8 ms·

> it solves problems that I don't have, and ignores the ones I do have This is exactly what I suspect of virtually any kind of app, software, platform, etc. I’

> it solves problems that I don't have, and ignores the ones I do have This is exactly what I suspect of virtually any kind of app, software, platform, etc. I’m advertised as intended to help me with ADHD. ADHD is expresses itself in such a broad variety of ways. I just don’t trust that any kind of app is actually so tuned into my experience of ADHD that it could actually be helpful. I hesitate to say this: but, it’s hard hard not to feel offended at times by the ways in which ADHD appears to be radically oversimplified to fit into a narrow product specification and pitched to people who might really need help.

jamiek88 3y ago
Yeah it’s way more than being scatter brained.
kuhewa 3y ago
Productivity apps miss the mark but I get good value out of Forest on Android, just that slight nudge reminding I just absentmindedly picked up my phone to doom scroll and it's only been 12 seconds since the last time I tried is valuable when the executive function is really bad
mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
The problem with any kind of organisational system like GTD, software like Rescuetime, org-mode, and probably this thing, is that they don't really help me because I don't even have the executive function to get started using them in a structured way in the first place. I'm unable to establish routines, and using these things is just yet another routine to fail at. At least this seems to be free to use. I really hate when solutions like this cost money and advertise specifically for ADHD. Because, being impulsive, of course I sign up for the thing, use it for maybe a couple days, then stop using it, but forget to unsubscribe for like 5 months, wasting a bunch of money...
- swifthesitation 3y ago
  I feel seen... Have you been able to find something that works for you?
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
    Well, medication is the main one. Besides that, the main thing I've learned is there's no one-size-fits-all type solution. Sit down and pick one thing you want to improve on, the smaller the better. E.g. procrastination of chores is a big issue for me, and there I realised I'd been looking at it from the wrong point of view. Trying to motivate/schedule chores was completely pointless. The real issue was how easy it was to procrastinate it for something else. Once I reframed it as making procrastination harder, solutions were easier to find. One problem was I would just stop by my computer in the morning to check social media or HN or what have you, and end up sitting there for 5 hours doing various things. So I time-locked my computer using pam_time on linux. Sure, I could perfectly well bypass it by booting up a usb stick and editing the configuration, but that would take time, and some planning(gotta find a usb stick, write an ISO from some old laptop, etc). That provided enough friction to stop the impulse to procrastinate, and enough time to stop and realise I actually can't "just check something real quick", I'll always end up moving from distraction to distraction for hours on end. That's the real issue; the time frame where you actually believe that is short, but long enough to get sucked in. In other words, and it took me years to realise this, the key cause of procrastination is impulsivity, and impulsivity follows the path of least resistance. So if doing the dishes is actually the easiest thing to start doing, that's also what will come to mind.
sureglymop 3y ago
I agree with some exceptions. Apps that take the friction out of certain tedious processes could actually help. Think about an app to order the medication easily or an app to set up an appointment with a psychotherapist easily. Think about how those neo bank applications make banking accessible and easier to people (in certain countries or circumstances). For me, even though I generally dislike apps to do certain processes, I really think digitalization and the fact that I can almost all "adulting responsibility tasks" online is very helpful considering the ADHD. So I think these services always take the wrong approach. Instead of promising to make the ADHD disappear or take a disciplined all-or-nothing blocking approach, they need to consider the fact that people with ADHD are aware that it's a thing they have to life with and generally try to optimize their lives to best cope with it. So any such company should probably take on whatever tasks one has to do in life to survive in general and try to make all of that more accessible and disability-friendly to be of most help. And we still live in a world with a lot of stigma, the ideas that adult ADHD isn't a thing or that medication is outright bad or literally cheating in life, or that ADHD doesn't exist or is overdiagnosed. There's A LOT to tackle in this lane.
- ughitsaaron 3y ago
  Don't get me wrong, I really believe there are helpful tools out there. For instance, Notion has been one of the most genuinely useful applications I've ever used (like, it has genuinely improved my quality of life by helping me organize things for work, my personal life, household chores, side projects, etc). On the other hand, I also see how for others like me with ADHD, something like Notion could be overwhelming and therefore totally useless. I suppose that's my point. ADHD has such a diverse battery of symptoms (many of which are also expressed in other pathologies) that targeting just one of them with an app and then pitching it as "an app to help with ADHD" is very unconvincing (if not downright lazy, if not cynical). An app made to do a generally useful thing pitched to anyone who has the need for that thing, however…
- btilly 3y ago
  I agreed with most of what you said. Right until the end. Medication is a mixed bag. Great for those that it is great for, but not great for others. ADHD is way over diagnosed. Many disorders can cause lack of executive function, and if you have one of those, a specific treatment is better than masking one of the symptoms. Yes. There is a lot to tackle in this lane. But part of it is that we need to clearly understand what the lane actually looks like. It isn't simple.

jamiek88 3y ago

Yeah it’s way more than being scatter brained.

kuhewa 3y ago

Productivity apps miss the mark but I get good value out of Forest on Android, just that slight nudge reminding I just absentmindedly picked up my phone to doom scroll and it's only been 12 seconds since the last time I tried is valuable when the executive function is really bad

mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago

The problem with any kind of organisational system like GTD, software like Rescuetime, org-mode, and probably this thing, is that they don't really help me because I don't even have the executive function to get started using them in a structured way in the first place. I'm unable to establish routines, and using these things is just yet another routine to fail at. At least this seems to be free to use. I really hate when solutions like this cost money and advertise specifically for ADHD. Because, being impulsive, of course I sign up for the thing, use it for maybe a couple days, then stop using it, but forget to unsubscribe for like 5 months, wasting a bunch of money...

swifthesitation 3y ago
I feel seen... Have you been able to find something that works for you?
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
  Well, medication is the main one. Besides that, the main thing I've learned is there's no one-size-fits-all type solution. Sit down and pick one thing you want to improve on, the smaller the better. E.g. procrastination of chores is a big issue for me, and there I realised I'd been looking at it from the wrong point of view. Trying to motivate/schedule chores was completely pointless. The real issue was how easy it was to procrastinate it for something else. Once I reframed it as making procrastination harder, solutions were easier to find. One problem was I would just stop by my computer in the morning to check social media or HN or what have you, and end up sitting there for 5 hours doing various things. So I time-locked my computer using pam_time on linux. Sure, I could perfectly well bypass it by booting up a usb stick and editing the configuration, but that would take time, and some planning(gotta find a usb stick, write an ISO from some old laptop, etc). That provided enough friction to stop the impulse to procrastinate, and enough time to stop and realise I actually can't "just check something real quick", I'll always end up moving from distraction to distraction for hours on end. That's the real issue; the time frame where you actually believe that is short, but long enough to get sucked in. In other words, and it took me years to realise this, the key cause of procrastination is impulsivity, and impulsivity follows the path of least resistance. So if doing the dishes is actually the easiest thing to start doing, that's also what will come to mind.

sureglymop 3y ago

I agree with some exceptions. Apps that take the friction out of certain tedious processes could actually help. Think about an app to order the medication easily or an app to set up an appointment with a psychotherapist easily. Think about how those neo bank applications make banking accessible and easier to people (in certain countries or circumstances). For me, even though I generally dislike apps to do certain processes, I really think digitalization and the fact that I can almost all "adulting responsibility tasks" online is very helpful considering the ADHD. So I think these services always take the wrong approach. Instead of promising to make the ADHD disappear or take a disciplined all-or-nothing blocking approach, they need to consider the fact that people with ADHD are aware that it's a thing they have to life with and generally try to optimize their lives to best cope with it. So any such company should probably take on whatever tasks one has to do in life to survive in general and try to make all of that more accessible and disability-friendly to be of most help. And we still live in a world with a lot of stigma, the ideas that adult ADHD isn't a thing or that medication is outright bad or literally cheating in life, or that ADHD doesn't exist or is overdiagnosed. There's A LOT to tackle in this lane.

ughitsaaron 3y ago
Don't get me wrong, I really believe there are helpful tools out there. For instance, Notion has been one of the most genuinely useful applications I've ever used (like, it has genuinely improved my quality of life by helping me organize things for work, my personal life, household chores, side projects, etc). On the other hand, I also see how for others like me with ADHD, something like Notion could be overwhelming and therefore totally useless. I suppose that's my point. ADHD has such a diverse battery of symptoms (many of which are also expressed in other pathologies) that targeting just one of them with an app and then pitching it as "an app to help with ADHD" is very unconvincing (if not downright lazy, if not cynical). An app made to do a generally useful thing pitched to anyone who has the need for that thing, however…
btilly 3y ago
I agreed with most of what you said. Right until the end. Medication is a mixed bag. Great for those that it is great for, but not great for others. ADHD is way over diagnosed. Many disorders can cause lack of executive function, and if you have one of those, a specific treatment is better than masking one of the symptoms. Yes. There is a lot to tackle in this lane. But part of it is that we need to clearly understand what the lane actually looks like. It isn't simple.