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> I've never wrote any documentation before, and always struggled with writing descriptive content. Respectfully, I don't believe you think it's boring, but th

by bane 5y ago

> I've never wrote any documentation before, and always struggled with writing descriptive content. Respectfully, I don't believe you think it's boring, but that you don't know what makes the task successful. To compensate for this you've used the very common strategy of mentally categorizing the task as "beneath you" ergo "boring". In this case, there's plenty of great suggestions already here, but the most important one is to become aware of this mindset and work to overcome it. Writing, of any kind, requires some measure of creativity. Documentation can be tedious. But is this any different from writing software! You need a strategy that taps into what you enjoy and already have, that makes the tedious bits effortlessly fall into the background. In my case I ask myself this question "how can I make this task interesting? (but also accomplish it on time)" and then simply make a game of it. But that might not work for you. I know one person who looks at documentation as "programming other people to be able to work with the tool he developed". If people read the documentation and can't use the tool, then it's a bug to be squashed and the programming language to use is "English".

gremlinsinc 5y ago
I'd disagree... I often feel a task is 'boring', or maybe 'complicated' and it's not that It's beneath me, it's that it feels like it'll overwhelm my ADHD brain, so I procrastinate till the last minute, at which the adrenaline makes me do the best job i ever would have anyways... but boring is why I don't do a lot of things I should... even as a kid my biggest fear when doing anything was being 'bored'... I have a very talkative inner monologue and I guess we don't like having to talk to each other, when you're not 'bored' you're too busy to be contemplating stuff.. Probably why I also spend a lot of time needing new input from reddit or hackernews... Though I have been meditating more, and when I found out I had ADHD at 38, meds helped greatly... My advice for tasks like this though is set a deadline, and if you miss the deadline it's fine..but it'll put you into oh shit it's due mode, and you'll get the procrastination inspiration to finish it. Alternately schedule on the calendar dedicated times when you'll either work on it or stare at the computer monitor and work on nothing else and no interruptions... maybe you can use a journal and free-write shit or doodle if you are doing a creative task like writing and are 'blocked' ..it sometimes helps get unblocked to just stare at a doodle as your subconscious churns..
throwawaydoc22 5y ago
Thanks, I like the idea of looking at documentation as "programming other people to be able to work with the tool he developed". When I said boring, I didn't mean it to be "beaneath me". On the contrary, I actually find it quite challenging, but not the kind of challenges that I enjoy. For some reason, I simply hate doing it.

by bane 5y ago

gremlinsinc 5y ago

I'd disagree... I often feel a task is 'boring', or maybe 'complicated' and it's not that It's beneath me, it's that it feels like it'll overwhelm my ADHD brain, so I procrastinate till the last minute, at which the adrenaline makes me do the best job i ever would have anyways... but boring is why I don't do a lot of things I should... even as a kid my biggest fear when doing anything was being 'bored'... I have a very talkative inner monologue and I guess we don't like having to talk to each other, when you're not 'bored' you're too busy to be contemplating stuff.. Probably why I also spend a lot of time needing new input from reddit or hackernews... Though I have been meditating more, and when I found out I had ADHD at 38, meds helped greatly... My advice for tasks like this though is set a deadline, and if you miss the deadline it's fine..but it'll put you into oh shit it's due mode, and you'll get the procrastination inspiration to finish it. Alternately schedule on the calendar dedicated times when you'll either work on it or stare at the computer monitor and work on nothing else and no interruptions... maybe you can use a journal and free-write shit or doodle if you are doing a creative task like writing and are 'blocked' ..it sometimes helps get unblocked to just stare at a doodle as your subconscious churns..

throwawaydoc22 5y ago

Thanks, I like the idea of looking at documentation as "programming other people to be able to work with the tool he developed". When I said boring, I didn't mean it to be "beaneath me". On the contrary, I actually find it quite challenging, but not the kind of challenges that I enjoy. For some reason, I simply hate doing it.