When do you feel most productive?

Ok, as a teacher, I recognize that this is probably one of the worst truths to admit but I promise that I have a great reason!

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I have ADHD.

Even though I had no diagnoses as a child or teen (to my recollection), as soon as my 20s came, so did my alphabet soup. PTSD, OCD, GAD, D (Depression), and ADHD. I had been living with and battling them since I was six years old but I did not know. (In hindsight, I wonder if the doctors had told my mom and she just chose not to tell me… 🤔.) I digress. Each one of those diagnoses comes with its own set of blessings and burdens:

• Blessings: I value genuine relationships (PTSD), I’m very organized (OCD), I think many steps ahead (GAD), I truly appreciate the power of vitamin D (Depression), and I have amazing secretarial skills (ADHD)
• Burdens: I have unannounced flashbacks of my trauma (PTSD), the pursuit of perfection is often debilitating (OCD), I’m overly anxious and worrisome (GAD), I isolate and escape to dark places in my mind (Depression), and I procrastinate excessively (ADHD)

Considering my blessings and burdens, it should come as no surprise that I feel most productive when I am at the 11th hour, desperately trying to finish something before its deadline (FOR SHAME!!! 🫠😂).

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), I learned in undergrad that I thrive under pressure. At the last minute when I have no room for error, I tend to produce better quality work than I do compared to earlier submitted content. My procrastinated projects have fewer grammatical errors, richer content, and more heart than work that I submit far in advance of a deadline. Not to mention, the fruit of my procrastination is often better received, garnering more praise than my other work.

This is definitely something that a teacher should NOT be saying, but my truth is my truth- I’m most productive when I procrastinate 🙃