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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#331

Post by tayo42 »

gosub100 wrote: post #269
slipperlobster wrote: post #99

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…

Did you have the inability to read books? I notice that I simply cannot focus on reading a book to save my life. I can read internet comments and articles all day though. If I try to read a book I get annoyed that they're "not making their point" fast enough, especially with fiction and visual descriptions of people and places. I used to just complain about it, but now I wonder if thats actually pinpointing something…

I have this happen, I noticed reading is something I kind of need to practice. Maybe short comments ruined my brain lol.

I started getting into reading long books again last year. The beginning was rough, I was starting to think there was something wrong me. Sometimes I still do, but just being consistent and not hard on my self, I'm able to focus longer on reading and enjoy it. Some books and authors are easier then others too. LOTR series was work at times, enders game was pretty easy.

Alot if non fiction sucks too though and is pretty long winded.

If your worried about missing out on writing, there are short stories, and novellas to read

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#332

Post by boringg »

jihiggins wrote: post #311
boringg wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

i did that all throughout university and graduated with honors in an engineering program. it really depends on your coping strategies / personality / luck / etc. i definitely have adhd, it just took a few boring jobs for it to blow up my life in any real way. (i completely burned out, turns out relying on adrenaline as an adhd medication is not a great long term coping strategy.) some people will hit that wall earlie…

Fair - I also graduated from an engineering program - though the intensity around finals was grueling. Somehow I think the 80-100% finals weighting might have made it that way.

Why does the boring job blow it up? Not enough stimulation?

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#333

Post by helboi4 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #84
helboi4 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I know a lot of people who have the most horrible lifestyles who claim to have ADHD. I had previously been entirely useless in my life and claimed to be depressed. As soon as I made an effort to be happy and implement healthy coping mechanisms I quickly became a much more functional human being. I have found myself recently wondering if I have ADHD a lot. I'm starting to realise this may be the same thing and I…

> As soon as I made an effort to be happy and implement healthy coping mechanisms What are some of the "healthy coping mechanisms"? Other than "diet and exercise" panacea nonsense?

Erm a lot of things. Diet and exercise are literally key. Diet less so, I can be depressed with a great diet. But with adequate sun exposure and exercise it's pretty hard to be super depressed unless you have a serious chemical imbalance. (edit: I also think having goals in your exercise that you actually care about somewhat helps).

I go outside and stare at the sun every morning for like 5 mins (this is so key I can't even overstate it). I take a cold shower after that (proven to increase your baseline dopamine). I exercise almost every day. I try to never spend a whole day in my house unless I'm sick, preferably spending the majority of the day outside my house. I try to get 8 hours of sleep at least 5 out of 7 days a week, by which I mean 9 hours in bed with the lights off. Being in bed 8 hours isn't sufficient. All this makes me feel awake and sorta alive.

I keep a journal where I set myself goals for the day and I reflect on my performance and my state of mind at the end of the day. Sorta a bullet journal deal with a bit more feels but in a practical way. It's for monitoring and encouraging iterative improvement and for analysing and mitigating negative thought patterns. This allows me to keep myself accountable but also just cope when I'm literally crying in the evening for no reason. It's like my emotional support book.

I was having trouble with caring about anything I usually would. I just started trying to act like I cared. Like acting curious, being highly engaged. And it sort of leads to you naturally being more interested after a while.

I try to create social interaction for myself every week even if no-one invites me to do anything.

I have Freedom app on my phone blocking most stuff for the first 5 hours and last 1 hour of the day. I also don't listen to music or podcasts in the morning. This leaves my brain feeling less sluggish and helpless.

I sign up for really random stuff sometimes just to make my life interesting.

Lastly, I do a lot of deep breathing when I'm trying to get things done because I tend to get anxiety about literally any task.

Edit: I don't know why I need so much going on to make myself function like a normal person. But it works a lot better than not doing this because otherwise I literally curl up into a ball, give up on life and get fired from jobs.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#334

Post by InSteady »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #284
fao_ wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

citation needed. ADHD is a deficit in dopamine processing/production within the brain, it has physiological signs that we can look for: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11689-022-09440-2

DSM-V and ICD? ADHD is diagnosed based on symptoms, not based on physiological signs. Like most diagnoses, it's a co-occurring set of traits we'de decided is outside of what's normal.

This is being investigated and may eventually become part of the diagnosis (if you can afford the tests):

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1026...

>In conclusion, a series of biomarkers in the literature are promising as objective parameters to more accurately diagnose ADHD, especially in those with comorbidities that prevent the use of DSM-5. However, more research is needed to confirm the reliability of the biomarkers in larger cohort studies.

But yeah, generally there are a lot of conditions where you go report symptoms to your doctor or perhaps a specialist and they prescribe a treatment based on that alone. Testing is mostly used to rule out the really nasty possibilities or figure out what's actually going on when first-line treatments don't work.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#335

Post by lelanthran »

makeworld wrote: post #261
TheRealHB wrote: post #54

The 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…

Reminds me of this: https://jacobshapiro.substack.com/p/teaching-at-the-brains-t...

What would be really useful is a follow-up study that used GPs LED optical trick to influence the brainwave frequency.

IOW, set the frequency to a known external stimulus, and see if the effect still holds.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#336

Post by collegeburner »

atcalan wrote: post #292
conception wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven’t tried any sort of mindfulness/meditation program, I’d recommend one. I like Ten Percent Happier and enjoyed the app and its content (not affiliated in any way). Being able to think about nothing is a skill/habit/muscle that needs to be learned and practiced. My mind still can churn but at least now I have the tools and some ability to tell it “not now” and quiet it some. It’s been pretty dramatic, espe…

Unfortunately genuine ADHD is a physiological problem that requires stimulant therapy _and_ cognitive behavior therapy in conjunction. Your dopamine and/or acetylcholine receptors are out of whack. This is why coffee and cigarettes/vapes are so prevalent. Methylphenidate or dexamphetamine work best but you pay a price. Yes, I have real world executive function research lab experience, so I know a bit of what I'm talk…

Maybe you can provide some perspective here: it seems almost universal that people who start these medications never find a dose that provides durable benefit over the long term. Makes sense; we acclimate to a new dopamine baseline, right? Almost everyone I know ends up on a significantly higher dose than they started with.

And the stories of feeling like a zombie when off meds are very real and pretty freaky.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#337

Post by interestica »

taude wrote: post #234
Teridee wrote: post #112

Earlier 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.

That's a bummer. My team does standup at 3 PM (we're also bi-costal), but I let the teams chose their time, and this is what one particular team chose. Maybe talk to some of your teammates, and maybe you all decide you want an afternoon standup, so you can hit the ground running in the morning for a few hours, before the interruptions start.

This is extra useful if your mornings are left for you to continue working on any problem where you had the chance to "sleep on it".

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#338

Post by petercooper »

atcalan wrote: post #292
conception wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven’t tried any sort of mindfulness/meditation program, I’d recommend one. I like Ten Percent Happier and enjoyed the app and its content (not affiliated in any way). Being able to think about nothing is a skill/habit/muscle that needs to be learned and practiced. My mind still can churn but at least now I have the tools and some ability to tell it “not now” and quiet it some. It’s been pretty dramatic, espe…

Unfortunately genuine ADHD is a physiological problem that requires stimulant therapy _and_ cognitive behavior therapy in conjunction. Your dopamine and/or acetylcholine receptors are out of whack. This is why coffee and cigarettes/vapes are so prevalent. Methylphenidate or dexamphetamine work best but you pay a price. Yes, I have real world executive function research lab experience, so I know a bit of what I'm talk…

Did modafinil ever come up in your lab? I was DXed ADHD somewhat by surprise and due to the situation, medication was not an option (and is rather difficult to obtain in my country anyhow). After reading about off-label use of modafinil for ADHD, I gave it a go, and it has worked very well from my POV.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#340

Post by skywhopper »

smallerfish wrote: post #153

I 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…

While I know it's different for everyone and every workplace, I think Slack can be both good and bad for ADHD!

For me, while the distractions of Slack can be a problem, just as often my issue is less distraction than just needing an external motivator to get started. In that case, a sudden DM asking for an update or a request for help in a public channel may be the only way I ever get started actually working. (Obviously, this works best if your job is more about helping others in general than about getting specific tasks done.)

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