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My ADHD founder toolbox

hypatia.ca

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Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#41

Post by [deleted] »

tonyarkles wrote: post #36
artdigital wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to emphasize this opinion. There is definitely survivorship bias, and I dislike people calling it a 'superpower'. Yes it can make you more reckless and impulsive to take risks like founding a company, but it's important to keep in mind that ADHD is a serious cognitive disability, and we should treat it as that. There is so much it messes with on a daily basis and it absolutely sucks. So much coping, self-doubt…

> Yes it can make you more reckless and impulsive to take risks like founding a company, but it's important to keep in mind that ADHD is a serious cognitive disability, and we should treat it as that. There is so much it messes with on a daily basis and it absolutely sucks. I think the r/ADHD approach on Reddit nails it: even if it did have benefits for you , please don't refer to it as a superpower because there's a…

[deleted]

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#42

Post by Waterluvian »

tonyarkles wrote: post #39
artdigital wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your ADHD manifests in being quiet and focused vs very social as the extremes, then you got hit very mild

I think the punchline is that they can be "quiet and focused" when they take Methylphenidate and social/reckless/fun when they don't. That was the problem for me before I was diagnosed and medicated. I wanted so badly to be able to be quite and focused, but it was practically impossible to do it through will. Sometimes I would get lucky and something would catch my interest (hyperfocus), but most of the time I was al…

Right?! I take amphetamines to quiet down and focus. And it’s just the best, warmest feeling ever… being able to sit for literally hours and read or do work. Sometimes I weep, it’s so liberating. Like I honestly thought people who said they could read a book in a single day were just liars. But I did it once!!!

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#43

Post by hypatiadotca »

artdigital wrote: post #37
hypatiadotca wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did like 40% of the content over the year I used it - it’s got some great stuff in it. I churned at the end of the year but I’ll probably pick it back up again soon; I definitely feel it was worth the price of admission (especially compared to like… a single session of therapy) As I said elsethread, I have no connection or financial interest in inflow aside from having met them through YC and generally finding them…

Can you give some details on the good parts? To me it sounds like one of those ADHD self-management guru talks that try to apply something generic to an issue that's very personal and individual. Some solution that gets ADHD folks interested, hyperfocus on it as the next productivity solution, just to lose interest after 2-3 weeks and forget to cancel. I want to believe that I understand my ADHD better than anyone el…

The thing I found useful about it was it arranged a bunch of useful CBT content on a number of different ADHD coping skills into 5 minute chunks with 4-7 chunks per module/topic that I could listen to AND read along with (I also listen to audio books on 2x while staring at the kindle book, lol) while I emptied my dishwasher in the morning. I had a pretty good routine going with that for a while and did a dozen or maybe 20 of the modules? I can’t see the list since my sub expired, but I remember modules on relationships, organizing (that one sucked), anger management, emotions, overwhelm, and lots of other good stuff.

I found the content modules the most helpful; I joined their coworking sessions a few times and those were fun too. I found the sort of “task” things you’d get assigned in the modules less helpful as I’d just sign up for all of them and then do none of them lol. But the content itself was v good.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#44

Post by Waterluvian »

brailsafe wrote: post #33
Waterluvian wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone’s different. For me, ADHD is like being an RPG class with different “stances” or “modals”. I can be energetic and fun and charming (allegedly) and very social, quick witted, a natural comedian. Or I can be quiet and focused and studious. But I can never be both at the same time. Concerta is what lets me pick. I’ve never seen it as a disability because it is an advantage in so many ways. I’m just so thankful…

Hey, I'm in exactly the same place, including the specific drug. It sucks though how much volatility there can be day to day if I'm not totally on top of taking it early enough, or get a bad sleep. Today my day was frontloaded with meetings, and then I just needed to peace out for a bit and try to get back on track with programming... now. Do you struggle with that as well? My boss truly doesn't seem to have a concep…

Hey! I struggle a lot with what I call mixed modal days. I try hard to combine all my meetings into a day and have days of quiet. Because when I’m on concerta, not only do I lose my charm and social skills that make me super comfortable in a room of C-levels, but it does the opposite. I’m jittery and nervous and second guess any time I’m about to open my mouth.

One thing that’s helped me with modal switches through the day is to remember to eat lunch even though my body is completely disinterested in food. And yeah, I try to take it at a consistent time.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#45

Post by grhappl »

Waterluvian wrote: post #42
tonyarkles wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the punchline is that they can be "quiet and focused" when they take Methylphenidate and social/reckless/fun when they don't. That was the problem for me before I was diagnosed and medicated. I wanted so badly to be able to be quite and focused, but it was practically impossible to do it through will. Sometimes I would get lucky and something would catch my interest (hyperfocus), but most of the time I was al…

Right?! I take amphetamines to quiet down and focus. And it’s just the best, warmest feeling ever… being able to sit for literally hours and read or do work. Sometimes I weep, it’s so liberating. Like I honestly thought people who said they could read a book in a single day were just liars. But I did it once!!!

Know what you mean, I was astounded when I took my first dose. It was like the usual relentless mind-noise had switched itself off, and I could just get on with stuff.

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#46

Post by listenallyall »

triggercut wrote: post #9
ttcbj wrote: post #2

I saw the guy who founded kinkos speak at Babson business school about 20 years ago. Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. He got up and in the first 30 seconds said he thought ADHD had helped him, didn’t think of it as a negative, and just came because he wanted to tell his story. Like so many founders (esp of retail businesses, I find), he was super charismatic a…

> Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. Can I ask why you find that weird? ADHD is, and is also comorbid with other learning disabilities. ADHD has so many dimensions and interrelationships between those dimensions that everybody's lived experience is different. If you know one person with ADHD, then you know one person with ADHD, you don't know everyone with ADHD.…

If 2 clinical experts, 3 psychiatrists and dozens of psychologists didn't think you had ADHD, but eventually one person did, how do you know with certainty you actually have it?

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#47

Post by FL410 »

grhappl wrote: post #27
xwowsersx wrote: post #13

Has anyone here used InFlow (the app mentioned in the article)? Curious to hear your experiences if you have.

I noped out as soon as I saw it wanted a yearly subscription to activate a week-long 'free' trial. I didn't trust myself to remember to cancel it in time and was disgusted at them weaponizing this dark pattern against ADHDers, so that was it for me. If you go to the Play Store and search for the one-star reviews there are loads of people saying the same. And also for those that did try it, that it's mostly useless an…

Pro-tip, at least on Apple devices: "buy" the trial, then immediately cancel it in your subscriptions. You'll still have access to it for whatever the trial period is, then it'll just stop working (vs. bill you).

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#48

Post by hypatiadotca »

FL410 wrote: post #47
grhappl wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noped out as soon as I saw it wanted a yearly subscription to activate a week-long 'free' trial. I didn't trust myself to remember to cancel it in time and was disgusted at them weaponizing this dark pattern against ADHDers, so that was it for me. If you go to the Play Store and search for the one-star reviews there are loads of people saying the same. And also for those that did try it, that it's mostly useless an…

Pro-tip, at least on Apple devices: "buy" the trial, then immediately cancel it in your subscriptions. You'll still have access to it for whatever the trial period is, then it'll just stop working (vs. bill you).

This is the real ADHD MVP tip

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#49

Post by hypatiadotca »

vbad wrote: post #5

> After meeting the founders last summer during their YC batch, I’ve been pretty consistently using the app InFlow, which I described to a friend as “super chill easy cognitive behavioural skill-building around ADHD.” I feel like I’ve made real progress using it. This blog post reads like an advertisement for InFlow (YC S21), which was roundly criticized for being exploitative of people with ADHD, when it was posted…

Ty for the kind edit

Re: My ADHD founder toolbox

#50

Post by rtpg »

bitexploder wrote: post #11
triggercut wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Weirdly, he was there due to some sponsorship related to disabilities because he had ADHD. Can I ask why you find that weird? ADHD is, and is also comorbid with other learning disabilities. ADHD has so many dimensions and interrelationships between those dimensions that everybody's lived experience is different. If you know one person with ADHD, then you know one person with ADHD, you don't know everyone with ADHD.…

I feel the ADHD is a strength not weakness mentality is generally harmful. There are some aspects of it that can help, especially when you are not deep working on one thing, but in general, I think it is unequivocally not a benefit to almost anyone who has it. edit: I would add there is some survivorship bias to it too. Successful CEO says ADHD helped? Huh. Cool. There is a reason alcoholism and substance abuse have…

There's a lot of chicken and egg notions to it. Formative years controlled by this can generate certain personalities, so it's hard to disassociate who you are from the difficulties.

I think of it like driving a car with busted brakes. You might be able to learn how to cope with that, and maybe you end up being really good at drifting thanks to this! Suddenly you treat the underlying issue, fix your brakes, and it feels like you've lost some superpower. But really you still have these skills somewhere! And you objectively have more control, it's just that the there's going to be a learning curve to find this again as the feedback loop is different now.

I like being able to go all out in hyperfocus mode, but I also like being able to have some impulse control for when it's nice to have. After adjusting I think I can do both under treatment.

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