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Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

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Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#531

Post by hirvi74 »

gibagger wrote: post #97
icepat wrote: post #3

I've been in the diagnostic process for ADHD twice. First time I ended up losing all the paperwork, and getting kicked out of it. In the time between the first and second attempt, I developed PTSD which essentially stalled the second diagnostic as they could not cleanly differentiate between the two. For some reason, getting a diagnosis has been nearly impossible for me, despite each diagnostician saying "ADHD is hig…

Do you also have an aversion to paperwork? Seems to be "a thing". Paperwork has paralysed me ever since I've been in high school. Have gotten in trouble and paid fines over procrastinating paperwork over my whole life. I am also on the "Highly Likely", and currently on the waitlist for a clinic. The best thing I did was being open and honest with my partner, as my ADD behaviors would sometimes exasperate her. I did t…

Last year I sent a friend a package. It took me over a year to send the damn thing. Why? I just couldn't find the motivation to send it. I had all the contents packed up in a box ready to go, and I live like 0.2 mile walk away from a Post Office. Still took over a year to send it.

Oh! I have another. I once drove with expired car tags for like 3 to 6 months. I already had them renewed and everything. In fact, my tag sticker was in the damn glove compartment the whole time. I just kept procrastinating on putting the sticker on because I didn't want to carve out the 1 minute it takes to unscrew the license plate cover, clean the plate, and apply the sticker.

"I'll do it ."

It's shit like this that kills me.

Ironically, I had less issues with this kind of stuff prior to being medicated, but I also was younger and had less responsibility in my day-to-day life, so medication might not be a correlated much.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#532

Post by phantom784 »

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…

This is me now, but I used to be great at reading books as a kid/teenager.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#533

Post by hirvi74 »

klysm wrote: post #156
chx wrote: post #126

This again? A blog post stuffed with stolen art and often heard but absolutely not working advice? > Every morning, I start my day by planning it out in a custom template that displays my Google Calendar events and Todoist task list. For real? One of the best ADHD tools I am aware of is called the Anti Planner. It doesn't take long to find posts like "why to-do lists don't work for people with ADHD" https://coachjess…

I feel similar with the “every morning” stuff. The problem is I have a very hard time making some happen every morning.

Simple steps for ADHD Productivity Management:

1. Do not have ADHD

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#534

Post by bratwurst3000 »

icepat wrote: post #3

I've been in the diagnostic process for ADHD twice. First time I ended up losing all the paperwork, and getting kicked out of it. In the time between the first and second attempt, I developed PTSD which essentially stalled the second diagnostic as they could not cleanly differentiate between the two. For some reason, getting a diagnosis has been nearly impossible for me, despite each diagnostician saying "ADHD is hig…

Lol I was kind of rediagnosed as an adult and I missed the first appointment. Then it took me half a year to make another one. There I forget half my papers … and so on …

After 1h talk and some tests where I refilled everything so oft that it was a mess they didn’t have any doubt.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#535

Post by jawon »

fredgrott wrote: post #63

From someone that actually has ADHD and has finally got it under control: 1. Our genetics means that one gene producing double the dopamine uptake receptors and a combo of other genes messes with something else (50% of all ADHDers have an anxiety disorder either GABA or serotonin based). In fact that is why ADDERALL is not addictive for us but is addictive to a normal person with the normal count of dopamine uptake r…

What does "vitamins through fenugreek" mean? And are you just eating regular goji berries or using an extract?

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#536

Post by gnicholas »

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…

You might check out BeeLine Reader (I am the creator). [1] It's fairly popular in the ADHD community because it enhances visual focus while you're reading. Some people are able to read for 2x-10x as long with BeeLine versus without. I'm always happy to help out HNers with a free code for our browser plugin, just shoot me an email (contact in profile).

1: http://www.beelinereader.com

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#537

Post by feydaykyn »

icepat wrote: post #3

I've been in the diagnostic process for ADHD twice. First time I ended up losing all the paperwork, and getting kicked out of it. In the time between the first and second attempt, I developed PTSD which essentially stalled the second diagnostic as they could not cleanly differentiate between the two. For some reason, getting a diagnosis has been nearly impossible for me, despite each diagnostician saying "ADHD is hig…

Ask a friend to dedicate time to be with you (even on remote) when you fill/send the paperwork. Or hire a secretary/student to do it for you. You need a crutch, that's OK and totally normal!

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#538

Post by dhruvmittal »

muhblah wrote: post #268
keyle wrote: post #33

This hits home. I think we need to really take a hard look at today's world of tech and how we communicate and collaborate. I find that, if time allows, I get a massive productivity boost after 4:30pm and everyone is either winding down or leaving. All the sudden, the walls flatten, the horizon deepens and I enter a deep state of flow. Around 10 AM, after an elongated "stand up", I should be ready to go... And yet it…

This reflects exactly my day to day struggles. Especially that productivity boost when every one starts leaving, and I _was not able_ to finished the smallest one of my tasks planned for the day 'til then most of the time. I'm writing "was not able" on purpose here, because as someone (being blessed) with ADHD, your brain does not allow you to make progress on the smallest tasks due to all those fireworks being blown…

> Especially that productivity boost when every one starts leaving, and I _was not able_ to finished the smallest one of my tasks planned for the day 'til then most of the time.

This is super true for me as well, to the point where I structure my day around this. I'm lucky to have a workplace with flexible hours and enough seniority that nobody complains when I roll in at 10, which gives me a few "quiet hours" from 4-6 as others trickle out.

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#539

Post by plugin-baby »

JohnBooty wrote: post #404
atcalan wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5% of the population have the disorder. Self selection may be causing you to see it as very prevalent.

I think that may be true. I also think it's true that many professions will aggressively surface ADHD. Imagine a plumber making house calls all day. There's a fair bit of structure and variety baked into his day, he's moving around, gets to use his hands, etc. It's hard and skilled work but it also might be really compatible with ADHD. Now think of a software engineer. 8-10 hours of monofocus on a single task every d…

I’d say nightmare scenarios would be:

* PA * travel agent * event planner

Re: Hacking ADHD: Strategies for the modern developer

#540

Post by SpaceManNabs »

fasteo wrote: post #529
nathell wrote: post #348

I’m 39. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD/AS about 11 months ago, after having seen a psychiatrist complaining about chronic fatigue (cf. my Ask HN from two years ago [0]). Methylphenidate has helped _immensely_. As has accepting the wiring of my brain, taking a two-months sabbatical, and practicing awareness about the ADHD habits. I’m having the year of my life. I can’t remember being productive this consistently basica…

>>> after having seen a psychiatrist complaining about chronic fatigue Is there a causal relation between ADHD and chronic fatigue ?

yeah because hyperfocus or losing track of how much energy you are wasting on spurious tasks.
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