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Re:You are not 'behind' by jaggederest on Sunday September 03, 2017 @07:43PM (#15164619)
TL;DR - I found this book effective, you should read it instead of listening to me blather below:

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley-e...

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The biggest things, broadly, are:

Step 0: Get engaged medically - with diagnosis, collaboration, and medication. ADHD is not something you can manage on your own. It's literally "the disorder of not being able to fix the problems you can clearly see", so you need external feedback and assistance. Doctor(s), therapist, friends, family, co-workers, employer - gotta engage all of them.

Step 1: Figure out where the problems are. This means, before you make any changes, record when things go right / wrong and map out places that need change. (and I know, making ADHD people carefully analyze and wait it out is the most ridiculous thing ever but...)

Step 2: Change your environment and the way you live your life. Automate, externalize, or delegate all nonessential tasks and change your set/setting to accommodate you instead of struggling to behave. If it's not something you do without thought or effort, automate, externalize, or delegate it.

Step 3: Relax! You've made it, time to kick back and... Oh, no, sorry, continue to repeat steps 0-2 on a weekly/monthly/annual basis, largely for the rest of your life. It's a little bit like weight loss - getting there is only about 10% of the battle. Getting consistent about it is the other 90% and that's the part that clearly people with ADHD struggle with the most.

Anyway, it's really key to understand it as a process, a skill, and one that you can improve at over time. Don't let missing things or being unsuccessful get you down, just pick it back up and learn from where you made the problem. Don't blame yourself any more than you'd blame yourself for being colorblind or tall.

More about the changes in step 2:

a) I automate and delegate everything even more heavily than I did before. All bills go on autopayment, anything that can be set up to be routine is. Yard service, cleaning service, whatever it is, if it can take things off my plate, sold. Can't overstate how critical it is to not let your own execution problems trap you. Focus on strengths and accept your weaknesses.

b) Calendaring is absolutely essential. He recommends paper, I do it digitally, whatever works for you. I have things set to remind me, and I use it religiously. I have reminders for any recurring activity - daily, weekly, monthly, if it can't be automated, don't try to remember it, instead use reminders. It also must be with you 100% of the time. Literally chain it to your arm if you need to. Which sounds less ludicrous when you call it a 'smartwatch' but...

c) Externalize everything. Draw pictures, flowcharts, checklists, plans, or sketches; set timers, write notes, make boxes and organizers; put gold stars on a chart; whatever it takes, but you can't rely on your own brain to provide feedback. You need things to be concrete and outside of your own mind.

Most importantly, the things you need have to be at where you perform the task, not in the office. I have 3 whiteboards in my house and they are constantly full with relevant, localized info, plans, lists, schedules, etc. I use painter's tape and markers to label everything. Do not label the cats. They do not like it. I routinely go through ~3 rolls of tape a month.

d) You need your environment to fit you, not the other way around. If you can't focus at work, either make changes to where / how you work or find a new job. If your home/neighborhood/city is the wrong size, shape, or activity level, change it. It's that simple, and that serious. A significant undertaking and one that I'm definitely still working on.

Re:You are not 'behind' by pm on Monday September 04, 2017 @06:35AM (#15167167)
> Do not label the cats. They do not like it.

I feel this is the "take out all the brown M&Ms" moment in your reply. I did laugh a lot though - the timing was unexpected.

Re:You are not 'behind' by jaggederest on Monday September 04, 2017 @12:10PM (#15169118)
I mean, I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't learn that empirically. But I am totally glad you caught it and had a chuckle.
Re:You are not 'behind' by ztjio on Monday September 04, 2017 @06:53AM (#15167249)
I'd just like to point out, as a person who was not diagnosed with any particular kind of disorder (and boy, did my family try to make that happen when I wouldn't change my interests to meet their expectations,) that all of this advice is good advice for anyone. Everyone.

It may be more critical for someone with ADHD, but, even so, it's an outline of habits common to effective people. And frankly much of it is a great expression of what it means to be human (change your environment, delegate your efforts, planning and scheming, etc.)

Re:You are not 'behind' by jaggederest on Monday September 04, 2017 @12:18PM (#15169168)
Absolutely true, certainly executive functions are energetically "expensive", and very tiring to exercise continuously, regardless of neurological quirks. People also often have a lot more trouble with executive functioning than they think - as an example, checklists vastly improve the performance of even virtuoso experts at complex tasks.
Re:You are not 'behind' by speeder on Sunday September 03, 2017 @11:38PM (#15165544)
I see...

So my project wasn't just me being complete nuts.

My parents put my computers near them after I moved back with them.

I kept insisting I needed one where I wanted... After sevearal months arguing and not getting anything done, I managed to get help to build a desk (I didn't have money to buy one...) bought computer chassis (computer was without one) on a junkyard, and setup it where I wanted.

This was recent, so I didn't started to get things done with it yet, but at same time the whole undertaking was feeling like I was just wasting time for no reason, like if I was procastinating, that maybe I should just try to get things done anyway in my parents office and deal with the noise and interruptions...

Re:You are not 'behind' by jaggederest on Monday September 04, 2017 @12:07AM (#15165659)
Nope! I'm with you, noise and interruptions are totally fatal. Things other people think are fine drive me crazy, or worse, are exciting and interesting and ooh shiny look at the time, it's 9pm already. If I didn't work on the internet, I would turn off the internet while I was trying to focus :)
Re:You are not 'behind' by yogipatel on Monday September 04, 2017 @01:17AM (#15165888)
I fantasize about having a job that doesn't involve me sitting on a computer nearly 100% of the time for the same reason.

edit: formatting

Re:You are not 'behind' by Cthulhu_ on Monday September 04, 2017 @04:52AM (#15166722)
I get that too sometimes. Watching woodworking videos on youtube is very satisfying. Not something I'd do myself quickly (I'm comfortable with the money I'm making at the moment), but I can imagine it's a very soothing line of work. The videos are often very quiet and focused too, much like software development in the zone - and unlike software developers, artisans are generally left alone with their craft and how they want to work is respected more.
Re:You are not 'behind' by mindentropy on Tuesday September 05, 2017 @02:26AM (#15172933)
Me too. I have a very "maker" spirit and I really love the woodworking and the metalworking videos on youtube. In addition I love car restoration and build videos too. Unfortunately for me I don't have the resources to do any of the above at the side although I am thinking of working on my car and doing the small little things instead of the mechanic.
Re:You are not 'behind' by a5seo on Monday September 04, 2017 @12:36AM (#15165749)
Here's another book recommendation for handling adult ADHD.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01C3CKQYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=...

I got lucky and made some money in spite of my undiagnosed case. But my ignorance allowed me to make some bad life choices when it came to choosing the wrong spouse, and now we're divorced with 2 kids.

Re:You are not 'behind' by drakonka on Tuesday September 05, 2017 @03:06PM (#15178175)
This is amazing, thank you. I feel this way every day - I have a lot of motivation and every day not actively working to learn or make something feels like a waste. It feels like I just spent the day in some kind of lazy heavy fog with nothing to show for it. To be honest I highly doubt I have ADHD, but I think this advice might help me regardless and I'll consider seeing a therapist to help with this.