Attention Deficit Support

[Renate]

Currently any day works fine, but 1 hour later is more likely to happen for me since I am on sister duty again at 7 pm (when the hour has started until now)  (For a while, I was off it but now she wants me again Kids and planning...)

 

 

EDIT: Thanks @foxinthenorth , I will check the instructions out more carefully when I start prepping for my last master course (  ) that starts on Feb. 8. 

 

[foxinthenorth]

I don't know what I need at this point — I'm in week two of work post-Christmas and my projects are getting underway but I have the focus of Baby Yoda fixing the Razor Crest. I'm trying to get 4-7 hours a day under control so it's hard to pick one hour to check in on. I need to update my projects on Monday, preferably in the later afternoon, due to my boss's reporting schedule and that's not convenient for y'all's time zones. I'm trying time blocking, so I might have a more reliable time I can check in on midday once I get into the swing of that.

 

tl;dr, am lost, will check back in later

[Renate]

Ah, well, does it also not work for Sara's? Feel free to agree upon something amongst people of closer timezones, I will find an alternative  

[foxinthenorth]

On 1/17/2021 at 3:18 AM, Athena said:

Ah, well, does it also not work for Sara's? Feel free to agree upon something amongst people of closer timezones, I will find an alternative  

I'd rather keep you in the loop! And I'm still trying to figure out how to do this.

 

Do Mondays at 10 or 11am PST work for anyone else? As I'm in hour two of attempting to schedule out my week for time blocking it occurs to me that this might be a good activity to use virtual accountability on. xD 

[Renate]

26 minutes ago, foxinthenorth said:

Do Mondays at 10 or 11am PST work for anyone else? As I'm in hour two of attempting to schedule out my week for time blocking it occurs to me that this might be a good activity to use virtual accountability on. xD 

Coincidentally, 11 AM PST is 8 PM where I am  I will get my course schedule for next period on the 21st, so then I'll know if by some Murphy's law I have a lecture in that time slot on a Monday  

Otherwise I'm good to go. 

 

[Renate]

So, today's hour was mostly spent trying to convince myself I need to at least do SOMETHING thesis related. Then I had a discussion with my mother about a 20% fishy-sounding, 80% legit seeming phone offer for a cheaper electricity-etc. deal.

 

Better luck... Monday maybe?

[foxinthenorth]

To go back, way back, to the first post — did anyone have any specific ideas regarding peer coaching? Or perhaps problem-solving and resource-sharing? I want to be wary of turning this thread into a procrastination trap (hah) but I've also been thinking about some strategies I'm either currently testing (time blocking) or need to try out (consistent use of a dopa-menu), and it might be helpful to think through what's working and what isn't working. I'm also curious if/how other people have found success 1) respecting their schedule instead of ignoring the notification that it's time to work on something 2) using pomodoro or other timed techniques.

 

Edit: 

To be a little more specific, I'm interested in practicing how to think through why something is or isn't working. Everyone is different and everyone's brains work differently, bullet journals work great for some and not for others, so the real skill imho is learning how to assess whether and why something is or isn't working and adjust accordingly.

[Renate]

10 hours ago, foxinthenorth said:

1) respecting their schedule instead of ignoring the notification that it's time to work on something 

 

Okay, I just remembered I used to apply the 5 second rule to this for some time.

 

Will come back to your original/overarching q later today

[foxinthenorth]

8 hours ago, Athena said:

 

Okay, I just remembered I used to apply the 5 second rule to this for some time.

 

Will come back to your original/overarching q later today

Ooh, that's a good plan! (she said 9 minutes after the "change tasks" notification went off) I used to do this, or told myself I did this, a lot more than I do now. As soon as I noticed something I needed to do, I would do it right then for fear of forgetting about it forever. But that was mostly with regards to chores so I hadn't thought about how it might apply to work. The jobs I've held previously had more concrete tasks organized around some external structure so it was easier, and now that I'm in a more heavily self-starting position I'm needing to (re)discover tactics. So, I'll give this a try at work now.  Thanks!

[Renate]

So, I was very late to the party but I started the process of deciding if I will participate in the two courses I had registered for out of sheer interest, not necessity. I think I will drop 1 for sure. The other one I am still thinking about...

 

 

[foxinthenorth]

I forgot to post, but I did get my weekly scheduling done this morning.

[Renate]

On 1/14/2021 at 7:07 PM, sarakingdom said:

If this time doesn't work for the people who want to use it, we can move it, no problem.

 

How is Monday, 1 hour later than the original time for you?

[Renate]

Right, so, I wanted to say (for accountability, again) that instead of working on my thesis as planned for this period of time today, I spent about 1:20h on making a "dopamenu", making a mini-one for my phone screen (it doesn't fit perfectly but I'm just trying it), and writing a list for exercises to do before a snack that was also suggested in that video by How to ADHD. I'm going to make it pretty another day but for now I think it's going to be useful to have such a list. I'll report back once I have actually "prepped the ingredients" and picked things from the "menu" and so on  

 

This was actually planned for Sunday but I just am so done with feeling "bleh" before doing something that I 100% want to do, and know it will feel good once I am on a roll, but the beginning phase is so annoying. I am consoling myself with the fact that I love the "flow" phase I get into once I am writing and researching, so writing a second thesis totally is worth it. (also for another Big Paper for my portfolio, and to increase my academic writing skills.) Let's go!  

[sarakingdom]

Thanks for carrying on while I was indisposed! What did we decide on for Monday? It should work for me, whatever it is.

 

Has anyone had luck with the dopa-menu? I like the concept, but I'm not sure it'd work. It seems close to rewards, and I've never had much luck with those.

 

Regarding pomodoros and timeboxing generally, I'd say it's definitely useful, but not a silver bullet. It does make task switching easier. It overcomes a lot of decision-making at the start. For me personally, beware the five minute "breaks". I find it excruciatingly difficult to switch tasks in five minutes. Almost physically painful. That breaks the traditional pomodoro pattern for me, I just can't keep it up.

[sarakingdom]

Thursday goals. I have six things I could do. I really don't know which to pick.

 

ETA: Okay. I will do the one l want to do mmost. It has six parts. So ten minutes per part.

[foxinthenorth]

2 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

Thanks for carrying on while I was indisposed! What did we decide on for Monday? It should work for me, whatever it is.

 

Has anyone had luck with the dopa-menu? I like the concept, but I'm not sure it'd work. It seems close to rewards, and I've never had much luck with those.

 

Regarding pomodoros and timeboxing generally, I'd say it's definitely useful, but not a silver bullet. It does make task switching easier. It overcomes a lot of decision-making at the start. For me personally, beware the five minute "breaks". I find it excruciatingly difficult to switch tasks in five minutes. Almost physically painful. That breaks the traditional pomodoro pattern for me, I just can't keep it up.

We did Monday this week and I think it went well! I did my tasks a little ahead of the hour, and checked in as normal.

 

I have had mixed luck with the dopamenu before. Folding a paper crane was fairly effective at keeping me away from falling into a scrolling trap, but only so-so at giving me a little boost to start a task. What was kind of helpful was doing some jumping jacks and a couple push ups and then coming back to the task, but when I took down the dopamenu from my wall I stopped doing them, so I wanted to put the visual reminder back up.

 

I learned that timeboxing only worked for me if I put in 2 or 3 hour boxes — when I did one hour or shorter, I burned up half the time trying to get into the task and barely got anything done by the time it was time to switch. So I'm thinking I'll try pomodoro to get started more efficiently, take the 5 minute break if I need it, and return to the same task.

[sarakingdom]

24 minutes ago, foxinthenorth said:

We did Monday this week and I think it went well! I did my tasks a little ahead of the hour, and checked in as normal.

 

Yes, but what time on Monday?

[Renate]

3 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Yes, but what time on Monday?

 

I think 2 pm EST, because 8 pm GMT+1 (aka CET apparently)

 

is when I am usually off sister duty

[Renate]

1. I haven't tried the dopamenu yet, although parts of it I have applied intuitively, like the sides:

 

- adding music

- adding difficulty: e.g. it took me MUCH too many years to realise I am not as slow of a reader as I thought... It turned out I needed to read faster bc I kept getting distracted because I was bored, not because the material was uberdifficult.

 

When smth was difficult, I realised, it's better to reread + make active notes than to read super slow. Who woulda thought?

 

- novelty: switching up the study methods I used, sometimes standing up and/or reading out loud

 

-fidget toy or making the whole ordeal more sensory engaging, like using my whole body to gesture when reading (silent or out loud)

 

- appetisers:

 

also things like jumping jacks, mini dancing breaks or, and this was before I managed to find my focus with and get sucked into fiction works, timed reading of books I was enjoying

 

2. Time blocking worked for a bit but I have been ignoring my calendar blocks for ages. 5 y.o. sister + lockdown (no library escapes) makes it difficult to plan. Dunno what to do about this yet.

 

Even if she does not distract me I feel unable to control blocks of time. Nowadays it is mostly a mental block, unlike when she was even a year younger, but still.

 

3. Pomodoros can work... but the last year I have been more focused on trying ways to find flow rather than pomodoros...

 

But lately no task feels flowy... yet I am still/ also rebelling against timers.  Hmm hnm...

 

4. More often than the other methods,  using a chronodex to log how I am spending my time (not to plan) has been providing me with some incentive to Do Things.

 

5. When I do it, taking Things two or three at a time helps... "What are the next two things I should do?" 

 

Okay maybe more tomorrow, I am really really tired right now. Hope I can just relax and fall asleep in a bit.

[foxinthenorth]

I've got to help some people get set up for a virtual event during our hour. I will move my hour until later in the day and check in after.  

 

On 1/28/2021 at 2:41 PM, Athena said:

adding difficulty

Hmm I might need to think about this. I have realized that lack of a competitive environment has stagnated my writing, because I end up feeling discouraged by people saying "don't be too hard on yourself!" because it feels like they aren't taking my goals seriously. I wonder if my day job would similarly benefit from a shot of challenge. A good chunk of what I do at work is genuinely difficult (~pLAnNinG~ and convincing stressed out humans to change the way they do things), but I have a lot of trouble with straightforward tasks as well, and maybe routinely challenge-ifying them will help.

[Renate]

1 hour ago, foxinthenorth said:

"don't be too hard on yourself!" because it feels like they aren't taking my goals seriously

 

Ah, yeah, I try to check in with people about how they use the pushing themselves.

With most people "being hard on yourself"  only brings them down, and/or gets them unhealthy stress without decompression long-term.

I have a friend that does that but is also really good at decompressing that stress after a period of stressing herself out.

Some people, like you apparently, can really harness that competitive side + being hard on themselves,  but it takes self-knowledge (that you have) to know you are like that and not simply working yourself up.

 

So, I did not make it to the hour because my sis has been having quite a difficult day and it took longer than usual to get to teeth brushing and the rest of my sis duty. 

I'm going to ... finish a couple of reviews I promised to write for my career coach, ... get some time in on the stationary bike & start winding down of this day with lots of unscheduled things that messede with my planning. But... I'm still glad I made a plan. *comforts self*

[Renate]

1 hour ago, Athena said:

I'm going to ... finish a couple of reviews I promised to write for my career coach, ...

 

Ha, I had already written the first draft versions yet it still took me close to an hour to finalise them. (still not entirely happy but at least they are off future me's plate!) I really overthink these things. Imagine what will happen if a colleague or so asks me to write a Linkedin ref in the future 😛  Whatevs. Done is done.

[foxinthenorth]

It's been a weird week, my friends...I did get my scheduling done on Monday even though I failed to check in, but it got done at some unplanned time in the afternoon when I squeezed it in, and half my scheduling has been destroyed by last-minute requests and fires that aren't particularly complex, but take enough of my brain space that I'm losing more time than I'd like to resolving them.

 

But this goal-setting video hit home this week and I'm excited to give that goal sheet a try when I start prepping for draft 2 of my YA novel later this month. I find that a lot of her videos restate things I had already heard or learned elsewhere in a way that feels more applicable to me. Maybe it's just repetition finally getting through to me, maybe it's the way she frames things, maybe it's the cute brain animations. 😂

[Renate]

7 minutes ago, foxinthenorth said:

Maybe it's just repetition finally getting through to me, maybe it's the way she frames things, maybe it's the cute brain animations. 😂

 

Relatable! 

 

Good going ✔

[sarakingdom]

I'm here for the Thursday check-in. I've started cleaning, and I've made some food. (Not real food, just starter food, but it's something.) Also, there will be hydration and making lists, because I need those things.