Alright! The promised ADHD Tools, Tricks, and Resources Thread!

Before we begin, disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional. Though I have an academic background in psych, these are tools I've found useful for dealing with my particular manifestation of ADHD symptoms. https://twitter.com/DichotomusPrime/status/1319050797217439746

For transparency, this is the particular flavor of ADHD I manage. Your mileage may vary depending on how close or distant your experience is from this. https://twitter.com/DichotomusPrime/status/1319065054235578368?s=20

Done Lists

To-Do Lists give me intense anxiety and mostly end with me getting overwhelmed and doing nothing instead. Lists of tasks you've done that day help build momentum and efficacy, and also help track energy expenditure (useful when you deal with chronic fatigue).

I make one for each day, and tally them at the end before I go to bed. Ideally. Sometimes I get to them later, and that's okay! The point is to build momentum and have reference data to go back to if/when memory fails.

Each task normally counts as one, but more energy intensive or time-consuming tasks can count as 2 (the check boxes) or more, depending.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The 'score' of each task is a subjective measure. If you had to expend a serious chunk of mental fortitude to make a-->

sandwich, that might count as a 3 Score task depending on where your energy reserves are at that day. A task that takes 5 minutes could be worth more than one that took 3-4 hours, depending.

The only measure I have as to whether a task "counts" is 'whether I could have-->

chosen not to do it'. There are days where those tallies consist of:
- Showered
- Took meds

And that's it. But those count.

So here's the cool, nerdy part comes in: we can use these totals to track trends in energy levels and (for me) depression symptoms.

At the start of each month, I make a chart where the Y acis is the Daily Total of Tasks Done and the X axis is the date.

I can then take the tallied total of tasks (how's that for alliteration) and start to construct a line graph, and plot trends using them. The image above is how October is looking so far.

It's graphs like these (I've been doing them for about a year) that helped me-->

figure out my depression is closer to cyclic dysthymia bc my energy levels/productivity tends to drop around the third week of every month. It also helps me prepare for the onset and set up coping mechanisms ahead of time.

I use a notebook for this bc the tactile sensation of doing it makes it more 'real', I'm more likely to remember to do it, and it's its own dedicated space. Afaik there isn't a freeware resource that does this since iDoneThis went pay-to-use.

Conversely, the graphing portion of this exercise helps me recognize that if I DO happen to have a really productive day, or couple of days, that, "Okay, I'm probably gonna come down from this soon, so prepare to prolly be tired for the next few".

It helps cut off-->

the guilt, shame, and negative self-talk before it gets going. The tricky thing with the combo of ADHD and Depression is that the reference points you can normally use to pull yourself back to reality when cognitive distortions/feelings of worthlessness get going-->

are harder to remember or grasp bc of aforementioned memory issues. Having hard-and-fast data reference points at your disposal helps defuse those distortions.

Work Timers!

This is one of my go-to's for battling Executive Dysfunction. I like using the website Toggl Track ( http://toggl.com ) as a good, free-to-use resource for this.

Whenever I'm struggling to start a task, no matter how small, I'll start a timer.

I find the more specific the timer label is, the better.
"Brainstorm words for Object table in Words of Creation" is better than "TTRPG Game Design Session". "Empty and replace garbage bag in office garbage" is better than "tidy up before work".

This is part of a trend I-->

find where creating an external cue for me starting a task will "create a button" (to use @ADHD_Alien 's parlance) and kickstart me into doing it.

(Creating external cues are also where all those statuses where I tell myself to go work out come from.)

I tend to find that Work Timers work better for when I'm already sitting in my work space context and need that cognitive nudge to get moving on a task specific to that space.

For something like when I'm just out of the shower, wanting to go cook breakfast but instead am-->

endlessly refreshing social media sites, sometimes a sensory cue is enough to provide the sufficient stimulation to break me out of a holding pattern.

For me, this is why I have a couple episodes of my favorite podcasts queued up and ready to go. I find educational stuff-->

works better for this since I'm paying closer attention and trying to absorb info, but again, your mileage may vary. Right now Myths and Legends, Our Fake History, and Factually! with Adam Conover are three that are kind of my go-to's.

I've tried using music for this before-->

but found that after the novelty of a song has faded it doesn't provide enough of a dopamine jumpstart to get me going, even if I enjoy it. It's good for sustained focus, less so for the initial cognitive jumper cable I need to get moving.

Spatial Arrangement

This one may not be applicable for everyone depending on your living arrangement, but I've found trying to delineate different rooms or spaces for specific activities helps to put my brain into the space to engage and sustain those activities easier.

Now what do I mean by that? Well, when I'm in my bedroom, I am there to get ready for bed and go to sleep, or getting dressed to go somewhere else.

If I'm in the dining room, I am there to eat and not do work.

The office is a more multipurpose room, but I'm working on-->

eating less often in that room, bc when I'm eating, my head is in media consumption and absorption mode.

In the same way folx can have difficulty sleeping if they're in an unfamiliar place, surroundings can influence how easy or more difficult certain things are for me to do.

This alone isn't a particularly ADHD-specific thing on its own. However, this is my take on it:

My thoughts don't order themselves naturally, and often flow into, activate or drown out other thoughts. ADHD means that my mind lacks internal structure. So as a sort of cognitive-->

prosthetic, I create modular, external structures to compensate. I find physical, visual structure to be the most effective, but I've spoken to others who find dates/times/more abstract markers to work too, as long as they're consistent and overlap the least amount possible.

This might require challenging conversations if you co-habitate. For instance, I've had to ask my housemates to not speak to me while I'm eating/trying to do work unless they need something from me.

At first glance this might feel like a "DON'T SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO, PEASANT"

But framing it in the context of disability, and asking for their assistance in helping you construct an environment in which you can function can help smooth those out.

Mostly, I find it's about externalizing cognitive load.

I spoke with @synxiecbeta about this before, but part of what's frustrating about ADHD is the feeling like my mental workspace is the size of a sticky note. It runs out of room quickly, and the energy I have to spend to hold onto info in working memory/attention is... a lot.

Part of what Spatial Arrangement does is use these 'external cues' to offload labor from your executive/attentional functions ("intentionally 'trying' to start work") to your midbrain and unconscious software ("I go here and before I know it, I've decided to start the task")

A lot of the time the weird thing is though my brain has to struggle to 'remember' how to start a task, my body remembers just fine and will do it if I get out of its way.

(This is also part of why the 'Podcast Jumper Cable' method of combating executive dysfunction works)

I think that's about it for the things that don't start to bleed into depression resources (eg. having low energy expenditure quick, nutritious meals on hand, leaving my phone downstairs when I go to bed, etc). But I'll drop a couple titles of books I've found educational:

'Driven to Distraction' by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey

A good one to read if these symptoms sound real familiar and you feel like you might have ADHD. Breaks down a number of subtypes and potential management strategies. Been reprinted with updates several times, too

The Stimulus Driven Brain: The Essential Guide for the ADD/ADHD College Student by George H. Glade

As the title suggests, this one is more of a practical workbook for building an environment conducive to study and work. It's more focused than DtD. The author is also dyslexic-->

so his experience with the intersection fo ADHD/dyslexia may be especially useful for folx with similar experiences.

The Executive Brain by Elkhonon Goldberg

Executive dysfunction isn't exclusive to ADHD, and this book digs into the neuroscientific meat of how the prefrontal cortex and executive functions work (and how they go wrong), complete with many primary sources. This is more of a-->

an academic text than the other titles on this list, but if you want a greater understanding of your brainmeats, it's a solid resource.

And I think that's about it for now! I hope that folx get some use out of these resources, and they make your life a little bit easier. I'll keep an eye on other related threads and link 'em if they come up.

In the interim, if you DID find any of these helpful, consider dropping a tip at one of the resources below! It'd be mighty kind and appreciated. :) https://twitter.com/DichotomusPrime/status/1187071451624595456?s=20