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Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

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Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

#1

Post by WhackyIdeas »

I love HN. I check it out basically for hours every day, for the past 5 years or so.

But, HN is utter hell too… it’s worse than my addiction to The Guardian.

I see so many topics I’m interested in, so many cool projects, so I bookmark them. Then I see more and bookmark them too. There’s a never ending number of things I bookmark.

But the constant reality is that I will never ever be able to do all the things in my brain. It’s a severely frustrating and depressing fact I feel faced with every day. A world of highs and disappointment.

But I’m totally addicted because there’s just so much new.

Anyone else with ADHD feel this way or have a healthier outlook about HN?

Re: Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

#4

Post by leoedin »

> But the constant reality is that I will never ever be able to do all the things in my brain. It’s a severely frustrating and depressing fact I feel faced with every day. A world of highs and disappointment.

This really rings true with me. The excitement of the new project, and then the crushing realisation that I can't trust myself to put in the work to build it. Rinse and repeat.

I have no answers, but to say you're not alone. I do build things, sometimes.

Re: Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

#8

Post by icebergonfire »

I'm going to tell you what worked for me, with the explicit caveat that it may not work for you and/or you may not find it palatable.

I use browser extensions to timegate the time spent in websites that I know hit me in my weak spots and tend to send me into time-wasting sessions that I have nothing to show for. There's Stayfocusd and Leechblock, and probably other alternatives.

This worked for a few years, but it stopped. I tried rectifying that with no consistent success, there's no amount of calendar reminders / pomodoros or external triggers that helped beyond the initial novelty.

I tried medication, currently on Concerta XR 36mg, and it has made a world of difference. It's not a superpower but it does enable me to notice the distraction spirals I can get myself into and I can now break them.

I still have to use the same support systems I used before though. It's not a miracle cure, it just "adds" willpower to my toolbox.

Re: Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

#9

Post by andybak »

marmetio wrote: post #5

I don't bookmark anything interesting anymore. If I get inspired to look at something again, I search for it.

Yeah. I have several levels of "things I will never get around to":

1. I keep a tab open for a few days until I have 200 tabs open. I then bulk save them using OneTab and never look at that either.

2. Things I want to remain in my gaze goes in my bookmark toolbar until it scrolls off the end and is never seen again

3. I occasionally use regular bookmarks and have come to accept the fact that I never look at them (although it does give them a bump in the address bar autocomplete which sometimes helps)

So - all of this is basically a sop and deep down I've just made peace with the fact that I never return to most of these things. I figure if it's important enough I'll just remember it and search for it.

Re: Ask HN: How do ADHD people cope on here?

#10

Post by xnorswap »

aszantu wrote: post #2

I make it a rule to build the interesting thing, then the brain realizes it's harder than just fantazising about it and leaves me alone.

Yes, this is helpful to me too. I still sometimes get stuck in a loop of starting projects but the reality of how hard actually building something from scratch knocks me down.
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