No matter what the request, Adults with ADHD have difficulty with turning others down. There are many different reasons why it is hard for an Adult with ADHD to say no. First, we often say yes to something without taken the think about. Secondly, Adults with ADHD can be interested in so many different things, we have a hard time deciding, so we say yes to everything.
To help yourself decide whether you should say yes or no to a particular request follow these tips
· Think about what you are saying to yourself, when you are saying yes to a request, when you should be saying no. Is it fear that someone will be angry with you if you say no. Are you afraid that you will lose a person’s love, respect or resource if you don’t say yes? Or will you feel like a disappointed with yourself if you say no. Indentify your thoughts in order to examine it.
· Once you have figured out why you cannot say no, Assess the validity of that thought. Would the person making the request really be mad at you or lose your respect if you said no. Does saying no every once in awhile make you a bad person or does this actually mean you are taking care of you and your priorities. When avoiding burnout, you can make certain you can really be there for someone else when it really counts
· Generate a new thought to replace the old one. For example, instead of I have to say yes or I will be a terrible person. You can say to yourself that by saying no I am making the right choice and now I can invest my time and energy more effectively.