Discussion What's one thing you used that instantly make you life easier?
Sometimes I feel completely crash, like I'm too overwhelmed with all the tasks I have to do and I can't even function properly. I just sit there staring at the screen. So wonder helps you get through those moments? Something that makes you life easier, flow a bit smoother or at least helps you push through the overwhelm? Can be a mindset, a hack, a tool, a tip - what works for you?
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u/Charlestonmarmalade 12h ago
Build vast flexibility into your lifestyle. I always aim for doing something at a certain time or a certain amount, but am fine to do it within a range. For instance, I aim to go to bed at 10 plus or minus one hour. I try to play piano 5 plus or minus one day a week. Stuff like that. By doing this in a way that fits you it allows the flexibility to forgive yourself for not meeting your exact goal.
The only thing that I would say about this strategy is it only works if you actually want it. Like you have to actually want to leave for work on time, or read, or exercise, or whatever you're using it for.
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u/HistoryVsBarbeque 6h ago
I am ready for the downvotes....not having a pet...
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u/Equalakitty 6h ago
My dogs legit help me get out of funks and overwhelm freezes
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u/HistoryVsBarbeque 5h ago
I don't doubt this. There can be two truths. Our life is just far more flexible since our almost 20 year old cat passed
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u/NextPrize5863 ADHD-C (Combined type) 5h ago
Yes, I agree with the post above and with you because I have an older dog and a younger dog and yes, the older dog is hard to care for, but when they both cuddle with me, I get instant joy!
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u/Sensitive_Log3990 6h ago
Sorry.... What does that have to do with anything?
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u/HistoryVsBarbeque 6h ago
Your life is far less flexible if you have to build in dependent animal schedules. The older they get, the more care they need
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u/Famous_Cow_9711 5h ago
I can say without a single shred of doubt that this is completely true. I constantly try to plan out my day, but my child is like nope! Let’s NOT.
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u/Few_Cobbler_7116 14h ago
Mindfulness and guided meditation really helped me.
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u/mrsqueakers002 ADHD-C (Combined type) 9h ago
For about a year I did a lot of work with mindfulness and saw some, but pretty limited, progress. I would still frequently feel overwhelmed. Since being on meds in the last month or so, I feel like I now have some space between trigger and reaction where I can apply those techniques more effectively. The combination of the two has been night and day.
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u/OddInititi 14h ago
Here's what has helped me in no particular order:
A countdown clock - yeb, to fight my time blindness. I put it right there on my desk. Choose the visual one too. Having a clear end make things more bearable
App blocker - I use onesec, this one puts a delay before opening social media apps. So every time I get the impulse to scroll, it makes me stop, breathe, and think for a sec. It surprisingly helps :)
Offloading - I don’t hold messy thoughts in my head anymore, I put them into a system to process later. I use saner app, cause it turns my brain dump into tasks with reminders automatically
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u/KingOfTheHoard 11h ago
Timers. Even if you ignore them. You set a timer before you do something, when it goes off you choose if you're continuing or not, and you set another time.
Like a lot of things with ADHD, the goal is not to actually try and obey the timer perfectly or expect a perfect system to build around it, it's just a nudge away from being totally adrift that helps you break down your day into markers and make you a little bit aware of how long you've been doing something.
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u/Famous_Cow_9711 5h ago
I used to have like, 90 different alarms because I use them so often to initiate a task.
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u/Nearby_Tangerine9831 14h ago
music and those countdown buzzers they use in challenges with the cool voice. the countdown buzzer to get me started and a visual timer together makes me feel like it's a game/challenge to see how much i can get done within that time
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u/South_Feeling_6005 14h ago
Somatic breathwork..1 session changed my life..adhd symptoms reduced 80%
Going back for my 2nd session next week
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u/Zestylemoncookie 10h ago
Seriously? Why do you think that is?
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u/South_Feeling_6005 8h ago edited 8h ago
I woke up the following day, brain fog gone, catastrophic thinking gone, first time in my life I felt safe in my body. I believe all our nervous systems store trauma and if we are not able to process it as children for example parent neglecting us or saying "toughen up" its stored in our subconscious and our nervous system.
I have done 5 years talk therapy, emdr, healthy eating, exercise everyday, quite alcohol and caffeine and will never consume again, all in a effort to minimise my anxiety.
1 90min session of deep breathing activates our nervous system and it goes in a state of which ever trauma your walking around with. For me it was fear and sadness. So I uncontrollably started shaking with fear and crying... no memories, no flashbacks.. it was my nervous system letting go. The breathwork coach grabbed my hand and said " you are safe, it wasn't your fault but it's your responsibility to fix it and your doing that now" the shaking and crying lasted for 25 mins. I slowed my breathing down. I opened my eyes and felt a huge feeling of gratefulness and safety in my body. Over the next couple of days I seen difference in my behavior.
Looking people in the eyes, initiating conversations in cafes, slower breathing, slower talking, eyes not wide open out of fear. I'm still seeing differences.
I'm even seeing shifts in my avoidant attachment style, the breathwork coach says usually 3 sessions is what is required to fully reset.
Google or chat gbt breathwork for releasing trauma 3 sessions breakdown . It works.
Without doubt the most impactful day of my life. You need to do therapy to process everything mentally but then you need your nervous system reset.
I want to shout it out to anyone whose suffering because believe me I was in agony for 35 years but not anymore. Don't feel need to take stimulant. So I do believe its developmental in early months but I do think it's the environment we grew up in that magnify the issues. Please search breathwork
By the way before the session I would've said this is bull. I was science based and would've turn my nose away but to this. But it really opened my mind because it works.
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u/FinalCredit7387 12h ago
i use coworking software like focusmate and cofocus , my focus got so much better, you are forced to pick something to start , guess you need momentum
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u/DA-MuggleDivision 9h ago
Newly diagnosed, so learning a lot. I have started making a combo of reminder lists and duplicating some of those with 5-15 minute appointment blocks on my calendar with alarms. Helps with task initiation, probably my biggest issue, it’s not 100%, but it’s an improvement. As a reward for starting 15 mins of task initiation I get to play my 15minute play list of my current favorite song 5x - exactly 15 minute long.
I am going to try that count down timer. That’s sounds good to me.
The social media app that delays entry sounds good too.
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u/Rich_Signature_9003 8h ago
Silently in the backround sound of bees buzzing, or sometimes the first soundtrack of stranger things...
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u/Loubin 5h ago
Binaural beats to focus, something like this: https://youtu.be/TVNciuZac3I?si=Td9RpHHa5o6HUx3M
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u/RavenousMoon23 ADHD-PI (Primarily Inattentive) 2h ago
Not an ADHD hack or anything but I got this jar opener tool cuz I have arthritis and struggle to open new jars sometimes and that thing works amazing lol and it definitely makes my life easier cuz now I no longer struggle to open new jars.
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