So I have Attention Deficit Disorder

My name's Harvey. I'm a young university student in Canada. I was just recently diagnosed with adult ADD and am just starting medication. This blog is a project for me to document my life as it changes and as I adapt to living with medication and ADD. I just want to help other people who have ADD/ADHD!

[adhighdefinition]

Can you explain why you think Jake Peralta has ADHD?

I’m actually really glad you asked because oooh boy, let met tell you, Jake Peralta, in my humble opinion as a fellow sufferer, is currently the single most obvious but sadly non confirmed (yet… one can still hope) fictional character with (most likely) undiagnosed ADHD out there. His strengths as well as his flaws all point towards him having the disorder.So let me start with the good things:

- He’s a quick thinker! He thinks in unconventional ways with his mind taking leaps and turns whenever it feels like it. Often allowing him to solve cases in creative ways. … It also makes for interesting conversations most of the time.- Using his impulsivity in a good way! When he figures something out, he’s usually the first one to get up AND DO SOMETHING. - Excitability! Have you seen how his eyes lights up when he feels like he’s doing what he thinks is right? He becomes like a little hyperactive child again. Usually, adults with the disorder, aren’t as much outwardly hyperactive anymore as children are. Instead, this tends to turn into feelings of restlessness and gets internalized. But of course, in a show like this, it makes sense to show him like this.

- Hyperfocus! Die Hard, anyone?! That guy has had the same hyperfixation for years!!! And I bet, he frequently uses his hyperfocus capability to get things done, too. That is, if he’s interested enough, of course.

- His energetic personality! Brings some energy and passion into the work place, don’t you think? And also it’s how many adults with ADHD are perceived if they feel well-integrated and at ease with their surroundings. Always the one coming up with new ideas? That’s us!

Now onto the not so good stuff when you’re the one struggling with it:- Again, impulsivity. Saying the first thing that comes to your mind, talking… A Lot, acting without thinking and without regard for consequences. As seen on the show, it has not always been the best “decision” for him.- Mood swings! Unfortunately, many are not aware of this fact but in many cases, ADHD actually comes with fast and frequent mood swings. The smallest things can trigger intense emotional responses. Jake definitely has that as he tends to jump from “Life is meaningless!” to “I’m the greatest!” without a problem. Just solved a case? I’M SO HAPPY!!! Oh no, they got away with it? Why bother anymore…… Yeah, that…- You know the episodes where he and Captain Holt are undercover as part of the Witness Protection Program and Holt points out how Jake seems depressed lately? Yeah, people with ADHD can way too easily fall into this mindset (mood swings, anyone?). With the absence of regular work to keep his fast-pacing mind occupied, it’s not a surprise that he starts feeling this way.- Not able to handle boredom! He has always something going. Games, ideas, looking for new cases. He never slows down and seems to keep himself occupied at all times. Classic ADHD!- The way he handles words and numbers, anyone? How he never reads books? Oh, and then his troubles with finances? His locker and desk looking… like that? Classic signs of troubles with organisation and attention to me.- Easily discouraged! It can’t be denied that he hasn’t had an easy childhood. Together with the troubles with his father, ADHD could be a way to explain why he now is the way he is. - Problems with low self-esteem (*cough* and definitely Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria)! Either he feels like THE BEST COP OUT THERE or he falls into this thinking pattern where you have trouble believing that people actually care about you. Probably something he should talk about in therapy, as he puts it himself.Together with his tendency to procrastinate when it comes to boring stuff, his inability to express and cope with his feelings sometimes, his forgetfulness and not so ideal time management (for example, being late too work all the time),  I strongly believe that Jake Peralta has ADHD and should be written and confirmed as such (hey, it’s never too late!).An episode focusing on him suspecting he has the condition and eventually seeing a specialist? I’d cry. Honestly.Plus:The fact that so many real people with the disorder relate to him??? Okay, that’s not actually relevant here but definitely something the writers should take into consideration. BUT, don’t feel bad if you don’t! Not everyone’s ADHD is the same! :)

Psst, you won’t believe how many times I sit there thinking “that’s so me!” while watching the episodes. There’s even more “evidence” sprinkled throughout the show. All the small details not listed aboved. It’s marvelous and oh-so-relatable.And just imagine the many excited faces watching the show when a main character on a immensely popular show like this would be confirmed as being one of them! Just thinking of the tiny, tiny, TINY possibility puts me into happy stimming mode!!! It would also help increase awareness in those who may not know anything about it and help reduce prejudices ‘cause ding dong, ADHD is not a fake disorder and adults can have it, too. Surprise!

(P.S. Please also check out this awesome post!)

[iccaruus]

You’ve probably heard of depression meals, but have you considered ADHD meals:

Literally inhaling everything in your fridge when your meds wear off and you realize you haven’t eaten all day

Can’t decide what to eat so you just sit there hungry for like an hour

Alternatively, can’t decide what to eat so you snack on everything

An entire family-size bag of chips that you absentmindedly finished while watching tv (bonus points if you barely even remember eating them)

Frozen vegetables because fresh ones go bad before you can get around to using them

Leftover takeout because you ordered it last night but had so many snacks while waiting that you were too full to eat it when it showed up

Anything microwaveable 

Eating leftovers cold right in front of the fridge because too much executive dysfunction to heat them up

Too much executive dysfunction to combine your ingredients into the meal you were planning to make so you just eat them individually

“This doesn’t even taste good but I need to finish it anyway, I committed to this snack”

Trail mix and other super calorie dense food when you’re on your meds and can’t stomach a meal

Ice cream directly out of the container at 2 am

[adhd-queer]

just adhd things

• hyperfocus until u die • unless u actually need to focus, in which case: no • “if you cared, you’d remember” • bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce • “just write a note for yourself!”/“just get organized!” • casual interests??? those aren’t real • forgot to eat for three days oops • time is a man-made construct and nothing is real • when ur brain won’t shh so u can sleep • “but ur so smart!!1” ok what’s ur point • talking about a hyperfixation and ur very !!!!!! but ur audience seems uninterested and u get Sad™

[merindab]

Still reading “You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid?” - a book for and about adults with add. And this is all me, especially that last bit.

[1kadi-deactivated20180515]

rbing again to add that I want to thank op for posting this. seeing this on my dash several months ago was the very first time I ever considered I could have ADD/ADHD inattentive. I never had the slightest idea before. fast forward to now and I’ve been going to therapy and on medication and things have turned around so much for the better.

[merindab]

I’m so glad to hear that! That’s why I posted it, because I knew I couldn’t be the only person that this rang I giant bell with.

[darkpuck]

I WAS THAT LITTLE GIRL. THAT WAS ME.

[dsudis]

I was AT THE SAME TIME this little girl and the “trouble with bright girls” little girl–I was told that I was smart enough to “compensate” so I didn’t need treatment/help, so anything I had difficulty with I had to avoid like the plague because even though I knew why it was hard for me because I had been told I had ADD, I also knew that my status of smartness was at risk any time I struggled with something, and had no idea how to actually consciously deal with my ADD when natural ability/terror of deadlines didn’t get me through.

[littlemuseums]

Thank goodness for people who write about this & for letting us know we have our struggles in common with other ‘doubly-exceptional’ folks 

[waltisgay-deactivated20131124]

if you give me a task with no deadline i will literally never do it but if you give me a deadline i will get it done exactly 1 hour before the deadline even if the deadline is in six years

[kaseysellingseashells]

[lovepsychothefirst]

#this is ADHD#or possibly another executive function disorder but ADHD is the only one I really know about#the reason for this is an ADHD brain does not have an internal feedback system#ADHD brains require external input to make up for missing executive functions#like the ability to process multi-step tasks with delayed consequences#because to an ADHD brain#things don’t exist in the absence of consequences#meaning#people with ADHD are drawn to things like video games because the feedback is external and immediate#every action you take has an immediate effect on the game environment#and you can SEE that your actions are providing xp or moving a task towards completion#but for something like homework#the consequences of that homework being done do not exist until that homework must be turned in#and it’s either done or not done at that point#which is why people with ADHD function best closest to deadlines#the consequences of that work being done must be IMMEDIATE to compel the brain to see it as a task that requires completion#because the further out a task is from the consequences of it being done#the more an ADHD brain is incapable of acknowledging it#TASKS DO NOT EXIST TO YOU UNLESS THERE IS IMMEDIATE EXTERNAL FEEDBACK#THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WITH ADHD BECAUSE TO OTHER PEOPLE IT DOES LOOK LIKE LAZINESS#BUT A LAZY PERSON JUST WOULDN’T DO THE TASK AT ALL#AND ADHD PERSON STRESSES THEMSELVES HALF TO DEATH TO GET THINGS DONE#BUT ISN’T CAPABLE OF STARTING THEM EARLIER TO PREVENT THE STRESS#BECAUSE THE TASK DOES NOT EXIST UNTIL IT NEEDS TO BE EITHER DONE OR NOT DONE#IT’S KIND OF LIKE SCHRODINGER’S BOX#THE TASK DOESN’T HAVE TO BE DONE OR NOT DONE UNTIL THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR ITS STATE OF COMPLETION#so what LOOKS like laziness to other people#is actually a VERY SERIOUS FAILURE of the brain’s executive function system#which is a VERY serious medical problem#the name ‘Attention Deficit Disorder’ really fails to sell how serious the disorder actually is via @thecuckoohaslanded

[thecuckoohaslanded]

god dammit my tags got cut off AGAIN I’m hitting the tag limit on like every post lately, I really need to work on that

Anyway I went on to say that there are 5 major executive functions of the human brain.  These are the ‘higher functions’ that really distinguish between a human brain and that of any other animal.  We have added intelligence on top of that, but these are the functional abilities our brains have that the rest of the animal kingdom does not have on a a structural level.  There are 5 of them.  ADHD affects all 5.  And none of them are actually ‘attention’ (the closest function to anything that can reasonably be called ‘attention’ is what’s called Working Memory, which is your brain’s ability to hold a specific task in mind to come back to it; distractions are inevitable, but a healthy brain will hear a phone ring, look up, and remember to go back to what it was doing before.  An ADHD brain will hear the phone riBANG ALL MEMORY OF THE CURRENT TASK IS GONE.  ADHD brain looks up, sees the name on the caller id, oh it’s an unknown number, oh it’s probably some political pollster, oh man this year’s election is just awful I can’t believe people are supporting that angry cheeto. Oh cheetos I’m hungry I should go make a snack.  What kind of snacks do we have?  Did I remember to buy cereal at the store the other day?  What about dog food?  Oh my god I forgot to let the dog back in the house this is why I should have gotten a cat.  Oh my friend sent me a great cat video earlier I should watch that.  AND GUESS WHAT YOU NEVER GO BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE DOING BECAUSE THE STRUCTURE IN YOUR BRAIN THAT SUPPORTS RETURNING TO A PARTIALLY COMPETED TASK DOES NOT EXIST THE WAY IT DOES FOR A NORMAL HEALTHY BRAIN.  This is why even if you start a task well before a deadline you can’t keep to it until it’s been completed; the consequences of it being done MUST be more compelling than everything else in the immediate environment for the brain to see it.  No matter how much time you give yourself to complete the task, if you have ADHD it will take you 100% of that time, every time, which is why having ADHD actually TEACHES YOU to put things off, because it’s the only way to shorten the total time actually spent completing the task – the disorder rewards you for self-destructive behavior because it’s the only way you can get things done at all, and you end up living in a permanent state of extreme stress, hopping from one emergency deadline to the next even though you hate yourself for it every single time).  The disorder has been horribly named in a way that trivializes just how serious and life-ruining it actually is.

ADHD is a very, very serious disorder and the pop psych/common understanding of it makes it seem HORRIBLY trivial compared to the real damage it actually does to people’s lives.

[adhdstim]

Well damn….. this makes sense.

[social-contagion]

<b>ADHD is a very, very serious disorder and the pop psych/common understanding of it makes it seem HORRIBLY trivial compared to the real damage it actually does to people’s lives.</b>

[andreashettle]

The name “attention deficit disorder” makes it sound like you have less attention than everyone else. But it’s not actually about having less attention, it’s about being unable to regulate your own attention. If you have a non-AD(H)D brain with no executive functioning issues, then you get to decide what you think you need to pay attention to right now. And your brain will actually cooperate with you by actually keeping its attention on the thing you have chosen. And if some momentary distraction intervenes, then your brain will actually remember what you were doing a few seconds ago so you realize you need to come back to it. But if you have executive functioning issues, then you don’t get to make that choice. And your brain isn’t going to hold on to the memory of what you were working on even half a second ago. That choice is simply taken away from you because your brain just isn’t constructed to allow that choice. It’s like, you have this great horse in front of you pulling you in your wagon. And you’re seated in the wagon pulling this way and that way on the reins with all your might and passion and will and desire. But there’s something that has gone really wrong somewhere between your hands and the horse’s mouth, because most of the time the horse doesn’t seem to even notice that you’re trying to pull on the reins at all, even when you’re putting all your muscle into it. And your hands are blistering because of the chafing of the reins in your hands. And you still have very little to nothing to show for it because the horse didn’t even notice your trying. And all this is assuming that you even remember you have reins in your hands at all, or a horse, or a direction you had meant to go in, from one second to the next. And all this still assumes that you will still remember you have those reins, or the horse, or the direction in the next second after that. And still again, all over again, in the next second after that one. Ad infinitum.

Executive functioning issues can have a huge impact, not only on people with attention deficit disorder, but also for autistic people. 

I believe to some extent executive functioning issues can also co-exist with depression? and anxiety disorder? And maybe also obsessive-compulsive disorder? And Tourette’s syndrome? (Though many people with Tourette’s do also have attention deficit disorder and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder?) And maybe other things too that I don’t remember. I’m not sure if these are to the same degree as they are for people with AD(H)D or for autistic people, I welcome input from people with more awareness.

[justgot1]

OH LOOK IT ME.

I compare my relationship to time as walking in a heavy fog bank, where anything far ahead is difficult to make out and it isn’t until you’re nearly upon them that they become clear and real. What seems like laziness and impulsiveness is actually an inability to really understand how to plan and use time.  And what makes it worse, is that you get blamed by the entire world for something you can’t help, you anger people and exasperate your friends and spend your whole life feeling inadequate and defensive. Yeah, it sucks and has kind of ruined my life tbh.

[azcrowleyfell]

@goldenheartedrose

[goldenheartedrose]

Meeeeee.

[star-anise]

The most valuable thing I learned doing a Masters degree with depression, anxiety and ADHD was to change my “things I’m bad at” list to “things I can’t do on my own.” Stop thinking of them as things I could do if I tried hard enough, and accept that I can’t accomplish them by effort and willpower alone; they’re genuine neurocognitive deficits, and if I need to do the thing, then just like a blind person reading or a mobility impaired person going up a storey in a building, I need to find a different method.

I’m “bad at” working on long-term projects without an imminent deadline or someone breathing down my neck? Okay, let’s change that: I can’t work on long-term projects without an imminent deadline and someone breathing down my neck. So let’s create an imminent deadline and recruit neck-breathers. Find a sympathetic prof who will agree that 3 weeks before the due date they expect me to show them my preliminary notes and bibliography. Get a friend I trust to block off an hour to sit with me and keep asking, “Are you working on your project?” Write a blog post about my progress. Arrange to trade papers and proofread them with another student.

Accept your limitations and learn to leverage them, instead of buying the neurotypical fairytale that they’ll go away if you just try hard enough.

[bead-bead-deactivated20190901]

I needed this so much.

[dungeonsdonuts-deactivated20200]

Very encouraging, especially helpful.

[thatadhdfeel]

important adhd facts

adhd and add were combined under the DSM IV, and are now:

adhd inattentive type

adhd hyperactive type

adhd combined type

the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions

adhd is a neurodevelopmental disorder, not a behavioral disorder

emotions are felt more intensely

adhd makes it hard to deal with these emotions

there’s no such thing as “outgrowing” adhd

girls are underdiagnosed

[stimmingsensation]

i need this fidget toy more than i have ever needed any other fidget toy

it’s currently in its fundraising phase, it looks like they’ll be ready to sell them in December 2016! image source and more information here at their kickstarter.

[lostboy-gravestone-blog]

“We didn’t used to have all this ADHD and Autism and stuff” I think what you mean is that people used to go undiagnosed and get absolutely no help and were forced to suffer through their life because they had no support or understanding whatsoever but sure, Janice, pretend my generation invented Autism.

[lark-in-ink]

My grandfather was legit diagnosed with ADHD at the age of about 80 and he was like “OH”

[thatadhdfeel]

important adhd facts

adhd and add were combined under the DSM IV, and are now:

adhd inattentive type

adhd hyperactive type

adhd combined type

the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions

adhd is a neurodevelopmental disorder, not a behavioral disorder

emotions are felt more intensely

adhd makes it hard to deal with these emotions

there’s no such thing as “outgrowing” adhd

girls are underdiagnosed

[myulteriormotive-deactivated201]

How Would You Describe Your ADHD to Someone in a Single Sentence

“Incomparable boredom mixed with infinite fascination.”

“My brain has too many tabs open and I can’t figure out which one is playing that ad.”

“There are five million things I’d like to do right now, but I will spend my entire day deciding that none of them interest me enough.” “I can do EVERYTHING, but don’t ask me to finish it.“ “Simple tasks are never simple.”  “Accomplishing things you don’t want to is physically painful” “ My brain is a expensive, quality bicycle that has no breaks and cannot pedal uphill without making random turns.” “I know what I need to do, I just can’t bring myself to do it”

“Ever went out to go to the store and then accidentally ended up driving to work? It’s like that, but with everything”

[pyronoid-d-deactivated20181217]

For any followers with dyslexia, ADD or any general problems with reading or concentration or visual impairments

BeeLine supports Tumblr now

[original-recipe-winnafish]

…it’s actually easier to read shit like this. Thumbs up to BeeLine

[kichavo-deactivated20180714]

WOAH IM SO EXCITED TO USE THIS

[ap-adhd--remade]

ADHD things I didn’t know until recently: ADHD has been found to be genetically linked to “Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder”. People who experience this usually fall asleep around 2 or 3 am and can be almost impossible to wake up in the morning for regular school or work times. Sometimes it gets better as they reach adulthood, but otherwise it is a lifelong disorder. Normal sleeping routines can be established, but they can be hard to keep because the brain will eventually reset its sleeping schedule to the later sleep time.

Note that this is not to be confused with insomnia because DSPD means having a biological clock with a later sleeping schedule, and usually people with DSPD do not have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.

@adhd-community @actuallyadhd I see asks about insomnia and trouble sleeping sometimes so I thought I’d tag your blogs B)

[hippity-hoppity-brigade]

ADHD Gothic

You have instructions written down. You don’t need them, but you check them anyway. Somehow they’re different from what you remember. Have they changed since you tucked the paper in your pocket? 

You realize that you’ve lost your train of thought. You can’t remember what you were thinking before. There is only your present thought, now a loop of panic at your lost memory. 

You stop in the middle of a room. Why are you here? Which room did you come from? You leave the room and remember what you were going to do. You walk back into the room. Why are you here? 

You bring up an inside joke with a friend. They look at you blankly. They do not remember this joke. But you were there when I made it, you argue. They were not. They are not the friend you are thinking of. You realize it was your other friend, from work instead of high school, with blond hair instead of brown, tall instead of short. You do not know how these two friends are so similar in your mind. 

You refer to every experience as happening “the other day.” Was it three years ago or yesterday? You try to remember context clues. Time is not real. 

Someone asks you for an important piece of information. You have not thought about it since you saved it on your computer, labelled very clearly. You search through your files. It is not there. You find it days later by accident, labelled with a cryptic set of codes. You don’t know why you would label it this way. No one else uses this computer but you. 

You are running late. You are always running late. 

You have lost something. You check everywhere. You check everywhere again. Someone tells you to think of when you last had it. You don’t tell them that is the problem. 

You reach the end of the page. You can’t remember what you just read. 

[scary-monsters-and-super-creeps]

100% accurate

[genderhexed]

THIS IS TOO FUCKING REAL

[bpd-hippo]

[palewansickly]

OMG. This. Changes. Everything.

[a-littlebit-ofsunshine-deactiva]

Reblogging for my followers who might have trouble remembering whether or not they’ve taken their medicine

[thatadhdfeel]

saw this on my dash and thought it could be helpful - we’ve gotten quite a few feels about remembering (or not remembering) to take meds :)

-spence

[ianthe]

ADHD + The Internet

Now also reachable at http://tinyurl.com/adhdlist !

Last updated: 14 October 2014

I think I’m gonna start maintaining a list of all the awesome things I find to help me manage my ADHD, so I can have them all in one place. Hopefully my journey of learning how to cope with my ADHD can help other people out too!

Anything I add to the list will be 100% free, because the last thing I’m going to do is ask my fellow ADHDers to try to manage their money for the sake of being able to manage their ADHD. That’s just not right.

Managing Distractions:

StayFocusd - Productivity extension that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites. Once your allotted time has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day. Highly configurable.

KeepMeOut - Warns you if you visit a website more than once in a set period of time

RescueTime Lite - Helps you identify inefficiencies by showing you how you spend your time on the computer

Clearly/Readability/Instapaper - Tools to help make sites around the Internet easier to read and free from clutter

ZenWriter - Full screen writing program with customizable appearance. You can drag your own music into the program and have it create a writing playlist, and you can also change the typing sound! It autosaves and you can print straight from it. Great for minimizing distractions.

12 Hours of White Noise - YouTube video. Good for blocking out other distracting noises, fades into the background after a few minutes

SimplyNoise - Noise generator website with color sliders to change the frequency of the noise generated for different effects

Buddha Machine - Continuous loop of meditative sounds

TimeMe Looping Timer - Google “Pomodoro Technique” to find out more about how periods of working/taking breaks helps increase productivity

Coffitivity - Research shows it’s pretty hard to be creative in a quiet space, and a loud workplace can be frustrating and distracting. But the mix of calm and commotion in an environment like a coffee house is proven to be just what you need to get those creative juices flowing. Coffitivity: enough noise to work.

 Inattentiveness/Forgetfulness:

Tab Wrangler- Allows you to set a specific time (ex. 20 minutes) after which unused tabs will be closed. Keeps track of tabs that have been closed, but form data isn’t saved, which makes Lazarus a good companion extension

Page Snooze - Page Snooze can help manage tab overload by allowing you to snooze tabs for up to two weeks, after which they will pop back up in your browser

Lazarus-  Saves form data to eliminate those “oh #@$%!” moments when you accidentally close a tab or hit submit and get an error message

PhoneMyPhone - Put in your number, it calls your phone. It’s what I use when I misplace my cell phone, but you can also use it for reminders/wakeup calls!

Any.DO - Keep your to-do list handy and synced. Simple, elegant, effective.

Wunderlist - Free to-do list app and website that syncs your lists to the cloud and has the ability to share tass with other people to help you get more done! 

Chrome Notepad - Simple notepad that syncs with Chrome that I’ve found really helpful for just keeping track of all the things I’m currently working on - I tend to start working on something, remember something else I’m working on, and forget what the first thing was for several hours

Motivation/Dedication:

HabitRPG - My current FAVE. HabitRPG is an open-source habit building program that treats your life like a Role Playing Game. 

SuperBetter - SuperBetter is a tool created by game designers and backed by science. Playing SuperBetter helps build personal resilience: the ability to stay strong, motivated, and optimistic even in the face of difficult challenges. Resilience has a powerful effect on health—by boosting physical and emotional well-being. Resilience also helps you achieve your life goals—by strengthening your social support and increasing your stamina, willpower, and focus. 

Beeminder - Goal software. Anything quantifiable works — weight, pushups, number of cigarettes, or how long it takes you to bike to work. Answer with your number when Beeminder asks and it’ll show your progress and a Yellow Brick Road to follow to stay on track. If you go off track, you pledge money to stay on the road the next time. If you go off track again, they charge you. (All right, this one’s not 100% free - but that’s on you!)

Fitocracy - Fitocracy’s mission is to make fitness a more fun, more addictive experience. Play Fitocracy to beat challenges, push your boundaries, and show your friends who’s boss. Get addicted to your fitness.

HabitForge - It takes at least 21 days to form a habit. HabitForge checks in daily by email to see how you did the day before. You can either “Go solo” or “Join a Group” of people who are working on a similar goal as you.

Written? Kitten! - Shows you a new picture of a kitten for every 100, 200, 500, or 1000 words you write! If that isn’t motivation, I don’t know what is.

Challenge Accepted - Challenge Accepted is a web-based productivity app for people who love the structure of role-playing games (RPGs). What structure do we mean? Quests, experience points, leveling up, skills, achievements… that sort of thing! Challenge Accepted takes all of those RPG trappings and applies them to your to-do list. The result? Your to-do list becomes a Quest Log, and you become a brave adventurer!

Chains.cc - Create a chain for any habit you want to keep up and mark it daily so you see the chain grow. You can customize the chain color and images!

Organization/Management:

Doodle - Website for easy scheduling. Trying to find a time to meet up for a group project with 5 other people? Have everybody fill in the times they’re available on Doodle, and then you can see what time would work best. Much better than bouncing emails and texts back and forth.

Evernote - Evernote makes it easy to remember things big and small from your everyday life using your computer, phone, tablet and the web. Save notes, web clips, files, and images, and sync all of these between all of your devices.

Mint - Pulls all your financial accounts into one place. Set a budget, track your goals and do more with your money.

Expensify/Expensify Web Receipts - Create receipts for your online purchases in two clicks. The Expensify Web Receipts extension uploads the current webpage as a receipt to your Expensify account, so you can do “expense reports that don’t suck!“ 

Cacoo - User friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site maps, wire frames, UML and network charts.

draw.io - Another online diagram drawing tool

SmartyPig - SmartyPig is a unique savings program that was designed to help people save for specific goals. Goals may be funded with scheduled recurring contributions from your existing checking or savings account. You can also make one-time additions of money toward your goals and receive contributions from your friends and family members. SmartyPig is unlike your typical savings account!

Oct. 2014: Updated to add HabitRPG (my FAVE) and SmartyPig!

[ianthe]

This is overdue for some updates

[whenyouareadd]

Weird question but do you ever find that within ADD there are things you will focus on immensely not out of interest but just kind of out of the blue, and then you can again just lose focus as quickly as you first got it? It's a really hard thing for me in classes because it means my grades tend to fluctuate quite a lot..

Yes! I think it’s called hyperfocusing! I wish I had tips for how to deal with hyperfocusing, but all I do to try and manage it is make sure I’ve taken my meds, make sure I’ve eaten and had water. I try to talk to myself logically into stopping what I’ve hyperfocused on. 

As to focusing on something you are having a hard time focusing on, I’m still trying to figure that out myself! Sorry, I wish i had a better response!