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Alarms and timers for everything.
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Custom sounds for phone to be 10dB higher than normal, to ensure I hear them and don’t just block it out as noise.
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Putting things that need taking care of later somewhere visible, like my laundry directly in front of my bedroom door so I have to do something with it just to open the door.
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Having autism, too, so the ADHD problems just naturally balance out.
Putting things that need taking care of later somewhere visible
That can work but also can lead to tons of clutter.
Yup! And you can get where you’ll step right over the garbage that needs taking out as you go outside and not even notice.
I was like “somebody likes lists more than me!” and in the last point, “ah, yes, just like me :)”
Where exactly does this ‘balance out’ part supposed to work? Cause that sure would be nice
For example My autism wants me yo keep doing the same things and stick to a routine, my adhd wants me to keep trying new things. Not everyone’s ND is the same ofc.
Different alarm sounds for different activities. E.g. shower alarm sounds like a shower running.
Putting things that need taking care of later somewhere visible
And that is why the Christmas wrapping tote is still sitting in the hallway.
not too many alarms, though, otherwise they become noise
Timers are probably the sole reason I have a smart watch.
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If you’re trying to do thing A but your brain can’t stop thinking about thing B, take out a notebook and write down all your current thoughts on thing B. Trust yourself that when you get back to it, you will be right where you left off. Then do thing A.
For example, trying to work on a paper but you can’t stop thinking about the season finale of your favorite show you just watched.
Doesn’t always work but helps a lot.
Then do thing A.
Hahaha, thanks that’s so easy!
Haha, you’re right. I guess I should have written “then try to do thing A”.
Hahaha thing A who?
I live and die by my pocket notebook and phone calendar.
nope… not until I’m almost but not quite done with thing B. THEN I’ll leave B unfinished and go back to thing… wait, what about thing C?!
If you feel like you’re struggling to accomplish a task, take a moment to think about your stimulation level. Are you understimulated or overstimulated? Sometimes just acknowledging it is enough, everyone has their own techniques.
For example, if I’m trying to work and I’m understimulated, I might throw on some metal music or something like that. If I’m overstimulated, probably means I should sit in a dark room for 5 or 10 minutes until I feel better before trying to do anything.
If you really like doing something such as watching a new episode of your series on YouTube, but hate something else like exercising, combine the two. Only watch that series, while exercising. Then you’ll start looking forward to the exercise because you get to watch your series.
That’s actually genius. Imma try that.
This strategy is known as “temptation bundling.” It’s a thing. Amusingly, I learned about this because I was doing it (mowing the lawn + my favorite podcast.)
https://characterlab.org/tips-of-the-week/temptation-bundling/
Reading, thank you. Always down for a podcast rec too!
I learned about it on No Stupid Questions, a podcast by Stephen Dubner, the guy behind Freakonomics, and Angela Duckworth, who wrote “Grit.” I linked to Character Lab, which is/was a nonprofit by Duckworth and others at UPenn.
Katy Milkman, who coined the term temptation bundling, is a behavioral economist at Penn and often collaborates with Angela Duckworth. I also recommend Milkman’s recent book: “How to Change.”
Thank you!
This is how I do laundry. My washer and dryer both conveniently take ~55 minutes to run a cycle, which also happens to be almost the exact runtime of most hour-long shows. Or like three episodes of a 24 minute show. So I combine the two; I watch TV while doing laundry.
Episode gets done? Check the dryer to see if it’s done. That way the clothes don’t just sit there for hours and wrinkle. Get all the loads done and out of the dryer, and laid flat on my couch and ottoman. Then I’ll take an episode or two to just throw hangers on everything. Get it all nicely sorted how it’s going to go in the closet. Then focus on socks and underwear, which have accumulated in a pile. Once everything is completely done and sorted, putting it away takes no time at all. And it doesn’t feel as much like a chore, because I’m just watching TV while doing it. And the important part is that I use the episodes as a timer, not as a distraction.
This is how I do laundry. My washer and dryer both conveniently take ~55 minutes to run a cycle, which also happens to be almost the exact runtime of most hour-long shows. Or like three episodes of a 24 minute show. So I combine the two; I watch TV while doing laundry.
Episode gets done? Check the dryer to see if it’s done. That way the clothes don’t just sit there for hours and wrinkle. Get all the loads done and out of the dryer, and laid flat on my couch and ottoman. Then I’ll take an episode or two to just throw hangers on everything. Get it all nicely sorted how it’s going to go in the closet. Then focus on socks and underwear, which have accumulated in a pile. Once everything is completely done and sorted, putting it away takes no time at all. And it doesn’t feel as much like a chore, because I’m just watching TV while doing it.
Don’t punish yourself for not succeding in something, punish yourself for not putting the effort
What if I’m not successful in putting in the effort?
Doesn’t matter, try as hard as you can even if you are procrastinating, try to stop and do something, it’s hard for normal people and even harder for us
Everything goes in the calendar. Especially regular but infrequent things like birthdays. I set reminders a few days to a week before so I have time to adjust plans / buy presents or whatever.
If I’m having trouble motivating myself to do something, I commit to doing a bare minimum amount. For example going to the gym if I’m feeling unmotivated I might commit to just doing one exercise. Dishes maybe I’ll just wash one plate / pan. Once I’ve used that to get over the initial hurdle I’ll usually be able to ride the wave and complete everything.
regular but infrequent things like birthdays
And for friends’ kids’ birthdays I put the year they were born because I definitely won’t remember how old they are
Being accountable to someone. Also my least favorite ADHD lifehack.
For me, those are deadlines. Nothing better.
most effective answer, and therefore the one i most avoid
I feel personally attacked.
Amphetamines
I’m in France and we still don’t have amphetamines. We have methylphenidate.
I wish we had better :(
I mainly struggle with the executive dysfunction part. I found that preparing anything at all helps, even just opening the document I need to write on another screen will mean that whenever my attention next detaches from whatever else I’m doing, I will automatically latch onto what I’m supposed to do as the next thing.
This is the only way I managed to make progress on my bachelor’s thesis.
Ok but this is so smart! I’m gonna try this.
I do what I call “productive procrastination”.
I allow myself to procrastinate by doing something else instead that’s also necessary to do.
Of course, “necessary” is a slippery term.
But what definitely doesn’t fall under it is doom-scrolling, day-drinking and wikipedia rabbit holes.This actually lets me be pretty productive throughout the day, as long as I have tasks I can push back endlessly.
Like, I haven’t brought my finances and investments in proper order in over 10 years.
Which probably cost me a 5-digit amount in lost profit over that time frame.
But I’m fortunate enough to not feel it and accept things like this as my ADHD tax.
It would take a couple hours, but would involve decisions and it never becomes urgent.yes this is the way!
Myself, my wife and all 3 kids have adhd. Shared Google calendars are mandatory.
Does methylphenidate count as a life hack?
If I think of something I need, I usually just order it on Amazon prime right then, that way I don’t forget latter and accidentally run out of garbage bags or something.
Careful with that. You might get put on a list.
I remember in the 90s I had a system. You know those yellow sticky notes? Well I kept some in my bookbag for school. If I needed something, I wrote them down, and then on the weekend I’d put the sticky note on my door so I’d remember what I needed to grab from walmart.
Each of these items had COMPLETELY unrelated reasons that I was buying them. I wrote them down on unrelated days. At completely different times. With zero thought connecting them. However, I realized as I stepped in line what I had just done. I abandoned my cart entirely, and just LEFT.
I didn’t go back to that walmart for 3 years.
As I stood in line, with items in my cart, I realized I was about to buy:
1 box of 36 gallon trash bags
1 pack of sharpie markers
1 pair of scissors
1 container of draino
2 gallons of bleach
1 gardening shovel (the little ones that are 6 inches and a handle)
1 coloring book aimed at preschool children
1 jar of glitter
3 bottles of elmers glue
1 jug of orange juice
36 hersheys cookies & cream candy bars
1 pack of 3 pairs of dishwashing gloves
1 box of 10 condoms
1 box of cheerios
I saw that, and thought "holy shit! This looks like I’m about to have some kind of cult ritual sex, kill them, clean up the scene, bury the body, and then have breakfast!
And if they’re very, very lucky, you’ll do it in that order.
Lol.
Keeping a scrub daddy and shower cleaner in the shower. The only time I remember it’s dirty is while I’m in there. Similarly, I keep a toothbrush in the shower and one on the sink. Same with floss. As well as a garbage can reachable from the shower so empty bottles don’t sit in there for WEEKS.
Oh! I have see through glass jars in the bathroom for things like reusable face cloths, q tips etc. That’s not the hack (but clear makes it easy to see), the hack is that the big one is full of cleaning rags so I don’t have to go find something to clean with.
The part of my brain that needs to be interested in something to do it is actually very stupid and easily tricked. Sometimes when I’m stuck all I have to do is literally pretend I find the work engaging.
Related, there’s some evidence that forcing a smile can improve one’s mood.
Be the change you want to see in
the worldyourself.Fake it 'till you
make itfeel it.
I have a job working with teams to improve processes. I think a lot about waste and efficiencies, what end users will actually do or adopt, making things easier / faster, etc. Now I think about these things all the time in daily life, apply them to my ADHD, and iterate endlessly:
- If I put a thing I need to do a thing I hate behind another thing, I’m guaranteed not to dig it out. Tetris the things so the limiting thing is easy to grab. I.e., watering can, vacuum
- If I need a thing for multiple tasks or multiple locations and keeping misplacing the thing or not wanting to go get the thing, get more things and put them in all the places. I.e., gloves, sponges, tools
- Figure out what I need to do the thing I don’t want to do as efficiently as possible. I.e., Good sponges and scrubbers for dishes, vacuum that is easier to pull out/put away
Also, radical acceptance of the things that are limiters.
- High sensory levels and distaste for dampness- gloves for dishes, gloves for gardening, gloves for cleaning
- Not going to put all my clothes away consistently ever, design a dresser situation that supports clothes piling without blocking access to drawers
Hot damn do I love gloves. I bought a 5000-count case five years ago and I’m just about out of them. Turns out making it easier to touch icky things like the sink strainer was well worth the $50.
Double speed audio.
I have real difficulty with listening to people speaking slowly. By the time they finish the sentence I have lost the start, so unless I actively hold their sentence until it is done I often lose meaning or misunderstand.
Listening at double speed allows me to keep up without losing what was said. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts while doing most chores and it has been a game changer.
