FOCUS! Does anyone else have ADD?

I've noticed a lot of IM'ers will say things like "I swear I have ADD, never been diagnosed though!". I consider it pretty normal to want to slack off from working to play around online. It just takes disciplne to stay focused. I know when I was doing 9-5 work and I was just a much more efficient worker than others, I was probably working 5 minutes per hour....seriously, I'm not even kidding. Truth is, it's just really easy to find excuses to not work.

I have ADD, fully diagnosed. I also suffer from slothfulness. How do I get around this? I have tonnes of red bull in my cupboard, and I simply brute force by working 20 hours days at 50% efficiency instead of 10 hour days at 100%. Unfortunately it's a very easy trap to fall into in this business, so you simply have to keep yourself busy.

I don't have ADD. My focus is like a laser beam. And if she calls again I'm going to tell her I left my cell phone me later and we'll rock and roll is good music.





PS - I don't mean to make light of anyone with ADD...I just couldn't resist.

There was a PBS program run in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, titled "ADD and loving it" the trailer and several clips, including "Everyone thinks they are" are here.
Some people find their place, and believe they are better at their job than non ADDs.

I have ADHD - and I take controlled drugs to help every day!

If you genuinely think you have ADHD then please see a competent psychiatrist, get diagnosed and get help. There are strategies that are more likely to help people with ADHD and a few strategies that will be counterproductive. (But will work fine for people who don't have ADHD). So it is importnat to find out if you really do have this!

Whether you have a medical condition or not the real secret to curing procrastination, focus and time management problems is actually simple (even if it is not easy)

You need to find the strategies that work for you! Look through websites and book - try things out. If a strategy works - keep it! if it doesn't, then throw it out! Just because it works for Guru X, or your friend Jim, doesn't mean it will work for you.

Hope that helps.

I'm highly ADD, but have chosen not to use medications to mitigate its effects because I don't want to diminish the "good side" of it. I have managed the negative effects by:

1) Gaining understanding of exactly what I'm dealing with (which is not actually a lack of focus, but an inconsistent focus ... ie... ADDers go from lack of focus to hyperfocus - which can be a great benefit). To understand and learn lifestyle choices and scheduling decisions I can make, I've read a couple great books...

Odd One Out and ADD-Friendly Ways To Organize Your Life (the former was very helpful for overall understanding and acceptance and the latter was great for some simple tools and strategies.

2) TIMERS - I LIVE by setting timers for tasks to keep me focused on my goals. Then, in between these tasks (usually broken down into 20-30 minute sub tasks), I take TIMED 5-10 minute breaks to scan the cool web pages I came across when I was working on my task, or other types of things that usually distract me. Using Evernote makes it easy for me to quickly save a page/warrior post, etc... in a "break time review" folder. This way, I don't have the time bleed on the important projects, but I can still feed my mind the variety and new stimulus that it seeks.

3) The other huge thing is making sure to take time each day for pre-planning. I actually prefer to do this at the end of the prior day so that in my head while I'm sleeping, I'm already planning on how to accomplish my daily to-dos. DON'T make it complicated. I simply have my actual appointment list and then create my daily "5 before 11" list. Those important things (not always the most urgent) that will be accomplished before 11am. Making them a priority ensures they get done.

It's a messy transition in the beginning and you will likely "fall and skin your knees" a few times before you really get the hang of it. But, you will begin to become more realistic in your daily goals and as you start to consistently accomplish them, you'll find that you get addicted to the process of consistently forward momentum.

Hope this helps!

All the best,
Thom

i am diagnosed with ADD but what i find most helpful to stay on track is that I make a list of all the tasks that absolutely have to be done that day (or whatever time period). i generally have a good idea about how much time each task should take, so before even getting started i write out a whole schedule on a note pad including what time i should be finishing each task by. i usually leave myself an extra bit of time at the end of each task just in case. as i complete the tasks i cross them off my list, if i'm ahead of schedule, i take the time to surf on fb or check out forums and twitter etc. and then i get right back on schedule with my tasks.

the nice thing is too that when you get to the end of the list and everything is crossed off at the end of the day, I feel VERY productive and I can also walk away from the computer and carry on with life worry free knowing that I got everything accomplished.

I just set down at my computer and do just what I planned...if that is goofing off, writing, looking at my emails, etc. I just work at one job and get it done and move to the next. Oh, I guess that's pretty much what you said, isn't it? Oh well...thanks

What did the first chap say?