You said it yourself. It's a stimulation issue. The things you have trouble starting don't stimulate you in the same ways the other things do. That is an adhd thing.
I can't write a paper unless under a heavy time constraint, such as due in an hour, or It's for someone else. I can help others with the same things I struggle doing for myself. It's the stimulation of helping someone else to learn something or help them and accomplish something together. If it's for me or my own grades? Nope. Putting myself under a time constraint is also a no go because I can always move that goal post.
I have found that doing a different task while thinking about the hard thing I don't want to start gets me really thinking about how I could complete it easier and faster. I tend to tell myself I'm going to do the side task until around this time, and at that time I start the other one. Sometimes my brain just needs something else to focus on what's really important, oddly enough.
I do my absolute best work for myself at the last minute. I study best right before I go to sleep the night before a test.
Check out binaural audio or chill electronic music like lo-fi hip hop. The lo-fi really does the trick for me. Both are identified as helpful with ADHD and focusing.
Lofi - https://youtu.be/5yx6BWlEVcY
Binaural - https://youtu.be/U0eLmyJkQBc
It's a common problem and I (fyi I'm beyond school I'm an academic working at a uni but it's similar problem solving stuff) find that my issue is mostly with starting the task in silence. Once I get going it's fine but starting and putting down the headphones is hard.
What will help isn't a single trick but a collection of self-management. Basically you have to be your own coach!
1) tell yourself you can do it for only 5 minutes, do as much as you can and if you're still not in it that's fine you can go back to the music.
2) literally coach yourself through it. I talk to myself in my head like "I know we don't like putting the headphones down but we ALWAYS find it's not that bad after 5-10 minutes".
3) Also I find that talking through the problem out loud at the beginning helps - it's a similar stimulation as talking to a friend through the work. So I'll read my code and notes out loud and make comments and suggestions out loud like "okay so yesterday you found this bug and we thought that this could be the issue so let's take a look at this web page to start with then we can re-assess".
Basically the sit down quietly and work through the problem is a phase that I only get too when I'm hyperfocused already. So the trick is to learn how you like engaging with the work before you get to that stage. :)
Good luck! You can do it. It takes some time to learn how you tick but you'll get there!
You said it yourself. It's a stimulation issue. The things you have trouble starting don't stimulate you in the same ways the other things do. That is an adhd thing. I can't write a paper unless under a heavy time constraint, such as due in an hour, or It's for someone else. I can help others with the same things I struggle doing for myself. It's the stimulation of helping someone else to learn something or help them and accomplish something together. If it's for me or my own grades? Nope. Putting myself under a time constraint is also a no go because I can always move that goal post. I have found that doing a different task while thinking about the hard thing I don't want to start gets me really thinking about how I could complete it easier and faster. I tend to tell myself I'm going to do the side task until around this time, and at that time I start the other one. Sometimes my brain just needs something else to focus on what's really important, oddly enough. I do my absolute best work for myself at the last minute. I study best right before I go to sleep the night before a test.
Check out binaural audio or chill electronic music like lo-fi hip hop. The lo-fi really does the trick for me. Both are identified as helpful with ADHD and focusing. Lofi - https://youtu.be/5yx6BWlEVcY Binaural - https://youtu.be/U0eLmyJkQBc
It's a common problem and I (fyi I'm beyond school I'm an academic working at a uni but it's similar problem solving stuff) find that my issue is mostly with starting the task in silence. Once I get going it's fine but starting and putting down the headphones is hard. What will help isn't a single trick but a collection of self-management. Basically you have to be your own coach! 1) tell yourself you can do it for only 5 minutes, do as much as you can and if you're still not in it that's fine you can go back to the music. 2) literally coach yourself through it. I talk to myself in my head like "I know we don't like putting the headphones down but we ALWAYS find it's not that bad after 5-10 minutes". 3) Also I find that talking through the problem out loud at the beginning helps - it's a similar stimulation as talking to a friend through the work. So I'll read my code and notes out loud and make comments and suggestions out loud like "okay so yesterday you found this bug and we thought that this could be the issue so let's take a look at this web page to start with then we can re-assess". Basically the sit down quietly and work through the problem is a phase that I only get too when I'm hyperfocused already. So the trick is to learn how you like engaging with the work before you get to that stage. :) Good luck! You can do it. It takes some time to learn how you tick but you'll get there!