Like yeah I know capitalism is stealing my time and energy, yeah I know "laziness" is mostly a myth, etc. etc.
But like there's still creative stuff I want to do in my free time, like paint or write or play music, that I feel like I just physically can't bring myself to do.
So how do you do stuff?
Diagnosis for ADHD and Adderall
Other things that have helped somewhat:
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Only make myself do something in small chunks to make it seem overwhelming. Got a pile of mail I need to go through? I'll only make myself do one letter. Since the executive dysfunction part of ADHD is often just "too much inertia disorder" once I'm started on a task I'll usually finish, or get way more done than I mentally committed to.
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Practice identifying and clearing blockers. Sometimes i won't do something because there are too many steps involved in starting it. For example since I have a water filter pitcher, making tea sometimes involves a) put water in pitcher; b) wait for water to filter; c) pour water in kettle; d) boil water; e) pour water onto tea leaves; f) wait for tea to steep; g) pour tea into mug. If I'm in the habit of always making sure there's filtered water in the pitcher, or even better in the kettle, it's much easier to start making tea. For me, a lot of blockers I've noticed are "something necessary to starting or performing the task is in an inconvenient location." So I do my best to make sure I have a clear, reasonably efficient path between places I tend to sit and e.g. the bathroom, so it's easier for me to get up and go brush my teeth or whatever.
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Similarly, grouping tasks together. Some people swear by brushing their teeth in the shower for example - that way they are more likely to do either.
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Leaving physical reminders of shit I need to do in places where I can't ignore them and where it's easy to start then. Like if I've got a bill I need to sit down and pay I'll put it on my keyboard so I know I'll see it next time I'm on my computer where the bill pay website is.
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For fun things and hobbies, I set a day and time that im planning on doing them, and I don't plan to do anything else that day. I'll even try to make sure I have easy meals ready to go for that day (like leftovers to reheat)
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I try to maintain a dedicated space for stuff that requires focus. Not always possible depending on your living situation, but I have a desk set up that I only use for work or hobbies that involve focus and/or labor (like electronics repair or writing). That way when I sit there it tricks my brain into focusing
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Make sure I have everything I need before I start. If I'm fixing something, that could be my tools and my soldering iron; if I'm on my computer to write or edit or debug something it might just be making sure I've got the right files already open and ready to go when I want to start
Edit 2: just remembered the main way that I used to get stuff accomplished before I got amphetamines:
- Productivity By Procrastination: Find or invent something that you'd like to do even less than the task that you're putting off. Convince yourself you need to do this worse task. Start doing the less-bad task (or the hobby!) to procrastinate on the worse task while still feeling productive. This is the only way I ever got anything done in college.
I heard getting an adult diagnosis for something like ADHD was extremely difficult. Is that true? And is there an easy way to get one? I probably have ADHD. I was diagnosed as a kid but it's been so fucking long since I was properly diagnosed with anything I'm not sure what I have anymore
It wasn't easy, but it was only hard in the sense that they made it so there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get diagnosed with "can't jump through hoops disorder" — since I'm in America it was basically a bunch of phone tag and referral tag. Talked to therapist about how I suspected I had ADHD and wanted to get diagnosed, Therapist told me to talk to Primary Care, Primary Care referred me to a psychologist, had like 3 appointments and some extra hoops* (listed below) with the psychologist who finally diagnosed me, had to talk to Primary Care again to get referred to a Psychiatrist to actually get treatment (aka the fun drugs).
The whole thing from start to finish took like 6 months and a lot of phone calls, but luckily for me it wasn't too difficult to actually convince anyone that I have ADHD despite having done reasonably well in school, graduated college, and held steady jobs — they were willing to look at the details (in my case, that I did well in school bc I have a good memory, do well on tests, and can focus on stuff I'm interested in, which altogether was enough to pass/graduate despite always being a disorganized shitshow who could never study, do homework, keep track of assignments, or adhere to anything resembling a deadline.)
I will say that when I had to change psychiatrists due to a move, I did start with one who refused to keep treating me bc he straight up did not believe that I could possibly have ADHD because of my on-paper successes, so there absolutely are jackass quacks out there — fortunately, if you're unlucky enough to start with one, you can get second opinions until you find someone who will actually listen to you.
If you were diagnosed as a kid, though, you probably won't have much trouble with asshole doctors.
- Everything I did with the psychologist: I had to fill out a long-ass questionnaire about my life, health, habits, struggles, etc; had an appointment where they interviewed me and went into detail about some of the things from that questionnaire; had to give them some contact info from my family members to have them fill out the questionnaire about me as a kid (fortunately they were ok with only surveying my siblings since i'm no-contact with parents); had another appointment where they made me do puzzles and tested my reaction time and stuff, I looked up the tests after and they're mostly just to rule out things like brain injury or dementia or other cognitive impairment; then finally had an appointment where they gave me my diagnosis.
Hope that helps some, happy to go into more detail or answer any other questions at any point if you'd like!
Good comment.
I went through a similar process, the referral tag was very real. One positive outcome, aside from meds, was that it did teach me some self-advocacy skills.
One positive outcome, aside from meds, was that it did teach me some self-advocacy skills.
Huge same, it probably wouldn't have been possible to get all the way through if I didn't.
I had to hound the psychiatrist office for 2 months after getting referred before I got my appointment, somehow their office was the least helpful and least neurodivergent-friendly group in the whole chain (which is hysterical in that "of course it's like that" sort of way. aren't all their patients neurodivergent???) and throughout the process I had to keep reaffirming things like "no, I know my life looks ok on paper, but my brain is a huge shitshow in a way that's badly affecting my quality of life"
Haha yes, my GP was very helpful but the psychiatrist's office was a mess. I would wait for a reply to an email, only to call them and find out they'd sent the reply to their own address rather than to me.
Eventually I stopped treating it like a turn-based game and just repeatedly called them once each morning until the problem was solved. All such a slog, but glad I backed myself.
since I’m in America it was basically a bunch of phone tag and referral tag.
how has this not been addressed? they can't get my (insurance company's) money if I can't engage with their shitty ableist system
in my experience, insurance is the one that generally requires referrals, and by doing so it keeps people like us from ever costing them a cent (instead of paying for expensive specialists and then buying me amphetamines every month and paying for periodic psych appointments)
never expected to think pharmaceutical companies needed better lobbyists but here we are lmao
It really depends on the doctor. I lucked out with essentially a pill mill where all the appointments are remote. They had me on a few different things before methylphenidate. Generic strattera worked well but made my dick not work well and made ejaculation painful. Wellbutrin didn’t do anything after a month or two. Methylphenidate makes me go fast but it’s like driving on the highway, a small adjustment to the steering wheel shoots me off in a very different direction and it’s hard to correct so I can’t actually just do my work.
I’m honestly considering giving up on medication. I have all the symptoms of ADHD but I can’t stand the idea of taking a pill every single day to alter chemistry consistently and if I forget a day or run out I’m a emotional wreck. Methylphenidate is nice because it’s pretty cheap ($1/pill) and I can take long or short breaks from it and self regulate to avoid a fat tolerance.
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I get people to make me and hold me accountable or go to a public place.
I can't motivate myself to do anything unless it's through fear of some kind and fear of judgement can do it
it is what it is I can be productive I just need supervision
I wait til the manic episode starts and follow that til I've completed everything I wanted to do since the last manic episode. Then I have nothing to do, so I get sad and put off doing stuff.
They only things I've had any success at all in getting done were things I really, really cared about, and even then it took months, years, and even decades to make meaningful progress. Life is just fucking draining, so def dont beat yourself up when/if you cant find time to put the work in moment to moment
I was an only child and had the good fortune of getting a free guitar when I was like 10, i was grounded constantly so i just sat in my room and played for hours, every night. It became clear to me that I was passionate about songwriting early in my life, but not everyone has that moment of clarity. To this day recording is the hardest fucking thing for me to do. I've found the solution for me is actually not to do some habitual thing where i force myself to do a little playing every single day or w/e (I've seen people burn out that way very easily) and instead dont touch it until i feel really inspired to. Then I'll sit down and crank out songs or riffs or whatever for a few hours. When I do I try to get it to any kind of complete state, even if it isnt perfect
Later in my life I got passionate about writing, usually critical materialist essays for my own sanity and I use the same methodology. I dont force myself to do it every day, just when I'm "inspired" (usually just fucking pissed off) to do it. I have family in ukraine so writing about the war was something that was emotionally draining but i dedicated myself to it pyschotically for days on end w no sleep
sorry if this rambly or unhelpful, but it appears true to me that ppl are just idiosyncratic and theres no way for anyone to know what methodology works best for you. maybe try a few things, see what sticks. And post your progress here and let comrades know what you're up to! (encouragement and feedback has helped motivate me, I know its helped some others as well)
best of luck in your endeavors comrade :comrade-birdie:
You kinda just gotta start and form a habit of it.
that's what OP wants to know lmao. rest of the fucking owl.
Getting enough sleep and down time so that I have the energy to do stuff.
Also some time efficiency things help, like doing meal prep for the week means spending less time figuring out what to eat, going to the store, cooking, etc. Then weekday evenings become more open.
Finally, try to not do stuff. Like... just sit there. If you get sleepy, you know you're just tired. If you get bored, that's a chance to do the things you want to be doing. If you don't give yourself that space, you can end up filling your time with electronics and other attention-stealing things that might not be what you actually want to be doing.
The important part of forming habits for me is to start small and not rely on the pleasure that comes from doing the thing. The habit is the entire point. Like if you want to write for an hour a day but can’t get yourself to do it consistently, start off by writing a single sentence a day at the time you would normally write. No zero days. If all you have time for is to write a single sentence that says “I don’t know what to write about today”, that’s fine. It still counts towards the habit. It’ll feel pointless at times, but the alternative is to break the habit, which is significantly more pointless.
Motivation tends to follow action, not the other way around. And I understand that if you’re struggling with executive dysfunction, that “just do it” is about the worst advice possible. But the sad answer is that the solution to executive dysfunction is a personalized mix of medication and selfcare skills developed over a long-ish period of time.
Alternately, ignoring all other parts of your life and living in constant state of overstimulation and anxiety to the detriment of your own physical and mental health seemed to work for me for a while. My only coping mechanism was music and I wrote a shit ton and got really good. And then I burnt out and stopped playing and writing entirely. Would not recommend.
Stims don’t really do shit unless you have a good structure to get things done
Levoamphetamines. They will just freak your heart out, and feeling like you're going to die in an hour motivates.
I have adhd and have been taking amphetamines for the past two decades :shrug-outta-hecks:
The question was how do you do stuff, which amphetamines don’t do
Oh I misunderstood haha yeah they don’t fix the problem they just make it possible to fix
Whenever I see something that hasn't been completed, I get mad. And I stay mad until it's done. I don't know why but it's the only thing that works for me. :angery:
Having a todo list with to much stuff on there and doing what ever I feel like doing, having access to stimulates helps too. Avoiding social media was a big change too
baby steps, breaking down your goals into tiny and smaller steps, not beating yourself up when you really want to beat yourself up for not progressing as fast as you originally planned, discovering your own pace, increasing those baby steps at whatever your own pace is, enjoying actually doing some things and eventually (after a long or not so long time) getting good enough that you actually ended up doing a thing that you had wanted to do.
i'm seeing a lot of generic "just for a habit bro" shit-tier replies you might get better advice in the neurodiverse com
I'm not neurodivergent as far as I know though. Got a psych eval and everything. Basically just said, "yep you're normal except a bit of anxiety."
well, good luck with all the normative suggestions then, I suppose. hope you figure it out.
you need to dedicate time to doing it. Block out x hours per day/week and put down the phone or laptop and focus on it.
This. It's the only way I successfully go outside or work out. It helps when I find a friend to do hobbies with me, but that's not necessary IMO as long as you find enjoyment from what you're doing
you just gotta kinda... do it. like, it's not really a one simple trick thing, but the best advice I have is that it's fine if what you make isn't, like, conventionally good or anything, because you can still make something New, and doing anything is better than, like, gaming or whatever
An unhealthy amount of anxiety about not "being productive" :deeper-sadness:
