggle with this, but it can really do some damage.
With ADHD paralysis affecting me lately, it has caused my room to get really messy and I like to think my room is a reflection of how my life is going, so messy room = messy life. My “messy life” was mainly just feeling like I could only get out of bed if I was going to be productive or be with my friends. However, I figured out a way to combat these feelings.
For me personally, I figured the only way to get out of my funk was to do everything all at once. For me, that means pulling an all-nighter and getting everything done in one night. My thought process was along the lines of stopping time. You can’t stop time to catch up, so I decided to do everything during the night when I would normally be sleeping. I felt comfortable doing this because I had slept so much throughout the past few days especially. People get out of their funks in different ways and that is just how I get out of mine.
I’m not advising that all-nighters are the fix-all for everyone’s ADHD paralysis. Everyone is clearly different and those with an ADHD diagnosis have medical ways to help (if they choose to), however those who do not, have to find their own ways, and this is just how I have learned to cope.