Why can’t I ever finish anything? | ADHD Information

Being in a management position at work, i rely on others to finish things for me basically.. i did have a lot of problems finishing my own things (even if i finished things no problem), the Adderall XR i take has been quite helpful with this.

I have always had to slow myself down as i finished things real quick and often made mistakes in the process.

It's a learning thing really.. i've had to teach myself to slow down and think before i do things.. thankfully my employer has been very helpful with everything (i have the advantage of having a number MD's and even psychiatric services on site at our facility)..
Right On Gypsywoman!  And a big huzzah to all of us who manage to mostly finish our sentences here on this

What was I doing?

Oh, yeah.  I agree with the big frustration viewpoint.  I just have to remind myself that I have finished some things.  Some of them minor, some major.  I've finished cooking a lot of excellent meals for my family.  I finished grocery shopping tonight and even put all of the groceries away!  Yay for me and yay for all of the things each of you finish every day.

On that note:  I have to finish composing and typing assignments for two classes which are due tomorrow.  And since I have to finish them--I will.

I just hope it is not too painful.

g'night.

ghead.
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  Yeah...I still have green tap lining my kitchen windows form 2 years ago when I bought my place...I completed the kitche, excpet for the window sills...ran into a littl problem when the paint started peeling off the wall in one area, so I never "FOUND" the time to finish it. YET i can sit here for hours to read and post.

I do not like feeling like I can't accomplish anything...I am very good at multi tasking...by taking on many, many task, but never completing one.  I wonder if it is because of lost of interst...some is that and some is...OH this person needs my help...let me go rescue them...while I drown myself in more pile of of work.  

Are any of you like me...would rather put things off and not do it, because you want it done PERFECTLY, but because you are like me and lack organizaton that PERFECTION will never be, so you dont even attempt?

I call my self the "imperfect perfectionist" :) 

Sonya do not be so hard on yourself.  Here is a laugh for all My husband got so engrossed with re-doing my childs room while I was pregnant he tore the walls down to re-do and all.  He started it 3 months of pregnancy and finished when my child was three months old.  I had tools all over my house and a shop vac and many other things and he could not motivate himself to do something about it used work as an excuse.  My brothers came over to help him finish at my tears of having a house ripped apart and being on my ninth month.  I think he still feels that and that was all before we knew a name for his problem.  My brothers are good never said anything negative to him and never reminded him of that time period either they accept him as he is.  My family is supportive.

Hey Sonya

I dont' think you are stuck up. I can relate to that. I have a business wasting away in the wings. I have the tallent, but not the organizational skills to run the business, and keep on task. And esspecially with the added stresses of staying home with two kids.

My biggest sense of failure comes from not finishing things.

No Sonya,

it's not stuck up! I reckon if I ever finished something I would then have to start a new thing, and that is just as hard as finishing the first thing, so it seems it is easier to have one thing unfinished than finish and start a new thing. Both of them are difficult!

I used to be able to say I was writing a song on my guitar, except it was 3 years later and I still only had 1 verse and half the chorus that I kept going over and couldn't think of any more decent lyrics. Then one day last year I thought of more lyrics while riding to the shops and I had to stop and write them down quickly before I forgot.

Then I rushed home and finished the song, and then I could play it to my friends. I really did feel fantastic that I now had a song I had written all by myself, but I doubt I will ever have the energy to start writing another one if the first one took 3 years.

People would say thats a great song  write 10 more, and I really have to laugh!!

 

I really hope you finish your painting Sonya, and then finish 10 more!

There is one area in which I get great satisfaction in being able to complete what I'm doing, and that is each time I complete a post to this board.    Fortunately, we have all the time we need to compose replies to these topics and one another's posts.   However, just knowing I actually follow through on this forum is very gratifying!    And it's actually all of you who give me the motivation I need to accomplish this. Thank you!

I really think that having unfinished tasks gives me something to worry about and gives me a sense of purpose. That's why I can never finish things. I forget that someone might be waiting for it.

When I start doing a task I become so engrossed in the process of doing it, I forget that I should just do something quickly and finish it, so I do everything very slowly. I don;t know how to finish something quickly and move onto the next thing.

I am supposed to paint the front door of my house, but I have been going to do this for the last 2 months. I haven't even got around to getting the tin of paint out of the cupboard. This gives me something to worry about.

When I finally start painting, it will probably take me another 2 months to finish it. This gives me something to talk about and give me a sense of purpose in my life. Otherwise when people ask me what I am doing I would have to say nothing at all! Now I can say I am painting!

I think I secretly enjoy having unfinished things, who knows?

Eliza! I just read another post of your about not finishing things. It must have struck a cord with you, got ya thinking about not finishing things, didn't it? Your posts have got me thinking too.

I can relate to it taking you two months to finish painting, and then when someone asks you what you've been doing, you can honestly say "Painting!" I'm that way with books. My sister would ask if I've been reading at all, and I can honestly say 'yes.' But I don't add that it's been the same book for 3 months. Actually, now that she knows about my ADHD, she will ask me which book, and that kind of puts me on the spot.

I started a cross-stitch for a friend's Xmas gift three years ago (or was it four?) Anyway, I kept moving it up, first to her birthday, then xmas again, and then house warming gift, and on and on. I'm actually finished except for the outlining of a little, bitty part. I just haven't been able to find the correct color thread in the stores. Now, am I just procrastinating or just haven't tried enough stores? She's starting to tease me now about the project. I finally showed it to her, just to show that I did get most of it done.

I never finished piano lessons, or dance lessons, or language lessons. I think the reason for those incompletions was I wanted instant results, without practicing.

Perhaps we do enjoy not having things completed? Maybe it gives us a guarantee of something to look forward to? Who knows? *shrug* GypsyWomyn38451.6571296296I don't enjoy not getting anything finished.  it thoroughly frustrates me to no end.  I feel confident that I could be SO MUCH BETTER if i could just finish things.  My life would be better.  my not being able to finish anything makes me feel lower than everybody else and worthless...Oh, Sonya, honey, you are not worthless! Never, Ever! I also feel frustrated when it comes to not getting tasks done, like my dishes, laundry, cleaning. Those not being done can bring me down something awful! But undone projects like my cross-stitch aren't as frustrating and something I can live with. But when I look at my place...the harder I try, the worse things get! GypsyWomyn38451.9123148148I do manage finish things but its 3 years later after I forgot what project it is (so it appears new) and theres nothing much to finish.

I hope I don't sound stuck up, and I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but i KNOW i could make money with my art if i managed to finish anything.  I feel like i am "wasting my talents", "dawdling my life away" in little worthless penny-patter jobs that make a little $$ here and little $$ there, that I hate so bad that I dread getting up in the morning....

I know I suck as a housewife, because I can never finish or even start anything.  My house is just a big pile of junk.  It's very fortunate that I have an ad/hd husband that understands me so much. otherwise this would probably cause me severe marital problems....

But not being able to finish things have been my curse since childhood...

oh well. life goes on.