#Adhd hack

[lesbian-disaster-academic]

i used to be so good at writing strong, thoroughly-researched, thoroughly-edited essays.

as a kid in hs, my teacher literally came up to me, holding my 40 page essay on the intersection of the European witch hunts and capitalism/exploitation/gender roles (it was supposed to be 7 pages...whoops) and went like "this is literally a master's-degree level thesis. what are you doing?? you could literally use this as your final dissertation in a master's program, what the fuck."

NOW??? NOW?? you'd think I'd be oh so skilled. but alas. i can barely piece together two ideas. adhd skill-regression is so so real. im SOBBING

[nyancrimew]

tricked myself into actually focusing on writing by doing a timelapse video of myself working so now i feel shamed into doing work by my own camera + my phone is now out of reach i am a productivity mega genius

[sing-you-fools]

pissing me off that the thing that has helped my executive dysfunction better than anything else is fucking. timing myself.

i don't do it in a competitive way. it's not "let's see how fast i can do the dishes." it started as "i have time blindness, so let's take an active step to fix that! if my frequent problems are thinking i got plany of time when i do not have any fucking time, or thinking i do not have any fucking time when in fact i got plany of time, it certainly can't hurt to try to figure out how long stuff actually takes!" i'm not setting a timer, i'm looking at the clock when i start something and then again when i finish and going, ah, that took about twenty minutes, good to know.

it's helped with time blindness. that's what i expected it to help with and i was right. go me! i've even posted about it before.

i did not expect it to fix the executive dysfunction. i did not expect this to result in me looking at the dishes and going "god i do not have the fucking energy for that bullshit" only to have this fucking voice in my head go "really? it's gonna take what, eight minutes?" and i'm like. "fuckin. listen. it's almost goddamn midnight i'm not doing the dishes right now." and the voice is like "almost midnight eh? how almost? ten of? so it'll still be almost midnight when you're done? it won't even take long enough to meaningfully change your perception of what time it is? you can't do it? not even for tomorrow you?" and suddenly i'm loading the dishes in the dishwasher.

it gets worse, though, because i have a habit of breaking tasks down, of saying "it's okay if i don't do this whole thing but it'll be so helpful for future me if i just do this one step." because that means that not only do i know "this whole task takes half an hour," but also, "step one takes five minutes" and once i've done step one i know "step two takes seven minutes" and i might as well do that too, y’know? and suddenly over the course of a couple months i've gone from "the kitchen is an impossible task" to "well i might as well put away the silverware at least oops i cleaned the whole kitchen" and i'm mad because actually i wanted to spend that time relaxing but also? i don't have to do it later? i can come downstairs in the morning to a clean kitchen? that's so nice? i'm still mad about it though

[boeing747]

One cannot underestimate the healing properties of rearranging your furniture

[caitlin-elias]

did no one want to tell me that listening to online college lectures on topics im familiar with but also interested in was gonna be the soundtrack to writing my book??? because my brain is stimulated but the noise variance is just enough to drown out the self criticism? plus it makes me feel like im secretly working on something during class which makes me excited to get it done??? no? just me??

[359midnightburgers]

I think the biggest ADHD hack for consistent progress I have is letting yourself give up without any shame.

You don't enjoy your 3 month running program anymore and thus haven't done any type of exercise for a week because you know you have to do that specific training and you keep procrastinating?

GIVE UP. Switch to going for walks or bike riding (and give those up as soon as you dislike it as well, routinely find new things).

You haven't cleaned your house in a month because you got behind on the specific organisational system that seemed to work so well for a week and now you are overwhelmed?

GIVE UP. Switch to a new system and accept that you will likely have to switch again in a week.

When it comes to arbitrary things like exercise and organisation, accept that your brain likes shiny new things and provide it with those.

If giving up gets THE THING done better than struggling on, just GIVE UP.

[jxwxxngie]

The best adhd hack I found, that works for me personally, is to put my phone where I can't see it (behind my laptop or under a notebook). This helps with my impulse control of constantly wanting to reach out for it and check notifications

Alas, Tumblr exists on my laptop too

[halfhumanhalfasleep]

Babes. Listen to me.

Turn off push notifications on your phone.

If you constantly find yourself losing hours of the day to just mindlessly scrolling, but you don't want to delete tiktok/insta/whatever just. trust me.

It has saved me so much lost time I am not kidding even a little, you don't have to turn off notifications for everything but ohmygod

[crowbraincoin]

ADHD Tip: Learn to Love Podcasts

I always need to be consuming some sort of media--it comes with my ADHD--but if I'm consuming any sort of visual media I will just stay stuck in front of the screen.

So, if I need to be doing chores or exercise, I will put on a podcast I really enjoy.

It's kinda like when you're on the phone with someone and you find yourself walking around the house or doing random chores!

Since visual stimulation isn't available, it forces me to find something else to do. This way I can exercise, clean, run errands, or work on my art without getting bored from lack of stimulation!

Also, if podcasts aren't your thing then try audiobooks!

Here are my current fav podcasts:

Sawbones

Ologies

Dungeons and Daddies

Last Podcast on the Left

All of these have hundreds of episodes for your enjoyment <3

[thejoysofdessert]

I just figured out how to hack my ADHD and autism special interests. When I watch videos on YouTube, there's 4 topics I watch. Sketch comedy, tabletop gaming, let's plays, mtg content.

When I watch one topic my urge to participate in that activity becomes my hyper focus until I change topics or get interrupted. I think if I start that activity and then don't get interrupted I could get on a roll and keep going.

Maybe I make playlists to watch or listen to when I want to do creative activities

[xerospaced]

I've been doing a decent job of pacing myself work-wise since I started this new job last month. But the project I'm working on has just gone live and I feel that burning desire to Be The Best and that hyperfocus fed by novelty. With the pressure of getting things right the first time (even though I am pretty darn fantastic), and the task completion expectation, I can feel that lil teachers pet bitch bubbling inside me begging to just let loose and let her freak flag fly so I can be #Impressive.

More important than that tho, is that I maintain the pace I've already established. Or, at the very least, do not surpass it by much. Because I am trying to break old patterns and avoid the disappointment of my sustainable work rate appearing grossly underwhelming when compared to my eager beaver work rate. There can be NO eager beaver. Only chill bitch.

[nursehella]

BRO I AM SO BAD AT THIS STREAMING THING ITS AWESOME FOR ME THIS TIME SOMEONE IS WAITING FOR ME SO LETS GOOOO

[cellorondo]

Show me your must-do ADHD hack for remembering something in the morning. I’ll go first. This is my front door. Guess what has to come with me in the morning.

[certified-scoundrel]

hack for people who 'enjoy reading but can never really get into books': get the book/ebook AND the audiobook (i use a library app)

either listen and read along for the whole book, or just use the audiobook for the first few chapters/until the plot picks up. spend the first few pages working to adjust the speed of the audiobook so it matches your reading pace.

if you're a person who gets easily distracted, it keeps your mind on the book in two ways. if you're a person who gets bored by all of the exposition in the first few chapters, the audiobook can help keep your mind from wandering while you read the 'boring' bits and then you can read the rest normally (or switch the audiobook back on if a chapter is particularly slow)

this hack got me through The Picture of Dorian Gray in a week after being a "i never read unless im rereading a book i know i like" person for YEARS.

[helpimstuckposting]

I've been terrible at procrastinating my actual work at my actual job that I get paid to actually do and I've discovered that if I hide my phone from myself or even just chuck it across the room, I am too lazy to get up and get it which forces me to be productive

[melipixie]

ADHD kitchen!

Just emptied the entire pantry (plus some utensils for easier point-of-use access) onto the new kitchen rack! We've been here only 1.5 months and already I'd managed to forget that about 1/2 of this stuff existed. Hopefully this will help my struggle with "out of sight, out of mind" and we'll use up some food instead of accidentally stockpiling like we used to!

The pantry will now be home to the holiday dishes, and cookware we only use when cooking for more than just ourselves, since we have few friends and our families are on the other side of the country that won't be very frequent. Fingers crossed this helps keep the kitchen organized this time around!