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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

• winddude 3y ago
  Hyper-focus is an amazing trait for software development, when it's focused right, but than it sucks balls when you can't focus, for days, weeks or months, because... well ADHD.
• fwsgonzo 3y ago
  A very good writeup of how it works. Especially the perfection or nothing thing. I found that Trello helps because the stickers you create can be very simple, and I always need a reminder.
  • rlemaitre 3y ago
    Thanks. I tried Trello, but it wasn't a good fit for me. I prefer using Todoist and I totally relate to the need of reminders
• icepat 3y ago
  I've been in the diagnostic process for ADHD twice. First time I ended up losing all the paperwork, and getting kicked out of it. In the time between the first and second attempt, I developed PTSD which essentially stalled the second diagnostic as they could not cleanly differentiate between the two. For some reason, getting a diagnosis has been nearly impossible for me, despite each diagnostician saying "ADHD is highly likely", and the PTSD was a downstream effect of untreated ADHD. I'm curious of any other developers have found effective, non-medication based ways to manage this.
  • 83457 3y ago
    How does your PTSD present? Have you tried meditation and breathing exercises?
    • icepat 3y ago
      Yes to both. I also wear an Apple Watch with the main display being a heart rate graph to monitor my stress levels over the day. I tend to average a resting rate of 100 bpm during periods of higher stress, and between 60-70 in periods of lower stress. Longer periods of high BPM indicates that I need to take a break. The PTSD presents mostly in incredibly severe trust issues, periodic nightmares related to events, depersonalization, sleep problems, and paranoia. I also have an absurdly overblown startle response that looks more like a panic attack than someone being jump-startled. If I'm startled "badly enough", it triggers a panic attack. "Badly enough" can simply be someone tapping me on the shoulder when I didn't notice them coming up behind me.
      • 83457 3y ago
        If you haven't already, you should absolutely seek help and medication for the non-ADHD issues. It sounds like they are seriously affecting your life.
        • icepat 3y ago
          I have and am. I got the PTSD diagnosed when I was trying to get the ADHD one done. And most of the sorting things out is directly related to the PTSD aspect, rather than ADHD.
  • sureglymop 3y ago
    I feel incredibly lucky that my parents got me evaluated for ADHD and Autism when I was still a minor. It's much much harder as an adult. There is a lot of stigmatization and also this thought of "oh you got through school, oh you got this far" for adults with ADHD. I used to take medication and it helped me a lot. Now however I have come off of them completely. The side effects can be devastating. In my case, I developed strong insomnia as amphetamines are much stronger than caffeine. Sleeplessness over a longer period can be very mentally deteriorating. The advice I can give is to actively seek interaction with others suffering from the same, actively accept and ask for all accommodations and help, give yourself enough time for what you need to do and don't compare your experience to the neurotypical one. It is different and it's a matter of coping and accepting oneself and ones disadvantages as a normal part of life. Another thing I often say to people in my therapy group is that they should also be politically proactive about their condition. Things like healthcare covered medication, ensured accommodations etc and the fight against stigmatization are political by nature.
    • icepat 3y ago
      > The advice I can give is to actively seek interaction with others suffering from the same, actively accept and ask for all accommodations and help, give yourself enough time for what you need to do and don't compare your experience to the neurotypical one. It is different and it's a matter of coping and accepting oneself and ones disadvantages as a normal part of life. This has been my approach at this point. I've had to accept that I will likely never get medication, or even a proper diagnosis. My family actively fought every teacher who suggested I had ADHD, and there were several. Very honestly, the only reason I have sought diagnosis is to get accommodation which would let me work within the focus patterns ADHD causes. My closest friend has ADHD, and my partner is in the process of getting an ASD diagnosis. The majority of my time is spent around neuroodivergent types. Simply having people around you who share your experience is incredibly helpful, since you can talk to them freely and be understood. I've given up trying to discuss the experience with people who are NT simply because the understanding that the challenges I face are not just inconvenient just isn't there.
      • hughesjj 3y ago
  • scyzoryk_xyz 3y ago
    The fact you lost the paperwork should be a pretty damn good indicator and this part made me laugh out loud. I'm glad to have been simply diagnosed by someone who just accepted my story as true. All this talk about diagnosis is just bizarre. It's not a 0-1 sort of thing, they have to trust you. Unfortunately you have to be confident and assertive because they will gas-light you in the name of being 'careful'. Sports can be an important piece of the puzzle in the ADHD lifestyle. Especially high-intensity, game-like, engaging ones that you can identify with and be good at. I swear my executive self-control and discipline have improved since I started training tennis several years ago.
    • atcalan 3y ago
      Now do remembering to fill your medicine when you're off your medicine :) you need extreme executive loading to argue with insurance and RXs especially with the supply chain issues.
      • falcolas 3y ago
        It always bothers me how the procedure for getting ADHD meds is the single most ADHD unfriendly procedure in existence.
        • callalex 3y ago
          Blame the War on Drugs and our asinine DEA with drug scheduling that is completely decoupled from science and reality. Never vote Republican, they just enjoy torturing the sick.
        • tstrimple 3y ago
          The first time I got medical treatment for ADHD, I eventually stopped treatment because I missed a Dr. appt due to being sick and just couldn't get myself to arrange a follow up appointment.
          • gogogo_allday 3y ago
            I like to joke that the test should simply be “can this person get their medication filled if they run into any impediment?”
  • JUNGLEISMASSIVE 3y ago
    [dead]
  • chrisweekly 3y ago
    meditation
  • gibagger 3y ago
    Do you also have an aversion to paperwork? Seems to be "a thing". Paperwork has paralysed me ever since I've been in high school. Have gotten in trouble and paid fines over procrastinating paperwork over my whole life. I am also on the "Highly Likely", and currently on the waitlist for a clinic. The best thing I did was being open and honest with my partner, as my ADD behaviors would sometimes exasperate her. I did the same with my manager at work, and it can usually get you some degree of accommodation which can help you cope. I suffer for the 3-for-1 Triple A special: Autism, Anxiety and ADD. Seems to be a fairly common combination. Physical exercise helps greatly with anxiety, and helps to some degree to ADD as it does generate a certain sense of "reward" in my brain.
    • hirvi74 3y ago
      Last year I sent a friend a package. It took me over a year to send the damn thing. Why? I just couldn't find the motivation to send it. I had all the contents packed up in a box ready to go, and I live like 0.2 mile walk away from a Post Office. Still took over a year to send it. Oh! I have another. I once drove with expired car tags for like 3 to 6 months. I already had them renewed and everything. In fact, my tag sticker was in the damn glove compartment the whole time. I just kept procrastinating on putting the sticker on because I didn't want to carve out the 1 minute it takes to unscrew the license plate cover, clean the plate, and apply the sticker. "I'll do it <insert future time>." It's shit like this that kills me. Ironically, I had less issues with this kind of stuff prior to being medicated, but I also was younger and had less responsibility in my day-to-day life, so medication might not be a correlated much.
      • hughesjj 3y ago
        FML I think my tags are expired, thanks
      • TimTheTinker 3y ago
        I totally get it and have been through exactly what you describe many times. What finally helped me was (a) the advent of online services for nearly everything, so I can do it all in one session and not have to do multiple steps to accomplish something (or any back-and-forth phone/mail), and (b) a "just do it now" mindset. Like, when a bill comes I somehow finally have myself psyched to pay it online right away (don't ask me how I got here, I don't know. Maybe it's because I tied money handling to checking my bank balance when I get a paycheck - that's when I do most of my banking... seeing a higher balance and moving money around (and by extension, paying bills) feels exciting now to my lizard brain.) Otherwise, if I don't take care of it right away, I know it'll literally never happen. I know that if I had been born 20 years earlier, I'd have a much worse credit score and probably be much poorer due to late fees. Online services and auto-bill-pay make such a difference.
  • idlewords 3y ago
    If you want to take one more shot at it, try any online pill mill, the diagnostic process is much easier post-covid and may be as simple as a brief in-person interview with a non-MD practitioner.
    • atcalan 3y ago
      You still need cognitive behavioral therapy. Stimulants are a blunt instrument.
    • throwahdhd777 3y ago
      [dead]
  • swozey 3y ago
    I always find it interesting when people have a hard time getting a diagnosis. I was diagnosed as a child with ADHD and I've had ... tens of psychiatrists over my life and when I eventually move and go to a new one I've never once had one want to re-diagnose or have me prove in some way that I'm ADHD. I just tell them that I'm ADHD and my other neurodivergent issue and they prescribe me my medication. I've never told a new pysch who my previous psych was so I'm sure they're not getting my medical records from them unless there's some sharing system I'm unaware of. I wonder if I come off as strongly ADHD. I've been called "intense" before, whatever that means. I'm definitely fidgety and a horrible leg bouncer.
  • bratwurst3000 3y ago
    Lol I was kind of rediagnosed as an adult and I missed the first appointment. Then it took me half a year to make another one. There I forget half my papers … and so on … After 1h talk and some tests where I refilled everything so oft that it was a mess they didn’t have any doubt.
  • feydaykyn 3y ago
    Ask a friend to dedicate time to be with you (even on remote) when you fill/send the paperwork. Or hire a secretary/student to do it for you. You need a crutch, that's OK and totally normal!
  • RHSman2 3y ago
    The say that one in five people have it but that just accounts for those that can get themselves diagnosed or who had people that helped them. I missed 3 consultations, got lost, was late and then waited a year till acting upon the diagnosis :)
• VoidWhisperer 3y ago
  Can you share the plugins or scripts used with obsidian mentioned in the post? (Ie the ticket one/the calendar one) those seem very useful!
  • rlemaitre 3y ago
    Hi, Sure, I'm using Agile Task Note (https://github.com/BoxThatBeat/obsidian-agile-task-notes https://github.com/BoxThatBeat/obsidian-agile-task-notes) for the Jira sync and for Google Calendar, I'm using obsidian-google-lookup (https://github.com/ntawileh/obsidian-google-lookup https://github.com/ntawileh/obsidian-google-lookup) and obsidian-google-calendar (https://github.com/YukiGasai/obsidian-google-calendar https://github.com/YukiGasai/obsidian-google-calendar)
• hyllos 3y ago
  Pauses. I am experimenting with basic scheme of 25 mins focus and then 5 mins pause. It is mind blowing how it lowers frustration and sort of ensures that I start work only on a clear task which I often tend to loose to easily. The biggest surprise are the pauses (no, no email checking or web browsing; get up and move around). While formerly I experienced it that I don't have enough time to do what I want to do, I experience just the opposite of it during pauses. Now, what do I do in this time? Wow. That's new. But also hard to stick to it. But there is more to it, the rules and principles that go along with it.
  • LeafItAlone 3y ago
    Sounds like the Pomodoro Technique [0] (also mentioned in the article). Glad it is working out for you! I tried that to help with my ADHD with very little and very fleeting success. 0. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
    • rchaud 3y ago
      The classic Pomodoro is said to be 25minn + 5 mins break, which adds up to half an hour, which is a common measurement unit for time worked. I've discovered that for my needs, a 20 min pomodoro with 5 mins rest works better. The problem is that Pomodoros are hard to count if you hit flow state and find it hard to stop when the timer rings.
  • mmatants 3y ago
    To add a data point, I used to do Pomodoro timing (25+5 min) but now switched to 15 min timer with a loose 2-5 min break. It's still hard to actually pull out of hyper-focus/anxious perseveration sometimes, but the shorter timer period seems to match my task cadence better. And the non-timed break just vibes better because it doesn't feel like punishment then.
• toyg 3y ago
  I'm sure the post is useful but i'm getting really distracted by the AI anime-like art. Maybe tone it down a bit, yeah? For a post about helping ADHD sufferers focus on what matters, it's quite incongruous.
  • bre1010 3y ago
    I'm into the art style, but was tipped off that it's AI-generated because it's filled with almost-letters making up almost-words
  • damnitpeter 3y ago
    I liked it but it also made me think the text of the article was probably AI generated as well.
• matheusmoreira 3y ago
  Extremely relatable. Hyperfocus... I can easily spend over twenty hours focusing on something once I get in the zone, but it's extremely difficult to open the editor and start programming. Coping mechanisms and adaptative behaviors are all good and all but the power of lisdexamfetamine cannot be underestimated.
  • upupupandaway 3y ago
    At least one study found no relationship between hyperfocus and ADHD. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891422220302213 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089142222...
    • thibaut_barrere 3y ago
      For reference: Highlights • We could not demonstrate a higher frequency of hyperfocus in adults with ADHD relative to healthy controls. • Hyperfocus is experienced both by healthy and ADHD adults although it correlates positively with ADHD traits. • Age and educational level are important determinants of hyperfocus. • Motivational, situational and clinical aspects of hyperfocus need to be taken into account in future studies.
  • aidog 3y ago
    Coping mechanisms also help with getting started. Mine are history podcasts and stimulating YouTube videos in the background.
    • almaty 3y ago
      Could you share the links?
  • sureglymop 3y ago
    Lisdexamphetamine is a big help, but the side effects can be devastating. Of course every person is different, but for me this reduced my sleep quality significantly. I can no longer take any of these meds if I want a good restful night of sleep. When I was younger it was no problem though.
• jakey_bakey 3y ago
  "Coping Mechanisms: Over the years, adults develop various coping strategies that can mask ADHD symptoms. For instance, someone might excessively rely on calendars, to-do lists, or alarms to compensate for forgetfulness." You're goddamn right I do
  • coremoff 3y ago
    do you find that todo lists help you? I certainly agree with calendars/alarms but todo lists for me are a place to put things instead of doing them and then they become a separate problem all of their own
    • artdigital 3y ago
      Same for me. Todo lists don’t work for me at all The only kind of todo list that does is a piece of physical paper with the items that I want to finish that day
    • pseudoramble 3y ago
      I find that for calendars and to do lists to work well, I need reminders to tell me to check the lists lol. Not great.
      • mofeien 3y ago
        I made a kanban board of post-its on my bedroom mirror, that's hard enough to miss so that I automatically check them several times a day.
    • tbrake 3y ago
      They help me. At least the physical, paper ones do. I keep my days on track by taking time in the early morning and reviewing the previous days accomplishment/misses/notes and then writing down an outline of today's goals and reminders. Notes throughout the day get jotted in the margins. Something like maybe 70% blogging, 30% to-do list? Can't say I've ever used an app that felt 1/8th as helpful. It feels like there's some extra brain magic going on in the process of putting thoughts on actual paper that results in more retention and effort of thought put into writing.
• upupupandaway 3y ago
  I swear that every time I read an article by somebody who claims they've been diagnosed with ADHD, it is the same formula: "when I was a child...", "I didn't know what it was", ..., "I was finally diagnosed with ADHD", then finally "I have super powers no one else has so I will use them to my advantage". I would love to see an ADHD version of the horoscope/personality tests administered by Stagner and Forer. I predict the effect would be the same. This study seems to be on this track: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/07067437221082854 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/07067437221082...
  • m463 3y ago
    I read a book once decades ago about ADHD, and it said lots of children are misdiagnosed with it. One of the very common causes is that kids who don't eat regularly (or eat sugar then crash) will encounter low blood sugar. The body reacts to this by dumping adrenaline in the bloodstream and ... voila ... an excitable kid with little focus.
    • chownie 3y ago
      Between decades ago and now we've recognized that sugar only causes excitableness in children who are prompted (Clever Hans style) by adults who expect such an outcome. The wisdom you're referencing is circa the 70's, it's been attempted many times since and has never replicated.
      • hnbad 3y ago
        The comment you're replying to doesn't seem to mention the debunked "sugar rush". The "crash" on the other hand seems to be more replicable. Also your framing ignores that the "prompting" can be circumstantial rather than targeted. The "rush" is frequently misattributed to sugar when it can actually be better explained by the food itself being a rare treat (and thus exciting) or the situation in which it is provided being special (e.g. a party). Or it can simply be the joy of eating something very tasty. It's less Clever Hans and more "kids are more prone to sudden outbursts of strong emotions and adults blame it on food".
• LeafItAlone 3y ago
  What is everyone’s experience getting officially diagnosed and treated? I match up pretty closely with textbook symptoms and all of the free online “tests” indicate I should get treated for it… but how? I’ve found places that offer an ADHD screening at the tune of multiple thousands, not in network with any insurance, but those places don’t also treat it. I’m more interested in pharmacological treatments rather than typical therapy (after over 40 years, I’ve developed coping mechanisms like the author), but it’s hard to choose what type of doctor is best here. What experiences does everyone here have?
  • upupupandaway 3y ago
    I am surprised you are having any problem getting diagnosed. ADHD is one of the easiest conditions to fake: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3173757/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3173757/
    • danielheath 3y ago
      OP didn't report trouble getting someone to believe they have ADHD, they reported indecision and difficulty identifying someone who offers treatment and arranging an appointment. As someone who did get diagnosed: It took me _five_ attempts to get all the way to an appointment with a psychiatrist (inability to find a suitable psychiatrist, lost referrals, missed appointments etc). Navigating the medical establishment with untreated ADHD is hell. Now I've got treatment for it, I could do it easily, but it's really hard to overstate just how non-functional you can end up. Because the symptoms are easily faked, I needed a significant range of retrospective evidence - quotes from school report cards, interviews with my parents - which I had to arrange prior to assessment. If I hadn't been able to produce those, I likely would not have been able to get treatment.
  • iteria 3y ago
    Not me, but my BFF managed to get diagnosed in her mid-30s. She was killing her heart with all the stimulants she was taking and her other ways to cope. I don't k own hoe she got diagnosed, but she definitely didn't do it for thousands of dollars. She couldn't have afforded that. I do know that therapy and medication made it night and day for her. She immediately dropped all caffeine. Her sleep and general mood was so much better and she wad way less flakey. She doesn't dismiss therapy although I know she hasn't gone every week for a while not and mostly goes when she's feeling like she needs it. Medication was a trip and error, but she's much happier with this steady state.
• frankyg 3y ago
  [flagged]
• karpour 3y ago
  Anyone else tired of blogs trying to make their content more interesting by slapping loads of generated images into each post?
  • JoBrad 3y ago
    I thought the images were pretty good, although obviously generated. They complimented the author’s points well.
    • lopis 3y ago
      While they are good, they fall in the graphic design uncanny valley where several details are disturbing and distracting.
  • codingdave 3y ago
    Not in the slightest. It adds flavor to the page and makes it more approachable than just a wall of text. This is one of the benefits of generated images - it is a nice middle ground between creating your own and choosing from stock images.
  • noname120 3y ago
    Yeah. These are basically glorified stock pictures that superficially seem to fit the content. But images shouldn't just be about aesthetics: they should also complement the content. AI-generated stock pictures don't have any sort of hidden meaning, you're wasting your time if you look at them.
• keyle 3y ago
  This hits home. I think we need to really take a hard look at today's world of tech and how we communicate and collaborate. I find that, if time allows, I get a massive productivity boost after 4:30pm and everyone is either winding down or leaving. All the sudden, the walls flatten, the horizon deepens and I enter a deep state of flow. Around 10 AM, after an elongated "stand up", I should be ready to go... And yet it's absolutely impossible to not alt-tab 300 times per hour, and I can't seem to even remember the code I just typed or what the hell I'm even trying to do. Even if I close Slack, Outlook and turn off all notifications, I've got a minute-by-minute cron job in the back of my head that ticks "Hey! One minute has passed. The world could be on fire! Is it?"... I remember once I had to travel for family, to a different timezone, I was super productive. Only 1 14" screen and a different timezone. Pedal to the metal. Ah, the 90s. The CRT, the keyboard, the fullscreen applications, the lack of communication. 1 or 2 emails a day. Bliss. Add to today: kids, imessages, facebook, twitter, mastodon, instagram, emails, slack, discord... How the fuck do I even survive the week? I think ADHD is the new norm.
  • Apocryphon 3y ago
    I’m sure 90s workplaces were relatively better, but bliss? That was the heyday of Dilbert, Office Space, Fight Club, American Beauty, and The Matrix.
  • FullKirby 3y ago
    Being distracted (even a lot) and actually having ADHD are very different things
    • muhblah 3y ago
      Thanks, also had this discussion with a colleague (obviously not having ADHD) who thought he understands what I’m (having ADHD diagnosed) talking about and I argue he does not. I then almost started to doubt my own perception abilities InsertHugeFacepalmHere
      • swozey 3y ago
        If you ever forget or wonder if you have ADHD vs being inattentive, just look back at its affects on your romantic relationships and how much it damaged them or made them more difficult. How often a partner probably told you that they felt neglected or forgotten, or how often you'd wind up in a rabbit hole and forget that you also have to nourish that relationship.
• austin-cheney 3y ago
  One key identifier not mentioned in the article is that ADHD, as well as manically depressed, people typically produce extremely low levels of serotonin. It is common for ADHD people to compensate with stimulants like caffeine and sugar. Many people crave minor stimulants in the afternoon or early morning when serotonin levels dip in the day. People chronically low on serotonin however will crave these all day long in extreme volumes in what looks like drug addiction seeking behavior. The result of such stimulant over consumption produces behaviors that appear like rapid bipolar disorders. This does not apply to all people with ADHD, but when you see the behavior in people close to you it’s probably a good idea to have them tested. My biggest learning about ADHD is that it’s not primarily about focus, but irregularities with task completion/transition deficiencies.
  • helboi4 3y ago
    It's dopamine that ADHD lack and that you get from caffeine and sugar, not serotonin. People who are depressed do lack serotonin though yes. And you can have both. You can't get that from caffeine though.
    • JUNGLEISMASSIVE 3y ago
      [dead]
    • austin-cheney 3y ago
      No, it’s absolutely only about low serotonin. Dopamine spikes do directly result from sugar spikes, but that is the effect and not the cause.
      • __potts__ 3y ago
        I'm honestly interested in hearing the research on this Do either of you have sources?
        • financltravsty 3y ago
          I really dislike the neurotransmitter discussions because they do not differentiate between "free" or "in-transit" neurotransmitter levels vs. "stored" or "awaiting dispatch" neurotransmitter levels vs. "receptor sites" or "available destinations" for neurotransmitters vs. "receptor activation effect" or "destination's response on delivery." That doesn't even get into the complexity of different types of receptor sites or their roles in all the different bodily systems and organs. It leads for utterly confounding conversations without strictly delineating what everyone knows and/or assumes about the topic at hand. So, here is my quick and slipshod armchair theorizing: serum serotonin levels may be a predictor of ADHD due serotonin's role in activating certain autoreceptors that mediate dopamine release. Does serotonin deficit mediate susceptibility to ADHD?: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0197018615000212 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01970... Is there an Effect of Serotonin on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?: https://repository.unair.ac.id/106894/1/Is%20There%20an%20Effect%20of%20Serotonin%20on%20Attention%20Deficit%20Hyperactivity%20Disorder.pdf https://repository.unair.ac.id/106894/1/Is%20There%20an%20Ef...
• calvinmorrison 3y ago
  Lack of secretaries for creative types is astounding
  • findthewords 3y ago
    Fingers crossed an AI secretary will double (or more) my productivity.
  • spaceprison 3y ago
    Correspondence, keeping records and making appointments are attention destroying activities. For a few year stretch I worked with a team project manager who wasn't technical at all. She'd setup the meetings that I needed to have, diligently take notes in those meetings and then we'd get together to recap everything figure out dates and all that. Then I'd get back to nerding out but with a ordered punch list that I knew Donna needed me to get done. It was the best. But the pmo wanted to do things a different way so their engagement model moved from embedded PMs focused on team deliverables to individual project focus. Now instead of Donna there to assist with correspondence, keep records, make appointments, and carry out similar tasks I had an army of fragmented Donnas each focused on their one thing and each needing oversight to understand my involvement and external dependencies. The move probably gave the pmo a more modern feel and better reporting but it killed productivity for ADDs like me since a large portion of my time each day became correspondence, keeping records and making appointments instead of cranking out nerd units.
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• TheRealHB 3y ago
  The Blinking LED, A simple Hack that still works for me after years: 1. Place a tiny LED (red or yellow) by the side of your monitor or virtually on the screen corner. Basically anywhere almost bordering your field of view. 2. Make it blink like a fast heartbeat (120-150 bpm) and gradually slowdown to around 60 bpm (or your slow heartbeat base). Make the slope approx 20 to 60 minutes (you can adjust the best rate by testing in 10m increments after a few days in one setting). Now... 3. Get to work regardless if distracted and agitated. Close all apps except what you need to work and BOOM!, let the magic happen. Without realising, your brain will try to sync with the light that you can barely see, calming you down and allowing you to go focus-mode with the task in had. Works like hypnosis! It is also a cheap hack... I build my unit with a cheap ESP32 and heart-rate sensor to sync deeper and dynamically adjust the slope... Will explain better if any interest. No science behind (only principles), I just hammered a solution like any Ape with the shakes would need!
  • atcalan 3y ago
    Sounds like a time timer. The ventromedial pfc is the culprit here. Time blindness.
    • TheRealHB 3y ago
      It's like a maestro, guiding you down with light not sound or words. So, yes. Done at PFC level probably ; )
  • gregsadetsky 3y ago
    Fascinating! A few questions: - once the LED has slowed down to 60 bpm, do you keep it at that tempo for the rest of the day? for a few hours? do you ever go back to 120 bpm and then go back down? - generally speaking, how did you come up with the idea? - do you think that a software version (i.e. some blinking pixels in the top right corner of a monitor) would work, or is the intensity of the LED (i.e. the fact that it's not part of the monitor) part of the reason why it works? - could you also talk about the heart-rate sensor - how do you use it / how does it affect the bpm algorithm? Thanks!
• pwillia7 3y ago
  This is great! So many people in the ADHD community don't dig in enough into the 'superpower' side of it, so I'm super glad you covered that here. We can't get rid of the bad parts so I think it's extra important to lean into the good parts too. I will also share this Historia Civilis video on the history of work, which really resonated with me as an ADHD person -- It's OK and even more 'natural' to have fast and slow days. And I will say, for me, Obsidian was another red herring. When I see Gwern's blog I dream about my ordered note taking life and I tried for about a year to do that with obsidian. I took a lot of notes, but I don't read them and they do nothing for me. I ended up after a lot of trial and error with a bookmarklet that lets me take notes right in a browser window paired with a real planning app like tick tick or Google keep or whatever. The quick notes are good for when I'm trying to avoid my other Todo list because there's something I don't want to do on it but I still need to take other notes. Here's the bookmarklet I started with: https://gist.github.com/clisamurai/1f355b6028c8b9d1836b4ca01f173244 https://gist.github.com/clisamurai/1f355b6028c8b9d1836b4ca01...
  • qiine 3y ago
    hum the bookmarklet trick is clever, I suppose It should be able to sync to other device using a firefox account
  • FuckButtons 3y ago
    I think many people in the adhd community don’t think it’s a superpower, which is why we don’t dig into that. As someone who was diagnosed later in life the profundity of what adhd has cost me cannot be overstated. It is not a superpower, it is my worst enemy.
    • 93po 3y ago
      Same. My adhd has made me a decent developer despite very much not wanting to do that sort of work. However it has absolutely destroyed my life and relationships and my ability to even sit down and get dev work done. I’m currently on my third “sabbatical” of my life because I’m incapable of working right now. I’ve been jobless close to three years of my adult life now - not because I was ever fired, but because I’m incapable of managing my adhd well enough to work. I’m trying extremely hard
• Podgajski 3y ago
  I read that whole thing and didn’t read one word about nutrition? I’ve come along way to understanding the nutritional metabolic pathways that may increase the symptoms of ADHD. Pyridoxine, or B6, is the most studied nutritional factor when it comes to reducing ADHD symptoms. I’m not saying this is the only cause of ADHD, but if this works other things might work as well. Zinc is a good possibility on the list also. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/ According to our data, multi-year pyridoxine treatment normalizes completely the pattern of ADHD behavior, without causing any serious side effects.
  • viraptor 3y ago
    https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1016/j.mehy.2013.11.018 https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1016/j.mehy.2013.11.018 While it discusses multi-year treatment, the paper says "After several weeks of such treatment the pattern of behavior in ADHD patients is normalized." which feels like something that could be easily tried out. Since it was published in 2013 I'd expect some follow-up? (checking for citations now) Edit: Sadly, "No Tryptophan, Tyrosine and Phenylalanine Abnormalities in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777504/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777504/ 2016, larger study. (although they measure the amounts rather than ratios, so not exactly the same idea)
    • Podgajski 3y ago
      Nutritional studies are hard to get funding for in the first place, never mind the follow-ups. They found nothing in the study, because IMI they were measuring the wrong neurotransmitters. Dopamine is not the cause of the symptoms. It has to do with glutamate and GABA Balance. Since stimulants can control effect glutamate and GABA as well as Dopamine , that’s why there is all the confusion. B6 also plays a role in glutamate GABA balance through stimulating the glutamate dehydrogenase enzyme. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5545734/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5545734/
      • viraptor 3y ago
• ShamelessC 3y ago
  I love how this community has such a disproportionate number of people who have ADHD. It's almost like programming is actually just incredibly difficult to pay attention to for any normal human being and the field is competitive enough that people basically have to find a way to get a prescription for stimulants. (Honestly not trying to discredit anyone actually suffering from ADHD, just seem implausible to me that so many have it given that programming also just requires an unhealthy amount of attention to finish tasks in a "timely" manner).
  • Cthulhu_ 3y ago
    To make it broader, neurodiverse conditions, autism spectrum being the other one; no surprise there's a lot of overlap between ADHD and ASD when it comes to some of the symptoms.
    • ShamelessC 3y ago
      That honestly just isn't a stereotype I see play out in reality aside from the sort of "pop" coders like Carmack and Stallman. Like I've met neurodiverse coders, but in roughly the same proportion as I meet neurodiverse folks in other facets of life.
  • sureglymop 3y ago
    It may also be that many individuals who are on the autism spectrum also present with comorbid ADHD. And that things like coding, solving logic puzzles, rationality etc is disproportionately more interesting to people somewhere on the autism spectrum. But.. I don't know.
• fredgrott 3y ago
  From someone that actually has ADHD and has finally got it under control: 1. Our genetics means that one gene producing double the dopamine uptake receptors and a combo of other genes messes with something else (50% of all ADHDers have an anxiety disorder either GABA or serotonin based). In fact that is why ADDERALL is not addictive for us but is addictive to a normal person with the normal count of dopamine uptake receptors as cocaine, meth, etc. work on the TAART stretch of the dopamine uptake receptor. 2. Dopamine analogs plus coffee troopics tend to work at getting leverage to put time org and note org on top. My stack is: -30 mg caffeine taken one to 2 hours after waking when cortisol starts decreasing -green tea extract -maca extract -vitamins through fenugreek -dopamine analog via goji berries -L-theanine to stretch the 2 hour caffeine effect to 6 hours Note for non ADHD people your cortisol starts decreasing after you wake about 1 to 2 hours after waking as this is what made caffeine drinks a habit. It is not wrong to take caffeine an hour or two after waking or at 10 am. You just should follow it up with the weak EGCG found in green tea and L-theanine to make it stretch to 6 hours.
  • morbicer 3y ago
    Ashwagandha is also great legal supplement for mental clarity and focus
  • jawon 3y ago
    What does "vitamins through fenugreek" mean? And are you just eating regular goji berries or using an extract?
  • hirvi74 3y ago
    > In fact that is why ADDERALL is not addictive for us but is addictive to a normal person with the normal count of dopamine uptake receptors as cocaine, meth, etc. work on the TAART stretch of the dopamine uptake receptor. What evidence do you have to support this claim? I have plenty of anecdotes of little value that would conflict with your claims. I find your claims hard to believe without evidence. Addictions are highly circumstantial and complex disorders.
• Uptrenda 3y ago
  I've gone through the process now of being reviewed for ADHD both in Australia and the US, and I can say Australia really makes the process nightmarish. To start with: the meds are so restricted ordinary doctors / GPs can't prescribe them. And trying to bring up 'ADHD' may get you labeled as a 'drug seeker.' But let's say you get an appointment with a psychiatrist (the ordained ministers who can write stimulant prescriptions) - wait times can be anywhere from 3 - 6 months. Upon which you're not guaranteed to be taken seriously because psychiatry isn't an exact science and not every doctor even acknowledges everything in the DSM. In the state that I'm in I had to be drug tested before and after getting on ADHD meds. Before to make sure that I wasn't a drug seeker. And after to confirm I was taking the meds and not selling them. My doctor then had to apply for a special license just to write my script. He did this by writing a letter full of supporting clinical information and applying for the license to issue the script. So after all that effort (easily 9+ months) you get the chance to be given meds by such a doctor. But currently there are supply chain shortages so many people aren't even able to get their meds. My US experience (much shorter): When I was in the US I used a telehealth app on my phone to speak to a amazing clinician who specialized in ADHD (google some or this looks like shilling.) I had my meds not long after that. I currently don't bother with medication though because although it works exceptionally well: I can't sleep on them. I'd say to US people - have a look at some of the apps out there. You'll want to go with people who can actually prescribe and not psychologists. Keep in mind there are other reasons that can cause concentration issues (depression and insomnia are examples.) It would probably be better for most people not to have ADHD as other illnesses are potentially easier to treat with less side effects. ((I really liked the conciseness, typography, and artwork in the article, by the way.))
  • throwaway2990 3y ago
    It’s a good thing Australia takes it seriously. Every man and his dog thinks he has adhd now-a-days.
    • Cthulhu_ 3y ago
      It's better to have a diagnosis either way to be honest. If you have it and were undiagnosed for decades, you will finally have an answer to why you're different, and as some that took medication for the first time, it can finally go quiet in your head. And if you don't have it, then you can look at other causes for your problems. Because nobody (and/or their dog) will think they have ADHD unless they have identified a problem first.
• idlewords 3y ago
  ADHD is medicalizing a set of mental habits that many smart people form early in life partly out of boredom, and partly because they can get away with it. The criteria for diagnosing it in adults are impossibly vague and ad-hoc, and I have yet to meet anyone who went through the evaluation process who wasn't diagnosed with it. By all means have at it if you enjoy legal access to terrific stimulants (they really do help you focus!), but maybe take the idea that you've suffered under the burden of lifelong illness with a grain of salt. ADHD is our generation's neurasthenia.
  • strikelaserclaw 3y ago
    Basically you have ADHD/ADD if your symptoms are maladaptive to the modern environment. The modern world is increasingly being able to focus and produce.
    • Cthulhu_ 3y ago
      And yet it isn't. Schools over here are less sitting in rows facing the teacher and Pay Attention, and more sitting in groups, get a laptop out, "fun" project activities. Modern workplaces - in our industry - are all about a deluge of distractions, meetings, tickets, incoming or always-on calls, side activities, incoming merge requests, Slack messages in half a dozen spaces that all need to be read or you might miss out, on top of a lot of people being open for private communications and distractions like making appointments, chatting with the home front, etc. So no, I don't know where you live or work, but I don't agree that the modern world wants you to focus and produce.
  • gibagger 3y ago
    May we know where you got your Psychology, Psychiatry or Neuroscience degree?
    • idlewords 3y ago
      At Appeal to Authority University
• _rqgx 3y ago
  My therapist recently diagnosed me with ADHD. I strongly disagree with that diagnosis, and I realised I don't know what ADHD actually is and that the internet and this article haven't been of any help. I can relate to everything that this article says, but I suspect this is true of every single person with a mentally challenging job. HN is full of developers complaining about open offices and useless meetings; do all of them have ADHD? Otherwise, what's the difference between a ADHD developer and a regular developer? I _do_ have specific body problems that make my work harder, such as a very strong noise sensitivity and a circadian rhythm that requires me to sleep longer than the average person. Dealing with those specific problems did much more than throwing my hands in the air and yelling "ADHD". Instead of a 2000-word article that might have been generated by AI, I would just follow these three points. 1. Sleep 9–10 hours every night. 2. Strong exercise regularly. 3. Work somewhere quiet and pleasant.
  • viraptor 3y ago
    > complaining about open offices and useless meetings; do all of them have ADHD? There's a commonly used diagnosis survey you can check. It should give you a better idea than this. > ADHD developer and a regular developer To give you one example (but this won't cover all cases / everyone's experience), if you're in the bathroom and think you need to change the toilet roll, then proceed to forget and remember it again 6 times before leaving the room, then head for the toilet roll stash, forget about it and go make yourself a sandwich instead... and that applies to almost everything you do throughout the day, you're probably in category 1 not 2. For medication, another example would be when you take stimulants and get relaxed, less nervous and feel like you could finally go for a nap... What I'm saying is, some people may be experiencing smaller issues for the same reason, or they may just not be satisfied with their environment and are able to act on it, but there's some threshold where it's not even the same category. If you don't know what ADHD actually is, maybe check the experiences written by people who do struggle with basic things daily while seemingly highly functioning otherwise? There's a number of subreddits where you can find them.
  • enragedcacti 3y ago
    > HN is full of developers complaining about open offices and useless meetings; do all of them have ADHD? Otherwise, what's the difference between a ADHD developer and a regular developer? Diagnostically speaking? The number of symptoms and the severity of those symptoms is basically it. Everyone will likely experience some of the symptoms of ADHD during their life. The co-occurence of those symptoms and the amount they affect your ability to function day-to-day is what makes the difference. Some people will debate over how "real" ADHD is, where real means people with ADHD are a disjoint group and not just people on the very low end of the "ability to focus" bell curve. From my research I do believe it is "real", but that whether ADHD is "real" like sickle cell anemia is real or its just part of a normal bell curve doesn't really matter because society isn't going to adapt around you. If medication is what make the difference to maintain a normal life for some then that's probably a good thing that its available. If people who don't "really" have ADHD can learn strategies for focus and time management that's also a good thing. > Dealing with those specific problems did much more than throwing my hands in the air and yelling "ADHD". For a lot of people, dealing with their specific problems starts with recognizing what those problems are and identifying strategies to help. Diagnosing it gives validation that its something concrete you can work on, gives access to mental health professionals who can help you develop solutions, and creates a community of people all trying to solve similar problems.
• voisin 3y ago
  Worthwhile read on the topic: Dr Gabor Mate’s “ Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder”
• Eumenes 3y ago
  TIL using calendars and to-do lists means you have ADHD
  • codingdave 3y ago
    No, that isn't what the article said. It said that calendars and to-do lists help cope with ADHD, not that everyone who uses them has ADHD.
    • Cthulhu_ 3y ago
      Ironically, it's easy to forget to put things in a calendar or on a todo list.
      • aeonik 3y ago
        More irony: - Forgetting to look at the calendar - Forgetting to look at the to-do list -> Make a different to-do list - Have 10+ to-do lists - Forgetting what the to-do even refers to - Discover emacs org mode, it can link everything together -> constantly forget emacs key bindings - Use logseq/obsidian instead -> forget which names/links refer to projects -> have 10+ aliases referring to different perspectives of the same project I need static types, logic programming, graph search algorithms, and a bit of AI, to help save me. Also, it'd be nice if modern software was easier to interface with. Needs more support for deep linking and syncing. The "walled garden" approach is anathema to solutions that can help ADHDers.
        • TeMPOraL 3y ago
          Even more irony: - "Forgetting" to look at the calendar, or to-do list, or your phone reminders, or a list written in large letters on a whiteboard behind your desk. I seem to have a cognitive equivalent of an ad blocker, my mind will literally erase any task list from existence, the moment I start getting even slightly anxious about it. It's like a magic spell - I can put the list in front of my face, and my eyes will just keep glossing over it, like if it was a tear in reality.
• hasbot 3y ago
  A little off topic, but I recently realized I've been stimming for decades. I don't fidget or do any of the standard stimming techniques. What I do instead is explore the space I'm in with my eyes. Like right now, staring at a pen on my desk, after a few seconds my eyes start to explore other objects on my desk.
• mathieuh 3y ago
  I used to think I had some ADHD symptoms: growing up I never did any revision for any of my school exams until a couple of days before, all my coursework and projects were done last minute in a week of intense focus, I've had issues with drugs in the past etc. Then I met someone who actually has ADHD and saw them before they'd taken their stimulant drugs. They were completely nonfunctional in any sense of the word, they'd be trying to have five conversations with you at once and it took them about 30 minutes to put their shoes on, it looked like absolute hell. Next to that I really don't have any issues and I don't think I'd be able to handle being prescribed psychoactive drugs. Ever since meeting that person I've been a lot more hesitant to self-diagnose problems.
  • slipperlobster 3y ago
    Note that ADHD can manifest physically, mentally, or a combination of the two. I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD in my late 30s after finally seeing a psychiatrist, and at most my physical manifestation of it is minor fidgeting. Where it really burns me is not being able to dedicate brainpower for more than a few minutes at a time, unless I'm in one of my "focus" modes. Similarly, my brain constantly has multiple tasks/"conversations" going on and I'm always thinking of something else. Additionally, I'm always chasing something novel to satisfy some dopamine hit. I've honestly worked around a lot of the issues I deal with prior to being diagnosed, knowing when I'm not in a "focus" mode and trying to (gently) steer back to being productive. I joke about my "gaming ADHD" where I don't sit with a game for more than a half hour or so before moving on to something else. Internal dialogues are just something I work with. Not saying you're right or wrong, but it's difficult to compare someone else's problems with your own (potential) issues. e: Also note that there are non-stimulants on the market. I'm currently trialing one while I wait for a cardiologist to review some records for possible stimulant conflicts.
    • 93po 3y ago
      Just one data point but my psychiatrist said that in his in clinical experience he’s never seen the non stimulants help
• itissid 3y ago
  > Some people mainly have symptoms of inattention. Its actually the opposite. I found that its to do with lots of attention just not at the task at hand.
• findthewords 3y ago
  Best productivity hack is to unplug the ethernet cable.
  • dymk 3y ago
    I can't find the ethernet cable on my phone :(
    • klysm 3y ago
      Desolder the modem temporarily
    • LeonM 3y ago
      Depends a bit on the model, but you should be able to find it close to the mobile data toggle, do not disturb toggle and the physical power button.
• jcims 3y ago
  I just want to be able to read a whole book.
• itissid 3y ago
  TBH I found this article a bit poorly written, especially around the core of the symptoms*. It does not even list out what exactly are the kinds of things to look for when you are in say your 30's or something and suspect you have ADHD. The list of recommendations though are good, especially simplifying note taking, which can be a drag to keep upto date. I would also add meditation and getting a good counselor/licenced therapist(they are hard to find). You can find a good counselor in a few ways: from someone who does your formal neuropsych eval, ask your kid's doctor. Look at psychologytoday.com and filter the list and run through it. For ADHD which does not accompany severe cognitive impairments you want to likely look at a CBT coach(Phd,PsyD holders) to help. Someone who knows what they are doing. * If you think you have ADHD or ADD please consult the complete DSM-V manual[0](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t3/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t3/) and at least try and match your symptoms up from your past experiences. I would highly recommend a neuropsychlogical evaluation test. Google for it. Here is an abridged list[1] of symptoms from DSM5 for ready reference: Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level: ◦ Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities. ◦ Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities. ◦ Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly. ◦ Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, becomes sidetracked). ◦ Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities. ◦ Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework). ◦ Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g., school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones). ◦ Is often easily distracted. ◦ Is often forgetful in daily activities. Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person’s developmental level: ◦ Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat. ◦ Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected. ◦ Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless). ◦ Often is unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly. ◦ Is often “on the go,” acting as if “driven by a motor.” ◦ Often talks excessively. ◦ Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed. ◦ Often has trouble waiting his/her turn. ◦ Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games). ================ [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t3/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t3/ [1] Hallowell, Edward M.; Ratey, John J.. ADHD 2.0 (p. 138). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
• chx 3y ago
  This again? A blog post stuffed with stolen art and often heard but absolutely not working advice? > Every morning, I start my day by planning it out in a custom template that displays my Google Calendar events and Todoist task list. For real? One of the best ADHD tools I am aware of is called the Anti Planner. It doesn't take long to find posts like "why to-do lists don't work for people with ADHD" https://coachjessicamichaels.com/2022/03/30/why-to-do-lists-dont-work-for-people-with-adhd/ https://coachjessicamichaels.com/2022/03/30/why-to-do-lists-... Also, this blog post misses body doubling which is incredibly helpful and can even be done virtually with focusmate or a similar service (I use focusmate personally but I do want to spam so no referral link or crap like that). Indeed, for me the only way to swallow a frog is focusmate.
  • klysm 3y ago
    I feel similar with the “every morning” stuff. The problem is I have a very hard time making some happen every morning.
    • piperswe 3y ago
      Same here. I have never been able to intentionally build a routine for just about anything, despite the autistic part of me aggressively wanting routine.
      • klysm 3y ago
        I find I love the ideas of structure and routine, and fully grasp the importance of maintaining invariants and discipline, but utterly fail to apply those concepts to my life. Rather frustrating
    • hirvi74 3y ago
      Simple steps for ADHD Productivity Management: 1. Do not have ADHD
    • rchaud 3y ago
      Reeks of the "don't break the chain" cultism that originates from an urban myth of about how Jerry Seinfeld practiced wiriting jokes.
• sabine 3y ago
  The audio environment plays a big role when it comes to fighting distractions, especially when having ADHD. The problem is usually that it’s either too quiet (so the brain is not engaged and every small noise is very hearable and distracting) or too loud. The other problem is when the sound environment is not predictable. This means your brain is constantly afraid it will get distracted (phone call, slack notification etc.) and you can’t enter a flow state.
• hiAndrewQuinn 3y ago
  One of the more interesting things about ADHD is that some of the things ADHD sufferers call "coping strategies" (using calendars, writing documentation) are actually just really good ideas for anyone. The twin demons of diminishing returns and hyperbolic discounting mean that people who don't need to have these systems in place for the current demands of their lives, usually don't have them in place. ADHD sufferers probably get more out of implementing and following these systems on the margin, so they're paradoxically more likely to reach for them than the average person. (I predict Getting Things Done is popular with both high powered executives of all kinds and middle of the road ADHD laden office workers.) But current demands being low rarely predicts future demands staying low, and having a habit of working with these things already deeply engrained is a really, really good idea even if your Todo list only has "Get out of bed", "Finish Breaking Bad S4" and "Get back in bed" on it.
  • FuckButtons 3y ago
    Getting things done was written by someone with adhd, the entire system is one big coping strategy for not having a functioning working memory.
    • hiAndrewQuinn 3y ago
      In the same way fire was discovered by an anemic woman, maybe. It seems most popular among my lawyer/paralegal friends, though, and "low working memory" is not a harbinger of success in those fields.
    • yonaguska 3y ago
      Not having a functioning working memory is one of the primary conditions of ADHD. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.
    • macNchz 3y ago
      I think the number of items that any given office worker in today's environment has to juggle far, far exceeds working memory, never mind that using working memory to maintain a running list of tasks precludes or at least contends with using it to actually think about the individual task at hand. I haven't used the Getting Things Done method explicitly, but at a glance it looks like a more formalized version of what most of the people I know who are well-organized and have good time management skills seem to gravitate to naturally. I don't think I know a single person who I'd consider "very on top of things" who doesn't have some mechanism, formal or informal, of noting/organizing/prioritizing thoughts and tasks. The idea that they are in fact coping with something and "regular" people just keep everything in their heads doesn't make any sense to me.
• smallerfish 3y ago
  I think Slack is a silent killer of productivity, and terrible for an ADHD brain: You're either "engaged" and "available" (meaning you respond to messages in semi-real-time, pretty much nixing your ability to do deep work) or you feel like you're missing a lot of conversation that's going on behind your back, because you're heads down with Slack closed. Slack is good for (shitty) managers of remote teams, because you can see who's "in the office", and randomly ping people when your lack of planning skills means that you are working on something that you forgot to get an answer for in a deliberate way (instead of buzzing by their cube as you used to do)...but for developers I think it's a poor bargain. There are better tools out there that encourage and support async workflows. Twist, Basecamp, Github discussions, even email with appropriate filters.
  • throwoutway 3y ago
    I was thinking of this in bed last night. I could focus more using our terrible messaging system prior to Slack. And there was less banter, pessimism, pile ons, etc that now show up in threads. Sometimes I regret replying in a thread when it goes 50+ messages deep and you get pinged on it each one unless you mute
    • andrew-dc 3y ago
      Just wanted to say how much thinking I get done as soon as I lie down in bed with the lights out. Of course, Sometimes, this goes off the rails, and I can't sleep. But generally it is a testament to having little to no sensory input, (in the dark, lying in bed) to be free to think clearly. ;)
      • hirvi74 3y ago
        A psychiatrist I love to listen to on YouTube, Dr. K, says that what you are explaining is caused by not giving the brain enough rest time (overstimulation). He says rest time is necessary for the brain the kind of sort through/debug things. Much like sleep, if you go without for long enough, you will randomly start sleeping whenever you get the chance. So, when your brain is constantly "on" and your brain finally gets a chance to calm down, it will start running through all the shit that was blocked out due to being overstimulated.
• fnord77 3y ago
  > Dopamine acts as a motivator, urging us to achieve goals and complete tasks. this isn't really right... Norepinephrine comes into play with executive tasking
• iillexial 3y ago
  I'm having my first visit to a doctor regarding my symptoms this week. Very interested if I need a treatment and what they will say. My main problem is craving for dopamine: nicotine, caffeinated drinks, hot shower, games, tv shows, drugs - I just cannot focus, I crave for something to stimulate my brain, and sometimes I end up abusing substances because of this. For example, I used 5-7 doses of nicotine spray per hour. Just like a mouse that found a button for dopamine release. I think if I can eliminate this, I will feel much better.
• danielbln 3y ago
  Here's another hack: 10mg Methylphenidate. YMMV, but the alternative is a boat load of systems, routines, caffeine, which all may or may not work depending on how the day/week is going. Not a panacea to be sure, but for those adults with ADHD inattentive where dopamine deficiency impacts executive functioning it can be essential (and incredibly effective).
  • coldblues 3y ago
    When it comes to Amphetamine derivatives what works for you might not work for someone else. Stimulants generally work well, but some people have genetic conditions that make their situation worse. It's best to find out which medication is best for you.
    • danielbln 3y ago
      You're absolutely right, just one correction in that Methylphenidate is not an amphetamine (derivate).
• buzzwords 3y ago
  This could not have been better timed for me. I was diagnosed with ADHD yesterday. Apparently for me, the working memory is a major issue. If anyone has any tips here I really appreciate it if you could comment your suggestions here.
  • dublinben 3y ago
    This is a very long article with lots of helpful information about ADHD and memory: https://add.org/adhd-memory-loss/ https://add.org/adhd-memory-loss/ The highlights of their suggestions are: * Break down complex tasks into smaller bits. * Avoid multitasking. * Create your own reminders, like setting alarms and reminders. Leave Post-It notes on areas you frequently look at. * Habit stacking. If you constantly forget chores, you can stack them on top of something you regularly do. For example, you may put a load of laundry in while brewing your usual cup of coffee.
    • tstrimple 3y ago
      > * Avoid multitasking. Yeah okay, and just don't breathe while you're at it.
  • coldblues 3y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZ9VATeF_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZ9VATeF_4 This video has a lot of useful information. The straightforward answer is to externalize your memory and take notes.
  • kayodelycaon 3y ago
    This is me talking. I have more problems than just ADHD. This is a long comment. If you just want a strategy for dealing with working memory inside your head, skip to the end and read 3. For me increasing working memory was a dead end and I found it far more effective to optimize how do use what I have. The vast majority of my advice and strategies revolve around mental health. Mental and physical health alone can add one or two slots of working memory because your brain is working better. Some advice: - Do not limit yourself to doing daily things the normal or accepted way. Do not let yourself or other people tell you that you need to do things a certain way. If you can find a way to not lose your keys, it doesn't matter how crazy or stupid that way is because the end result is you don't lose your keys. (Please be considerate of other people.) - Half measures are okay. - Half done is usually better than not done. If you're stuck, walk away and get something else done. The feeling of accomplishment on a small task can recharge you. Then you can go back and finish the other task. - Failing doesn't mean you need to fail completely. For example, if you're on diet and start annihilating a large number of small high-calorie snacks, that's not an excuse to finish the bag. :) Strategies 1. Reduce your baseline cognitive load. That's basically what my advice is trying to do. The less you are fighting your own expectations and limitations, the more you can focus on getting things done. (Cognitive behavioral therapy is solution here.) 2. Remove stress or distractions. This is the same strategy as cognitive load, only applied to your environment. For me sometimes I just have to clean before I can get work done. 3. Map and reduce. This is involved and difficult to explain. I recommend using paper until you get good at this. The goal is you need to do is take complex ideas that use multiple slots of working memory and make them take one or zero slots. There are several ways to do this. Paper is the easiest method to explain. Write out what is in your memory and then rewrite it so that it compacts into one thing you understand. What you should be able to do is look at the paper and immediately understand what is going on without having to think about it. This frees up all your working memory to make connections to other things. This can also be done with short term memory. You think about the problem and reduce it to a single idea or process. When you understand something well enough, you can hold a pointer to it in a slot of working memory. Long-term memory is just regular learning. Programming languages and that embarrassing thing you said eight years ago are stored in long-term memory.
• _joel 3y ago
  Whilst I agree with a lot of this, I think there's an issue around expecting someone with ADHD to just onboard using all these tools without a prior history and engrained usage. Such as just "using wikis and JIRA etc" is a bit handwavey imho, it needs to stick otherwise it'll just be forgotten.
• gardenhedge 3y ago
  I really don't think this article has much to do with ADHD. Work is work even if you like what you're doing. Nobody can handle the barrage of notifications and being always-online and always-available. Couple that with a job that requires focus and it's an uphill battle. Again, this is for everyone. Everything in the article can be applied to everyone.
• boringg 3y ago
  Other hack I will put out there -- I find if I do cardio exercise 30-45 minutes or more it gives me more constant focus for a couple days.
• jacknews 3y ago
  Honestly I'm not sure these are strategies for dealing with ADHD, rather than just strategies for dealing with modern work and life. Or maybe I have ADHD too.
• thejosh 3y ago
  I would have thought this was me writing this in a fugue state. I was diagnosed last year with ADHD, at 32. I would say ADHD has traits, you might not have all but once you start doing research into it you find you tick a lot of the boxes. Psychologists can help as they can figure out what works with you, once you find a decent one. Everything in this post is great, as always find what works for you.
• pilgrim0 3y ago
  I don’t recall a single piece on the subject that attempted to define productivity. I’m saying this because my own conflicts with the condition taught me that work is not something so simplistic as for the same strategies to be effective in all environments. What in fact has worked for me, is not exactly to adapt myself to the work, but rather to adapt the work to my limitations. I keep realizing that productivity has many forms. Merely being able to sit and yield artifacts at a high velocity is not necessarily productive. When on pharmaceutical amphetamine, I’m perfectly “productive”, but most of the times the quality of the results are poor. In comparison, the work I yield when not on medication, although performed completely irregularly, tends to be much more high quality. So it must be acknowledged that productivity has no intrinsic relation to efficiency. It’s much more important to be efficient than “productive”. All in all, it’s important for folks with ADHD to treat themselves better and find a compromise when dealing with the societal expectations placed on them. I honestly find bizarre some strategies people employ to cope with work, flirting the inhumane, like a self-inflicted dystopia.
• rey0927 3y ago
  i don't have adhd but i definitely have fked up executive function and oh boy do i procrastinate! it always has been when weeks have passed on, months even years! and i still haven't made up mind to tackle the tasks. Has led to gigantic amount of missed opportunities. I seriously fed up of it. God know makes me scared about thinking when get old and frail. Have read lots of self-help books based on "evidence backed science" only to realize that none work and the authors make a buck exploiting people's desperateness, lazy people are seriously helpless i guess.
• _bf7s 3y ago
  The way I work is being driven by obsessions. I have strong hyperfixation and hyperfocus tendencies that I can't control. If there is something interesting that captivates me, I will do it continuously for hours, days and even weeks. Sometimes I seemingly lose all interest for no reason and have a hard time picking it up again. When the hyperfocus hits, it feels amazingly euphoric and "zen". It's the same feeling you get when you're watching a video and just become a zombie starting at the screen, purely consuming the content without any other thought, and when it ends, you're left with this dreadful feeling of coming back to your pitiful existence. My mind is always preoccupied. I have a constant inner monologue. Whenever I tend to be in a waiting room I just stare at the wall and start imagining conversations and situations and start talking to myself about various topics. My mind always makes connections between so many different topics, I can never keep a straight line of thought. One subject will bring another and another. A constant web of thoughts. I tend to have very long-winded (up to 5 continious hours or more) conversations with friends that leave me sweaty and exhausted. I've heard that ADHD helps a lot with introspection, self-reflection. While the constant noise and urge to be active feels debilitating, I've had some pretty interesting and life-changing conversations with myself that a lot of people don't often experience without anyone else present. Although it balances out with the constant anxiety. When it comes to entertainment, I'm always a binge-reader, binge-watcher and binge-player. Visual novels have probably kept my attention the most and I must have spent entire days reading them. When it comes to doing my work, it's a weird dance. I must have the impression that the task is easy, and the steps are obvious. That often is not the case, but the situation gets me in a zen state where I combat the problem until I come to a reasonable situation that passes one way or another. If I know it's going to be hard, I can't even start without having a panic attack. You can feel it in your stomach. Your mind starts to blank out. Your vision gets blurry. It's the sort of feeling when you see something that makes you really ill. For some people that's a dead body, for me it's medical descriptions. Even saying all of that, I still doubt that's how I really function. Looking from the outside, I just get the urge to do something, and I act on that urge. That's all. Whatever it be. It will take all my focus, and all of my energy, and you won't be able to get me out of that focus state. I will keep thinking about it until I either get to sleep or something snaps me hard out of it, and that severely decreases my motivation. Relying on instinct and acting on my obsessions was the only thing that helped me, either directly or indirectly. Otherwise I can't manage. Medication has immensely helped me control my focus and help me take breaks, but not even that stops me from acting sometimes. I've seen a few comments here mention body doubling, this has also helped me a lot, services like FocusMate are amazing and I can't praise them enough, so simple, yet so effective, and my anxiety really pushes its effectiveness further. Yes, I am currently hyperfocusing on writing this, if you couldn't tell by the several paragraphs of text and over-sharing. I have a task to write an article about my ADHD, yet it's still sitting there, because posts like these are the only things that get me to write about it. I tried getting diagnosed and medicated and I was scheduled an appointment with a horrible psychiatrist that dismissed all of my problems and said I couldn't have ADHD if I could recite the days of the week backwards and sit still. The horrible things I felt after that still haunt me to this day and it occasionally slips into my mind and makes me sick. It is an extremely embarrassing thing to share, but a previous comment mentioning this told me that it's alright, and it's a reasonable traumatic response. Writing about how I dealt with school would be just repeating what others have said. Deadlines never had any effect on me, I would always do things on the last day or few days, and I had an extremely difficult time with math because I how I mostly think is by making connections between previous information, which I find hard to do with math, that requires pure reasoning and logic. I don't like breaking down tasks. I don't want to plan anything. The only reasonable way I get work done is by bashing away, being pissed off it doesn't work as I expect, and keep working hours non-stop until I get to a reasonable state. The less I know, the better. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for most of the time, especially for big projects. All the things people use as crutches make me ill. I have never planned my day. I go with the flow. The only "productivity tools" I've ever used is the reminder and a simple task list just to keep track of interesting goodies I might pursue. I have a horrible working memory and externalize an immense amount of information and keep it in notes format. I am a RABID fan of Zettelkasten and preach it like the second coming of Jesus Christ.
• deleted 3y ago
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• totorovirus 3y ago
  Is ADHD a real thing? I see too many SV engineers diagnosed with ADHD to the point that it feels like a large scam run by psychiatrists that they lowered the threshold of the actual ADHD.
  • canithrowaway12 3y ago
    It's real but most people don't have ADHD, they can't focus because they aren't actually interested in what they are doing but blame ADHD and take drugs.
  • JaDogg 3y ago
    That make perfect sense. If coding is really interesting to you, hyperfocus make you spend more time doing it. Getting into the zone is probably hyperfocus kicking in.
• deafpolygon 3y ago
  Had me until "Obsidian" - absolute worst thing ever for my ADHD. Hours spent tinkering ... experimenting with plugins. I was on the verge of developing plugins before I realized: I wasn't getting anything done. I gave up and went with OneNote. The freeform canvas is a godsend for my ADHD (I am able to lay things out spatially left and right), but I'm not able to tinker with it as much anymore.
  • pch00 3y ago
    So much this. My inbuilt desire for perfectionism occasionally leads me to believe I can create "the perfect system!" using tools like Obsidian, etc but what actually happens is that I spend a large amount of time working on the system and forgetting about the actual tasks I needed to do. OneNote with it's "paste anything, anywhere on the page" and fairly minimal organisational options make it the closest thing to a notebook/scrapbook I've ever used on a computer. It's not perfect, and I've come to accept that :-)
  • coldblues 3y ago
    You should try Logseq. What you do is just write. Don't actively think about it, organization will come naturally. Just liberally use tags and backlinks to find your notes later. That's all.
    • deafpolygon 3y ago
      I tried the tag thing- same organizational pitfalls. I also disliked the lack of a solid mobile applications on logseq's part.
• atcalan 3y ago
  You need to have a note capable phone like a galaxy 23 ultra. You also need a smart watch so you don't turn off your reminders in meetings and to forget to turn back on. Redmine and or jira are your friends. Make a list of all expectations and star the ones that are action items. Ironclad once a day go through the list and either complete or transfer into a task tracking system each starred item and then check it off--don't use the list to manage tasks. If you manage others, do the same and set follow up events for you. Never silence, only snooze alarms unless completed. Set annoying alarms or block out time for heads down work to avoid time blindness for when you hyperfocus. Your Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is not functioning correctly and consequently your planning system needs a wheelchair.
• coolThingsFirst 3y ago
  Can't hack ADHD without first sorting out other problems. It's treated as a singular issue but in my experience it's not. Here are some factors to consider: 1) Does the person have a quiet place get high quality sleep in 2) How is their relationship with family and significant other 3) Do they exercise - physical stamina helps build mental stamina and helps with clarity 4) Do they eat healthy 5) Anxiety or depression. If we are constantly distracted there's likely a good reason for that. You can't focus on movie if your house is on fire and this fire can be emotional one with unresolved traumas etc. What we see is only the tip of the iceberg and fixing the roof before we address the foundation won't work longterm.
  • YetAnotherNick 3y ago
    I think we need to stop these posts. ADHD is a disease, not a symptom and should be treated like that. For me, my sleep is very good, my mental health is perfect, do exercise, eat healthy. But I have ADHD.
• albert_e 3y ago
  Sounds very much like me as far a symptoms and challenges go. will bookmark this and try some of the tips. Thanks for sharing!
• swozey 3y ago
  That Amazon Silent Meeting thing... I think that would drive me crazy. It's annoying enough when someone hasn't read what you've posted as an agenda in a meeting invite and you have to tell them about it. I don't want to sit on camera with 6 other people reading a 6 page document.
  • JaDogg 3y ago
    I really loved it. It is much easier to read in dedicated time when there is nobody talking. and you can just add comments to the doc while reading..
• gumby 3y ago
  Is in an ADHD thing to scatter random pictures through the article rather than just have the text? Perhaps it breaks things up in a way that makes concentration easier? For me they were a distraction -- I much prefer to have a wall of text. The web is full of this style these days, so perhaps the algos have decided it increases engagement. This is not a snark comment or a complaint about style! People should post however they wish! I am just curious if there is data on the topic. I know Medium requires a junk picture at the top of every post, but I haven't seen data on this from them, just an assertion that it's importand.
• kinos 3y ago
  I have trouble trusting this when the first thing I see is AI Art. It makes me think the article might have been generated too.
• Geee 3y ago
  What I've learned is that there isn't such thing as focus. Focusing is not something you can do. Focus is simply a lack of distractions. If you block all distractions, the only thing left is focus. Blocking distractions is something you can do, if you want to. The major issue is how to catch up with important news and developments without getting distracted.
  • coldblues 3y ago
    You can lock me in a room for 24 hours with nothing but a math textbook, but I'd probably still do nothing even at the height of boredom. I'd probably just space out and start daydreaming. I'm sure this is the case for others as well.
  • dleink 3y ago
    [dead]
• nathell 3y ago
  I’m 39. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD/AS about 11 months ago, after having seen a psychiatrist complaining about chronic fatigue (cf. my Ask HN from two years ago [0]). Methylphenidate has helped _immensely_. As has accepting the wiring of my brain, taking a two-months sabbatical, and practicing awareness about the ADHD habits. I’m having the year of my life. I can’t remember being productive this consistently basically ever. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29768418 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29768418
  • fasteo 3y ago
    >>> after having seen a psychiatrist complaining about chronic fatigue Is there a causal relation between ADHD and chronic fatigue ?
    • SpaceManNabs 3y ago
      yeah because hyperfocus or losing track of how much energy you are wasting on spurious tasks.
    • hughesjj 3y ago
      It's not the only cause, but yes. Could also be hormonal, sickness, stress, lack of quality sleep/nutrition, etc. for men the drop off in testosterone definitely can manifest in feelings of lethargy.
    • 8ytecoder 3y ago
      I have been trying to find information on this - but couldn’t find any real scientific literature. Anecdotally, it’s true for me and my current psychiatrist was the first one to recognise the link and start treating my ADHD instead of the depression and low energy and fatigue that I went to her for. Not there yet. But can confirm that the meds help a lot.
  • comprev 3y ago
    I was diagnosed a few years back and use the same drug - the difference is night and day for me. Astonishing difference to my life! When people ask if I'm frustrated/angry that it took until I was mid-30s to get diagnosed, I respond by saying how I'm proud of myself for achieving what I have so far unmedicated/undiagnosed - and excited about what the future might hold.
• SpaceManNabs 3y ago
  article seems good but ledger.com publishing this is kinda hilarious. also i am about to work better at the office for focus mode
• 71a54xd 3y ago
  I have ADHD and unapologetically take adderall. Yes, there's a stigma but there's also about a 6x improvement in my mood and ability to stay focused on a single task after I take 5mg. I've never developed dependency and generally only take it 3-4 times a week. I've also never really had to increase the dose. This came after two diagnosis from neuropsychiatrists both reaching the same conclusion. Being diagnosed at 22 I'm glad I wasn't prescribed adderall as a teen but I loathe how much more I could have achieved in college seeing how much more capable I am now. I acknowledge it's probably not great for my heart health - but I was so depressed about how I was unable to get anything done or focus on studying before that I'd always make this tradeoff.
  • hirvi74 3y ago
    I'm in the same boat -- same age of diagnosis, same qualms, etc.. I am at the point in my life, a decade later, where I couldn't care less if there are longterm harmful effects. 1. I'm sure my unmedicated life would have continued to be equally unhealthy in different ways. 2. It's not like old age is sunshine in rainbows. I rather die in my 60s or 70s from a heart attack, with dignity, than live long enough to slowly watch everything and everyone I ever experienced dissipate from my mind until I am husk of a human being due Alzheimer's or Dementia.
    • 71a54xd 3y ago
      Glad I'm not the only one who's had this experience!
• charles_f 3y ago
  Great post! I don't know if I have ADHD, but I have struggle with getting into focusing and staying focused if I don't get into the zone, a lot of that speaks to me. > For me, having multiple monitors has been a game-changer; it allows me to spread out my tasks visibly and switch between them as needed without losing track Fun, I have had the opposite revelation. I had several monitors for years, and what made a difference was switching to just a wide one, plus some hygiene around closing windows I don't use. Using a nice background helps, as it motivates me yo have sufficiently little content that I can see it. > While the open office layout is often praised for fostering collaboration, it can be a minefield of distractions for someone with ADHD And interestingly again, I like going to the office because a) few of my colleagues are going, b) I have much less distractions there than at my place > Amazon’s Silent Meeting Technique From my short tenure at Amazon, this is one thing I miss to an obsessive degree. These are great. But switching to other companies and failing to advocate for it, I realized that people don't like reading. They want to be fed content. I dread when something is documented through the recording of a meeting, I want a doc. I hope to find such a culture again! > Obsidian isn’t just a note-taking app for me; it’s the cornerstone of my daily organization I like the idea in concept. I even built an extension for Obsidian that parses all your notes for to-dos and presents them as an interactive board and backlog (Proletarian Wizard). I have used that for a few years, but I usually drift enough from my todos that it's not very useful. The other problem with all these syncs is that they are one way only, so it'd make me anxious that the info is scattered between my system and the central one. Like the idea though. > Team members are encouraged to block off periods in their calendars Does that work for anyone? I have been doing that for years, through probably 5 or 10 teams, and so far my main observation is that people don't give any consideration for my own agenda. The moment my calendar is busy to beyond 50%, people start sending invites on time marked busy. I think they mostly don't even check, or sometimes even worse they take notice and send something in the likes of "you were marked busy but I hope you can join".
• rswskg 3y ago
  I cannot trust someone who did well at school but claims to have ADHD.
  • JaDogg 3y ago
    I passed lot of exams (A grades, etc) with last minute study. But at some point I reached a ceiling (failed). So different people might have different ceilings.. for some they might reach this ceiling at grade 5. Some might reach it at degree level. ADHD != dumb.
    • rswskg 3y ago
      ADHD !=dumb but it does make you terrible at studying a broad range of subject's you aren't interested in.
• ZachSaucier 3y ago
  Reader modes for reading web articles can be really handy for those with HDHD. I maintain a reader mode called Just Read that is pretty customizable if you're interested: https://justread.link/ https://justread.link/
  • coldblues 3y ago
    My favorite method is RSVP. I've read entire books with ease using it.
• citruscomputing 3y ago
  A few years ago, I was part of a neurodiversity ERG, and we were gathering recommendations for the new office that was going to be built. I found "Designing a Neurodiverse Workplace"[0]. It is a fantastic design document that told me about things I didn't have the language to express that I needed. One of the points it makes is "have a variety of types of spaces and let people pick and move between them", which the author touches on with regard to hybrid work. Everyone (not just ND people) gets overwhelmed by sensory stimuli sometimes, needs to be alone sometimes, needs to be around people and noise sometimes. I kinda knew "yeah yeah accessibility benefits everyone" but I didn't really get it until then. Highly recommend reading this. [0]: https://www.hok.com/pdf/download/31839/ https://www.hok.com/pdf/download/31839/ If that link doesn't work: https://www.hok.com/ideas/publications/hok-designing-a-neurodiverse-workplace/ https://www.hok.com/ideas/publications/hok-designing-a-neuro...
• dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
  Why do a lot of developers, especially the more "chronically online" ones, exhibit ADHD symptoms? I'm not saying they are necessarily, but there are striking similarities.. do the screens make people mad or are mad people attracted to screens?
  • coldblues 3y ago
    I tend to be on the side of "mad people are attracted to screens". Does Thomas the Tank Engine make people autistic?
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
• kylegalbraith 3y ago
  This was a very well written piece and really resonates with me. I've never been diagnosed with ADHD but when I read pieces like this I always walk away feeling like I check most of the boxes. Has anyone ever encountered the same and been prompted to get help? Asking on HN probably isn't the best idea, but sometimes I really struggle with certain flows and the way others work that seems to run counter to my peak performance.
• mystickphoenix 3y ago
  I found that https://endel.io/ https://endel.io/ worked better for me than brain.fm. YMMV of course, but it's worth a try if brain.fm isn't your jam.
• JaDogg 3y ago
  Thank you for noprocrast feature. :) I wanted to do pomodoro - so I ended up writing a pomodoro python app. :( I wanted to build some games - so I ended up writing a programming language. I wanted to create a 3d design for a cyberdeck - wrote a python library to codegen. ADHD == Yakshaving on steroids.
• chrisjc 3y ago
  Lots of things to move from multiple (mental) "I'll deal with it later" piles to here, so excuse the randomness... I was diagnosed with ADHD at 44/45 too. I can't believe that no one (not even me) identified it based on all the symptoms and signs throughout my life. Medication was a life-changer. Suddenly all of my therapy started to become more effective. I was able to slow things down and actually take a long, hard look inside. Gave me the ability listen, understand and validate my emotions, fears, concerns, behavior... instead of just reacting or pushing things down and out of the way. One important realization was that the medication wasn't just for work hours. It also enabled me to be "present" outside of work too. Just wondering if anyone has an opinion on Andrew Huberman. I'm always skeptical about anyone on social media these days. Doesn't seem like he's trying to sell us anything, and has seemingly decent, understandable explanations about brain bio-chemistry and characteristics of those with ADHD. Can anyone recommend a tool for the phone that can use Siri/etc to record and organize reminders, thoughts, etc? Imagine the functionality Loom (mentioned in the link), Obsidian, todoist, etc... all mixed into one app, but Voice/Siri interaction being the main interface to interact with? I find that when I use a visual UI, I end up doing something unrelated. Tweaking settings, noticing a txt I haven't responded to, trying to organize previous tasks, etc... I was one of those stay-up-to-the-late-hours type of person all throughout my life. That of course changed with a family, and so I began to suffer as a result. I found that I had no time to focus on learning and keeping my skills up to date. It made me really frustrated, fearful and resentful. Especially difficult bc I never really "worked", I was passionate about what I do and love it. At some point I figured out a way to use that anxiety to get me out of bed early in the morning (quite unusual and difficult for those with ADHD) and to my desk hours before anyone could disturb me. Suddenly I was getting up at 4-5am (6-7hrs of sleep), ready, refreshed and at my desk, giving me several hours before anyone could interrupt me. That all changed recently due to some personal matters, but I think I'm on the right path to getting back there. Anyone else heard that those with ADHD often think/write like a lisp language? Lots of "...", deeply nested "((()))", "etc"... in their sentences. I see every sign of ADHD in my young daughter. I guess I'm glad that I have and can recognize it so that at least I can empathize/sympathize/understand/validate what she will go through in life, and hopefully be able to provide some guidance/help/support for her as she navigates the difficulties. I wish I had had that throughout my life, and in many ways, on a daily basis, I feel like I'm learning everything from scratch with my recent discovery. I now see everything through a different lens, like I needed glasses all my life and only recently received glasses.
• theodraul 3y ago
  Had such a weird feeling skimming through this. Earlier this year I've spent months intuitively building a product to address some challenges I've faced in the past years while working remotely. It took all that effort to understand, after hearing from the users, that the product was just the result of me trying to solve my own undiagnosed ADHD symptoms...
• rideontime 3y ago
  Ugh, the horrible AI "illustrations." I'd rather have no images at all.
  • TheMiddleMan 3y ago
    I actually love them a lot! Came here to comment about how great they are. Why the hate?
• smcleod 3y ago
  Good all be it brief summary. The only part I disagree with is hybrid work. For me, as I’ve gone through this journey - a key takeaway from understanding myself better is that commuting to and working from an office is far worse for my health than I thought and not something I could go back to doing. An office is a place that’s very hostile to the majority of folks with ADHD and can have considerable health impacts. Its disruptions, lighting, heating, noises and work space disrupt my comfort, flow, mood and enthusiasm. It’s not something I’d go back to doing again - and because of that I’m healthier, happier, get considerably more work done, and want to engage socially more outside of work. It’s great to see accessible articles like this become popular, I think it’s also important to make sure that all the mitigating strategies don’t end up falling solely with the individual, but we that we also work towards a healthier, more inclusive, working society.
  • dublinben 3y ago
    You also regain 2+ hours a day that can be used to improve your sleep, nutrition and exercise situation. These are all key foundational requirements for people with ADHD that enable higher-level executive functioning.
• kirubakaran 3y ago
  You might want to try https://crushentropy.com/ https://crushentropy.com/ It is mine, but it is completely free. Many programmers with ADHD have sent me fan mails about it, and that makes me very happy.
• alok-g 3y ago
  I have all the symptoms described (inattention type, not hyperactivity), including hyperfocus. A test my therapist had given me indicated that I do have ADHD. However, she told me that I do not actually have ADHD as my hyperfocus does not fit with "attention deficit", and there's alternative explanation for the symptoms from some other issues. Upon reading this post however where inattention and hyperfocus are both mentioned, I sense she may be wrong. In my case, I feel sure that I did not have ADHD symptoms during childhood. These symptoms I believe have come extreme and unusual mental stresses I have been subjected for several years. However, there's not enough literature on ADHD coming during adulthood. Most, like the OP, say that it would have gone undetected during childhood. Some say that ADHD can develop during adulthood too. I have also read that Adult ADHD seemingly has a different mechanism than ADHD that develops during childhood. In terms of what's working for me, nothing yet.
  • gukov 3y ago
    Dr Gabor Mate's theory is that ADHD (and many others) is the body's response to childhood trauma.
    • alok-g 3y ago
      Thanks for the pointer. I'll find more about this.
    • hirvi74 3y ago
      Wouldn't that imply that everyone with ADHD had childhood trauma? I can see that explanation being true for some, but not all nor a majority of cases. I'd be more inclined to believe trauma to the ADHD offspring's mother, while pregnant, would be more explanatory than the offspring's environment post-birth.
  • berkes 3y ago
    > and there's alternative explanation for the symptoms from some other issues > I feel sure that I did not have ADHD symptoms during childhood Both are hard requirements for the indication though. (at least in my country where they use the DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) * Symptoms must not be attributable to other issues. * ADHD must have been there all your life, so before a certain age (in my country 12yo) symptoms must have been there, and they must be acknowledged. Not necessarily that they were then attributed to ADHD, but they must have been present. Source: i'm in the diagnosis currently. I'm 45 years old. I'm not a shrink. I'm currently actually supposed to finish my bookkeeping, hence I'm on HN.
• dboreham 3y ago
  The article doesn't mention this (nor have any of the 500 videos I've watched on YouTube on this subject), but you might find that listening to instrumental music has a significant beneficial effect. Music with lyrics doesn't work for me because I start to follow them. Music from someone long dead can be better because less inclination to pull up their Wikipedia page. Music seems to wedge a wrench in the brain mechanism that initiates distraction. It keeps the default mode network busy enough to retain focus on the main thing. Also pick long pieces of music, or auto-playing AI-based playlists, otherwise you go down a rabbit hole of selecting the next piece of music.
  • MonortYp 3y ago
    I’m the opposite of this - I can only listen to music with lyrics as it gives me something to “listen to” even though I barely hear a word of them let alone remember or be able to sing along. (Faster music like rap or metal is great) Brown noise is probably the only sound I can tolerate for a long periods of time without lyrics, even better than this is ANC headphones with nothing playing.
  • tired_star_nrg 3y ago
    I use instrumental music or one song with a good rhythm on repeat. Since the song is on repeat, it doesn’t matter that there are lyrics - it all becomes part of the background rhythm.
• WraithM 3y ago
  I can't recommend https://reclaim.ai https://reclaim.ai highly enough, which the article mentions. It's absolutely a game-changer for me. My whole life is scheduled in my calendar. I have a bunch of automatic meetings with my team. It's really been a life-saver for the past couple of years. They're also always improving the product.
• georgejefferson 3y ago
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• scns 3y ago
  Sadly won't have time to read all comments, maybe someone said it allready. Once a commenter here on HN wrote that meditation helps him better than anything else. Still have back into the groove of a regular schedule. The best book on the topic might be Mind Illuminated by John Yates, got it from a recommendation here on HN. Another good one is ADHD 2.0 by Hallowell and Ratey. Knowledge helps.
• TrackerFF 3y ago
  I'm diagnosed with ADHD, and it's been a struggle. You can say that it's more a struggle now than ever, with the medication shortage. With that said, I always found it interesting that many psychologists are extremely polarized on the so-called hyperfocus. One I spoke with said that hyperfocus is contradictory to ADHD, while another said that it is indeed something that many with ADHD experience. These were psychologists with decades of experience, and have diagnosed hundreds/thousands of patients. Diagnosis has seemingly become very hard the past years, with the spread of social media and ADHD "influencers". Viewers become fixated on having ADHD, memorize symptoms, and parrot these when undergoing diagnosis.
• meristem 3y ago
  This will probably have zero traction, yet: 1.ADHD is often misdiagnosed in women 2. The drop in estrogen around perimenopause/menopause worsens symptoms. It leads to late-life diagnoses as women's coping strategies no longer work as well. 3. Perimenopause starts 10-20 years before menopause; women in their 30's can suffer from perimenopausal symptoms.
• WendyTheWillow 3y ago
  I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 19 but nobody really did anything with that information, and I to this day refuse to use it as an excuse for why I can or can’t do things. I think it made parts of my life harder, and if I had ever ended up in a seriously bad place I would have taken it more seriously, but I very much didn’t want to define myself in terms of any one aspect of who I was. Now, my adaptations make me an awesome combo of ADHD strengths with only the charming and quirky downsides, rather than the debilitating ones, and I am immensely proud of that fact.
  • joekrill 3y ago
    You can acknowledge and treat it without "using it as an excuse". And there's certainly no need to define yourself by it. Imagine having that same mindset with other treatable disorders. Cataracts. Eczema. Addison’s disease. Cavities. There's a million examples where most folks wouldn't even consider ignoring - let alone embracing any "quirkiness".
    • WendyTheWillow 3y ago
      I didn't say one couldn't treat ADHD without "using it as an excuse" and I didn't say there was any need to define oneself by having ADHD. I said I didn't want to define myself by my ADHD and because of that, I ended up finding non-pharmacological ways to treat my ADHD to the point where I've been able to have the best of both worlds. What I was able to accomplish has nothing to do with you or with anyone else. You're responding to a comment I didn't make.
• changexd 3y ago
  I was also diagnosed at 22yrs(now 26), I've been using ritalin as a major fix for focusing on jobs/tasks, after couple years, it just doesn't seem to be a good solution for this, because I realized how unproductive I am without meds, as of now, I'm browsing through HN just because I haven't taken my meds and I'm at work rn
• NateEag 3y ago
  For those suspicious but who do not have a diagnosis (or who have a diagnosis but who can't use the usual stimulants), I've found the following supplements helpful. I'm a 5' 11", 190 pound man (for reference in regards to dosage). In descending order of apparent impact (yes, anecdotal, though the psychiatrist recommended them based on published research): - L-Tyrosine - Fish oil (3 g daily) - Pycnogenol - general amino acid supplement (covers most of them but not the L-tyrosine listed above) - Magnesium (500 mg) - Men's multivitamin ... interesting to note that apart from the fish oil, this is almost exactly the reverse order of when I started each one. Increases my suspicion that there's a cumulative effect, at least for me.
• plutoh28 3y ago
  Call me naive but I find that the term ADHD has become far too general and overused. It’s a common scapegoat for what could otherwise be described as bad habits for a lot of people.
  • raindropm 3y ago
    It could be, yeah, like many things, I guess — gluten, hormones, etc. Maybe we'll find out later that all of this is just some big mass hallucination we all try to believe in order to cope with today's horrible work life. Though, for me, the symptoms described are so accurate it's scary, and they explain my lifelong struggles — it's a revelation, really. It provides a glimpse of the signposts I can look for when I need help. I'll also keep in mind that any concept we have about ADHD now can also change when we have more evidence (or not), but I'm subscribed to it for now.
• ddmf 3y ago
  This article is really good and a useful summation of things I've felt and tried to explain, going to pass it on to my partner! The only thing that I found interesting was with regards to choosing focus days, as I just cannot do that - I don't know hour to hour whether I will be able to focus or not, it's always a total battle. However, my hack is that when coding I need to watch something silly: like cooking shows, reality tv etc - something I can partially ignore. This was a fix I discovered about 20 years ago and it's helped me ever since, I've always described it as keeping the child portion of my brain happy whilst the adult portion gets on with its job. I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD (what was ADD) 8 months ago, medication really helps with emotional regulation and staying on task - yet I can still code better when I'm watching some random rubbish.
  • rlemaitre 3y ago
    Hi! Author of the blog post here Thanks for your comment ! I have the chance to be able to choose when I’m going at the office or not, it’s a great chance and even if it’s planned to go to the office and it’s one of these down days, I can choose not to go and work from home at my rhythm. Regarding to what to watch/listen to to be in the "zone", I really think it’s personal. Personally, if there’s some moving images, I’m unable to focus, but with some music (especially repeating electronic music), I can be in my own bubble for hours
• treszkai 3y ago
  > Obsidian isn’t just a note-taking app for me; it’s the cornerstone of my daily organization. Note that using Obsidian for work in a for-profit company with >1 employees requires a Professional license for $50/yr.
  • rlemaitre 3y ago
    I know, that’s why I’m paying for the license plus Obsidian Sync :)
• erinqallen 3y ago
  [flagged]
• monkaiju 3y ago
  As someone with ADHD, i found the horrible illustrations so distracting I couldnt finish the article...
• atlas_hugged 3y ago
  Whoa. This is the first article on ADHD that wasn’t a flaming pile of shit. Only thing I would add to this is “don’t forget to use your wheelchair aka adhd meds. No sense making your life more difficult than it needs to be.”
  • rlemaitre 3y ago
    Thanks a lot :) I didn’t want to talk about medication because I know a lot of people with ADHD aren’t (or don’t want to be) medicated. But, I fully agree, my whole life changed since I’m on Ritalin
• Qiaogun 3y ago
  I've developed an experimental ESP32 project that simulates a heartbeat pattern. But I don't have a heart rate sensor, I used my normal resting heart rate as a basis for the simulation. The project utilizes an ESP32 to create a LED blink pattern that represents a heartbeat, starting at a faster rate and gradually slowing down to a resting rate. Here's the link to the project: https://github.com/Qiaogun/ADHD_Blink https://github.com/Qiaogun/ADHD_Blink
• chidi0202 3y ago
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