What Does "Side Quest" Mean?
Share
What Does "Side Quest" Mean? (And Why Your ADHD Brain Is a Level 97 Champion at Them)
– A dangerously informative post from the Department of Avoiding What You’re Supposed To Be Doing.
Let’s start with the obvious.
You googled “side quest meaning” because you’re either:
A) Avoiding an actual task
B) Mid-task but emotionally dissociating
C) Writing a productivity blog post and got distracted by the fridge (again)
Either way: welcome, fellow dopamine-hungry squirrel-person. You’re among friends.
🎮 So, What Is a Side Quest?
In the gaming world, a side quest is that totally optional mission that you take on when you're supposed to be saving the world. You know — instead of defeating the final boss, you're helping a farmer find his missing chickens, learning blacksmithing, or collecting 47 rare mushrooms for no reason except ✨vibes✨.
Now translate that to real life:
You’re supposed to finish your taxes.
Instead, you decide this is the perfect time to alphabetize your spice rack by country of origin.
That’s not procrastination. That’s a side quest.
And if you're neurodivergent — ADHD, autistic, or just “neurospicy with a side of chaos” — you’ve likely got an internal radar that can locate every side quest in a 5-mile radius while completely forgetting your original objective.
🧠 ADHD and Side Quests: A Love Story
ADHD isn’t about being lazy. It’s about being incredibly active in the wrong direction — but like, impressively so.
You’re not dodging the main quest (finish the report, send the email, pay the bill).
You're just fully committed to every other possible quest on the map.
- Cleaned the windows? ✅
- Built a Lego replica of your anxiety? ✅
- Started learning Finnish at 2AM because a TikTok made it look fun? ✅
Your brain craves novelty, stimulation, and reward. Side quests? They're tiny, delicious dopamine bombs. And honestly, finishing the main quest is way less satisfying than organizing your bookshelf by emotional trauma category.
☕ The Mug That Gets It
If your idea of “a productive day” looks like this:
- Laundry: 0%
- Reading up on the mating habits of octopuses: 100%
- Felt mildly attacked by a to-do list and took a three-hour detour into Pinterest? 💯
Then say hello to your new emotional support item:
👉 “I’m Not Procrastinating. I’m Doing Side Quests” Mug
Made for the chronically distracted, delightfully avoidant, and proudly neurodivergent. This isn’t just ceramic. This is a battle flag for productive procrastinators everywhere.
Use it to:
- Signal to your coworkers that you're on a sacred mission
- Justify reorganizing your entire workspace instead of replying to Slack
- Remind yourself that joy is also a valid objective
🗺️ Productive Procrastination: A Strategic Framework (Sort Of)
Let’s reframe this whole “procrastination” slander.
Productive procrastination = side quests = sneaky progress.
You may not have written the paper, but you cleaned your desktop, googled “medieval battle tactics,” and finally fixed that squeaky chair. Boom. Life upgraded.
Call it "executive function rerouting." Call it "dopaminergic optimization."
Or just call it “getting sidetracked in a deeply meaningful way.”
TL;DR (Because Let’s Be Real)
Side quest meaning?
It’s a detour. It’s a distraction. It’s a divine reallocation of energy toward things that feel good even if they aren’t “the goal.”
Side quests are how neurodivergent folks find joy, motivation, and surprise competence in chaos. Embrace them.
ADHD brain?
Built for side quests.
This mug?
Your party companion in the daily RPG that is life with executive dysfunction.
Buy the mug. Embrace the detour.
And maybe — maybe — reply to that email… tomorrow.