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The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

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Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#31

Post by wormius »

My roommate comes in and talks, and while they're doing that I automatically start cleaning my room. I am a slob otherwise. But something about that, it gives me a chance to be away from "online" while also giving me a sort of mental "space"/distraction so I'm not focused/anxious/worried and seems to help me reduce my "executive dysfunction". I also have a tendency to place self-demands and so it makes me doing things I want to do (not like cleaning room but projects) more difficulty because I feel the pressure to do it, so I resist. Having someone in the room helps me relax that self-demand. I don't "should" I just "do".

I used to do a lot more socially and my computer was in the living room with the roomie, but I'm just in my room most of the time, and this is making me think - maybe I should go back to the living room with my computer (since she's out there too most days), maybe that will help me be more productive in programming/projects, etc...

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#32

Post by onemoresoop »

I may have ADHD, I never went for a diagnosis and found body doubling useful at times, especially when I was in school some decades ago, back then I had no name for it. However, I find white noise very helpful with staying on the task and with increased focus. My company moved, about a year ago, into a very cramped office that is also extremely noisy. This exasperated me, I would get drained of energy in a couple of hours and my focus was being severy affected. I even considered quitting and looking for something else. As a last resort I started listening to white noise. I’ve been using white noise (white+brown+pink) for about a year now and find that it helps not only with cancelling out the noise but with focus and staying on task in general. I even use it at home at times. I know this may not be useful for everybody but I’m sure it could help out some of you. I use https://noises.online/ and mix all the types of white noise at the same time for maximim coverage but any type of white noise generator would do. To me it feels like being close to a waterfall. At first my ears hurt a bit after a few hours of white noise but got used to it after a while.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#33

Post by growingkittens »

Body doubles work especially well for tasks that involve changing visual context and sequencing.

As a child, I noticed that my brain worked differently when someone was in my room. I begged my mom to stay in my room so I could clean my room, but she didn't understand what the point was.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#34

Post by fsiefken »

BrianHenryIE wrote: post #7

Yep, my sister makes fun of me that her mere presence makes me more productive. (when I shared an apartment with her in my early thirties) she'd sit in my room just chatting to me and I would tidy and clean without her doing anything, whereas I'd been meaning to do that for months. I suggested the idea of a responsiblabuddy website today to my wife – if we're both in the same town I'd commit to coming to your house o…

the term 'accountability partner' is used

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#35

Post by 47282847 »

neilv wrote: post #29

> What would chi have to do with a body double? The body double might be a chi balancer or protective barrier helping to contain and calm the energy in and around the person with ADHD. Does the writer believe that, or are they pandering?

In modern terms, it is nervous system co-regulation, and, yes, that’s a thing.

Many people with ADHD also suffer from complex PTSD (see comorbidity studies), and unless treated, this has effects like social anxiety and emotional dysregulation.

Emotional neglect in early childhood for example can be a ‘silent‘, non-obvious factor at play here (even caring parents can be emotionally unavailable for longer periods of time due to environmental or personal reasons!), which for the later adult means they have not (yet) learned the skill to regulate their nervous system on their own and can make use of a replacement ‘caretaker‘.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#36

Post by felipeerias »

onemoresoop wrote: post #32

I may have ADHD, I never went for a diagnosis and found body doubling useful at times, especially when I was in school some decades ago, back then I had no name for it. However, I find white noise very helpful with staying on the task and with increased focus. My company moved, about a year ago, into a very cramped office that is also extremely noisy. This exasperated me, I would get drained of energy in a couple of…

White noise and similar soundscapes (rain, water…) help me focus much better than pure silence.

Perhaps a predictable sound that drowns all others allows my brain to “shut down” the little part of it that is on edge waiting for noises and distractions.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#37

Post by yaomtc »

rpgwaiter wrote: post #21

I’m sure this works for some people. Personally I loathe social interaction of any kind, and mixing that with engineering gets me to my mental/emotional limits much faster. On my own I can work about 2 hours on and 10 mins off, sometimes for 10+ hours total. If I have a 2 hour collab coding call, that’s about all I’ll do that’s productive that day. I’l literally have to spend the rest of that day mentally recovering…

What type of ADHD do you have? Primarily inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined?

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#38

Post by 47282847 »

whatever1 wrote: post #24

I just want to get to work from 10pm to 4am. Just me my music and the night highway / city /nature sounds. Anything is possible in that timeframe. Too bad this is incompatible with the society. So we got to pay the context switching tax.

The last time I had a sort-of externally imposed schedule was at school. At university, attendance wasn’t required, nobody cared as long as I passed the tests. Since then, which is over 20 years ago, I have exclusively worked jobs that are WFH, with teams on various time zones and frequent travel (for others, not me), so everybody is used to scheduling calls via doodle etc.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#39

Post by steve_adams_86 »

onemoresoop wrote: post #32

I may have ADHD, I never went for a diagnosis and found body doubling useful at times, especially when I was in school some decades ago, back then I had no name for it. However, I find white noise very helpful with staying on the task and with increased focus. My company moved, about a year ago, into a very cramped office that is also extremely noisy. This exasperated me, I would get drained of energy in a couple of…

There’s an app/service called Endel which makes music I find helpful for focus too. My family finds it eerily void and dead, like it’s technically music but lacks any soul. I don’t mind; I don’t listen to it for entertainment. It’s like the white noise.

I also like the white/brown/pink noise a lot. I think sometimes I crave a bit more texture and feature in the noise and so I’ll pull up endel, but I get by really well without it a lot of the time too.

Re: The ADHD body double: A unique tool for getting things done

#40

Post by rpgwaiter »

yaomtc wrote: post #37
rpgwaiter wrote: post #21

I’m sure this works for some people. Personally I loathe social interaction of any kind, and mixing that with engineering gets me to my mental/emotional limits much faster. On my own I can work about 2 hours on and 10 mins off, sometimes for 10+ hours total. If I have a 2 hour collab coding call, that’s about all I’ll do that’s productive that day. I’l literally have to spend the rest of that day mentally recovering…

What type of ADHD do you have? Primarily inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined?

Idk, was diagnosed very young and haven’t seen anyone professionally about it as an adult. Tbh I didn’t know there were different subtypes until your comment.

I struggled a lot with impulse control but that’s managed well with meds. I often “zone out” when doing.. well pretty much anything that I’m not very interested in

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