Yesterday, I wrote about how I use procedure guides for repetitive tasks so I don’t miss important details. One place where this becomes really important is when starting a new job or working with a new client. There are so many little things you need to remember—names, teams, ac … | Continue reading
One of the most essential parts of my ADHD toolkit is procedure guides or procedure docs. Because ADHD affects working memory and memory recollection, it’s really easy to miss important steps when completing recurring tasks. Sometimes the missed stuff results in minor inconvenien … | Continue reading
So you’ve got a bunch of ideas, and you want to try some of them and see what stick. But you work at a place where you get a lot of… That’s not how we do things around or here. Or… That would never work. In these situations, a prototype is worth a thousand words. My biggest caree … | Continue reading
Yesterday, we talked about how your an idea machine. Your ADHD makes you a natural entrepreneur and innovator (whether you run your own business or work for someone else). You’ll come up with more ideas in a year than you can implement in a lifetime. So… how do you decide which o … | Continue reading
ADHD generally had two modes: Hyperfocused Thinking about lots of things all at once I once had an old coworker describe the inside of my had as one of those lottery ball machines, where each ball is an idea flying around. While it can be overwhelming and make us a bit chaotic, i … | Continue reading
Whenever I’m talking about ADHD on a podcast, I find myself uncomfortable with using the word symptoms to describe the various ways that ADHD impacts me and how my brain works. It feels like I’m describing a disease or something that’s wrong with me. But nothing’s wrong with me. … | Continue reading
One of my favorite ways to get dopamine is gardening. I’m not particularly skilled at choosing plants, but I do very much enjoy pruning my rose bushes, moving dirt around, and rolling heavy rocks from one spot to the next. Gardening is rather seasonal. You need to plant things in … | Continue reading
I ask everyone who signs up for my newsletter… How is your ADHD stopping you from living your best life? One of the more common responses I get back is something along the lines of… I have trouble keeping up with new technology/learning new things. It feels boring, and I keep los … | Continue reading
Yesterday, we talked about how folks with ADHD are often (but not always) more comfortable standing out and being a bit weird. As a nice compliment to that, I really enjoyed this podcast episode from Rochelle Mouton about making your own rules. Rochelle and her guest Heather Whel … | Continue reading
One thing I’ve noticed is that, generally speaking, ADHDers are a lot more comfortable standing out, going against the crowd, and resisting authority. We’re less likely to be yes-people, and more likely to be direct and honest, even when it’s unpopular. That’s not universally tru … | Continue reading
In my course on getting shit done with ADHD, I describe hyperfocus as your ADHD secret weapon… In ADHD terms, that’s called hyperfocus, and it’s your secret weapon as someone with ADHD. Hyperfocus is a form of flow or being in the zone. The world around you disappears. You have a … | Continue reading
Ever since I was little, I’ve gotten really bad SAD (or Seasonal Affective Disorder). Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons — seasonal affective disorder (SAD) begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you’re l … | Continue reading
I think one of the most important aspects of managing harnessing your ADHD is learning how to listen to the signals your body sends you. I get a lot of emails from readers about struggling to start on tasks, or starting, but very quickly getting distracted and pulled into other, … | Continue reading
The ADHD dilemma: a cluttered, messy workspace makes it hard for you to think or concentrate, but tidying up is boring and difficult, so you never do it. I’m a minimalist at heart. I hate having stuff for the sake of having stuff. I’d much rather have a few well-made things that … | Continue reading
I was diagnosed with ADHD as kid, back when it was just “the hyper kid” thing. I actually forgot I even had it for a while, because that’s all it was to me: being hyper. For years as an adult, I suspected I had autism. I struggle to make eye contact. I don’t always relate to peop … | Continue reading
Yesterday, I wrote about how comments on your code are really important when you have ADHD. Today, I wanted to talk about the second component of good documentation: the README. A good README file adds a ton of value for anyone else working with a project (now or in the future). … | Continue reading
A lot of developers are really into self-documenting code: codes whose name and purpose is so obvious that it doesn’t need any comments or documentation around it. Here, it’s pretty obvious that the getCurrentUser() function is going to return the current active user. function ge … | Continue reading
While my ADHD can make me exceptionally chatty (even though I’m an introvert who needs lots of quite alone time to recharge afterwards), I tend not to actually make eye contact with the people I talk to. I can either… Look at your eyes while you’re talking, or Actually listen to … | Continue reading
The two most important tools in my ADHD toolkit are my Apple Watch and Obsidian. Obsidian is where I capture every single thought, idea, and task that enters my head. It’s also where I track the stuff I need to do for the day. Heads up! I’m working on an Obsidian for ADHD boilerp … | Continue reading
I’ve mentioned before that my Apple Watch is the most important tool in my ADHD toolkit. Now that I’m taking Adderall for my ADHD, I want to make sure I never forget to take it (something I heard is a common challenge for many of my friends who take ADHD meds). Normally, I would … | Continue reading
I worked with one of my ADHD career coaching students to setup a second brain in Obsidian, and integrate a smart watch into their daily routine (timers, calendar notifications, and so on). At our last meeting, they said to me… It’s funny: the more I use these tools, the less I ne … | Continue reading
If you’ve been blessed with the hyperactive or combined subtype of ADHD, you’ve probably at some point in your life heard… You’re a lot! If you have the inattentive subtype, you may have been told… You’re really spacey. It’s tough to describe the feeling of being around fellow AD … | Continue reading
Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a surprising number of emails from folks who are against the idea of ADHD medication. Often, the undercurrent is the idea that medication is “conforming to neurotypical norms” or that “I’m not broken and I don’t need fixing.” You don’t need to … | Continue reading
Earlier this week, I read some research on how neurodivergent kids flourish when they’re taught how their brains work… When kids have a better understanding of the condition that affects their learning, they tend to have a better self-concept, and they are more likely to feel emp … | Continue reading
One of the more recurring themes among my ADHD coaching students is that shipping stuff is really hard. For some folks, getting started is the tough part. For others, it’s that last 10 percent. In both cases, perfectionism is often at the root of the issue. Over a decade ago, I l … | Continue reading
In programming, rubber ducking or rubber duck debugging is an approach to working through a coding challenge where you talk to a rubber duck (or coworker), explaining what its supposed to do, and how each line works. During the process of doing this, you will often unlock the sol … | Continue reading
One of my biggest annoyances as a developer is tracking hours. Many folks with ADHD have time blindness. That means we literally do not perceive time accurately. This makes both estimating how long things will take, and recounting how long things you already took, nearly impossib … | Continue reading
Because I have the strong ADHD need to think aloud, overshare, and rubber duck (more on that in a future article), I wanted to share some updates on ADHD ftw! and where things are going. I’m planning a series of education products for folks with ADHD… ✓ Getting Shit Done with ADH … | Continue reading
I’ve known I had ADHD since I was a kid, but I’ve never been on medication… until yesterday. Today, I wanted to share my experience (as much for myself so I don’t forget as for your benefit). Let’s dig in! Why pursue medication after years without it? For decades, I’ve managed an … | Continue reading
One thing I’ve heard from a lot of ADHD folks (and have dealt with myself) is the impulse to just blow up whatever you’re working on and start from scratch. It usually happens when you hit a point where you feel like it’s not working anymore, or your bored, or you’ve hit a roadbl … | Continue reading
I’m in the final stages of building an enchanted rock garden in a section of my yard where not much besides moss and oak trees grow. (This ties into ADHD, I promise!) As part of my research for the project, I stumbled onto the Shizen Style YouTube channel. In addition to discussi … | Continue reading
A lot of career and productivity advice is made for and by neurotypical folks, and doesn’t really work for folks with ADHD (ex. “start with your biggest task first”). But a lot of advice I’ve seen that’s specifically for people with ADHD isn’t that great, either. One of the most … | Continue reading
Something that took me literal decades to understand is that neurotypical folks don’t typically say what they mean. This creates all sorts of awkward social and professional situations where… Direct statements are perceived as blunt or rude. People say one thing, but mean another … | Continue reading
One of the things that’s come up frequently in my ADHD coaching sessions is the benefit of telling people you have ADHD casually in conversation. (Yesterday I mentioned that I’m running a beta program for my ADHD coaching right now. If you’re interested in joining the waitlist, s … | Continue reading
Yesterday, I was talking with one of my ADHD coaching students about the power that comes from knowing you have ADHD. If you were diagnosed as an adult, there’s that period of time before you knew you had it and period of time after. You’re not a different person. You still do th … | Continue reading
The other day, I wrote about how you’re not lazy, you’re just bored. In it, I noted… If there’s a task that’s been on my todo list for a while and I can’t bring myself to do it… maybe I just shouldn’t? And one reader rightly pointed out… But someone’s gotta do the dishes! I agree … | Continue reading
It’s really common for folks with ADHD to knock out 90 percent of a project really fast… and then struggle for weeks (or more) to finish the last 10 percent. Starting new things is fun. It’s novel. It’s challenging. It creates sorely needed dopamine in our brains. But those final … | Continue reading
I’m wrapping up work on my new course, Getting Shit Done with ADHD, and wanted to give you an update on the project. The ebook versions are done. If you preorder today, you get immediate access to them. I’m about 25 percent done recording the videos. Once the videos are done, I’m … | Continue reading
One of the bigger frustrations with ADHD—both for us and the people in our lives who love us—is how we can browse YouTube or play video games for hours… while we ignore important tasks or even simple stuff like cleaning the dishes. We’re often perceived as lazy. You might even pe … | Continue reading
When an ADHD brain is presented with options, and none of them are clearly the best or right one (or at least the one you’re most excited about), a common response is to just freeze up and do nothing. Right now, I’ve got a handful of different directions I could take my business… … | Continue reading
I recently had the pleasure of joining Michael Kennedy on the Talk Python Podcast to talk about being a developer with ADHD. Michael does not have ADHD, but asked some amazing questions that made for a delightful conversation. You can listen to our whole chat here. | Continue reading
Yesterday, I wrote about how I use my smart watch to set timers for literally everything. I even have a whole section on it in Getting Shit Done with ADHD. I have an Apple Watch, but most smart watches will do the job just as well. I was extremely skeptical about getting one. Aft … | Continue reading