There’s a lot of to-do list apps, reminders, calendars etc out there advertised towards us to help us do things like break down large tasks into meaningful chunks and focus on what we need to do each day, but I want to hear from the community what do you guys think is the best so let’s start a thread
Am I the only one who feels like productivity/organization tools for ADHD people is like bicycles for blind kids? Like, “yeah I can see how a functional person could find this useful, but what the heck am I going to do with it?”
I just have a dry-erase board for planning out my week at work and at home I fly by the seat of my pants and spend months attempting to form good habits
It took me 25 years just to start brushing my teeth once a day, no idea how long until I get it up to twice a day.
heard recently that people with ADHD can’t form habbits in the same way neurotypicals do, thats why we struggle with this shit so often!
I try to brush before bed, and when I shower. Thats like… 1.5 times daily (most days), i’m almost there :P
We can, but they are extremely limited. I’ve a habit of checking my keys, phone and wallet are in my pocket when I leave the house. I also have the habit of thinking, “I need to brush my teeth” in the mornings. Unfortunately, forming a habit of actually brushing my teeth is more than my brain can handle (hence the work around).
Medication helps a lot, with even minimal habit forming. It vastly accelerates it from 5-10 years, to maybe 6-12 months, for simple habits. I can lock in 1 a year now!
Medication unfortunately hasn’t really helped my habit forming much. I’m slowly working on it though.
It’s definitely helped a lot of my executive dysfunction, though it does have its drawbacks.
I do have days where I am more depressed than I ever have been, but only if I take it more than 3-4 times a week.
@nuttydepressor @cynar I’m struggling with my meds ATM too. If I take the full dose I’m functional but my anxiety is just silly. And the depression/moodiness has been bad recently, tho it was likely burnout from stress and full dose meds taken for work. It took me a while to realise it was the meds. Half dose today anyway.
Even when medicated, it takes a long time, and a ridiculous amount of mental effort to lock them in. They are also still fragile as spun glass.
As for the depression I know it. I had 2 types. Burnout was the most obvious. I’m actually on half the medication dose I was on. It turned out I had gone over the hump, and my mind was overloading. The kickback from that caused a depressive state. Backing off put me back on the peak.
The 2nd was wile coyote like. I managed to reduce the stress I was under, by a mix of medication, cognitive, and behavioural changes. Without the stress however, my emotional lockdowns released. The depression was environmental, but I couldn’t even feel it, under the weight of stress. It was like wile coyote running off a cliff, all good until I stopped and looked. I’m still chipping away at it, but it still helps that I can feel it now. Before, it was still there and affecting me, but I wasn’t aware of it.
Holy fuck I am not the only one.
The only way I’m able to get anything done is by externalising my memory. I just make sure I have reminders on a smartwatch so that they forcibly are brought to my attention even if I’m away from my PC/phone.
How do you set reminders on your smartwatch?
Directly on the watch: timers, alarms. Via the watch: calendar events and the like whose notifications get picked up by the watch. Have to be proactive about blocking useless notifications though.
I have an Android phone and a galaxy watch 4, not sure how equivalents work on Apple.
I hear you. They can be a time sink (bone apple tea?). For me, basic BuJo on paper has been the answer for years. Recently though, I’ve started to use Google Tasks and Calendar to push tasks at me more than the pull of paper and pen.