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I have ASD and ADHD and for me the problem isn't an inability to focus on boring tasks. It is a compulsion to be doing something other than whatever it is I'm c

I have ASD and ADHD and for me the problem isn't an inability to focus on boring tasks. It is a compulsion to be doing something other than whatever it is I'm currently doing. It isn't just work related tasks either. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I always feel compelled to be somewhere else doing something else. For example, in work situations, I'll do things like take a programming job writing C++ code and then slack off all the time to study Python. It gets particularly bad if I'm distracted. Open office environments are the worst for me. I'm absolutely crippled by them. Outside of work, if I go on a dinner date, I'll not talk to the woman and rush through the meal because I feel compelled to leave. I hate sitting through movies because I feel trapped, so I'll watch movies on streaming services instead and watch them in 10 to 20 minute increments. The compulsion to be elsewhere has gotten a lot worse as I've gotten older. The only three things I've found that kind of help are Adderall, Cannabis, and listening to Isochronic Tones while I'm working. None of them work all the time though.

bratwurst3000 5y ago
Same here. The impuls to do other things is controlling me and cannabis and adderal are the only help. Its frustrating because people feel i want to do something else.
spiralx 5y ago
Ketamine really cuts through that compulsion, to the point where I find I get stuff done when I take it. It's very much a trade-off between capability and contentment, and it's nice to be enjoy the moment once in a while. I wouldn't be commenting in this post if it weren't for that fact lol.
throwaway2331 5y ago
Have you tried a "dopamine" (see: habit/reward) fast? I've found I can temporarily hard-reset my "go go go" inclinations, by starving my behavior-reward system of hyper-stimulus (i.e. anything modern; e.g. internet at all, media/music/video, books, rich food, comfortable things, things that I'm "moved" to do). It's basically a "monk" mode where you only surround yourself with relatively low-stimulus stimulus (for example, rich, complex, and tasteful meals would be replaced with bland, tasteless, only-whats-necessary-for-nutrition meals). And this would extend to every single thing in your life (by force), until your reward pathways have downregulated back to a more productive state. I've found it helpful to do on days without medication (weekends), so at the very least I don't become a soulless robot over the years, and still retain some semblance of a personality (and individual choice). > Isochronic Tones I've been inadvertently doing this with Voicemeeter. You can activate "cross channel," and mess with the equalizer, so any sort of music you listen to has that same stimulating "wave" that keeps you in the loop. On medication, it definitely stops me from hopping around, and going down dead-end alleyways.

bratwurst3000 5y ago

Same here. The impuls to do other things is controlling me and cannabis and adderal are the only help. Its frustrating because people feel i want to do something else.

spiralx 5y ago

Ketamine really cuts through that compulsion, to the point where I find I get stuff done when I take it. It's very much a trade-off between capability and contentment, and it's nice to be enjoy the moment once in a while. I wouldn't be commenting in this post if it weren't for that fact lol.

throwaway2331 5y ago

Have you tried a "dopamine" (see: habit/reward) fast? I've found I can temporarily hard-reset my "go go go" inclinations, by starving my behavior-reward system of hyper-stimulus (i.e. anything modern; e.g. internet at all, media/music/video, books, rich food, comfortable things, things that I'm "moved" to do). It's basically a "monk" mode where you only surround yourself with relatively low-stimulus stimulus (for example, rich, complex, and tasteful meals would be replaced with bland, tasteless, only-whats-necessary-for-nutrition meals). And this would extend to every single thing in your life (by force), until your reward pathways have downregulated back to a more productive state. I've found it helpful to do on days without medication (weekends), so at the very least I don't become a soulless robot over the years, and still retain some semblance of a personality (and individual choice). > Isochronic Tones I've been inadvertently doing this with Voicemeeter. You can activate "cross channel," and mess with the equalizer, so any sort of music you listen to has that same stimulating "wave" that keeps you in the loop. On medication, it definitely stops me from hopping around, and going down dead-end alleyways.