Stare at a wall for 15min. At some point I actually tart tripping
My wife and I are completely opposite with this one here. If I stare at a wall for 15 min, we are not sure I will get back to the surface again, so peaceful… while my wife would suddenly rather fix our lawn mower. She’s like the squirrel from Over The Hedge… She’s diagnosed with ADHD and I am with ADD, it’s quite obvious when looking at us, haha.
Idk How much this really is related to Neurodivergency and how much is addiction/suppressing depression, but for me being at least to some degree stoned definitely helps with getting stuff done. At this point, I can do pretty much anything while being stoned. Housework, cleaning, even coding. All of it can be done while being stoned.
Blasting my brain out with really loud music usually helps.
Besides that, my brain is a lot either/or.
I am not great a eating balanced, getting a balanced amount of exercise, or doing anything else balanced.
When I went to university, I either studied 10h/day every day, or I did not study at all.
As soon as I start slacking on my own extreme goals for specific task, I lose almost all ability to get that thing done.
It’s extreme or nothing, it is now or not now.
Currently blasting the new single by Muse, Unravelling, in my office, trying to force myself to do a mundane task at work…
We just curse everything under around and above the sun like “Fuck Fuck fuck you fuck off fuck me fuck this Fuck that” etc And that tends to help
Buy absolutely miniscule amounts of food so hunger drives me out of my house to get things done.
Refuse to use AC because I love being outside in the summer but fucking hate leaving the house.
Mentioned it before but: Watch a show with crazy but functional characters until mirror-neurons/code-switching/whatever-the-hell-it-is kicks in and you start being able to act and think like them. Then do the task as that character. The more unhinged the character the better because then it’s just fun to kinda larp them in your head as you do your task, and it takes your mind off of the task itself but still gets you to do the task.
Also very helpful for writing essays btw. Like if normally you write essays “like a robot” just pick someone who speaks with charisma and write the essay in the way you think they would. I’m not joking, it really helps
I do this, but I’ve never thought to turn it back on itself and use it to my advantage, pure genius!
Oh look another thing I do but never realized was due to my ADHD.
Then I accidentally pick Cheryl/carol from archer and burn the whole place down.
Just make sure you stay away from glue.
YOU’RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR!!
Idk, you’re just as likely to release a banger of a country album
Outlaw country!
So… How unhinged is your behavior? Where you from Dread Pirate Roberts to the first Freddy Kruger movie
I would do that to an unhealthy degree if I liked more characters from my native language (dubs are usually lame) … hard to larp a character in a foreign language that you speak with a heavy accent.
Micro dosing THC, like if a dose is 10 (mg?) I eat 2.5. Not enough to feel the effects at all, weed usually makes me so stupid and totally unproductive, but weirdly, a small amount focuses me. I’m like just zoned enough to not over think anything, but totally present enough to complete everything i need to do, well.
Beyond that, no breaks, no eating, just coffee. I can get a ton done, the bit of hunger also focuses me. In this mode, I just let the productivity flow, and don’t try to necessarily stay on exact task. If half way through organizing all the toys in the house I remember to write a thank you note, I just get the supplies out, push a clear space in the toys and bang it out. Trying to ignore the impulses and stay perfectly on task just burns me out. Anyway, I get right back to the toys, and the letter is addressed with a stamp, so I end up with a bunch of tasks done.
I absolutely crash at the end of the day, feel sick from not eating with the caffeine, and my body hurts from zero breaks. But if I eat or sit at all I’m done for the day.
I do this somewhat also except that I tend to smoke a lot but I have a high tolerance so it just kind of mellows me enough to get into it and then I lose track of time and go to town. I used to feel like this with one or two beers too but I quit drinking and its a lot unhealthier to do as a regular thing.
Have you seen this xkcd?
today I wanted to sew up a hole in the shirt I wanted to wear so I sat at the sewing machine shirtless so that every time I would try to get up to go do something else, my tits being out would remind me oh yeah I want to sew this fucking hole in the shirt before I do anything fucking else.
unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish setting up the sewing machine before my roommate needed me for something, so I just put on the shirt. it still has a hole. 😑
This reminds me of how I force myself to go to the laundromat. I put all my dirty laundry into bags and set them between my bed and the door. Even when I want to be lazy, seeing those bags there and having to walk by them to leave will eventually make me think, “Fuck it, just get it over with.”
Also, for cleaning pots and pans after cooking - I start by putting them in the sink. Then I think, “I should add soapy water at least, so it’ll be easier to clean.” I add the soapy water, then think, “I should scrub the top parts, where the water isn’t reaching.” Then after that I go, “You know what, I’d rather not have to come back and finish this later. Just wash the whole damn thing.”
And that’s how I manage to clean my pots/dishes.
That was 5 years ago… It still has a hole
I do a similar thing with mowing the lawn. I pull the lawnmower out and sit down to have a cigarette. Eventually I’ll get annoyed enough at seeing the lawnmower that I’ll just do the work.
I have this feature where my brain blocks out the presence of the lawn mower. Now it’s just a part of how a lawn looks like.
This took so much time for my wife to understand. “But you see $THING everyday!”, “Yes, and that’s why I don’t see it anymore”. She probably still doesn’t understand-understand, but she kind of knows.
Yup, my massage chair agrees that it’s a table.
I wake up at 2 am to get things done, because everything is quiet and I can peacefully zone out to music on my headphones. My problem now is that both my awake cat and my sleeping husband want me to stay in bed and it’s a lot harder to convince myself to get up anyway.
I saw alcohol mentioned a few times in the comments and I get it, but please be careful with it. Neurodivergence and alcohol is a match made in hell. (For me it was. I have no right to speak for anyone else, TBH.)
Thankfully, it’s just the standard doses of amphetamines and caffeine for me these days.
(Alas, I am stuck in a hell of an anxiety loop right now, and can’t get some super important stuff done and can’t crack out of this, for whatever reason. Booze has crossed my mind a few times, but I am fairly positive my next bender would be my last.)
I had a major alcohol mismanagement problem for years. Found SMART Recovery (science based, free) and got a handle on it. 2 years later became a meeting facilitator.
The amount of ADHD, bipolar, and other "“neurodivergents” (hate the word) is astounding.
I would be very wary of substance use.
What do you suggest instead of neurodivergent?
Neurospicy is fun. But I don’t know any reason to change ND.
amphetamines
Also not the self-medicating kind. I can attest to that.
I just don’t eat till the evening.
Hunger triggers a caveman response of “you need to work to get food” which keeps me productive.YES! Five years of only eating after 6pm because it makes me energetic AF.
I also do this but apparently this can be a contributing factor to developing diabetes if you’re already at risk.
I’d love a source on this.
I’m in my late 50s and do IF. My last blood tests came out perfect, as in my doctor was almost pissed that she couldn’t tell me to quit something :)
I don’t know if there is one. Intermittent fasting can actually help with diabetes I was told, but not sure about full day fasting with one meal at the end.
I suspect the issue is you get hit with a bunch of carbs and sugars all at once and it overloads your pancreas’s ability to produce insulin.
ok but then no energy to do stuff
This and my eating disorder are best friends 🙃 thankfully, body dismorphia bullies both of them harder than they bully me, so I end up hot.
in college, I made a separate user that had no video games installed and knew none of my passwords. I made myself go to the library at a set time and had to stay for a set duration of working hours. I also used a social media blocker. Eventually it stopped working though and I would sit there and do nothing versus start.
Singing and dancing. Bopping really helps
Back in school, like secondary and high school, I used to drink to get my homework done and essays written in time. A sip between pages, or when it started to get hard to think. I quit drinking to smoke herbs and suddenly dropped out because I fell too far behind with all the essays, “weird.”
When cleaning and organizing, no breaks. Break means I sit down until I head to bed, so the only option is to push until everything is done and/or I crash. Drinking plenty of water and not going to bathroom also helps, like “I can go to pee once I do this… Okay I forgot, but I can go once I get this other thing done… Oh, well after this…”
Also blasting fast music helps, I can dance and daydream while getting stuff done without thinking too much. But that might backfire and cause me to zone out too, slip into the daydreams and dancing. But that’s good for my head too, so ehh.
Not getting stuck in the first place. From the moment i wake up i keep going until everything is done or it’s evening.
Sitting down for too long and taking a rest is a good way to lose momentum.
Hey I found my solution! Just keep going and never stop . Food what’s that? You can do things in that time too!
Technically yeah, it’s completely possible to eat fast, though have to be careful with that one, max 10-15min otherwise you lose the momentum. It’s even possible to eat on the go while standing up or walking.
Ow I just skip lunch entirely. I have been doing that for so many years now
That works, but I usually have to pay the price for it the next day.
That’s going to be the unhinged part or at least more of it.
In the morning, before the brain even understands what’s going on. Start again. Swallow the breakfast slop, chug down coffee, all while half asleep and then start moving again. The brain wakes up while already in motion.
I’ve noticed somewhere in the ballpark of max 1h in the morning, after that it starts to get harder to get moving. A time that I’m currently starting to run out of, so time to get moving and hit the gym.
Disclaimer: Of course people are different and it doesn’t work for everyone and it likely has a cost associated to it.
I can do 1 week level of productivity and then 3 days of recovery doing nothing. This works best when I’m just a lowly level employee that works based on ticket but now there’s a lot more ad hoc work and I’m struggling.
Yeah, I’ll just stay unproductive thanks.
Completely fair. Probably less damaging approach anyway.
Yeah when you finally hit the wall, you get splattered into a wet stain instead of some broken bones (I do not recommend)
Yeah, but I’m going to be a real ass about that one and leave that problem for the future me to deal with. If i can squeeze out a few decades, then my purpose has been served.
Good luck! I couldn’t last even to my thirties before I crashed and burned. And never recovered
I can’t continue doing that indefinitely, but its usually how I get through the week when I’m not super motivate.
That’s what makes it unhinged, not taking into account that the body cant do it indefinitely. It most definitely has a long term cost
