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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#471

Here's another hack: 10mg Methylphenidate. YMMV, but the alternative is a boat load of systems, routines, caffeine, which all may or may not work depending on how the day/week is going. Not a panacea to be sure, but for those adults with ADHD inattentive where dopamine deficiency impacts executive functioning it can be essential (and incredibly effective).

When it comes to Amphetamine derivatives what works for you might not work for someone else. Stimulants generally work well, but some people have genetic conditions that make their situation worse. It's best to find out which medication is best for you.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#472
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've known a few of the "one monitor, minimal peripherals" types as well. When I think back to the "most productive" (whatever that means) half dozen or so people I've worked with, it's a mix of both. I don't think there's anything inherently better or worse about either approach, just a matter of finding what works best for your specific mix of discipline, interest, and brain chemistry.

I actually enjoy working on laptops directly but the keyboards always do me in. Just a little too cramped for my wrist/arms, and if I'm adding an external keyboard the monitor is just a bit too far away so I'm back to the normal docked setup.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I do the same. And while it’s frustrating that nothing seems to stick long-term, I think it’s important to be trying. I’ll create a recurring to-do list of errands and I’ll stick to it for a week if I’m lucky. It feels bad when I find all those errands incomplete the following week when there’s a slight change in schedule, but at least those things got done the first week. And I pivot to a new strategy and try it all…

I think that seems healthy to me. As folks with ADHD we are typically novelty-seekers. I think it's ok to accept that one's systems will be ever-shifting.

For a decade or two I've gone back and forth between paper and electronic note-taking and I think that's OK, I don't have to find one perfect forever system for everything.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#474

Reader modes for reading web articles can be really handy for those with HDHD. I maintain a reader mode called Just Read that is pretty customizable if you're interested: https://justread.link/

My favorite method is RSVP. I've read entire books with ease using it.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#475
Had such a weird feeling skimming through this.

Earlier this year I've spent months intuitively building a product to address some challenges I've faced in the past years while working remotely.

It took all that effort to understand, after hearing from the users, that the product was just the result of me trying to solve my own undiagnosed ADHD symptoms...

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#476

Is ADHD a real thing? I see too many SV engineers diagnosed with ADHD to the point that it feels like a large scam run by psychiatrists that they lowered the threshold of the actual ADHD.

That make perfect sense.

If coding is really interesting to you, hyperfocus make you spend more time doing it.

Getting into the zone is probably hyperfocus kicking in.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#477
post #347

What I've learned is that there isn't such thing as focus. Focusing is not something you can do. Focus is simply a lack of distractions. If you block all distractions, the only thing left is focus. Blocking distractions is something you can do, if you want to. The major issue is how to catch up with important news and developments without getting distracted.

You can lock me in a room for 24 hours with nothing but a math textbook, but I'd probably still do nothing even at the height of boredom. I'd probably just space out and start daydreaming. I'm sure this is the case for others as well.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#479
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 f…

> just as it has not decided to make training data have to pay per file.

That's quite exactly what the copyright law states, though. I never thought the day will come when I root for Getty Images but the techbros have managed to do it. Congrats, I guess?

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