Read on Twitter
since getting an ADHD dx, I am amazed at all the shit that l thought just meant I was a bad person, but is really ADHD
Time blindness
The inability to note the passage of time
For me this extends to being awful at estimating how long something will take and so I’m always late https://twitter.com/finnattentive/status/1260613168927322113">https://twitter.com/finnatten...
Time blindness
The inability to note the passage of time
For me this extends to being awful at estimating how long something will take and so I’m always late https://twitter.com/finnattentive/status/1260613168927322113">https://twitter.com/finnatten...
ADHD doesn’t mean I can’t concentrate. It means I need to have the exact right amount of stimulation or the important parts of my brain go quiet and get very tired
It also means I can focus on something I’m interested in for an ungodly amount of time, without getting tired
It also means I can focus on something I’m interested in for an ungodly amount of time, without getting tired
It also means attentional control is situational for me in a way it’s not for other people... I don’t have a “short attention span” or a “long attention span”... it completely depends on what I’m supposed to be attending to and how I feel about that thing at the time.
But thanks to learning from OP and other people on here (then doing my own research), I figured out some tricks
One is to just get started. Once I am about 15 minutes into something, I can happily work on it for hours, bc I can easily be interested by literally anything
One is to just get started. Once I am about 15 minutes into something, I can happily work on it for hours, bc I can easily be interested by literally anything
This is why I always did well in school for K-12. I’m a nerd and a scholar in my soul, and if there was an adult around to make me start doing something (listening or working), I could get interested. But left to my own devices, I’ll just watch all the seasons of Jersey Shore
So getting started is so terrible, then I’m unable to stop.
Some things that normal people can do to make themselves start working, don’t work for me
I can’t just put on work clothes and sit at my desk
Or I can’t just throw myself into something because I’ve clocked in
Some things that normal people can do to make themselves start working, don’t work for me
I can’t just put on work clothes and sit at my desk
Or I can’t just throw myself into something because I’ve clocked in
My trick is that I get my brain started by listening to something funny and new to me while I prep to get started... taking a shower or walking the dog or some other event that changes my state and signals to me “you’re about to do something new”
Then when I get to my desk, I need to slip into something I have heard or seen a billion times
It’s enough noise that my brain stays awake but it doesn’t require processing because I’ve memorized it
TV sitcoms work for me, music is usually too much for my brain I get distracted
It’s enough noise that my brain stays awake but it doesn’t require processing because I’ve memorized it
TV sitcoms work for me, music is usually too much for my brain I get distracted
So I am always in a state of watching some tv show
I have watched all episodes of The Good Place 10 or so times.
more later bc i spontaneously started working and gotta run with that
I have watched all episodes of The Good Place 10 or so times.
more later bc i spontaneously started working and gotta run with that
I always interpreted my difficulty starting projects as “procrastination”, and it technically is, but it’s not the same as what neurotyp people mean when they say it. I know when I’m procrastinating from anxiety or laziness or lack of motivation and when it’s ADHD.
I always knew there were different kinds of procrastination and one of them is when you try very hard to do a thing, like put a very good faith effort into, and you really wanna do it, and stare at it for three hours.
The lazy/unmotivated/anxious procrastination, I get that too
The lazy/unmotivated/anxious procrastination, I get that too
I really hope my strategy continues to work.
It’s dissertation season and I have four doctoral students. One of them is polishing up now and I will have no problem reading that and returning it, bc it’s the pleasant pass where I get to be like “OMG I AM SO PROUD OF YOU”
It’s dissertation season and I have four doctoral students. One of them is polishing up now and I will have no problem reading that and returning it, bc it’s the pleasant pass where I get to be like “OMG I AM SO PROUD OF YOU”
We didn’t have this kind of ADHD when I was a kid.
But my parents knew I was just •different• from other kids in some ways.
procrastinating was part of my personality and I was rarely reprimanded for it (even tho it was annoying)
Instead just called me in sick to school
But my parents knew I was just •different• from other kids in some ways.
procrastinating was part of my personality and I was rarely reprimanded for it (even tho it was annoying)
Instead just called me in sick to school
My parents weren’t hippies or anything—my mom was even pretty strict about a lot of stuff. But if I needed to stay home to work, that was allowed
Idk how other ppl with undx ADHD dealt with parents who were shitty to them about this. I would absolutely have disintegrated.
Idk how other ppl with undx ADHD dealt with parents who were shitty to them about this. I would absolutely have disintegrated.
Recently I found out that a lot of the procrastinating is because it’s literally just ur nervous system getting keyed up from the fear of the impending deadline so it actually starts working. Chasing that anxiety so you can get motivated... so interesting.
But it also got a lot worse when I moved to college because there weren’t a thousand children in a tiny house and it was so quiet. I couldn’t do anything. I quit computer classes. i was like welp I’m broken, y’all finally broke me (I was the only girl in my computer classes).
