Willowf's gemlog

Being productive when you have ADHD

It is not easy to be productive when you have ADHD. Because when you have ADHD, your sense of urgency and your attention are both diminished. People tend to think that this means that you're like "ooh, a squirrel!" all the time. Well, sometimes, it is like that. But sometimes, it's more like this:

It is 10:30 am. You have an extremely important test due at 5:59 pm.
Thinking about that test gives you anxiety and dread. You decide to watch a 10-minute YouTube video first so you'll be more relaxed.
You lose awareness of the passage of time. You spend seventy-five minutes looking for a video to watch. None of your recommendations are any good.
Now it is 11:45 am. Hey, that's lunch time, isn't it? You certainly want to be well-fed before you start a test. You decide to make something to eat.
You spend half an hour trying to decide what to eat. You forgot to go grocery shopping, so you decide to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
You NEED something fun to watch while you eat your sandwich. It is now a quarter past noon. You return to YouTube, sandwich in hand. Your recommendations are still trash, but you find a thumbnail for a 20-minute video that looks okay and put it on to watch.
You eat your sandwich. There are 15 minutes left in the video. You get a text message asking if you've started the test yet. You pause the video for five minutes to think about how to respond. You decide not to respond right away. You resume the video because it is a comforting escape from the stress of the test you haven't done yet.
You have just spent twenty-five minutes watching a twenty-minute YouTube video. Do you feel guilty yet? Do you realize what a lazy and entitled person you are? Do you just not care about your classes and your future? It is now 12:40. You've spent over *two hours* browsing YouTube and eating one (1) sandwich.

Clearly this is a more serious problem than "ooh, a squirrel!". Squirrels are outside. If you are indoors, you are not likely to encounter a squirrel. But ADHD is worse than a squirrel. ADHD is inside your head; in a very physical sense, it is in every synapse of your brain.

Some things that genuinely help:

Meds. It is one of this world's rare mercies that we are allowed to take schedule-II stimulants by prescription. If you have ADHD and you *aren't* on meds, why? Don't let life be harder than it has to be. Talk to a psychiatrist about it.
Meds. Yes, it must be mentioned twice. If you have a prescription, take it as prescribed. Follow your psychiatrist's advice. I don't trust Big Pharma any more than you do, but my psychiatrist knows a hell of a lot more about drugs than I do. The degree on his wall says so.
Sleep. Stimulant meds, unsurprisingly, can interfere with your sleep. But it is vitally important that you get your seven to nine hours every night. Sleep deprivation dramatically undermines the benefits of ADHD meds while also making their negative side-effects much worse. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your psychiatrist about that!
Food. Stimulant meds reduce your appetite. If you don't eat, your blood sugar gets lower, and this can make you cranky and make your brain not work as good. Smoothies are a good way to get nutrients into your body when meds make it hard to chew and swallow.
Keep a planner. It may not be easy for you to do this. You may frequently find yourself forgetting to bring it places, and you may frequently have to cross off items from a previous day and move them to today or a future day. But that's okay. Having a planner is better than not having one, and using it badly is better than not using it at all.
Coffee. Many of us self-medicate with caffeine before we find out we have ADHD. This works because caffeine is a stimulant. As long as it isn't interfering with your sleep, drink coffee.