A few tricks I found to make living with ADHD easier:
Disclaimer: I am not medically qualified; I am merely a young ADHDer trying to help with ways that, because of my lack of medical skills, will be totally safe for anyone to try. If some of those tips aren't for you, then that's it. We all have different brains, and I am aware of this. Therefore, I would ask that, if you disagree with some of the things I said, you stay civil. Feel free to talk about what works for you, and to add to this post! We've yet to vanquish all of the drawbacks of ADHD. That being said, I hope the following tips can alleviate your suffering:
1. A nice, restful sleep is very, very important for your body to function correctly and your brain to process information as it's supposed to. I remember back in Year 12 (11th grade/Junior year), I'd go to sleep at 10PM, and wake up at 6:30AM on weekdays and 8:00AM on weekends (don't ask me how, I was basically obsessed with my sleep schedule). As a result, symptoms of my - at the time undiagnosed - ADHD were way more manageable: I could focus better, stay seated longer in class, get my homework done on time without feeling the existential dread, and I was generally way less angry (I have anger issues, which is a common symptom!). And the amazing thing is: I was unmedicated at the time! Just to tell you what a regulated sleep schedule can do for your brain.
But here's the thing: as an ADHD bearer, you're more likely to experience insomnia, restless legs syndrome (painful and distracting), and delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, meaning your sleep cycles are basically fucked, making it harder for you to fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning. As such, you should know solutions/tricks are available for your situation:
-seeing a sleep specialist will allow you to get properly diagnosed, and therefore get the proper treatment and/or techniques to regulate your sleep schedule.
If this option is unavailable for you (crappy health care system, for example), there are things you can do at home to trick your brain into a peaceful state and go to sleep faster:
-visual stimulation of a non-electronic kind! Have you seen those videos of parents getting their kid to run around before a long plane flight so that they're spent and don't bother the other passengers? Well this is basically it: while staring at your phone or laptop screen before bed is a bad idea (because blue light fools your brain into thinking it's daytime and also, simply, because the internet is addictive), other visual stimuli is totally possible and will tire your brain, helping you fall asleep faster: try to read a book or a comic under a yellow bedside lamp. Get yourself a ceiling projector light you'll put on a timer so you can stare up at it (the way some people count sheep, but less boring): the visual stimulation will tire your brain, and the timer will allow you to fall asleep without having to worry about turning it off. Lava lamps are also an option!
-your brain is too loud? Some people like to listen to brown or white noise before bed! My personal favourite is green noise (it's kind of an in-between: higher than brown noise, lower than white noise). To each their own! Classical music can work as well. Find your own lullaby to help reduce your brain activity!
2. Getting a pillbox: if you're like me and you tend to forget whether or not you've taken your meds this morning, getting a pillbox with every day of the week on it will allow you to be certain you haven't. It's especially important if you have some other illness or disorder which has you taking other meds (it's ok to skip ritalin for a day, it's even recommended, but you can't forget your antidepressant, for example). (I recommend a round pillbox: it has a button on top you need to push to get the right day of the week in front of the little hatch you open to get to your pills. Very satisfying)
3. You can't focus on your work: some days, ritalin/adderall isn't enough. Maybe it just doesn't work for you at all, or maybe you again have a crappy healthcare system and can't afford medication. If that's the case:
-no-noise headphones/ear loops can do the trick, if your problem is external distraction like cars outside (or your ungrateful cat asking for food when it's just finished eating).
-but if the distraction comes from inside your head, because again, your brain is too loud: white/green/brown noise etc, lofi or classical music, binaural beats, nature sounds (rain and thunder, snow storm, forest sounds, etc)... make yourself a study/work playlist!
-stay hydrated and satiated! And this isn't just for studying or working, cause everything demands energy in this economy. A level of energy ADHDers usually lack. Severely. So make yourself a mug of your favourite tea, a glass of your favourite drink, keep a little snack on your desk. Not only will it replenish your energy levels, it will also boost serotonin production, which will make the task at hand feel a bit more bearable.
4. Organize your mess. It's no secret ADHDers LOVE a good maximalist environment, but this often means it's gonna get dirty, dusty and overwhelming very quickly. What if I told you you can have both? My friends call me the "bordélique rangée" (it means organized clutterer in French, basically), because my home is a fucking mess, but you can see there's a coherent organization behind it. Doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you, by the way, but you have to be able to find your way/what you need through it all:
-get a bigger surface board for your desk. My mum recently got me a longer, larger wooden board to cover my pitiful desk surface and it's changed my life (on top of being pretty affordable). Cause ADHD means you're gonna focus on more details when doing a task, and that you need to have everything you need visible, otherwise you'll forget they exist. You don't want your textbook or pencil disappearing under your clutter. So make sure the dimensions of your desk surface match your chaos to avoid getting overwhelmed.
-have a shelf and/or box(es) for every one of your hobbies and activities. Make sure the size of the space reserved matches the space that said activity takes up in your life/head.
-choose your mess wisely. Decorate your walls, doors and surfaces you're not using in general with meaningless but pretty decoration. Have a space reserved for plants! Make some paper garlands, find a few fairylights! You might be wondering what that's got to do with anything, so let me enlighten you: if your environment is stimulating enough in a meaningless but compact way, you won't feel the need for inconvenient clutter nearly as much. You'll be more sensorially aware of littering your floor or desk and will be encouraged to clean it up, lest it become overwhelming.
-hooks or a coat rack on your wall/door/wardrobe so you can hang your bag, outfit for tomorrow, current jacket, pair of pyjamas, so you don't leave a mess around your room or the rest of your home.
That's about all I can think of. If I think of more stuff, I'll do a reblog with part 2, but for now, just know that if you take the time to try a bunch of those, ADHD could become less of a problem in your life.
Kudos if you managed to stay focus until the end of this longass post lol.
Stay safe, don't stress, have fun and good luck!
