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Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

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Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#181

Post by y0y »

nojvek wrote: post #156
y0y wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is not an inability to focus, it's an inability to direct and control one's focus at-will . The ADHD brain is always seeking dopamine and constantly seeks out the most "exciting" thoughts. When you are actually into something and engaged, the brain is producing dopamine (the reward chemical) and so an ADHD person will hyper-focus on that thought/activity intensely for long periods of time, barely noticing the ti…

thanks for the insight, this gives a whole new perspective to the way I understood ADHD.

When I was first diagnosed I did not really believe the psychiatrist. My impressions of ADHD were all wrong. Once I understood what ADHD actually was, everything clicked. 30 years of my life suddenly made sense. ADHD isn't "the crazy hyper kid in the corner who does bad in school and can't concentrate long enough to form a coherent thought because SQUIRREL!" the way I thought.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#182

Post by MortenK »

mercer wrote: post #163
mindcrime wrote: post #36

I can relate. I get bored really quickly as well, and I am one of those people who usually kicks ass at a new job for about the first year, and then starts to tail off after that because I'm bored out of my mind. I've found two things that seem to help: 1. Start a startup. I started Fogbeam at least in part because it gives me an outlet to pursue things that are interesting to me, and a place to work on really cool n…

Any tips on how to get clients as consultant?

Start with consulting agencies. That's companies that acts like brokers between independent consultants / contractors and companies.

Later on, you can get business from LinkedIn, mouth to mouth, previous clients who now contact you directly etc.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#183

Post by jamesdelaneyie »

reirob wrote: post #87
atemerev wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a one-man consulting company, through which I am doing some contract work (mostly in algo trading / finance, and yes, I do realize that poor financial software engineer sounds like a joke, which I am). But finding new customers and _especially_ managing the administrative side of this business is getting increasingly harder for me. I do see therapist occasionally, but it is quite expensive (especially given my…

In similar situation like you. What helped me is outsourcing the administrative stuff (book-keeping, taxes) to an accountant and forcing myself to meet with him once per month physically, best is to make an appointment a month ahead. Insisting on the physical meeting is a trick to force myself at least once in a month to prepare for the meeting (getting all the documents together, travel receipts, invoices, letters).…

>It worked best by "switching off the screen", i.e. typing without seeing what you type (either by literally switching off the screen, or by putting the font to same color as background

That's really interesting. Have written to get stuff out before but there is always the reading, writing, rereading, editing flow that kind of makes it a pain. Going to try 'switching off the screen' next time.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#184

Post by innertracks »

i336_ wrote: post #110
innertracks wrote: post #46

I can relate I think. Whether you need a cure or not is probably a question for you and a therapist. Ask about sliding fee scales and other options. My story and maybe something for you to explore. I never held a job longer than 24 months when I was younger. Not being able to figure out a career direction and trying to get some direction in 2000 I sought testing at a great organization called Johnson O'Connor Researc…

I agree with hanniabu that this should be higher up, this is definitely the kind of thing I come to HN for. I'm definitely going to have to follow up on aptitude testing! I reckon I fit the description of sled dogs to a tee; I actually have absolutely tragic committal issues and I wonder if that might be the cause. Link to website for Johnson O'Connor: http://www.jocrf.org/ Testing is apparently $675, $750 in NY. FYI…

Thanks for your kind words. Glad my experience was helpful. Best of luck to you!

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#185

Post by reitanqild »

atemerev wrote: post #178
reitanqild wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't give up. Find ways to use your superpowers, because you have: ADHD superpowers that I'm aware of includes hyperfocus, immunity to exam stress, being one of those: "when the going gets though, the tough gets going" etc. While it is a real enough problem it has some remarkable upsides as well. You have to live with the downsides even though you can make them less visble and annoying, but also be aware of your sup…

Thank you. Indeed, these superskills are there. I always enjoyed exams. :)

Thats no small thing right there just thinking of all those who will freeze in exam settings.

No widen your horizon and find reasons both for why to improve (for yourself, your family, community, everyone) as well as how (applying skills at current job or plan to get a new where you can use them.) Me for example I'm good at talking to people and when I get into a new setting/position and see no one wants "that" customer I tell them I can do it. Bam, instantly +1 in an honest way that benefits everyone.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#186

Post by innertracks »

hanniabu wrote: post #88
innertracks wrote: post #46

I can relate I think. Whether you need a cure or not is probably a question for you and a therapist. Ask about sliding fee scales and other options. My story and maybe something for you to explore. I never held a job longer than 24 months when I was younger. Not being able to figure out a career direction and trying to get some direction in 2000 I sought testing at a great organization called Johnson O'Connor Researc…

> The problem is if the aptitudes don't get used they agitate. Deeply. I really wish your response was higher up just for this line. It really hit home for me in helping me understand more about myself. Thanks for the response.

You're welcome, hanniabu. Glad you found it useful. Lately, I've been learning how helpful it is for all of us when we can share our experiences. I sense there's a lot of underutilized or unrecognized talent in the world. The potential for positive change is enormous if we could unleash it all!

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#187

Post by reirob »

jamesdelaneyie wrote: post #183
reirob wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In similar situation like you. What helped me is outsourcing the administrative stuff (book-keeping, taxes) to an accountant and forcing myself to meet with him once per month physically, best is to make an appointment a month ahead. Insisting on the physical meeting is a trick to force myself at least once in a month to prepare for the meeting (getting all the documents together, travel receipts, invoices, letters).…

>It worked best by "switching off the screen", i.e. typing without seeing what you type (either by literally switching off the screen, or by putting the font to same color as background That's really interesting. Have written to get stuff out before but there is always the reading, writing, rereading, editing flow that kind of makes it a pain. Going to try 'switching off the screen' next time.

Exactly this. Re-reading and editing breaks the flow of writing - too many hesitations. When writing with "screen switched off" I can't correct mistakes beyond the last typed word. This forces me to write as I would speak.

I'd be interested to know how it worked for you.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#188

Post by TrevorJ »

A few things that have helped me:

1. Realize that tendency CAN be a powerful tool if you channel it correctly and get yourself into the right environment. I'm in media, because the tools change quickly, each project has different problems to solve, and there's a broad, somewhat disconnected set of skills that are useful.

2. Every job, no matter how passionate you are about it, will have some crap you just have to get through that you don't want to do. Don't confuse temporary boredom with lack of passion.

3. Willpower is a muscle, and you CAN get better at powering through the portion of your work that you don't enjoy.

4. If you master things quickly enough you can move up in your career so that you are doing new things with each new move.

5. It's worth talking to your healthcare provider about these concerns, there are a variety of tools and strategies that can help.

6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Use your free time to explore widely disparate disciplines.

7. Limit your time aimlessly browsing the internet. It's a great tool, but using it without purpose seems to make it much harder to focus on tasks.

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#189

Post by collyw »

reitanqild wrote: post #174
atemerev wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diagnosed with ADD already. Writing here after 1.5 year of treatment attempts.

Don't give up. Find ways to use your superpowers, because you have: ADHD superpowers that I'm aware of includes hyperfocus, immunity to exam stress, being one of those: "when the going gets though, the tough gets going" etc. While it is a real enough problem it has some remarkable upsides as well. You have to live with the downsides even though you can make them less visble and annoying, but also be aware of your sup…

This is interesting.

I feel I am verging towards that end of the sectrum (I assume its a spectrum). I never though if it as a disability, just stuff I am good at / bad at.

If that is the case why does it have such a negative stigma attached and is treated as a problem (like I say I am verging that way, but I don't see myself as ADHD, so maybe my perspective on it is off). Many people proudly proclaim they are "not good at maths" but they are good at other things, why is this seen as such a negative that we put people on medication for it?

Re: Ask HN: Novelty addiction is ruining my life and career. What should I do?

#190

Post by twnaing »

lamontcg wrote: post #171
duncanawoods wrote: post #108

I have found people like you really useful to know because you have had contact with such a broad range of techs that when I have a problem, I can quiz you and get some killer pointers for where to look next. I wouldn't want you to change, just to find your place in the world and satisfaction in being naturally you. Its like you have pockets full of keys and really good at finding new keys just no locks to use them w…

Yeah, I've got the opposite problem. I'm naturally conservative and dislike novel things because I figure they're a flash in the pan. I'm very cynical of new hype, and prefer tested technologies. My enormous blind spot is that I then miss legitimate trends, and I can completely fall behind in the industry. I also find myself not learning new tricks and techniques that would improve my workflow, and have to take time…

I am also one of the novelty-seekers.

As you mentioned I do really have 'ton of tech debt'. I hope I could change my behavior and reduce my tech debt.

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