Hello, ADD-“enjoyer” here.

I think I am not alone when, typically, I am constantly overwhelmed. Too many thoughts and impulses. So I don’t make a lot of decisions; I usually respond to other people’s decisions or I let me guide by suggestions from the people around me.

Now I am in the situation that some things are changing at my work. I have actual influence this time, I could say “next year I want to work on X” and X might actually be my new job.

I have some ideas where to start thinking (start writing down random thoughts and see if I can make a list), but as I am always overwhelmed I am having trouble to “find the right mood”. I always get distracted by other thoughts and I always end up doing things entirely unrelated (currently I am baking bread, collecting documents for my insurance, and I am almost ready to pick a new e-mail provider)

Does this feel familiar to anyone? Probably ;-)

I feel like I need the right circumstances. Should I start with some mindfulness-excercises? Walk for a bit? Find an empty room with no distractions? Find some good background music?

How do you deal with this? What works for you?

Thanks for your input :-)

  • @DelightfullyDivisiveEnglish
    3•1 month ago

    Things that I have found useful:

    • MENDS as a routine, as often as I can remember (meditation, exercise, nature, diet, sleep)
    • Mind mapping to take notes and reorganize / review it often (I use XMind)
    • Keeping searchable notes (I use Joplin, but OneNote and Evernote work too)
    • Using the above as part of an organization system (look up GTD and “building a second brain”)
    • Microdosing psilocybin
    • Get your hormone levels checked - if they’re outside the normal range, it can exacerbate ADHD

    Good luck! It has been a multi-year journey for me, but a successful one.

    • @[email protected]English
      2•1 month ago

      Great list! I use a plain txt file that I started about 25 years ago for notes, now 28,000 lines. It used to contain even all passwords, until password managers became a good option.