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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#441

Post by skeaker »

fao_ wrote: post #235
blitz_skull wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but ADHD is different for everyone. Most if not all of the strategies mentioned work for me. > stolen art It looked AI-generated to me.

What's the difference between stolen art and ai generated stolen art? Both are illegal under the DMCA

Stolen art requires the original to be taken from its rightful owner. The original owner still has their work, meaning no theft has occurred. Also worth a mention is that in the case of AI art the original owner is hard to discern in the first place because the work is often too transformative to pin any part of it to even a single artist.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#442

Post by tstrimple »

dublinben wrote: post #315
buzzwords wrote: post #190

This could not have been better timed for me. I was diagnosed with ADHD yesterday. Apparently for me, the working memory is a major issue. If anyone has any tips here I really appreciate it if you could comment your suggestions here.

This is a very long article with lots of helpful information about ADHD and memory: https://add.org/adhd-memory-loss/ The highlights of their suggestions are: * Break down complex tasks into smaller bits. * Avoid multitasking. * Create your own reminders, like setting alarms and reminders. Leave Post-It notes on areas you frequently look at. * Habit stacking. If you constantly forget chores, you can stack them on top…

> * Avoid multitasking.

Yeah okay, and just don't breathe while you're at it.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#443

Post by TheRealHB »

sonicanatidae wrote: post #430
TheRealHB wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't recommend my solution BUT Your description is close to what I experience at times, that blinking thing may help you ignore outside the monitor distractions as it is there forcing you to ignore? Interesting, Do one and tell me ; ) I cost me $25 or less.... all spares ESP32 (most of them has a LED pinned anyways) and don't bother the heart monitor initially, just set time and rate of descent for the blink. Chea…

I'm fortunate in that I can control my office enough that I can simply eliminate the distractions. For the rest, there's pihole, Brave and Ublock. ;) I may try this, as an experiment, but going into it, I'm expecting a fail. If I do try it, I'll follow up.

You can't lose as even if it does not work much for you, you will get the building pleasure for sure.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#444

Post by JohnBooty »

The_Colonel wrote: post #410
JohnBooty wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd much rather just get an interruption out of the blue than have someone schedule a meeting to talk to me After 15+ years of exploring my own ADHD and learning about others' experiences, I'm still constantly wowed by how differently we all react to this stuff. For me, out-of-the-blue interruptions are a worst case scenario for my ADHD. It's very hard for me to get into the "flow" if I know that I might be interrupt…

In my experience scheduled meetings tend to be longer and involve more people than necessarily. Also, somewhat contraintuitively, I often avoid starting some new work e. g. 30 minutes before a scheduled meeting, meanwhile without it I just start, and if interruption happens,... it just happens.

    Also, somewhat contraintuitively, I often avoid 
    starting some new work e. g. 30 minutes before a 
    scheduled meeting
No, I think that makes sense and is pretty common.

It's hard for me to get into the zone if I know I've got a hard stop in 30 minutes.

Two workarounds for me. One is that I tell myself I'll spend the final 5 minutes jotting down todo's so I can pick back up relatively close to where I left off. I normally work in 20-30 min bursts anyway. This is actually not super successful for me but better than nothing.

Slightly more effective for me is using those 30 minutes to bang out some smaller tasks. Review a small pull request. Pay a bill or two. Apply some software updates. Gotta be done eventually so I get them out of the way now, in service of more focus time later.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#445

Post by skeaker »

chx wrote: post #233
blitz_skull wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but ADHD is different for everyone. Most if not all of the strategies mentioned work for me. > stolen art It looked AI-generated to me.

And AI art is theft. Hell, even a18n have admitted it! https://i.imgur.com/auBNG0N.jpg

Your source does not support your claim. They say that if every single individual piece of data used to train a model was to be paid out, there would be a lot of payouts. You could just as easily say that if you had to pay the state for every step you took on the sidewalk, you would have to pay the state a lot. This does not prove that you are indebted to the state for millions in sidewalk usage because fortunately for you the law has not decided to make you pay for using the sidewalk, just as it has not decided to make training data have to pay per file.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#446

Post by jon-wood »

macNchz wrote: post #188
mathieuh wrote: post #92

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…

My wife has a copy of the DSM 5 on our bookshelf, and flipping through it I noted that very many disorders have diagnostic criteria that, beyond just having some symptoms, they cause significant distress or impairment of functioning. I had a friend growing up who was diagnosed with ADHD quite young whose experience was similar to your story–he had major issues with school that ultimately led to him being expelled, no…

Its the significant distress or impairment which is key. As an example most people will put off doing things like sorting out an issue with their electricity provider, but I took that to the degree where I only sorted it when someone literally turned up on my doorstep to disconnect the supply.

Throughout my life I've found myself in situations where most people would go "well, this seems to be getting out of hand" and just carried on, getting ever more stressed and angry and seemingly being unable to get on with fixing it, whilst variously losing jobs, friendships, and a marriage. It was honestly a huge relief to discover the likely cause is ADHD rather than just being a failure of a human being.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#447

Post by TheRealHB »

koonsolo wrote: post #226
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…

> Get to work regardless if distracted and agitated. Close all apps except what you need to work and BOOM!, let the magic happen Isn't this the part that actually does the heavy lifting to get stuff done?

No really what I was trying to say but get your point.

The idea is that you sit at your desk even if too agitated and remove the visual distractions that aren't work so your eyes will either look at work or the blinking led. I have an iPad by the side so I can't see the screen but will open from time to time to check emails.

So, stare at the screen even if you don't feel like it and try 1o-15min.... if you forget and realised an hour passed and the blink stoped it... then it worked!

; )

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#448

Post by swozey »

JohnBooty wrote: post #392
pc86 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a minor part of your comment, but I simply cannot focus on anything if my apps aren't all fullscreen. I have two monitors, and two applications visible at any time. Right now I have this on one screen and a non-work YouTube video on the other (Your Mom's House is a great podcast btw, especially if you already have YT premium). I have trouble focusing, I don't think quite to the level of ADHD, but it would be so…

You know, it's funny how different we are all when it comes to this. I need all my apps visible in a tiled arrangement. Shuffling windows shatters my flow. I literally cannot have enough screen real estate. My dream is something like a curved 48" 8K monitor filling my entire field of view at 300dpi. (Vision Pro?) I know a lot of people, ADHD and otherwise, like me in this regard. I also know a guy like you, diagnosed…

I had a coworker a few years ago who worked ONLY on his laptop. No monitors. No keyboard. No mouse. He programmed all day on a 13" Macbook Pro.

I will never understand it because I absolutely hate having full screen windows and I am almost worthless working off my laptop when traveling. Just lots of frustration juggling windows back and forth. I always have 2 or 3 apps side by side on my 48" and I have a 28" 16:18 DualUp monitor next to it for long text/dev.

I didn't work with him so I don't know how productive he actually was but I've always been curious if he kept up with the people who had 2-3 monitors and input devices. I have a hard time believing that he did but no actual idea.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#450

Post by wpm »

qumpis wrote: post #357
lolinder wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find that, if time allows, I get a massive productivity boost after 4:30pm and everyone is either winding down or leaving. The most important ADHD accommodation for me has been a private office (in my case working from home). I'm insanely distractible—the slightest noise can throw me off, and even the threat of an impending interruption is enough to make me lose focus thinking about how I'll respond if it comes.…

Why not put these earbuds in the office?

Did you not read about all the visual and social interruptions they talked about? Noise-cancelling for your eyes is called a blindfold.
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