adhdtoolbox

[adhdtoolbox]

A quick, sloppy little comic about Magritte

[adhdtoolbox]

i think one of the most important things you learn about making connections with others is that a significant portion of the time people just do not know theyre doing what theyre doing

[adhdtoolbox]

Alarm clock across the room, for me. I want the noise to stop? Up I get.

When I was really struggling, I bought a second, more annoying and louder alarm clock that went off 5 minutes after.

Do other ADHD folks struggle with just getting out of bed in the morning, or is that just a me thing? Like - legitimately, it's the first step, the very first step, and it's always the hardest. Once I'm on my feet I can be ready in under an hour, maybe even 30 minutes if my clothes are laid out and if I'm not planning on doing much makeup that day.

But actually getting out of the bed?

Dude. I have spent over an hour some mornings laying in bed, staring at the wall, not even falling asleep, just - screaming in my head that I need to get up and I'm gonna be late, but nothing seems to happen for ages no matter how stressed out it begins to make me.

I've been struggling with that since I was a kid, except now I'm "an adult" and "shouldn't need someone to hold my hand" so I no longer can rely on someone else waking me up every morning. Which honestly is fine with me! I'd rather be independent! Except I haven't found a method that works to help counter the problem besides having someone else hold me accountable.

(Today, my dog wanted into my room so I finally got up to open the door for her, but Ellie is a terrier and therefore refuses to be trained for that kind of thing lmao)

Basically, I'm sick of hearing people say "Well just get up, it's not that hard. Just do it. Just get up." when I've been actively struggling with that very thing since I was old enough to realize it was a problem.

...how do you handle it?

[adhdtoolbox]

Okay, new cleaning strategy.

Bad at self-discipline, good at acts of love through service. So I'm gonna clean my house pretending it is the house of someone I love who's been too depressed to clean. She's gonna be so surprised.

[adhdtoolbox]

Things allowed during meditation

I lose focus on breathing exercises and meditation. Just... straight up forget that's what I set out to do.

Here are a list of some things that are explicitly ALLOWED

humming as you breathe in and out (there's a REASON some Buddhists chant - It WORKS)

drumming

listening to more active/dynamic music rather than 'meditation' music

pacing

fidgeting

yoga

walking

grounding (observing physical sensations as a PART of meditation)

having off topic thoughts. observing them. letting them pass.

looking at something (I'm a fan of flickering candle flames, personally)

watch a video of a craftsman constructing something, sound off or quiet (teapots or victorian skirts or find something on r/ArtisanVideos)

[adhdtoolbox]

sometimes you have to be a bit mentally ill to get mentally well so if thinking naruto would be proud of you for brushing your teeth is what gets you to brush your teeth well grab that toothbrush dattebayo

[adhdtoolbox]

Life hack for getting things done with adhd: pretend like you live in ancient times. Idk what it is about this daydream but it just flips some switch in my brain. Like “I must nourish the cattle (my dog and cat) to ensure a good harvest (snuggles and kisses).” or “I must keep my home tidy, lest the mischievous spirits be displeased and my wife and children (fiancé and pets) fall ill.” Besides needing to clean your clothes to “prepare for the coming frost” sounds a lot more urgent than “you’ll smell bad and Tiffany from work will judge you”

Having a hard time fitting prescriptions into this? Modern medicine is basically magic, so congratulations, you are literally a witch. Drink up Queen.

[adhdtoolbox]

I was just reading an ADHD post about breaking tasks up into smaller chunks, and I wanted to share something that helped me.

Once upon a time, I was sitting at my desk at 3am, having procrastinated all day, and finally got to the stage where I was so desperate to meet my 9am deadline I made an itemised list of every single thing I had to do, to the level of "1) Open this document. 2) Open this web page. 3) Arrange the windows so you can see both at once... Etc." It took me hours, and I was beating myself up the whole time because I knew I was spending three times as long making the list as I would doing the task, good god, what's wrong with me, this is so stupid...

I finished the list. I went through it step by step. And then I was done.

It was a revelation. It was so incredibly easy, once the list was there.

Since then I've thought: so what if making the list takes three times as long as doing the task? That's what it takes. That's PART OF THE TASK. It's the most important part, because it's the bit that means you can start at all.

Now if I'm struggling I give myself permission to use the most time consuming strategies, to hold my own hand like I'm a two year old, to guide myself through the tiniest of baby steps, because that's a skill I've fought for and it works.

Maybe this is obvious to everyone else. But if there's anyone out there like me, perhaps not yet diagnosed, beating themself up for not being able to just get things done like a normal person, I want to say this: make that list even as the clock ticks down to your deadline. Its not a waste of time. It's part of the task.

[adhdtoolbox]

That's great and all but what if you want it to open a specific document?

Let's do it.

A quick warning: we're going to be using PowerShell, a command line shell. PowerShell can be used to really, really screw up your computer - accidentally if you don't know what you're doing or maliciously. Do NOT just run scripts on your computer that some rando on tumblr hands you. Have a sysadmin friend verify them or learn about the commands yourself (Microsoft has pretty good public documentation and the one we're using in this post is a single command - it's beginner friendly) . Do not run any part of any script that you don't know FOR SURE EXACTLY what it does or that comes from a trusted source. I'm not going to give you anything that will break you computer or hand me access you don't want me to have but YOU DON'T KNOW THAT. Make sure! /warning

-

Windows has come with PowerShell installed by default for since Windows 7. If you're on Windows, you already have it installed.

Launch PowerShell ISE

2. Type into the top part of the window (aka the script pane):

start-process "[file path for document including document name and file extension]"

for example:

start-process "C:\temp\myWIP.docx"

3. Save this script.

4. Refer to the above post about scheduling, but instead of scheduling a program, schedule this script - your document will open on its own when it's time.

Make your computer start the task for you

If timers don't work and getting started on something is hard, maybe having your computer launch the program you need will help.

(This tip works for Windows only)

Search for Task Scheduler from your Start Menu

Click on Create Task

3. It'll start you in the General tab. Give your task a Name.

4. You'll need a trigger. Go to the Triggers tab and click New

5. Schedule it!

6. Go the Actions tab and click New

7. In the window that pops up, leave the action on "Start a program" and click the Browse button and go to the program you want to open automatically for you.

Post-it note blindness? Have it launch your sticky notes program only when the task would become available.

[adhdtoolbox]

The Microwave Rule

You know full well you're not going to do anything fun on your phone in the 2 minutes it takes to heat something up.

Don't wait on the microwave. Instead, pick a task and do it til the microwave beeps:

Do the dishes

Clean the counter

Prep some food for the next meal

Clean out the fridge

Sweep the floor

Clean the oven

Take out the trash

[adhdtoolbox]

Make your computer start the task for you

If timers don't work and getting started on something is hard, maybe having your computer launch the program you need will help.

(This tip works for Windows only)

Search for Task Scheduler from your Start Menu

Click on Create Task

3. It'll start you in the General tab. Give your task a Name.

4. You'll need a trigger. Go to the Triggers tab and click New

5. Schedule it!

6. Go the Actions tab and click New

7. In the window that pops up, leave the action on "Start a program" and click the Browse button and go to the program you want to open automatically for you.

Post-it note blindness? Have it launch your sticky notes program only when the task would become available.

[adhdtoolbox]

A strategy for getting to bed on time:

Programmable lightbulbs that get progressively dimmer, then shut off.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

[adhdtoolbox]

Build in room for Blockers on your To Dos

Photo by lucas souza from Pexels

You go to do the thing before before you can do that thing, you have to do something else. Before you do that, there's another thing...

Every time you come back to a to do list, you can't remember WHY you can't start on the thing yet, but you have work your way backwards through perquisites every time.

What if you left room in your to do list for blockers?

Start on the right side of the page, right your to do list like you're used to.

Now, when you start the task, your goal is EITHER to cross it off OR write down what blocked you. Why can't you sew a button back on?

You don't know where the button is. Okay.

Next time you come back to the task, your mission ISN'T to sew the button back on it's to find the button.

Ah, the button was on top of your dresser. Well done. Cross it off, note it down.

Shit. Where's your needle and thread?

You get the idea. As you discover why you can't do the chore, shift your focus on the to do list.

If you spot a circular dependency (it would be easier to clean out my closet after sorting my clothes... but I don't want to sort my clothes until I have somewhere to put them...) then DECIDING which goes first is your next step.

This will also make it easier to spot a huge jump in the size of the chore. If you set out wipe down the counter, but five steps later you're researching contractors to remodel the kitchen - draw a line between blockers where you actually CAN start and make the big chore its own thing.

[adhdtoolbox]

This blog is to store all the things I've found that work or might work for my ADHD.

It's public so that I actually feel some obligation to write it. :) Because ADHD.