I thought I’d make a list of all the useful dopamine maxxing tricks Lemmy shared with me in one place. I have actually tried some of them, and I detail what worked for me below the list.

Original Post: https://literature.cafe/post/27067980

I also made a list of all the awesome Music People shared.

Top Voted Tricks

  • Distract yourself with trauma and emotional stress
    • (not recommended by user)
  • High BPM Music (Beats Per Minute)
  • Pharmacological Balance
  • /u/[email protected]’s List
    • Good Sleep (Set a routine)
    • Hard Workout (Preferably in the morning)
    • Protein Focused Diet
    • Therapy, journaling, applying emotional regulation skills
    • Nature walks in the day
    • Mindfulness Meditation
    • Avoid Sugar/caffeine/+ crashes
    • Give your brain a break
    • Avoid distractions
    • Fidget Toys
    • Prescribed stimulants
    • One habit at a time
  • Motorcycle spin, the air, noise, traffic, vibrations, complex smells.
  • Smoke some weed to initiate stuff
    • (not recommended by user)
  • Create a Distraction Free Environment meant only for Work.
  • Save ADHD Tips Post
  • Some Drugs

I did not list the drugs mentioned, because I don’t understand them and would not recommend anything I don’t understand. I am not a doctor. Check with your Doctor what works best for you.

Things that have definitely worked for me:

  • High BPM music
    • Music in general gets me pumping, especially electronic high BPM music with drops.
    • Some music that makes me feel good, gives me more “energy”
    • I think I actually get a small rush with certain music.
    • One of the users said that it should be something that “scratches” your adhd brain.
    • Downside: You can associate music with work.
  • Therapy, Journaling, Applying emotional regulation skills
    • Writing down what I feel, and when I feel dysregulated and need to procrastinate has helped me identify a lot of my triggers.
    • Downside: You have to spend energy journaling.
  • Morning Exercise
    • Exercising feels good.
    • Downside: Very high energy demand (mental).
  • Clearing distractions
    • Close door
    • Getting rid of phone, and other distractions is very helpful. I highly recommend it.
    • Downside: I don’t see any.

Mixed Bag:

  • Creating an Environment to just work
    • Ehh, I think, this can backfire, especially if you are also an anxious sort. You’d hate the place where you “just work”.
    • But It helps having an environment where others are working and not actively disturbing you.
  • Meditation/Mindfulness
    • have tried for months, it hasn’t been very helpful with ADHD.
    • But is good for stress relief, maybe that’s how it helps. But it isn’t significant.
  • Regular breaks
    • Your brain needs them, but you can lose track or time and you will have starting troubles again.
  • Gamified Pomodoro
    • Spent way too much time creating these or searching for these. Always gave them up, because they were just more “work”.
    • But a simple pomodoro is actually helpful.
  • Nature walks
    • Requires you to get out, and requires you to have nature near you.
    • But It is good for stress relief and clearing up your mind.

Extras - My own tips and things I have heard elsewhere:

  • No Zero Days
    • Just do whatever you can do. This can sometimes jumpstart a hyperfocus session because it makes you feel like you didn’t completely waste the day or you figured something out that you didn’t before.
  • Start your day by cleaning up your room
    • Helps you feel decluttered and frees you of possible distractions.
  • Write down any distracting thoughts into a Diary
    • It helps getting back into your flow.

List of music people suggested:

Other Artists

  • Yanni
  • Tool
  • Coheed
  • Bach
  • Vocaloid
  • phonk
  • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Music has been a life saver for me.

    Putting on a bunch high RPM dance music helps me a lot. I listen to a lot of mashups and remixes.

    I tend to enjoy individual songs, so I can’t list all the artists I listen to, so I’m just posting the link to one of my SoundCloud playlists.

    These help me focus.

  • 18107@aussie.zoneEnglish
    20·
    3 days ago

    The “no zero days” has really stuck with me.

    Going for a 1km walk is overwhelming and will never happen, but going for a 100m walk is entirely possible.
    If I always push for 1km once I’m out, I’ll know it’s 1km and won’t start. Some days it’s just a very short walk, but it’s better than no walk.

    • erebion@news.erebion.euEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      I almost always end up walking further than I thought I’d be going, but on some days I realise I should just get back inside and have some rest and that’s when I go perhaps 50 m and then back inside. Rare, but necessary.

    • Heydo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      I’ve also heard this phrased as “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing a shitty job at it.”

      This was referencing brushing your teeth, but can be applied to everything. Better to do a shitty job brushing your teeth than to not brush them at all.

    • Da Oeuf@slrpnk.netEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      Yeah, I’ve always found this with tidying up. And If I can just start with something approachable it usually ends up snowballing into a complete sort-out anyway!

    • pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafeOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      In so many years, no zero days has been the only thing that consistently works for me even during the super depressive days.

      I haven’t properly tried no zero hours. I wonder if it will work just as well.

  • Da Oeuf@slrpnk.netEnglish
    10·
    3 days ago

    This is cool. I did the recent (and similar) post about ‘ADHD Hijackers’. Seeing this post too has made me think more about the value of crowd-sourcing info on this community. I think summarising threads like this is useful. I think a second useful step could be to also classify/group the responses in some way and maybe also figure out a way to filter for these types of posts, perhaps with a keyword, so they are easy to find.

    • pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafeOPEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      I was inspired of your post to do the same.

      I think a second useful step could be to also classify/group the responses in some way and maybe also figure out a way to filter for these types of posts, perhaps with a keyword, so they are easy to find.

      Sort of like creating docs/wiki for ADHD?

      • Da Oeuf@slrpnk.netEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        Thanks :)

        Yeah, totally. There is obviously medical literature out there as well as bloggers talking about what they’ve learned but I’m not aware of a ‘crowd-sourced’ body of aggregated experiences. The way Lemmy works is really good for it.

        Edit: I’ll add to that by saying that collaborating as an online community to actually make defined things, even just lists like these, is positive and empowering.

  • pugnaciousfarter@literature.cafeOPEnglish
    11·
    3 days ago

    If you don’t care for a long post.

    Top Voted Tricks:

    • Distract yourself with trauma and emotional stress
      • (not recommended by user)
    • High BPM Music (Beats Per Minute)
    • Pharmacological Balance
    • /u/[email protected]’s List
      • Good Sleep (Set a routine)
      • Hard Workout (Preferably in the morning)
      • Protein Focused Diet
      • Therapy, journaling, applying emotional regulation skills
      • Nature walks in the day
      • Mindfulness Meditation
      • Avoid Sugar/caffeine/+ crashes
      • Give your brain a break
      • Avoid distractions
      • Fidget Toys
      • Prescribed stimulants
      • One habit at a time
    • Motorcycle spin, the air, noise, traffic, vibrations, complex smells.
    • Smoke some weed to initiate stuff
      • (not recommended by user)
    • Create a Distraction Free Environment meant only for Work.
    • Save ADHD Tips Post
    • Some Drugs

    List of music people suggested:

    Other Artists

    • Yanni
    • Tool
    • Coheed
    • Bach
    • Vocaloid
    • phonk
  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    Maxxing

    Somehow NOT spelled like ‘waxing’ or ‘faxing’ or ‘taxing’. Here’s your tree.