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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

#41

Post by sixpackpg »

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…

I feel the same about being drained with noises. I use white noise too. But make sure to only use white noise when I want to focus, as it feels like I've conditioned myself to be focused when it's on. Previously, I had it permanently on and I found the effectiveness dropped

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

#42

Post by 01100011 »

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…

Beyond type II bipolar, I don't have a diagnosis for anything psychological but I'm pretty sure I have ADHD with a touch of Asperger's(based mostly on a review of my behaviors over the past 50 years). But yeah I've found "smoothed brown noise" to work wonders.

I also had some success with wearing a snug fitting balaclava. It's odd, but it worked.

Nicotine helped, but I now have NAFLD and nicotine might be a factor in it so I quit.

Modafinil really worked, despite leaving my body feeling drained and sore. I didn't want to keep taking it though.

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

#44

Post by stephantul »

ravetcofx wrote: post #18
lemming wrote: post #6

An online application of this principle is Focusmate, where you schedule calls with essentially random strangers and just work together. There's very little chit chat and it's not some weird front for a hookup scheme. I've been amazed at how well it works for me. I can't really explain why, after all the other person can't see my screen so I could just be doom scrolling YouTube the whole time, but for some reason I d…

There are free discord groups for this too

Very curious about this

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

#45

Post by pjerem »

N2yhWNXQN3k9 wrote: post #15
viraptor wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I severely question anecdotes that pair programming does anything other than motivate you to not look like a moron wasting time in front of someone else So... you're basically saying it works? Because that's what it does in practice. The other person is the external motivator for keeping attention on the task. > you might be surprised how much worse it gets later in life, especially if you have been taking them sin…

> So... you're basically saying it works? Working under pressure isn't a viable therapy, IMO. In my experience, it is a path to burn out and diminishing returns. > Got any support for that? Anecdotally, ~25 years of eating them, but there is plenty of evidence that prolonged use of amphetamine causes structural neuronal changes, even at therapeutic doses. Here is one article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38665308/…

> Working under pressure isn't a viable therapy, IMO. In my experience, it is a path to burn out and diminishing returns.

Except that pair programming doesn’t make you work under pressure. I extensively use this technique for body doubling as much as I can. It motivates me to start the task and I also love the exchange : you can learn things, teach things, be stuck together, find solutions together, swear together, laugh, agree on how horrible is this thing you must fix …

In fact it’s what I’d call real teamwork. I never felt it like pressure and it gives me a lot of energy.

Incidentally, I think the only friends I made at work (the real friends you invite at home even when you don’t work at the same place anymore) were through frequent pair programming sessions. I think there is something about knowing how the other person thinks that helps bonding together.

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

#49

Post by ErigmolCt »

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…

That actually sounds super familiar... I've had a similar experience with noisy work environments just tanking my energy and focus. White noise is such an underrated lifesaver. It's wild how something so simple can create that mental "bubble" where your brain finally chills out enough to focus.
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