Any tips for helpful tricks or behavioral changes for ADHD?

[Scarlettbegonia_]

Hello! I’m a little new to my ADHD diagnosis and VERY new to my meds (vyvanse). I just wanted to know what some things were that helped you all be more efficient or organized or happy? It could be anything! Ex. Getting a key hook and forcing myself to put my keys on it the moment I walk through the door wound up saving me a significant amount of time and stress in the mornings.

Alternatively, those of you on vyvanse or another XR equivalent, any tips for getting the most out of your day on it? I’ve found that my days feel front-loaded in terms of focus, which I expected, but I get a little tired about 4-6 hours into my dose.

I appreciate any advice! Thank you!

[MyJA]

My wife gave me a Tile to put on my key ring. I can use it to find my keys or my phone, depending on which one I'm holding and which one I lost. I actually use it a lot less than I thought, but knowing it's there as a backup has taken a lot off my mind. I've also been using Evernote for literally everything. It's a huge hot mess in there, but it's searchable and I know at least that I won't lose it once I get it in. I do voice dictation the second there is anything I need to remember or plan and then I try to sort through it at the end of the day. It hasn't made me feel more organized, but the comfort of knowing I'm not losing anything is huge for me. Even though I feel like a huge hot lava mess, things are getting done and I'm much more reliable so I can live with that. I'm starting to embrace a little bit of chaos and learning to work with it, rather than completely shutting down when it overwhelms me. It's not been an easy mental shift, but I think I'm happier and the people around me a happier because I'm actually getting things done rather than organizing in preparation for getting something done (and then not). As far as the meds go, my lifeline is exercise. I have to exercise everyday (and fairly rigorously) to make the most of the meds and the energy (20mg XR). Without it, I am sluggish and even worse when the meds drop off. I plan my recovery days for days with low stakes so I can rest my body knowing that my drop in work/adulting performance won't matter as much (hopefully). I hope you find what works for you!! Share back if you have any insights as you look. Good luck!!

[C0rcovado]

Hi,

These are some of the things that worked for me:

- a place for everything

- always put things back where they belong so I can always ( most of the times for the ones of us who live with other beloved ppl)

- purge purge purge

- technology is my friend and I’m learning to put it to work and make my life better and easier.

1 Speachify

2 Speach- to - text and Grammarly the life out of it - text corrector, pc phone everywhere spelling is a nightmare

3 everything Google - tasks ( daily weekly etc) I kept an appointment book, a huge calendar with three different coulors me son and husband and still it didn’t work!

4 timer - I time everything and I am training myself to move on to the next activity/ task

even if I did not finish the last one - and a three most important tasks of the day. The ones I ABSOLUTELY MUST DO.

5 Livescribe pen and app.

* apps I can have with me and never forget because they are easy to access and I don’t need 3,4,5 different paper things cluttering my life and less visual pollution

6 swipe text instead of typing OMG! I know I am old! Such a revelation! That and Grammarly keyboard. PC and phone

7 text reader

Wow, I’ve been trying a lot of things lol.

Ah, almost forgot!

8 ADDitude website- lots of info

9 breathing exercises. Short ones. I really want to meditate but I must build up to it. I find short breathing exercises work great for me and keep frustration abate.

Hope you can use at least one of it.

Best of luck and keep trying, keep coming here.

[Gettingittogether in reply to C0rcovado]

Getting into habits ... habits are a work-around for ADHD. Habit gets actions on automatic, so you don't have to remember to put the keys down at a particular place ...

Creating the habit is work but is same for ADHD people and non-ADHD people.

Focusing on your strengths. Identifying your strengths. You can't be modest with ADHD. You gotta know and pursue what you do really really well.

Therapy--because anxiety gets in the way of clear thinking every bit as much as ADHD. And many people with ADHD are "comorbid"--meaning they have a second condition in addition to ADHD (anxiety or depression usually).

Therapy to help forgive yourself quickly for failure ... for struggling to do things other people can do with much less effort. I just looked at a work assignment and I had left in the wrong information ... luckily, that info doesn't cause problems, but I've learned that medicated, well-rested, peaceful ... everything ... I will still get some detail wrong ... I barely blinked when I saw the mistake. But I can do that also because I know how good the rest of my work is! Back to appreciating your strengths as a coping strategy.

I have been helped by internet blockers ... freedom app ... focusme ... self-control ... there have been times I just got stuck online and I needed a blocker to get me off the net. A friend of mine wrote a book ... and when I wanted to read the book, I had to set internet blockers. Otherwise, my attention would not allow me to get through the book.

Exercise is like a dose of a stimulate.

Getting into nature is like a dose of a stimulant.

Understanding that improving things is a process ... I now keep a planner, but that took quite a while and some stops and starts ... but I kept going ... (Cognitive therapy helps with this.)

Getting really specific about the effect of a med when you meet with your provider. JustHirin saying, "it's not working well" is basically not helpful. You want to nail down the conditions under which the stimulant seems to work well and when not. Example: on a higher dose of Adderall, I couldn't sleep well ... except ... I could sleep well when I exercised. So that's specific info: on this dose of Adderall, I need to exercise in order to sleep well.

Hiring an organization coach ... I'm still applying stuff I learned. The irony is the coach found all kinds of shortcuts, ways I was making my job too hard. She removed a level of guilt about constantly asking, "How can I make this easy?" Example at my job, they preferred a certain software, but that software drove me nuts. Well I asked around and listened to what others were doing and I realized that there was another software program I could use that is so much easier FOR ME. So I did that ... I had to to take the initiative. Your job is not going to come to you and say, "hey why don't you try this way, it might be easier and simpler."

Treat depression and/or anxiety aggressively. These conditions don't necessarily go away with ADHD treatment. I had no idea how much anxiety I had until several years in therapy when it began to decline ... I had saying to myself "I panic too quickly." Well that tendency to panic was anxiety, as I see it now ... Some of my brain fog was anxiety clouding my brain.

Get all the help you can with the rest of your life.

[Jckss]

Hi. Ditto what everyone said above. I've been on Vyvanse for a few years now, seven I think. Anyway, as far as managing life with Vyvanse, I take it when my alarm goes off. It takes about 30 minutes to start kicking in, and it's fantastic until it starts to wear off. When it's wearing off I get really drowsy, and I honestly should go to bed when that happens; however, like a lot of ADHD people, I try to stay awake, and then I'm up until 2:00 a.m., and I have to be up and out of the house by 7:00 a.m., which means I'm in a sleep deficit. So, my humble advice is this: Go to bed on time! 🙂

[researchbrain00]

Hi Scarlett,

I recently found bullet journaling and it's been helping me so much. It helps me find structre in my days and plan ahead. It might seem intimidating when you search for it online at first but I had found this podcast interview that the creator of the Bullet Journal himself did. He actually developed the system to use as a guilt-free analog planning method to help with his own ADHD.

Here's a link to the original blog that I found. Keep digging and this might be your new lifesaver for now

Best of luck to you in everything.

hive.com/blog/bullet-journa...