Me and ADHD??

I recently learned that I may have ADHD, a bit of OCD, and might be slightly dyslexic (I have not been diagnosed by a specialist, but my partner is a therapist and provided me with a few resources that indicated me to believe this).

What this looks/feels like

• Very, very, very hard time focusing on things that I don’t like or want to do (or things that I like but don't know how they play into a broader goal of something)
• Hard time reading physical books (thank god for Audible)
• Easily distracted by noise (hypersensitive to external sounds like birds, cars, construction, etc.)
• Sometimes having a hard time sitting still for extended periods of time
• Tough time getting into a flow state after being interrupted
• Trouble physically writing on paper (without the aid of spell check or Grammarly to correct minor exchanges of “i” and “e”)

I think I started to develop these when my dad passed away during my upbringing. I remember during this time I leaned heavily into sports, student clubs, and organizations to cope -- all of which pacified my symptoms in the short term but actually helped me develop an arsenal of tools to deal with the problem long-term.

Here are some of the tools that I have learned to be most effective for me:

Limit Distractions

• Notifications all off on my phone
• Closeout all unused tabs when working (and make the current tab full-screen)
• Noise cancellation headphones to eliminate distracting sounds

Optimizing Work & Personal Environments

• Clean and organized room and workspace (I find it really hard to work if my room is disorganized or my bed isn’t made)
• Visually appealing surroundings helps a ton (trees, sunlight, plants, coffee shops, etc.)
• Separating "workspace" from "home and personal space" helps too. I live in a 15x15 studio, so I recently moved my desk to close off a corner of the room which is designated strictly for work.

Intentionally and Deliberately Working

• This one may sound weird, but I’ve noticed that when I really enjoy what I’m doing, even if I don’t have a clean environment, headphones, or any other hacks, I’m still able to really focus. Because of this, I’ve built my career and side projects around things that I’m super passionate about, even if that meant taking a pay cut, lateral move, or not even getting paid at all.
• Minimizing menial tasks. Menial tasks really suck. I know everyone must hate doing these, but to put it into perspective, I would rather do 20 hours of really really hard work on a tough project than do 5 hours of menial tasks. To combat this, I use technology to automate, schedule, or omit these tasks completely (whenever I can). Tools include Calendly, excel spreadsheets (w/ formulas), and landing pages with loads of information to avoid answering the same questions over and over. Here’s an example.
• Because I have a lot of energy, I try to focus/funnel it as much as possible (especially during non-working hours). This has manifested into some really cool projects like my book, podcast, social media guide, and so much more. This also means that I don't watch Netflix series, play video games, watch sports, or the news. If I did any of these, I'd want to watch all of them or get really good at whatever game I'm playing.
• Continuous learning. I've found that since I have a lot of mental energy, I need to always be feeding it with some type of learning. This means listening to podcasts while washing dishes and always playing an audiobook while driving -- otherwise feeling bored doing those activities.

Strict Routines (This is probably the most helpful)

• From what I’ve read about ADHD, people tend to have a really hard time focusing because they are easily distracted. I can definitely empathize with this feeling, but over the past 10 years or so, I’ve honed in some really, really strict routines -- which I believe has been my secret weapon with not only overcoming ADHD but also using it as a superpower.
• I have a mapped out routine that is dialed to the minute and I follow it as closely as possible. My 5 AM morning workout is probably the most important part of the routine since it helps with focus and letting out some energy.
• I use batching techniques to work on specific projects or similar tasks at once during a given timeframe 
• I calendar almost everything so that I know that specific day or time is dedicated to something and I can’t slack off or procrastinate on things
• In short, when you always have somewhere to be or something to do, it’s pretty tough to be distracted. This year, I’ve been focusing more on scheduling time to rest, relax, and hang out with family (away from work and constantly being on the go)

Last one -- I have no idea if this is a placebo effect. But caffeine seems to really help. Especially when paired with a good DJ set (that has continuous music without breaks and noise-canceling headphones). This alone increases my productivity and focus by at least 10x.

This is the first time that I publicly share most of this info, but I hope it is helpful to others who experience ADHD or anything similar.

You all can learn more about ADHD here.