Best productivity hack is to unplug the ethernet cable.
I can't find the ethernet cable on my phone :(
Desolder the modem temporarily
Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
161–170 of 755 posts
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
At my company, we have daily standups and they throw off my whole morning. I only really work effectively when I am left to it and so have outlook/slack/messages turned off during periods where I am trying to focus - has got me in trouble with management a few times but I am not sure what else i can do. The piece was a good read but its so personal to me that it doesn't really help sadly.
> has got me in trouble with management a few times but I am not sure what else i can do Don't worry about it. I think this is good advice for any software engineer. Eventually you'll be senior enough or on a different team and it won't be a problem.
Agreed, I'd add to give your manager your phone number for emergencies and tell them you've allow-listed their number to ring when others can't. Then get back to flow
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#163The Blinking LED, A simple Hack that still works for me after years: 1. Place a tiny LED (red or yellow) by the side of your monitor or virtually on the screen corner. Basically anywhere almost bordering your field of view. 2. Make it blink like a fast heartbeat (120-150 bpm) and gradually slowdown to around 60 bpm (or your slow heartbeat base). Make the slope approx 20 to 60 minutes (you can adjust the best rate by…
You could probably just implement this in software on a side monitor even...
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#164This is great! So many people in the ADHD community don't dig in enough into the 'superpower' side of it, so I'm super glad you covered that here. We can't get rid of the bad parts so I think it's extra important to lean into the good parts too. I will also share this Historia Civilis video on the history of work, which really resonated with me as an ADHD person -- It's OK and even more 'natural' to have fast and slo…
I think many people in the adhd community don’t think it’s a superpower, which is why we don’t dig into that. As someone who was diagnosed later in life the profundity of what adhd has cost me cannot be overstated. It is not a superpower, it is my worst enemy.
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#165This is great! So many people in the ADHD community don't dig in enough into the 'superpower' side of it, so I'm super glad you covered that here. We can't get rid of the bad parts so I think it's extra important to lean into the good parts too. I will also share this Historia Civilis video on the history of work, which really resonated with me as an ADHD person -- It's OK and even more 'natural' to have fast and slo…
Instead of taking many notes I just only use the daily notes. Its basically one continuous stream that also represents the stream of time.
So I could very easily scroll down a few days to see what I did then and if I need to look something up (I have all the days in one continuous view).
Works well for me although sometimes its hard to separate work from personal notes this way.
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#166I think Slack is a silent killer of productivity, and terrible for an ADHD brain: You're either "engaged" and "available" (meaning you respond to messages in semi-real-time, pretty much nixing your ability to do deep work) or you feel like you're missing a lot of conversation that's going on behind your back, because you're heads down with Slack closed. Slack is good for (shitty) managers of remote teams, because you…
I was thinking of this in bed last night. I could focus more using our terrible messaging system prior to Slack. And there was less banter, pessimism, pile ons, etc that now show up in threads. Sometimes I regret replying in a thread when it goes 50+ messages deep and you get pinged on it each one unless you mute
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#167I think Slack is a silent killer of productivity, and terrible for an ADHD brain: You're either "engaged" and "available" (meaning you respond to messages in semi-real-time, pretty much nixing your ability to do deep work) or you feel like you're missing a lot of conversation that's going on behind your back, because you're heads down with Slack closed. Slack is good for (shitty) managers of remote teams, because you…
Hi, author here,
You're right, but unfortunately, when your company uses it and teams are distributed, you don't have the choice, and you have to find some tricks to accommodate.
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my case I have to say that is only half true. As an adult-diagnosed ADHD sufferer I cannot say that I developed coping strategies on which I relied excessively that masked my symptoms. Rather, I used to try [0] to develop coping strategies, only for me to eventually drop them for unexplainable reasons at the slightest routine-messing incident or event, regardless of how effective the strategy was being or how good…
This is me. I stopped trying to be organized, because I know that as soon as there is some inconvenience or difficulty organizing, I will just get overwhelmed and drop everything I was trying to do. For example, I just cannot take notes or manage a calendar.
I got an e-ink notepad, which helped organize my thoughts better than the 10 different legal pads I would jump between. Still disorganized, but at least now my notes for a single topic are in one place.
For a calendar, my wife hung this acrylic calendar on the kitchen wall and we update it at the beginning of every month. I try to add things as they come up, and I often forget to add things if they are in future months, but it's helped for me to keep track of family arrangements. Any personal appointments I make on my own I try to put immediately into my google calendar, and then my work calendar is completely separate. As I'm typing this I realize I rely heavily on others to manage most of my time...
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#169This hits home. I think we need to really take a hard look at today's world of tech and how we communicate and collaborate. I find that, if time allows, I get a massive productivity boost after 4:30pm and everyone is either winding down or leaving. All the sudden, the walls flatten, the horizon deepens and I enter a deep state of flow. Around 10 AM, after an elongated "stand up", I should be ready to go... And yet it…
>I find that, if time allows, I get a massive productivity boost after 4:30pm
This sounds oddly specific. How consistent is this time? If you start working an hour earlier does it impact the timing of your productivity boost?
Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer
#170I used to think I had some ADHD symptoms: growing up I never did any revision for any of my school exams until a couple of days before, all my coursework and projects were done last minute in a week of intense focus, I've had issues with drugs in the past etc. Then I met someone who actually has ADHD and saw them before they'd taken their stimulant drugs. They were completely nonfunctional in any sense of the word, t…
There's a good chance you do have ADHD. I was in a similar place to you, and it's important to know that it manifests differently in different people, and that there is a rebound effect when you stop your meds so what you might have seen may have been much worse than their unmedicated state. If you have the money I'd suggest just getting tested.