ADD / ADHD Community

I am in my mid thirties I have been officially diagnosed with ADD for three years although I have had a pretty good idea that I had ADD even in my child hood since I was in my early twenties due to family telling me so. I am currently on medicine that my Psychiatrist and i have agreed that i can take it only on days i work. Here is a list of the tricks i have use when i am not medicated.
I take projects in small in small chunks taking small breaks and coming back to them as necessary.
I try to make my life as much as possible about things that i am very interested in. When i focus all my inattention on some thing i like doing it usually turns out pretty darn good.
If i am stuck and just can not get a project or chore that is absolutely necessary started i will write my self a note or take notes when ever i think about it and post it some wear I will see it later before it comes to late.
If I am stuck doing some thing that has to be done right away and cannot focus on it no matter how hard i try i will fall back to thinking of the consequences of not getting it done in the secondary thoughts that try to pull me in to doing some thing else while i work on the project.
when possible I will find some one sympathetic to my condition to do a project in front of I.E. my wife who can gently remind me to keep on task.
When trying to remember names I will link some one i just met name to some one famous i know of or another person they remind me of for instance i will think to my self man does that John Smith remind of Bob Jones they both really like race cars.Both names were fictitious by the way.
I will also warn people politely in advance especially if i have a lot of names to learn at once that i have a lot of names to learn and to excuse me if i have to ask you your name again once or twice.
These are the main tricks I use there are more that i am not thinking of right at the minute and i may post them later once i have taken a break or wrote my self a note and put it on the refrigerator. if any one has any questions about the tricks i have listed above please post them and i would love to get into more detail later.

Matt

Ok, my husband has ADHD, I don't and I know he makes lots of lists with daily tasks he needs to do and checks them off as he goes.

I can't interupt him or he will really lose focus. He also has a job that requires routine duties so that helps.

This one is for the younger crowd when I was younger I would listen to music open up two subjects books and all on a floor or bed and maybe turn on the T.V. and study like that. I got some of my best grades when I did that. For those of you who do not understand I will explain. By having one or two sources of back ground distraction I.E. half way listen or pay attention to the T.V. with my secondary lines of thought and if that still was not enough to keep on track I would start working on the second subject instead of abandoning studying all together and some times bounce back and forth. It still can work with the job a little but the several line of distraction are not always accepted at work and space some times can be a problem if there is even a second work topic available. Depending on the child or young adult it might actually work for others to. It worked really well for me when i was younger so well that I made sure the note to my self on this did not stay on the refrigeration to long at all. I look forward to seeing more tips in the future.

Matt

This is a very interesting trick and I will have to try it! thank you for posting this thread, I've been looking for something like this for months.

Sometimes it helps me to chew gum while I am studying or working. This provides sensory input that doesn't require my eyes or hands.

Also I have a lot of trouble with reading. I tend to read two or three paragraphs and comprehend them, then I start to "zone out" or daydream while still following the lines on the page but not processing the information. To help with this, I download the text as an audiobook whenever possible and listen to it while I do a tedious manual task, such as a craft project, that doesn't require much thought.

thepeacefish I am glad you like the thread. Here are some more ideas that might help you. I have read out loud even when I am alone. I will try to equate boring subjects with something I like to do especially math for instance I was into fishing when I was younger and would pretend the numbers were about fishing weights or other aspects of fishing 15x20 could be 15 weights for 20 trips how many would I need to buy. It works for more complicated math also depending on the interest and the math. If I need to push some reading through I will put my finger under each line and follow the words across the lines forcing my self focus on each word it wont work for novels but may help for a chapter. If you need more than a chapter this can be extended by getting up and coming back to it set an alarm though other wise you might not get back to it. I hope these will help.


Matt

Just another trick for those of you who are interested in them I have found that using a voice recorder, mini tape recorder or cell phone voice recorder can help you remember some thing you will need to remember in a hurry or will need to know at a later time How this one works will depend on the person and i have known two people other than me that have used this one no two in exactly the same way. Chow for now.

Matt

Hi all you can put this one on your calender literally just about all of the people i have met with ADD or ADHD have used a calender or date book of some sort to deal with there symptoms this one can be used in so many different ways with so many different kinds of calenders I could not begin to get into them all. I have never been very big in to this one but i will admit i have used the outlook calender on my work E-mail before those reminder can be very useful. Until next time.

Matt

These are all good ideas. Thanks for posting them... bump

Just another mind trick. But I feel this deserves the don't try this one at home kiddies warning. In the past I have found that if i started to day dream while driving, I could start playing the i spy game counting the number of a cretin color vehicles around me or number or construction zones and even the number of cop cars on the side of the road. This one got my eyes back focused on the things around me worked really well for me but it may not work well for every one else and done wrong could be just as dangerous as day dreaming while driving. I will admit i have not used this one in a very long time. Six years or so ago by sheer determination i decided i was going to follow the rules of the road look out for others and not speed. My wife says i drive like an old man. But it has worked I have had a spotless record for over five years now and i can not explain how i did it but I got determined and i have. Keep your eyes on the road and until next time.

Matt

This one is all about timing. I have noticed that some people with ADD or ADHD including my self have big trouble showing up on time for work, class and or appointments of all kinds. I have resorted to setting multiple alarms or using a snooze even when I am awake to remind me to get ready or leave on time. I combine that with setting my clocks watch or cell phone time a head by at least five minutes. Cell phone alarms work really well when I am on the move. A pushy wife does not hurt either. I hope this one helps you get there on time. Well I have to go now I am running late. Until next time.

Matt

I put up this post around the start of school to be help full to all of those with our disorders but especially those going back to school I think it has served it usefulness if any one disagrees by all means post on it and keep it at the top of the board other wise it will most likely get buried with the tons of others that have fallen of the front page. I hope this post helped all of those who read it. There are more tricks out there i have just about come to the end of my knowledge on the subject. good luck and I will be watching to see if any one picks up where I left off. Thanks

Matt

have add and adhd for me to pay atenchen in school i usaley meas with a pensal and for when i am hipper i usally use a stase ball

I take over the counter, non drug supplemtns like 5htp and St John's Wort, but you have to take it a lot to realize any benefit. Sometimes I think it's really more or less a placebo, and it only makes you think you feel better. I'm cool with that, as long as it works.

ashley27409 I really like your post. I have often wondered if people want to work around the ADD or ADHD symptoms bad enough people can find little placebo effects and make them work. but I have never heard of it working before. I thought i had proven that theory years ago when i had convinced my self that sugary soda makes the symptoms partially go away but i later found out from a doctor that caffeine is a low level stimulant and that he had heard of people with ADD or ADHD self medicating with it. If you are sure there is no caffeine in those supplements than you rock and again thanks i knew it might be possible just haven't seen it work.

Matt