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I have it, dropped out of college. Remember being up all night learning other stuff than what the education had planned for me. School: learn MySQL Brain: lea

by seivan 14y ago

I have it, dropped out of college. Remember being up all night learning other stuff than what the education had planned for me. School: learn MySQL Brain: learn Redis. School: Learn javabeans and JEE and etc Brain: Learn Obj-C and Cocoa Contrived example, but something along those lines. Had to drop out, it was killing me staying up all night experiment with stuff that was not related to the education plan setup for me. I mean it's an investment in myself to learn as much as possible, but I wasn't getting any credit for it. Didn't know it at the time, but recently got diagnosed with "severe" adolescent ADHD. In queue for treatment atm. They said pills might not help. Does anyone have any cool tip on how to focus without getting distracted and look at George Costanza quotes or research about meat eating plants? For me, cutting starch/carbohydrates/sugar helped. But only by a little, it got rid of the "fog" brain. At least now the 1000 thoughts in my head running concurrently are crystal clear :)

namank 14y ago
Go for a run.
- reeses 14y ago
  Amen. Mens sana in corpore sano. Or ^anima if you want to remember it every time you lace up your ASICS.
reeses 14y ago
Meds. Even if they say the chance of it working is 60% in your case, work with your psychiatrist who handles depression, anxiety, and other conditions as well as ADD. Feel free to shop around until you get the guy who can read you on the first meeting and tell you something other than how he's going to change your life. It sounds as if it is an "easy" solution, but your brain is out of whack. Once I got into my mid-30s, after a few half-assed attempts every five years, I went to a good psychiatrist who focused on psychotherapy. It was expensive, with more than one visit a week for over a year, but it not only gave me cognitive techniques to deal with my challenges; he identified the places where he felt medication would help, both in the short and long term. The DIY crowd would call it 'stacking' but it amounted to tuning the effects of a number of mild medications to get the right results from the complete protocol. The frequent check-ins were key, as well as avoiding my initial impulse, which was to write an iPhone app to ping me every n hours to rate myself on the factors I was attempting to improve as well as side effects. After about six months, we got things dialed in so that the cyclone was a brainstorming technique I could pull up on demand, rather than being the perpetual noise dragging every thought to a tangental and unhelpful reference. Things went quickly from there. I started three companies with a friend, but the difference being that they're all profitable and still exist after three years. This after a long trail of books, applications, sites, and other things that were created and never taken seriously. I will say "The Blob" in the noisy times is a good way to build knowledge so that when you have focus, you can apply thousands of years of reasoning, philosophy, and cheesy buzz-words to current problems. In retrospect, I don't regret randomly reading the encyclopedia when I was a kid, spacing out in class, getting horrid grades, or being the master of six degrees of any actor. It made the first few years out of school more difficult, but like distance running, you have to build a base. Feel free to PM me for my regimen, keeping in mind we have different physiological factors as well as different problems, either in nuance or category. It may give you a starting point in discussions with your doctor.
- nollidge 14y ago
  Is there a name for this technique? Is it just a particular application of cognitive-behavioral therapy?
acadien 14y ago
I'm a graduate student finishing up a PhD, I think I'm at the other end of the tunnel from you. I started meds about a decade ago and I have slowly been weaning myself off of them for the past 6 months. Once you're hooked (taking a daily dosage) on the meds it is remarkably difficult to get off of them. Mostly because you feel like crap when you're not on the them and of course the ADD/HD symptoms do return. As someone who is actively struggling to concentrate while writing a thesis (hey look I'm on HN now...) I have a few tips that I hope can help you. Working environment is important. If you're goofing off in your current work spot... then get out of there! Find some other place that you can work from and try working there. You will be surprised how a change in environment can affect your concentration. My experience has been Public and University Libraries are undervalued work spaces. Cafes work really well for me because some part of my brain wants me to appear productive in front of other people, so I goof off less in open working spaces where others can see my screen. I use that to help me concentrate. The point is find that spot that works for you and fight for it. Also don't be afraid to get nomadic, its OK to switch working spots when you feel like it. Make Lists. Every time you sit down to do work, spend 30 seconds and jot down what you want to do in that particular working session. Then leave that list in front of you. The visual cue of the list in front of you will help you get back to work when your mind strays. It also helps you align your thoughts. In terms of staying on topic I think it has more to do with personal issues. I've noticed that when work/class induces a lot of stress, that I goof off more and I do less work. So for me, getting over that stress and just simply enjoying the work has been hugely beneficial. I'm not sure if this stress induced distraction is a universal thing, maybe others can chime in. Finally go get some exercise. Its a panacea and helps everything from ADD/HD symptoms to curing depression.

by seivan 14y ago

namank 14y ago

Go for a run.

reeses 14y ago
Amen. Mens sana in corpore sano. Or ^anima if you want to remember it every time you lace up your ASICS.

reeses 14y ago

Meds. Even if they say the chance of it working is 60% in your case, work with your psychiatrist who handles depression, anxiety, and other conditions as well as ADD. Feel free to shop around until you get the guy who can read you on the first meeting and tell you something other than how he's going to change your life. It sounds as if it is an "easy" solution, but your brain is out of whack. Once I got into my mid-30s, after a few half-assed attempts every five years, I went to a good psychiatrist who focused on psychotherapy. It was expensive, with more than one visit a week for over a year, but it not only gave me cognitive techniques to deal with my challenges; he identified the places where he felt medication would help, both in the short and long term. The DIY crowd would call it 'stacking' but it amounted to tuning the effects of a number of mild medications to get the right results from the complete protocol. The frequent check-ins were key, as well as avoiding my initial impulse, which was to write an iPhone app to ping me every n hours to rate myself on the factors I was attempting to improve as well as side effects. After about six months, we got things dialed in so that the cyclone was a brainstorming technique I could pull up on demand, rather than being the perpetual noise dragging every thought to a tangental and unhelpful reference. Things went quickly from there. I started three companies with a friend, but the difference being that they're all profitable and still exist after three years. This after a long trail of books, applications, sites, and other things that were created and never taken seriously. I will say "The Blob" in the noisy times is a good way to build knowledge so that when you have focus, you can apply thousands of years of reasoning, philosophy, and cheesy buzz-words to current problems. In retrospect, I don't regret randomly reading the encyclopedia when I was a kid, spacing out in class, getting horrid grades, or being the master of six degrees of any actor. It made the first few years out of school more difficult, but like distance running, you have to build a base. Feel free to PM me for my regimen, keeping in mind we have different physiological factors as well as different problems, either in nuance or category. It may give you a starting point in discussions with your doctor.

nollidge 14y ago
Is there a name for this technique? Is it just a particular application of cognitive-behavioral therapy?

acadien 14y ago

I'm a graduate student finishing up a PhD, I think I'm at the other end of the tunnel from you. I started meds about a decade ago and I have slowly been weaning myself off of them for the past 6 months. Once you're hooked (taking a daily dosage) on the meds it is remarkably difficult to get off of them. Mostly because you feel like crap when you're not on the them and of course the ADD/HD symptoms do return. As someone who is actively struggling to concentrate while writing a thesis (hey look I'm on HN now...) I have a few tips that I hope can help you. Working environment is important. If you're goofing off in your current work spot... then get out of there! Find some other place that you can work from and try working there. You will be surprised how a change in environment can affect your concentration. My experience has been Public and University Libraries are undervalued work spaces. Cafes work really well for me because some part of my brain wants me to appear productive in front of other people, so I goof off less in open working spaces where others can see my screen. I use that to help me concentrate. The point is find that spot that works for you and fight for it. Also don't be afraid to get nomadic, its OK to switch working spots when you feel like it. Make Lists. Every time you sit down to do work, spend 30 seconds and jot down what you want to do in that particular working session. Then leave that list in front of you. The visual cue of the list in front of you will help you get back to work when your mind strays. It also helps you align your thoughts. In terms of staying on topic I think it has more to do with personal issues. I've noticed that when work/class induces a lot of stress, that I goof off more and I do less work. So for me, getting over that stress and just simply enjoying the work has been hugely beneficial. I'm not sure if this stress induced distraction is a universal thing, maybe others can chime in. Finally go get some exercise. Its a panacea and helps everything from ADD/HD symptoms to curing depression.