Live data from Hacker News

Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

ledger.com

211–220 of 755 posts

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#211

"Coping Mechanisms: Over the years, adults develop various coping strategies that can mask ADHD symptoms. For instance, someone might excessively rely on calendars, to-do lists, or alarms to compensate for forgetfulness." You're goddamn right I do

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…

Severe adhd here. The book “tiny habits” has been life changing for me. It hasn’t solved all my problems but it’s made a massive difference

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#212
post #6

I'm sure the post is useful but i'm getting really distracted by the AI anime-like art. Maybe tone it down a bit, yeah? For a post about helping ADHD sufferers focus on what matters, it's quite incongruous.

I liked it but it also made me think the text of the article was probably AI generated as well.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that isn't what the article said. It said that calendars and to-do lists help cope with ADHD, not that everyone who uses them has ADHD.

Ironically, it's easy to forget to put things in a calendar or on a todo list.

More irony:

- Forgetting to look at the calendar

- Forgetting to look at the to-do list -> Make a different to-do list

- Have 10+ to-do lists

- Forgetting what the to-do even refers to

- Discover emacs org mode, it can link everything together -> constantly forget emacs key bindings

- Use logseq/obsidian instead -> forget which names/links refer to projects -> have 10+ aliases referring to different perspectives of the same project

I need static types, logic programming, graph search algorithms, and a bit of AI, to help save me.

Also, it'd be nice if modern software was easier to interface with. Needs more support for deep linking and syncing. The "walled garden" approach is anathema to solutions that can help ADHDers.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#214

I 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…

I assume that is how most people get through high-school and university? Intense focus on the couple days before finals / final projects. I too did that. Is that not the case or is that warning lights for ADHD?

High school you can get away with it because the course content is easier - college is much more challenging...

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#215

I 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…

Note that ADHD can manifest physically, mentally, or a combination of the two. I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD in my late 30s after finally seeing a psychiatrist, and at most my physical manifestation of it is minor fidgeting. Where it really burns me is not being able to dedicate brainpower for more than a few minutes at a time, unless I'm in one of my "focus" modes. Similarly, my brain constantly has multipl…

Just one data point but my psychiatrist said that in his in clinical experience he’s never seen the non stimulants help

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#216

ADHD is medicalizing a set of mental habits that many smart people form early in life partly out of boredom, and partly because they can get away with it. The criteria for diagnosing it in adults are impossibly vague and ad-hoc, and I have yet to meet anyone who went through the evaluation process who wasn't diagnosed with it. By all means have at it if you enjoy legal access to terrific stimulants (they really do he…

I get tired of hearing everyone claim they have ADHD. Or are sensitive to gluten. Or get sick from msg. Not realising the people who do actually suffer from these things are so few. But now it’s mainstream and cool. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_c...

At the same time, when you let that influence you it may contribute to make the situation worse for those actually affected. What you're describing is probably a net positive for those actually affected. More awareness and less stigma.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#217

Can you share the plugins or scripts used with obsidian mentioned in the post? (Ie the ticket one/the calendar one) those seem very useful!

Hi,

Sure, I'm using Agile Task Note (https://github.com/BoxThatBeat/obsidian-agile-task-notes) for the Jira sync and for Google Calendar, I'm using obsidian-google-lookup (https://github.com/ntawileh/obsidian-google-lookup) and obsidian-google-calendar (https://github.com/YukiGasai/obsidian-google-calendar)

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#218

I 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…

IIUC, there are two main components to ADHD, and you can have one, the other or both. And all qualify as ADHD.

I'm likely ADHD, and the majority of my siblings have it. There's a night and day difference though between me, who in a questionnaire scored high on both, and me who scored high only in one[1].

[1] Well, borderline in one and not the other. Immediately after taking the questionnaire I attended a work meeting and realized that there were at least a half dozen questions that I answered optimistically through rose-tinted glasses.

With all that said, I'm working to address my sleep apnea before getting a diagnosis because I've heard that sleep deprivation can manifest similar to ADHD.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That sounds like a terrible idea to me, I'd never want to do that. If they like the work I do, management should learn to respect the way I do it.

Sometimes there are genuine emergencies. If your company got hacked and is all hands on deck, you kinda have to be interrupted. There are situations in which emergencies may not be paged through normal systems.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#220
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that ADHD can manifest physically, mentally, or a combination of the two. I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD in my late 30s after finally seeing a psychiatrist, and at most my physical manifestation of it is minor fidgeting. Where it really burns me is not being able to dedicate brainpower for more than a few minutes at a time, unless I'm in one of my "focus" modes. Similarly, my brain constantly has multipl…

Just one data point but my psychiatrist said that in his in clinical experience he’s never seen the non stimulants help

Yeah, mine said it's ~50/50 shot. We're trying the non-stimulant while waiting on the cardiologist to do a deeper look at a potential heart issue. shrug

The most I've felt with the atomoxetine is a loss of appetite, which I'm not opposed to for the time being :)

Post reply on HN