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You nailed it on the end for me as an Adult with ADHD diagnosed in my 30s. Motivation has been my biggest A-Ha with ADHD and trying my absolute best to align w

You nailed it on the end for me as an Adult with ADHD diagnosed in my 30s. Motivation has been my biggest A-Ha with ADHD and trying my absolute best to align what I do with what I want to do otherwise I am setting myself up for failure and others for disappointment with me.

acchow 3y ago
Learning to create motivation is the ultimate hack for insufficient executive function. People tend to think of motivation as some innate property of your person. But it's actually an emotional response to inputs.
- anoojb 3y ago
  Seems like you're describing motivation as a psychological skill that can be cultivated beyond some innate baseline. How does this work?
  - btilly 3y ago
    It is. I've been trying to offer tips on how it works in my comments in this discussion. If you want some personal books for yourself, try Meditations (by Marcus Aurelius), The Gentle Art of Not Giving a F_ck, and Atomic Habits. If you want some management books to help with your team, try Peopleware (a classic), First, Break All The Rules (much better than the title suggests), and Tribal Leadership.
- copperx 3y ago
  I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter, if what you say is true. Can you expound on that idea?
- ip26 3y ago
  It’s more insidious. The condition mucks with your priorities & how you think you should approach problems, so even if you know how to hack yourself to be motivated, will it be for the right things? As far as I can tell, focus and motivation are just a symptom of the deeper discomfort and anxiety caused by lower neurotransmitter levels. In turn, that shapes your relationship with the world.
- krono 3y ago
  ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The symptoms of this disorder are caused by physical differences in the brain, right there in the prefrontal cortex where those responses to inputs are generated. It sometimes happens that I just physically can't bring myself to complete some simple but important chore. That's not because I'm mentally weak, but because my ADHD brain does not provide the right amount of dopamine which everyone else with a more typical brain would get.
  - gmadsen 3y ago
    ADHD is diagnosed by the occurance of defined symptoms. like most things in the DSM. Many things can manifest psychologically to give the collection of symptoms. Its not purely or even needs to be structural differences in the prefrontal cortex
    - btilly 3y ago
      I prefer the procedure from 20 years ago. Where ADHD was defined by having the systems, and then testing every other thing that it could be. It took my son 2 months to be officially diagnosed. A real pain? Sure. But a heck of a lot better than the situation today where kids with chronic sleep deprivation are given an ADHD diagnosis, then sent home with a medication that masks the sleep deprivation while giving them insomnia.
      - throwaway60707 3y ago
        My ADHD medication (yes, stimulants - and a pretty high dosage in my case) causes me to slow down and sleep. Then I wake up about an hour or so after taking it and am a normal person. I was diagnosed as an adult, but this was always the case for me - as a teen I drank 3 redbulls in the evening and went to sleep, because I finally could as my brain stopped keeping me awake with millions of thoughts.
        sgarland 3y ago
        I would drink about a pot of coffee per day as a teenager, throughout the day. Never had any impact on my sleep either, which I always assumed was just tolerance. Turns out once medicated, if I have caffeine after about 15:00 I’m in for a bad night. Brains are extremely weird.
ChrisRR 3y ago
Motivation has always been my biggest issue, even for relatively small tasks like picking up a wrapper after I've snacked. It's not just the big things like trying to concentrate at work, it even stops you doing relatively short, low effort tasks until everything builds up or it becomes too late

acchow 3y ago

Learning to create motivation is the ultimate hack for insufficient executive function. People tend to think of motivation as some innate property of your person. But it's actually an emotional response to inputs.

anoojb 3y ago
Seems like you're describing motivation as a psychological skill that can be cultivated beyond some innate baseline. How does this work?
- btilly 3y ago
  It is. I've been trying to offer tips on how it works in my comments in this discussion. If you want some personal books for yourself, try Meditations (by Marcus Aurelius), The Gentle Art of Not Giving a F_ck, and Atomic Habits. If you want some management books to help with your team, try Peopleware (a classic), First, Break All The Rules (much better than the title suggests), and Tribal Leadership.
copperx 3y ago
I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter, if what you say is true. Can you expound on that idea?
ip26 3y ago
It’s more insidious. The condition mucks with your priorities & how you think you should approach problems, so even if you know how to hack yourself to be motivated, will it be for the right things? As far as I can tell, focus and motivation are just a symptom of the deeper discomfort and anxiety caused by lower neurotransmitter levels. In turn, that shapes your relationship with the world.
krono 3y ago
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The symptoms of this disorder are caused by physical differences in the brain, right there in the prefrontal cortex where those responses to inputs are generated. It sometimes happens that I just physically can't bring myself to complete some simple but important chore. That's not because I'm mentally weak, but because my ADHD brain does not provide the right amount of dopamine which everyone else with a more typical brain would get.
- gmadsen 3y ago
  ADHD is diagnosed by the occurance of defined symptoms. like most things in the DSM. Many things can manifest psychologically to give the collection of symptoms. Its not purely or even needs to be structural differences in the prefrontal cortex
  - btilly 3y ago
    I prefer the procedure from 20 years ago. Where ADHD was defined by having the systems, and then testing every other thing that it could be. It took my son 2 months to be officially diagnosed. A real pain? Sure. But a heck of a lot better than the situation today where kids with chronic sleep deprivation are given an ADHD diagnosis, then sent home with a medication that masks the sleep deprivation while giving them insomnia.
    - throwaway60707 3y ago
      My ADHD medication (yes, stimulants - and a pretty high dosage in my case) causes me to slow down and sleep. Then I wake up about an hour or so after taking it and am a normal person. I was diagnosed as an adult, but this was always the case for me - as a teen I drank 3 redbulls in the evening and went to sleep, because I finally could as my brain stopped keeping me awake with millions of thoughts.
      - sgarland 3y ago
        I would drink about a pot of coffee per day as a teenager, throughout the day. Never had any impact on my sleep either, which I always assumed was just tolerance. Turns out once medicated, if I have caffeine after about 15:00 I’m in for a bad night. Brains are extremely weird.

ChrisRR 3y ago

Motivation has always been my biggest issue, even for relatively small tasks like picking up a wrapper after I've snacked. It's not just the big things like trying to concentrate at work, it even stops you doing relatively short, low effort tasks until everything builds up or it becomes too late