Do you actually use “rewards” for yourself? If so, what are they and how do they work?
How the heck do I set up a “reward” for myself?!?Does anyone else here not make use of rewards / reward activities? Do any of you ADHDers make use of reward activities or other kinds of rewards? If so, what are the rewards/activities, and how do you actually set them up and use them as a reward and then how do you stop indulging in them despite our ADHD tendencies towards executive dysfunction for tasks we don’t like, and perseveration on the things we enjoy?
“I'm gonna treat myself”— me (who has rarely, if ever, denied myself anything)
Recently I have found that most “rewards” are so enjoyable that they make me want to stop doing anything productive for the rest of the day, and so the only rewards that actually ‘work’ for me are fun activities that the tiny, rational part of my brain is pretty sure I won't actually end up having time to do that day; activities related to my current hyper-fixations, activities that I like the idea of, but that have setup time and effort involved, like riding my bike or noodling around on the guitar. I would love to see your favorite articles, anecdotes, and scientific papers on rewards. These "carrot on a stick" rewards that I rarely, if ever, reach, are frustrating to me, and they only work when I am starving to have fun in my life (when I am starving for the carrot, and therefore, only when I deprive myself of all other rewarding activities throughout a day).
Rewards that make me want to stop doing anything else: five minutes of scrolling social media, any short form video content, opening that package that just arrived, cuddling with my significant other, video games, television, working on any project that I've been excited about recently.