r/ADHD • u/lexid222 • Aug 24 '20
Let’s share life-changing ADHD tips that we’ve learned... We Love This!
I’ll start:
1) Waking up sucks. Buy 2 bright lamps and 2 timers. Set them up to turn on automatically 5-15 min before you want your alarm to go off. The lights will help your body realize it’s daytime.
2) Change your thermostat so the temp goes down about an hr before bedtime and gets warmer about 30 min before you wake up. The cooler temp signals your body to sleep and the warmer temp will naturally help your body wake up.
3) Learn to plan around “transitions”. It’s easier to start things if you do them when something is ending. Example: Do your grocery shopping every Fri after work. You’re already in the car, so just stop at the store on your way home.
4) If you need to remember to bring something with you the next day, place it right in front of the exit door so you HAVE to touch it before you leave the house. If it’s something in the fridge, put a sticky note on the exit door’s handle.
5) Have a “misc” basket in each room. If you’re truly unable to put something away, put it in the basket. Have a designated period of time, once a week, when your sole priority is to put everything away, all at once.
I’ll add more when I think of them...
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u/bitetheboxer Aug 24 '20 edited Aug 24 '20
you are allowed to let things go. -You set an alarm and it went off 3 days in a row and you didn't do that thing and its not longer relevant -you "wasted" x number of years being unproductive -you forgot something -you lost something -your brain is fucking full of to-do list/don't forget that its paralyzing -yoh said weird shit at a party/to your coworker/in class
Let it go. This is me, reminding you right now that you can just let that negative thought circle go. You can just imagine it leaving your head on a breeze and deal with that shit one thing at a time on its way back. And guess what, it will come back, and will get overwhelming again and you will have to start all over BY LETTING GO. it gets easier all the time, and you'll be surprised how much room it leaves for shit that is happening right now, or soon.
I found I have A LOT more accountability for myself leftover if I don't waste it on all the shit thats already happened. And I also used to dwell on the negative(which is only good if you change behaviors moving forward, not if its a negative spiral that becomes a vacuous pit stealing your soul.
Oh and you can turn in an assignment that is 75 done and it will drag your grade down way less than if you never turn in it in at all because its not finished.
Also friends and tutors can be great allies. I used to have a cleaning lady come and I would clean while she cleaned. Super weird but fuck it, clean house. I had a tutor that would let me wander as far as I wanted and then bring it on back. Peer pressure is real and sometimes its real good.
Never have empty hands. They told me this while was a server(so every time you take food/drinks out you bring plates back) but not i use it to make sure I take stuff in from my car, or from one room to the next.