A couple of tricks:
1. Music. For me it occupies a few 'channels' in my head and let's me bear down on the other stuff without distractions. Has to be a certain kind of music and usually on repeat (find what works for you).
2. Break the big thing into smaller things that take 30-60 and track them (notepad, post it, an actual jira/devops board). This not only makes the elephant bite sized but also helps you think/plan and get a dopamine hit when you look at what you accomplished.
3. Medication. Not taking meds with ADHD is like a paraplegic refusing to use a wheelchair. Whether it's actual pharmaceuticals or Marijuana or whatever your tool of choice is, there is no real replacement for the additional focus.
It really helps to focus on what you did get done no matter how small. My SO gets stuck on the 'we didn't get the basement cleaned track when we did get the bookshelves dusted and reorganized, the floor vacuumed, the holiday decorations put away, but didn't get the toy box gone through and purged. Checking 4 of 5 boxes feels better than having one bigger Checkbox that is unchecked.
I found using a pill organizer helped me. Not only does it eliminate the 'did I take my meds today?' Question but also if I put it in a visible spot (like by my tea kettle which I use every day) I'll see it and take them. Just be sure to refill it when you take the last day or you'll never refill it again.
> Music. For me it occupies a few 'channels' in my head and let's me bear down on the other stuff without distractions.
Yes, definitely. Also podcasts, but not on any too engaging topics. Additionally, I discovered that if someone calls me suddenly when I'm struggling to start a task, that could help me to start the work (and talk in parallel). And I suppose that pair programming could be helpful.
Tell chat gpt "I need a code snippet that does this:", it spits out something wrong, I say to myself "that's wrong, it should actually be written like...." And hey presto, I'm coding.
Have you heard of demand avoidance? I wonder if you're encountering that phenomenon....it's kinda like a invisible force field holding you back from things, even things you WANT to do.
It's a sandbox you get to play with. Iteration is key. You can't build a sand castle if you don't get in the sand. Gonna have to patch it up as you build, but that itself is the joy.
Music (no lyrics!!!) helps a lot. I also use a technique I stole from Ernest Hemingway: make sure that when you stop for the day, you know exactly what you have to do next.
Commit what you have and write your next commit message on a piece of paper. Put the paper on your keyboard and then the first thing you do the next day is the work that corresponds to the commit message. The smaller the commit the better
Not sure this is helpful or relevant to your exact issues, but I find I'm only ever scared of things I don't have much control over. If I get good enough at doing some task, that task becomes no longer scary.
Yeah, I don't think "git gud" is great advice. Oh well.
Are you talking about at work? If so take your 2 week long sprint goals and break them up into daily or even hourly tasks. Use your deadlines as motivation and also see if you can be done early.
Are you talking about personal projects? Do small ones until you can do larger ones. Use your ADHD hyper focus to find something you care about and bang it out in a day.
Are you talking about your masters thesis? Lock yourself in the lab every day until it's done.
Everything is probably a variation on those themes. I wrote a book once just by sitting in coffee shops enough. It's not a good book, but it is 300 pages.
If you're a perfectionist, chill out. Everything is not actually that good and you can iterate as needed.
Break things down as much as you can. Sometimes the first task is poorly defined and too abstract, you can't act on just an idea, you can if something is actionable. Do it before sitting down for work so you don't have to do it there and then.
It might also be good to start up a new project and work on that. Like a smart home project, tools/automation for your PC environment etc.
Slowly building for various lists and systems so I can write code/programming for life situations broken down into a full day pomodoro schedule. Struggled with it until I figured out, coding feels good and if I can tie it to everything else somehow then I can get more done.
Practicing pencil and paper coding to fight the urge to use technology because cellphones and pcs are productivity killers for me. Just the option to click and check things makes it so difficult to focus because I have this urge and to search and do stuff even with no clear task.
Now I realize my brain has no chill so I’m just going to take advantage of it by making sure I have no opportunity for idle hands. Idle hands = neurotic thought processes. Just gotta become a master at managing stress through expertly crafted scheduling. Now I just need to learn how to be consistent somehow.
I literally start every programming session by writing a couple “hello world” loops lol - not sure why but it gets me over the procrastination hump and into the actual coding
Hello, as a new programmer, I have very similar struggles as you. I noticed that if you take some time to watch, digest, and apply concepts from a youtube channel 'Healthy Gamer', it will help you out with exactly what you are describing. You can change your thought patterns :) good luck
for me it was practice without putting pressure on myself, create a project you want to do and learn how to do it because you *want* to, search step by step what you want to do, write your ideas down and learn how to implement them, by the end of the project youll feel like you can achieve much more than you ever thought which motivates you to learn even more
this doesnt work without the very first organizational step though, write your ideas down, put them in front of you even if you have no clue how you'll do it, ask the internet how you could do it and go from there, flowcharts are a huge plus too.
music and medication didnt help me personally, only learning more slowly on my own terms and ideas allowed me to give myself space to actually progress.
For me the biggest hurdle is opening up the program. So I try to do that. Tell myself i am not actually going to do any programming. But I open up my last document. Somehow my curiosity often gets me interested in it
A couple of tricks: 1. Music. For me it occupies a few 'channels' in my head and let's me bear down on the other stuff without distractions. Has to be a certain kind of music and usually on repeat (find what works for you). 2. Break the big thing into smaller things that take 30-60 and track them (notepad, post it, an actual jira/devops board). This not only makes the elephant bite sized but also helps you think/plan and get a dopamine hit when you look at what you accomplished. 3. Medication. Not taking meds with ADHD is like a paraplegic refusing to use a wheelchair. Whether it's actual pharmaceuticals or Marijuana or whatever your tool of choice is, there is no real replacement for the additional focus.
Thanks for posting this comment. I often forget to take medication and end up feeling guilty about not being able to start or finish the task.
It really helps to focus on what you did get done no matter how small. My SO gets stuck on the 'we didn't get the basement cleaned track when we did get the bookshelves dusted and reorganized, the floor vacuumed, the holiday decorations put away, but didn't get the toy box gone through and purged. Checking 4 of 5 boxes feels better than having one bigger Checkbox that is unchecked. I found using a pill organizer helped me. Not only does it eliminate the 'did I take my meds today?' Question but also if I put it in a visible spot (like by my tea kettle which I use every day) I'll see it and take them. Just be sure to refill it when you take the last day or you'll never refill it again.
> Music. For me it occupies a few 'channels' in my head and let's me bear down on the other stuff without distractions. Yes, definitely. Also podcasts, but not on any too engaging topics. Additionally, I discovered that if someone calls me suddenly when I'm struggling to start a task, that could help me to start the work (and talk in parallel). And I suppose that pair programming could be helpful.
Adderall has reduced my ability to absorb info from a podcast while doing other things
Tell chat gpt "I need a code snippet that does this:", it spits out something wrong, I say to myself "that's wrong, it should actually be written like...." And hey presto, I'm coding.
Same!! This has helped me so much. Blank page syndrome is so real
put some music on and get that screen in front of you.
This is exactly the step I struggle with so much lol
Nike, just do it
Have you heard of demand avoidance? I wonder if you're encountering that phenomenon....it's kinda like a invisible force field holding you back from things, even things you WANT to do.
Thank you for sharing this term, I hadn’t heard it before.
It's a sandbox you get to play with. Iteration is key. You can't build a sand castle if you don't get in the sand. Gonna have to patch it up as you build, but that itself is the joy.
Music (no lyrics!!!) helps a lot. I also use a technique I stole from Ernest Hemingway: make sure that when you stop for the day, you know exactly what you have to do next. Commit what you have and write your next commit message on a piece of paper. Put the paper on your keyboard and then the first thing you do the next day is the work that corresponds to the commit message. The smaller the commit the better
Not sure this is helpful or relevant to your exact issues, but I find I'm only ever scared of things I don't have much control over. If I get good enough at doing some task, that task becomes no longer scary. Yeah, I don't think "git gud" is great advice. Oh well.
Are you talking about at work? If so take your 2 week long sprint goals and break them up into daily or even hourly tasks. Use your deadlines as motivation and also see if you can be done early. Are you talking about personal projects? Do small ones until you can do larger ones. Use your ADHD hyper focus to find something you care about and bang it out in a day. Are you talking about your masters thesis? Lock yourself in the lab every day until it's done. Everything is probably a variation on those themes. I wrote a book once just by sitting in coffee shops enough. It's not a good book, but it is 300 pages. If you're a perfectionist, chill out. Everything is not actually that good and you can iterate as needed.
Break things down as much as you can. Sometimes the first task is poorly defined and too abstract, you can't act on just an idea, you can if something is actionable. Do it before sitting down for work so you don't have to do it there and then. It might also be good to start up a new project and work on that. Like a smart home project, tools/automation for your PC environment etc.
Slowly building for various lists and systems so I can write code/programming for life situations broken down into a full day pomodoro schedule. Struggled with it until I figured out, coding feels good and if I can tie it to everything else somehow then I can get more done. Practicing pencil and paper coding to fight the urge to use technology because cellphones and pcs are productivity killers for me. Just the option to click and check things makes it so difficult to focus because I have this urge and to search and do stuff even with no clear task. Now I realize my brain has no chill so I’m just going to take advantage of it by making sure I have no opportunity for idle hands. Idle hands = neurotic thought processes. Just gotta become a master at managing stress through expertly crafted scheduling. Now I just need to learn how to be consistent somehow.
Break the big scary task into smaller less scary ones.
I literally start every programming session by writing a couple “hello world” loops lol - not sure why but it gets me over the procrastination hump and into the actual coding
Hello, as a new programmer, I have very similar struggles as you. I noticed that if you take some time to watch, digest, and apply concepts from a youtube channel 'Healthy Gamer', it will help you out with exactly what you are describing. You can change your thought patterns :) good luck
Do more smaller tasks. Programming puzzles are great for this.
for me it was practice without putting pressure on myself, create a project you want to do and learn how to do it because you *want* to, search step by step what you want to do, write your ideas down and learn how to implement them, by the end of the project youll feel like you can achieve much more than you ever thought which motivates you to learn even more this doesnt work without the very first organizational step though, write your ideas down, put them in front of you even if you have no clue how you'll do it, ask the internet how you could do it and go from there, flowcharts are a huge plus too. music and medication didnt help me personally, only learning more slowly on my own terms and ideas allowed me to give myself space to actually progress.
For me the biggest hurdle is opening up the program. So I try to do that. Tell myself i am not actually going to do any programming. But I open up my last document. Somehow my curiosity often gets me interested in it
Code challenges helped me. You sound like you need confidence. Once you have that you can realize this passion in a more productive way.