4 ms·

I experience the same thing very frequently. I likened it to activation energy in a reaction, that no matter what I did I couldn't create the required electroc

by jcims 5mo ago

I experience the same thing very frequently. I likened it to activation energy in a reaction, that no matter what I did I couldn't create the required electrochemical bias in my brain needed to put ideas into action. It's like being stranded in your own mind, you know what you need to do, but the 'go' just never arrives. I eventually discovered that the adrenaline response from extreme stress ('if I don't get this fucking thing done by 7:30am I'm fired' kind of thing) allows me to lock in and do the thing.

saltyoldman 5mo ago
We need two kinds of managers. Normal managers that manages normal people and ADHD managers that manage the ADHD folk. The ADHD manager has one extra responsibility. Make the thing due 1 week earlier.
- niccl 5mo ago
  That wouldn't work (for me, at least). As soon as I figured out the pattern, I'd know I had a week after the 'deadline' and then the pressure is off until that week is passed/nearly up
  - smj-edison 5mo ago
    That's been my experience with tricks. I'll think of some clever trick to work around my ADHD, and it'll work great for about two weeks. Then after that I'll start anticipating it and working around it. The self-defeating nature of ADHD might be one of the most frustrating things.
    - kgwxd 5mo ago
      Everything is due NOW, seems to work best for me. Just a list to make empty, so I can sleep. Give me deadlines, or ask for estimates, and the task is doomed.
      - saltyoldman 5mo ago
        I wonder if ADHD people thrive more in those environments where it's always "this was needed yesterday" get it done NOW!
torben-friis 5mo ago
>I eventually discovered that the adrenaline response from extreme stress ('if I don't get this fucking thing done by 7:30am I'm fired' kind of thing) allows me to lock in and do the thing. I went the other way. I knew from the start that this "trick" helped me work. It took until my 30s to learn that that's ADHD and that I can skip the stress with medication. God knows how many years of life I've robbed myself of with the stress spikes.
- SmellTheGlove 5mo ago
  Yep, same, except I was like 40. Couldn't believe it took me that long.
- orphea 5mo ago
  that I can skip the stress with medication You're lucky. In many countries any helpful ADHD medication is illegal.
  - torben-friis 5mo ago
    Yes, I agree, I'm lucky that legality was never a concern. I'm covered by public healthcare so access to medication is stable and costs literal cents. My only complain is that ADHD is not at all known here so it took time and luck to get a diagnosis, because the possibility wasn't in my radar. It was a surprise to visit London recently and see the amount of ADHD-related ads everywhere (books,clinics, etc).
- 121789 5mo ago
  interesting. the meds help me in many ways, but often I still need that activation energy to kick things off
  - wafflemaker 5mo ago
    >interesting. the meds help me in many ways, but often I still need that activation energy to kick things off Similar problem here. ADHD meds have different thresholds for allievation of ADHD symptoms and for negative effects. Usually the bigger the dose, the more symptoms allievated, but the higher the chance of side effects. In my specific case, methylphenidate had too much side effects, but was the one that helped the most with focus/task prioritization/task recall. Lisdextroamphetamine on the other hand has much less side effects (sweating, emotional detachment), but doesn't help that much with task recall and prioritization. But still helps with anxiety, emotional deregulation (being too emotional, too fast, over non issues and taking long to calm down) and general focus/working memory. Funny that people talk here about looking at ADHD more like executive function disorder. Because I first came upon that idea in Thomas E. Browns video seminars. And he wrote a book on that in 2005 - Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. I actually used material from his book, Outside the Box: Rethinking ADD/ADHD in Children and Adults, to help get diagnosed. I already had one negative diagnosis behind me. And in that book Brown has a lot on clinical requirements for diagnosis) and how research data shows that it's wrong. He also has books on high functioning ADHD+ASD, like Smart but Stuck and ADHD and Asperger Syndrome in Smart Kids and Adults: Twelve Stories of Struggle, Support, and Treatment. Tho the last two are more about using specific cases as examples of how you don't have to be "stupid" to have ADHD. Because to quote the first diagnostician, "you sure do have a lot of ADHD symptoms, but I've never seen anybody with ADHD who has such high scores on the iq tests". Too bad that being good at guessing a pattern in a picture doesn't correspond to life success.
nathanwh 5mo ago
I use the same analogy explaining to people what my meds do. They’re a catalyst in that they lower the activation energy of doing anything other than doomscrolling

by jcims 5mo ago

saltyoldman 5mo ago

We need two kinds of managers. Normal managers that manages normal people and ADHD managers that manage the ADHD folk. The ADHD manager has one extra responsibility. Make the thing due 1 week earlier.

niccl 5mo ago
That wouldn't work (for me, at least). As soon as I figured out the pattern, I'd know I had a week after the 'deadline' and then the pressure is off until that week is passed/nearly up
- smj-edison 5mo ago
  That's been my experience with tricks. I'll think of some clever trick to work around my ADHD, and it'll work great for about two weeks. Then after that I'll start anticipating it and working around it. The self-defeating nature of ADHD might be one of the most frustrating things.
  - kgwxd 5mo ago
    Everything is due NOW, seems to work best for me. Just a list to make empty, so I can sleep. Give me deadlines, or ask for estimates, and the task is doomed.
    - saltyoldman 5mo ago
      I wonder if ADHD people thrive more in those environments where it's always "this was needed yesterday" get it done NOW!

torben-friis 5mo ago

>I eventually discovered that the adrenaline response from extreme stress ('if I don't get this fucking thing done by 7:30am I'm fired' kind of thing) allows me to lock in and do the thing. I went the other way. I knew from the start that this "trick" helped me work. It took until my 30s to learn that that's ADHD and that I can skip the stress with medication. God knows how many years of life I've robbed myself of with the stress spikes.

SmellTheGlove 5mo ago
Yep, same, except I was like 40. Couldn't believe it took me that long.
orphea 5mo ago
that I can skip the stress with medication You're lucky. In many countries any helpful ADHD medication is illegal.
- torben-friis 5mo ago
  Yes, I agree, I'm lucky that legality was never a concern. I'm covered by public healthcare so access to medication is stable and costs literal cents. My only complain is that ADHD is not at all known here so it took time and luck to get a diagnosis, because the possibility wasn't in my radar. It was a surprise to visit London recently and see the amount of ADHD-related ads everywhere (books,clinics, etc).
121789 5mo ago
interesting. the meds help me in many ways, but often I still need that activation energy to kick things off
- wafflemaker 5mo ago
  >interesting. the meds help me in many ways, but often I still need that activation energy to kick things off Similar problem here. ADHD meds have different thresholds for allievation of ADHD symptoms and for negative effects. Usually the bigger the dose, the more symptoms allievated, but the higher the chance of side effects. In my specific case, methylphenidate had too much side effects, but was the one that helped the most with focus/task prioritization/task recall. Lisdextroamphetamine on the other hand has much less side effects (sweating, emotional detachment), but doesn't help that much with task recall and prioritization. But still helps with anxiety, emotional deregulation (being too emotional, too fast, over non issues and taking long to calm down) and general focus/working memory. Funny that people talk here about looking at ADHD more like executive function disorder. Because I first came upon that idea in Thomas E. Browns video seminars. And he wrote a book on that in 2005 - Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. I actually used material from his book, Outside the Box: Rethinking ADD/ADHD in Children and Adults, to help get diagnosed. I already had one negative diagnosis behind me. And in that book Brown has a lot on clinical requirements for diagnosis) and how research data shows that it's wrong. He also has books on high functioning ADHD+ASD, like Smart but Stuck and ADHD and Asperger Syndrome in Smart Kids and Adults: Twelve Stories of Struggle, Support, and Treatment. Tho the last two are more about using specific cases as examples of how you don't have to be "stupid" to have ADHD. Because to quote the first diagnostician, "you sure do have a lot of ADHD symptoms, but I've never seen anybody with ADHD who has such high scores on the iq tests". Too bad that being good at guessing a pattern in a picture doesn't correspond to life success.

nathanwh 5mo ago

I use the same analogy explaining to people what my meds do. They’re a catalyst in that they lower the activation energy of doing anything other than doomscrolling