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How I Run a Company with ADHD

andrewaskins.com

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Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#61

Post by firecall »

EnderViaAnsible wrote: post #24
colechristensen wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD doesn't suck. Forty years of 9-5 jobs, mortgages, university degrees, and elementary school sucks when you're the type of person who can get diagnosed as ADHD. The world discriminates against people who don't have the temperament to fit in to its patterns of society. We don't quite know how to pursue ἀρετή, virtue, eudemonia, excellence, whatever you want to call it in life because modern life was built for anot…

ADHD is objectively a bundle of true deficits, not just a set of traits society frowns on. Certainly these deficits weren't as much of a disadvantage in early human evolution, but if you can create metrics and show that people with ADHD perform worse at some generic tasks vs. average human beings-- and you can, we have-- this is not just a world that has been created that is inhospitable to them. The ugly thing I've…

I'm with you on that.

I cannot stand to be in corporate offices - it's a hell for me - but what choices do I have to earn a decent salary and feed my family? Not many :-(

I've just quit my 3rd job in five years because it got too much.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#62

Post by garmaine »

internet_user wrote: post #44
garmaine wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coaching does almost zilch to address ADHD needs. There’s some initial benefits, but it’s the same sort of benefit anyone would get from coaching. Coaching does not and cannot address anything specific to ADHD symptoms that manifest themselves in the moment.

Coaching is enormously useful. It will not fix an organic brain issue, of course, but to understand and have a feedback loop on your own behavior - is very helpful.

Maybe I didn’t clearly communicate, but I meant no additional benefit specific to addressing ADHD problems of biological origin.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#63

Post by internet_user »

rvp-x wrote: post #53
internet_user wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inability to sustain concentration is not a temperament. It's a neurological impairement. Adderall isn't going to do anything unless you are actually functioning suboptimally. It will, however, most certainly decrease your attentional/executive performance if you are at an optimal state. Look up the U-shaped response curve.

ADHD medication is widely abused by people without ADHD.

And guess what is the most common diagnosis in users of illicit stimulants?

Just reading this thread should be sufficient.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#64

Post by internet_user »

ScottFree wrote: post #58
internet_user wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inability to sustain attention/concentration is just one of the most common facets of ADHD. Yes, you could have more/others impairments in your executive function than just attention. Impulsivity is commonly measured as well. ADHD is really an umbrella term for several syndromes. I disagree with the notion that "inability to choose" is necessarily a definitive part of ADHD . It often is, and is common, but it's not u…

> ADHD is really an umbrella term for several syndromes. That does seem to muddy the water a bit, doesn't it? Thanks for the detailed response!

It certainly does.

In these comments you could see anything from people that think it's not an illness to people who have secondary impairments due to obstructed airway at night.

And they are all probably right to some degree.

This stuff - attention, executive function, ability to self regulate and direct your own attention - meta-cognition, if you will - is very poorly understood. Treatments are very crude, we will eventually see them as barbaric.

It probably is one of the youngest developments, evolution-wise.

Fascinating stuff.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#65

Post by tstrimple »

QuackingJimbo wrote: post #14

I disagree with his list of upsides -- there is no upside to ADHD. It is a disability. I've been able to manage it without using stimulants, through very careful planning and trial and error (step #1 is avoiding useless wastes of time such as reading HN). But it just sucks.

I don't know. I can't write a CRUD app anymore to save my life, but I can dive into the middle of a foreign code base and quickly understand it and solve issues that stump the primary developers. I struggle with normal daily activities like paying bills or putting away laundry, but in an emergency or high stress situation when others are freaking out I feel comfortable and in control. I struggle with conventional learning, but can pick up things which align with my interests (which are wide and diverse) extremely quickly. The negatives are there, and they can be severe... but I do still see some upsides. I'm currently unmedicated, but have been on Adderall in the past. I've been able to manage it mostly by changing jobs when they become stable and boring or taking on roles where I'm constantly working on new projects for short amounts of time. I suspect at some point this will stop working and I'll have to change careers entirely and end up as a chef, or woodworker or something else completely different than what I do now. Maybe by that time I'll agree with your position, but I feel like I'm able to use ADHD to my advantage for the time being.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#66

Post by hateful »

I also have ADHD (and felt the irony of watching my leg shake while reading about the author's leg shaking). I tend to do a lot of what the author is saying. "Planned distractions" help. I try to work in blocks of time (sometimes about 20 minutes) but when my mind starts to wander I let it and use that time to check my e-mail (or HN) then go back to the task.

Keeping a task list is definitely key. I have a plain text file called "tasks.txt" open at all times and in the morning I'll list the stuff. I live by the "if it takes under 5 minutes do it right away" mantra.

Sometimes I'll end up working on a task, that while it does need to get done, is not necessarily the first task on my list (or on the list at all). So after a "distraction break", I check my task list again so I don't forget.

I am extremely good at figuring out issues. I'm a technical architect (programmer) and I often find myself going around and fixing others' issues quickly, but time management and attention to detail are definitely issues - issues that have been thankfully solved by technology and forethought.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#67

Post by internet_user »

garmaine wrote: post #62
internet_user wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coaching is enormously useful. It will not fix an organic brain issue, of course, but to understand and have a feedback loop on your own behavior - is very helpful.

Maybe I didn’t clearly communicate, but I meant no additional benefit specific to addressing ADHD problems of biological origin.

It does to some extent, because once you have some improvements from stimulants, newly found ability to concentrate and follow through will allow you to create new feedback loops/circuits/patterns in your brain that didn't exist before, very much a biological change.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#68

Post by bnjms »

ScottFree wrote: post #47
internet_user wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ADHD is some degree of impairement in the ability to self-direct your own behavior, also known as executive function.

Isn't that at odds with your previous comment? > Inability to sustain concentration is not a temperament. It's a neurological impairement. The impression the article gave me is that ADHD is more the inability to choose what you focus on, not an inability to sustain concentration?

>The impression the article gave me is that ADHD is more the inability to choose what you focus on, not an inability to sustain concentration?

This aligns pretty well with the definition of executive function.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#69

Post by internet_user »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #55
ScottFree wrote: post #36

My reaction to this article has been... complex. ----- Bah! Another article about ADHD. ADHD's over diagnosed and not not as big a problem as people make it out to be. But, I'm curious all of a sudden, so I might as well read it. > For the first 19 years of my life I knew I was lazy. Yeah, I'm pretty lazy too. That's just who I am, though. I don't have ADHD... > So what, you can't stop bouncing your leg at the restau…

A lot of Twice Exceptional* people get labeled lazy. It may not be ADHD. It may be some other hidden issue. In the vast majority of cases, people who get identified as an adult seem to be tremendously relieved and empowered by having a better label than lazy. * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice_exceptional

Twice exceptional people with a solid track record of underachieving?

How is that in any way exceptional?

* Executive function is affected by all those disorders you mention in the wiki. And the best proxy we know of and can measure is attention.

Re: How I Run a Company with ADHD

#70

Post by internet_user »

ryanianian wrote: post #20
QuackingJimbo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely helps the day to day but I cant help but think it is a horrible idea long term

I don't have the research handy, but Adderall has been proven very safe for long-term use when taken at "normal" dosages and with oversight by a doctor. I've been on it for 20 years and with the oversight of responsible doctors, and I have never had to increase my dosage (in fact I've reduced it 25% in the last 5 years). All my heart/blood/* tests come back good and I'm not a particularly health-conscious person. I r…

Nobody will ever admit it but memantine and/or dxm maintain effectiveness of amphetamines.

Even as much as fully resetting tolerance in some cases.

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