Reddit mentions of Taking Charge of Adult ADHD

Here are some resources that have been incredibly helpful for me. :)

Books:

• Driven to Distraction by Dr. John Ratey -- I haven't read this one in a while, but I love Dr. Ratey. He is a great writer on issues of science, biology, and mental health.
  
  
• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by Dr. John Ratey -- Sections on how beneficial exercise is in managing ADHD, depression, and anxiety.
  
  
• Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Dr. Russell Barkley -- Best book for adults with ADHD I've read. Backs everything up with science. Makes a very solid case for self-care and medication.
  
  
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World -- Hyperfocus == Deep Work. Use this philosophy to make the case to a boss or team about reducing interruption at work.
  
  
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0
  
  
• StrengthsFinder -- ADHD makes us painfully aware of our weaknesses. Learn what your strengths and positive personality traits are and how to build off them.
  
  Videos:
  
  
• 30 Essential Ideas You Should Know About ADHD by Dr. Russell Barkley -- Awesome series about the nature of ADHD. MUST WATCH
  
  Podcasts:
  
  
• The Value Of 'Deep Work' In An Age Of Distraction by Hidden Brain -- A podcast version of the Deep Work book if you're like me and have trouble getting through 200 pages.
  
  
• Embrace the Chaos: Why Disorder May Be Good For Us -- We may beat ourselves up over our struggles with structure, but here's a solid case on how less structure makes us more adaptable.

Hey! I was diagnosed with ADHD a little over a year ago. I used to think I was INFP but now I think I'm ENFP.




Anyway, I find that my biggest challenges are with concentration, persistence, and emotional regulation. Some things I've found that help me:

• I have the Time Tracker Mini Timer which I keep on my desk at work. I use it when I have to do a long boring task so I can break it up (basically use it to do the Pomodoro method). With the job I have I can't do it all the time because of how my tasks are broken up, but I do it when I can. Any timer will do, but I like that timer in particular because it has a light on top that changes from green to yellow to red, and you can choose the time that it changes from green to yellow. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't count down (i.e. you can't see how much time is left).
  
  
  
  
  
• Writing things down!! I have a tendency to think I can remember WAY more for way longer than I actually can. I have a Leuchtturm1917 pocket notebook and a pen that I always keep with me. I kind of do Bullet Journaling but I've modified it to a system that works better for me. But keeping paper and pen with you is essential! And it's better than notes in your phone, in my opinion. The hard copy is a better reminder.
  
  
  
  
  
• Write down 5 positive things about myself every day. We ADHDers can be our own worst critics and can tend to get down on ourselves when we don't do the things we want to do. It's good to remind ourselves of our positive qualities.
  
  
  
  
  
• Try to practice mindfulness, especially in moments where I'm feeling especially distracted or emotional. I at least try to take a few deep breaths and just clear my head. My counselor always tells me to practice mindfulness, and I think it's a challenge to us as ENFPs and as ADHDers to focus on the present moment and not get caught up in our thoughts. But I definitely notice a difference when I consciously try to practice it.
  
  
  
  
  
• If you haven't already, pick up Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Dr. Russell Barkley and Delivered From Distraction by Dr. Edward Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey. Learning all I could about ADHD made all the difference for me. It helped me to understand what's going on in my brain, why certain things are harder for me than most people (like concentrating on things that are boring), and some of the positives of ADHD. Now I can recognize when something I'm doing or thinking or feeling is because of the ADHD and that makes me feel like I have some measure of control over it.
  
  
  
  
• Go easy on yourself!! I feel like this is the most important and also the hardest tip to follow. The previous tip will help a lot. Once I learned about ADHD it made giving myself a break a whole lot easier. I don't know about you, but I tend to expect a lot from myself. It's important that we give ourselves permission to take a break, take a walk, or to fuck something up (it's life, it happens...most mistakes are fixable) and not be hard on ourselves over it. It seems like you're in the honeymoon phase with your diagnosis - you just got diagnosed and it finally explains so much about your life. This is a wonderful phase and I don't want to cast a shadow over it. But I'll tell you that you'll most likely eventually hit a phase (especially if you decide to get medicated) where you grieve how much of your life you "wasted" not knowing about your ADHD and not having your medication. There are also times where having the knowledge and the medication only give you the realization and the perspective of how much more it seems like everyone else in the world can do than you can. This is when it will be so important to practice self-compassion. Other people are good with organization and sticking to their budget and paying their bills on time and remembering their appointments and getting places on time. And people like us are good at empathizing and reading people and problem-solving and thinking outside the box and forging our own path. Different isn't always bad, sometimes it's just different.
  
  
  
  I hope some of this was helpful and what you were looking for!
  
  
  
  Edit: To add to that, I just watched this beautiful TEDxTalk: ADHD sucks, but not really

I completed my Ph.D. in computer science a couple years ago as a diagnosed (as a child) but not medicated ADHD-PI, so let me give you a few of my thoughts based on my experience.

It might be worthwhile reading a [comment] (http://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/2a7dvi/just_got_a_prescription_for_adderall_not_so_sure/cis9jq7) I posted last night that goes into much more detail than I'll reproduce here.

> I mean, there are things that keep me really focused... like writing this post. And when I am very confident of my abilities and I know what to do I can be extremely productive even without medicine.

Hyperfocus is a pretty common symptom of ADHD. I found that when I was doing the interesting technical work and research, I could work for hours and not realize any time had passed at all. The infrastructure I developed over the course of my graduate career probably consisted of almost 200,000 lines of code.

When it came time to document those results, or do related work surveys, I felt like I was trying to walk through molasses. I'd stare at a blank LaTeX document for hours. I'd agonize over a single paragraph for hours. I'd zone out while reading papers and realize at the end that I'd learned nothing. Finally, when the paper deadline was a day or so away, I'd crank out some crap (if I was lucky), my advisor would heavily edit it, and pray it got accepted.

I can't even count the opportunities I missed for big conferences and journals because I couldn't start writing in time to produce a manuscript of the quality required for a top tier conference.

My advice: don't give up. Buy a good book on adult ADHD and read it.

Most importantly, remember that not every medication works for everyone. If methylphenidate (Ritalin) isn't working for you talk to your provider about trying a different medication. There are lots of options; depending on your home country, amphetamine salts (Adderall) or Vyvanse might be available. If other stimulants aren't an option, some people have good outcomes from Strattera or Wellbutrin. (If you read my earlier linked comment, you see I slam Strattera pretty hard - that was my experience, your's might be different. Everybody has different brain chemistries).

Good luck. You can do it.