ADHD Is Not Laziness—It's Friction
- Ludovico Saint Amour di Chanaz, Ph.D.,
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
3 barriers to productivity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Executive dysfunction is a barrier to productivity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Sensory overstimulation is another barrier and overloads the cognitive system.
People with ADHD don't perceive rewards in the same way as other people.
Laziness is defined as being unwilling to work or to exert effort. When someone lives with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they often get assigned this label because they miss deadlines, avoid chores, or struggle to get started on tasks. But what if it wasn't laziness but just friction?
Whenever we do things, whether that is work, chores, or going to the bathroom, our cognitive systems use resources such as executive functions that help us get started, plan, or organize. These functions are the very same that tend to be impaired in ADHD brains. It's not a question of morality or willpower but a simple mechanistic difference in how ADHD brains are wired, and this gives rise to three main barriers to getting things done.
1. Cognitive Load
People with ADHD face more challenges when it comes to doing things. Studies show that ADHD individuals have more difficulties switching tasks or contexts. Things like planning or organizing are also impaired, which means that in an ADHD mind, something as simple as doing the dishes or sending an email may feel difficult, because everything feels important, and at the same time, nothing does.
Eventually, these tasks, to-do lists, and constant reminders that stuff isn't being done accumulate, creating a feeling of deep fatigue or acute anxiety. In your brain, all these recurring thoughts about what needs to be done create noise in the background, taking more and more cognitive space, until it's no longer sustainable, and adrenaline kicks in.
On social media, this phenomenon is often referred to as ADHD paralysis or executive dysfunction. From the outside, it can look like laziness to the untrained eye, but internally, your brain is constantly telling you to move, but your body doesn't respond. The result is not, like with laziness, that work doesn't get done, but I get to relax. Instead, what happens is that work doesn't get done, and I don't get to relax.
Over time, this leads to deep feelings of guilt and inadequacy, which can result in depression or anxiety episodes.
2. Overwhelm
A second challenge for people with ADHD is sensory overstimulation. Difficulties in prioritization also work at the purely mechanistic level. Separating noise from signal is an effort in itself. Every second, your brain filters out information that it deems irrelevant, keeps what you're concentrating on, and leaves just enough space for emergency signals.
ADHD brains don't work like that. In other words, a lot more noise passes through that initial filter, and you are left to deal with a lot more information than anyone else—hence, the distraction. This is why sensory-rich environments, such as a noisy restaurant or open spaces at work, reduce the bandwidth at which you can operate, and make it even more difficult to maintain concentration or do things.
From the outside, it can look like you are being slow, nervous, or rude. Internally, your system is struggling to keep up with the constant flow of information, like a computer that freezes because there are too many tabs open.
3. Reward Imbalance
People with ADHD are not motivated by the same things other people are. A recent study has shown that the greater motivator for individuals with ADHD was "anything that makes time go fast." In other words, people with ADHD seldom are motivated by long-term results; instead, they need either short-term rewards or to do things that feel rewarding in the moment.
That may be why people with ADHD shine during emergencies, or why many choose entrepreneurship as a career path: because rewards are immediate, and work can be done with intermittent phases of intensity or rest.
Everyday life or typical jobs, however, are not tailored to that way of functioning. You have to do chores every day, whether you like it or not. If you work well this year, you may have a chance at getting a 2 percent raise next year. Even for people without ADHD, this way of functioning is sometimes a struggle, but asking people with ADHD to stay motivated in an environment that does not suit their brain's natural tendencies is simply unrealistic.
Friction
What all these elements create in everyday tasks is friction—additional barriers to doing things, working, and living that other people never will have to face. For people with ADHD, life often feels like trying to swim against a current. It takes effort just to stay afloat, let alone move forward.
This is why adjustments for ADHD, both in personal and professional lives, are about decreasing friction: decreasing conflict between the environment and your brain's natural tendencies. One thing that anyone can do starting now is to work on recognizing when your brain is stuck and allowing yourself to live without judgment or guilt.
If you find yourself in ADHD paralysis, accept that whatever you need to do is not going to get done, and take the active decision to rest instead, without guilt or judgment. It may not seem like it, but feeling guilty drains energy. Once we get rid of it, we strangely manage to do things that seemed daunting even just a few days before.
It is OK not to be perfect. It's OK to rest even if you feel you don't deserve it. It's OK to take a break, even if you haven't done much. It's OK to have ADHD.
References
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Morsink S, Sonuga-Barke E, Mies G, Glorie N, Lemiere J, Van der Oord S, Danckaerts M. What motivates individuals with ADHD? A qualitative analysis from the adolescent's point of view. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017 Aug;26(8):923–932. doi: 10.1007/s00787-017-0961-7. Epub 2017 Feb 23. PMID: 28233072.
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