AuDHD and Motivation

Lessons and resources to understanding the neurotype's conflicting needs & ways of being with an ADHD and Autistic bodymind

location Raleigh,  NC,  US

Realizing, exploring, and seeking understanding of my neurodivergence has been around neuronormative concepts of productivity—slowly dismantling life-long internalized ableism, compounded by lack of awareness & self criticism.

The things I beat myself up for has changed. These are the things that I know how to do but just can't seem to. Or, things I have to get done but get distracted by more interesting or lesser things. The self criticism still happens, but I try to do it less. Each morning is a new, different day.

Most of this change has been wrought through diverse, intersectional research—passive via social streams, active via the internet, books, and reflection—into ADHD, Autism, Disability, neuroscience, gender, labor, and a slew of others.

Today, I'm focusing on one of the biggies—

motivation.

Introduction

Context & Perspective

I'm sharing these thoughts and advice coming from a complex neurotype of AuDHD. AuDHD is a name coined by its community for differentiating the gap between lived experiences of ADHD and Autism. They're closely related in many ways, with similar behavior patterns and diagnostic criteria, and a very high comorbidity rate with the two.

When talking about ADHD or Autism, below, I'm coming from a place of unraveling the threads of both. Seeking understanding around the internal & external Chaos of ADHD and a need for structural & logical Order as they Conflict, Clash, and Conflue.

Neuroaffirmative

When sharing any resources, I try to make sure the ones I use are founded in science and lived experiences.

The Pathology Paradigm—the framework that Autism or ADHD are things that need to "be fixed" or "a disorder" or something that "needs a cure." I more closely align with the Neurodiversity Paradigm.

This comes down to the fact that brains & minds are diverse, there's no "normal" or "right" style of mind, and social dynamics that manifest from neurodivergence also manifest in other forms of diversity.1

There's a lot of resources out nowadays around ADHD, Autism, and AuDHD. There's also a lot of people that think it's a way to make easy money, or come up with things or concepts that don't have any grounding in the scientific method or thoroughly cited research.

Understanding Motivation

There are a few things that ground understanding Motivation—my relationship with it, experience of it, and difficulty in finding it. Most come down to the fact of my bodymind is Differently Wired; thus—I need Different Things to spark momentum, cultivating combustion.

Interest-based Nervous Systems

Neurotypicals—people who aren't neurodivergent; "normal people"—have an importance-based nervous system, versus AuDHDers—also inclusive of ADHDers and Austists. When taking a look at motivation, it's a critical framework of the neurotype to understand.

  • Importance-based systems prioritize tasks based on responsibility and external pressures.
  • Interest-based systems drive motivation through personal engagement and curiosity2

It's a framework for understanding how our brains respond to stimuli and regulate attention based on personal interest rather than importance or reward. 3

The AuDHD brain needs different motivators than "you gotta," "this is important," "if you don't, shit happens." There's an acronym, PINCH that's helpful for remembering more aligned, core motivators for AuDHDers:

  • Passion (And I like to add Play): Engaging in activities that are enjoyable and intrinsically motivating.
  • Interest: Focusing on tasks that are inherently fascinating and captivating.
  • Novelty: Seeking out new, shiny, and exciting experiences to maintain engagement.
  • Competition (Cooperation or Challenge): Adding an element of competition, working cooperatively, or turning tasks into challenges to make them more engaging.
  • Hurry (Urgency): Completing tasks under time pressure to create a sense of urgency. 4

It's why "just do it" is a shitty slogan, phrase, and aphorism that gets bandied about.

"Just do it" does not work for us.

For ADHDers, there's the Novelty-Urgency-Interest Triad, where motivation is a construct within a complex coalescence of need. For Autists, there's the monotropic trait where minds have attention pulled more strongly towrds a smaller number of interests at any given time, leaving fewer resources for other processes.5 .

Time; Transitions; and Inertia

One of my biggest challenges, ADHD-wise, is the concept of time. I'm time-blind in many ways, and don't necessarily orient myself in a single stream or flow of time. When you're doing something new, say traveling to a new place, it can seem like time slows down. Your brain is sponging up and taking in all the new things that it usually blurs & blends away from conscious awareness because its a lazy muscle that tries to take as many shortcuts it can.

Time is a thing that can be a contributing factor to motivation—e.g. the Novelty-Urgency-Interest Triad—supplying the urgency to a situation to create that motivation. I wish artificial, self-imposed deadlines worked for me (if they do for you, fantastic! Use that tool!). Alas.

So, when sitting down to do a thing I need to do, that I plan to do, I have to think what transition would be the most beneficial to get that done. If it's at the computer, is there something I can do to help me point my focus towards the thing to get done? Can I give myself 15 min of "fun time" before (as a motivator) and 15-min of "fun time" after as a reward? Understanding and planning for transitions—both in-to and out-of—is one of my biggest motivation hacks that helps move more fluidly through spacetime.

Borrowing from the Autistic Community, there's also a concept they've named called autistic inertia. This borrow-word from physics stays true to its original meaning—the tendency that objects have to either continue moving or staying still. In autistic inertia, getting started is the difficult challenge. It's from the executive function challenges shared with ADHD (planning, prioritizing, and task switching), movement (starting, follow-through, stopping), and arousal (depersonalization, apathy, detachment)6 . Just doing the thing is hard—like a flywheel, it's hard to get started but once you do...it goes a lot easier.

This is why I clump these three concepts together, around motivation. It's not "motivation" in a classic sense. It's about creating the time, space, and momentum for doing.

  • Create bounds of time, and plan to do a thing in that time.
  • Plan in transitions to get the thing done, so that it's easier to get into it and come out.
  • Checking off smaller, tangential tasks can build inertia for getting the thing done easier (also could be part of the transition).

Rhythms & Practices

For me, one of the best things around motivation is trying to create the structures and environment that help me get things done when I don't have motivation to do the things. The meds? They help...tremendously. They bring me clarity, focus, and help me find words I'd normally not have access to.

But they're not all that I need, when intentionally curating my environment & practices.

I need the structure of doing things through a routine, and being very mindful of the area around me. Noise cancelling headphones are a godsend. As is a quiet place. Then, rather than working towards goals I orient myself towards maintaining rhythms & practices that move me towards getting things done. Not always in one go. Progress is progress.

Even within a rhythm—or routine—there's variability based on need. Sometimes, I'll come to a moment of the day and be like, "I need to do something fun for a bit." That's fuel for my other times.

This comes down to understanding what your own cycles, rhythms, and needs are. When do you feel the best with what you're working on? Are you a morning person and need to schedule the "getting shit done" time in the morning when executive function is strongest? When you don't sleep well, how does your interest & ability to get things done change from there? Understanding what works best for you is important. This can be:

  1. Biological rhythms: Circadian cycles and hormonal fluctuations can impact ADHD symptoms.
  2. Environmental stressors: Work deadlines, social pressures, or changes in routine can trigger shifts in ADHD cycles.
  3. Medication effects: For those on ADHD medication, the effectiveness can vary throughout the day, influencing symptom intensity.
  4. Sleep patterns: Quality and quantity of sleep significantly affect ADHD symptoms and cycle intensity.
  5. Diet and exercise: Nutritional intake and physical activity levels can modulate ADHD symptoms and cycle duration. 7

Energy & Spoons

Managing energy is a big thing. AuDHD wise, I need to do things that I enjoy and that get me moving. If I don't, I won't be able to get the other things done that I need to. Often times, I have to reflect and take a look at the balance of my energy givers and energy takers. If there's something in the day that will take a lot of energy to do—physical, mental, spiritual, social—I have to plan the rest of the day around that. If it's a big taker, I need to build energy towards the moment, then off-ramp and decompressing after.

It's similar to the psychedelic tripping concept of Set and Setting. I need to make sure I come into the experience or task—set—with the "right" mindset or my mind will work against me. At the same time, even if coming into the thing with a good (mind)set...but the Setting is off—unfamiliar, distracting, socially unsafe—there's an additional barrier to doing the thing.

There's a concept of spoon theory that's been around the Disability Community for a long while now. Originally written and introduced by Christine Miserandino in 2011, Spoon Theory is a way she described how she managed energies as someone with Lupus, to a friend.

To simplify it, each spoon equals a unit of energy.

People who are not living with health conditions often wake up with an unlimited amount of energy. They can get out of bed, shower, dress, make meals, exercise, go to work, visit friends – all without a great deal of thought or planning.

However, people living with physical health conditions, disabilities or mental illnesses may only start out each day with a certain amount of energy – or spoons. It varies person to person, and only you know how many spoons you have. 8

Being aware of your spoons, and how you use your spoons, and making sure you have enough for the next and coming days is important. If you don't have the energy or spoons for something, and you're trying to "just do it" and motivate yourself that way—for me, I know, I'd be doomed to fail.

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  1. Walker, N. (2013). Throw Away the Master’s Tools: Liberating Ourselves from the Pathology Paradigm. Neuroqueer. Retrieved July 9, 2025, from https://neuroqueer.com/throw-away-the-masters-tools/ ↩
  2. Neff, M. A. (n.d.). Interest-Based Nervous System: Understanding ADHD and motivation - Neurodivergent Insights. Neurodivergent Insights. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/interest-based-nervous-system/ ↩
  3. NeuroLaunch.com. (2024, August 4). The Interest-Based Nervous System: Understanding its impact on ADHD and beyond. https://neurolaunch.com/interest-based-nervous-system/ ↩
  4. also comes from Dr. Megan Anna Neff's Neurodivergent Insights article, Interest-Based Nervous System. A direct quote. ↩
  5. Monotropism. (2022, May 19). Monotropism. https://monotropism.org/ ↩
  6. Buckle, K. L. (2022, May 27). The initiative Triad – Autistic Inertia. Autistic Inertia. https://autisticinertia.com/2022/05/the-initiative-triad/ ↩
  7. NeuroLaunch.com. (2024b, August 4). Understanding ADHD cycles: Navigating the ups and downs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. https://neurolaunch.com/adhd-cycles/ ↩
  8. Charity, B. (2023, April 20). What’s spoon theory? The metaphor helping people with chronic illnesses and disabilities plan their days. Support for Neurological Conditions | the Brain Charity. https://www.thebraincharity.org.uk/whats-spoon-theory/ ↩