Procrastination and ADHD

If you have ADHD, or suspect you do, procrastination often has an extra layer: low dopamine and executive function challenges make starting genuinely harder than it is for neurotypical students. The strategies above still work, but you may benefit from a more structured framework.

The INCUP framework was developed specifically for ADHD brains. Use any of these levers to make a task accessible:

  • Interest – Connect the task to something you genuinely care about.
  • Novelty – Change the tool, environment, or approach.
  • Challenge – Turn it into a game with a goal you can hit.
  • Urgency – Set a tight deadline (even an artificial one).
  • Passion – Link it to a longer-term goal that matters to you.

If you're a Monash student with ADHD, the Neurodiverse Resource Centre offers a number of opportunities and support.

Where can you get help at Monash?

You don't have to figure this out alone.

The Neurodiverse Resource Centre is the place to start if you have ADHD, autism, or another neurodivergent condition. It runs weekly support meetings for students with a formal ADHD diagnosis, a graduate ADHD social group, and the Wellbeing Hub on campus. Visit the Neurodiverse Resource Centre to register or learn more.

Focused Study Sessions are guided drop-in study blocks held at Matheson and Caulfield libraries during most weeks of the semester. They're built around body doubling which is an effective practice of studying alongside other people who are also studying. You can find more information here.

1:1 consultations and workshops put you in direct contact with Monash's Learning Advisers, who can offer tailored support and expert advice on whatever's getting in your way. Whether you're stuck on a single assignment or want to rebuild your approach to study more broadly, both options are free and open to all Monash students. Book a consultation or browse upcoming workshops.

Monash counselling services can help if your procrastination is tied to anxiety, depression, perfectionism, or burnout. Procrastination that's getting worse, not better, often signals something underneath that's worth talking through.You can find help here.

References

Sirois, F. and Pychyl, T. (2013) Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2). 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011

Fenton, A. (2025). Steel, P. (2010). The procrastination equation: How to stop putting things off and start getting stuff done. HarperCollins.

Taking it further