As an autistic person how do you stay motivated (more specifically doing long tasks)?
As an autistic person how do you stay motivated (more specifically doing long tasks)?
Mostly asking for other people on the spectrum, but allistics are free to comment also.
You're viewing a single thread.
I've started using a stopwatch, and my aim is not to complete the task, but just to spend time on that task and nothing else. This does 2 things: 1) just the fact I'm on the tasks moved me forward more than not being on the task. 2) as its counts up, not down, I am just interested in increasing the number, so every 30 seconds or minute or 10 extra that I do makes the number bigger and the dopamine higher.
I combine this with a habit tracker (literally called habits on android store) so I can try and beat my last high score etc.
I don't set myself any targets etc that would cause me to feel shame (and then procrastinate due to that shame), so it lowers the barrier of startinf sufficiently low so that I can get on. And then the flow starts to kick in and we're off...