I have plenty to say about my experience with ADHD, especially to others who suffer from it. Here I wanted to challenge myself to picking out just 5 pieces of wisdom I think would be generally useful to others: ## 1. Think of your ADHD as a separate being. If it helps, think of your ADHD as your imaginary child. I leave it to you to interpret the rest. One example: “You” may not identify with someone who can’t control your emotions but as a parent of your “child” you know it gets cranky if it doesn’t get regular breaks. You need to interrupt your day now and then to check on your “child” and make sure they are going out to play for 5-10 minutes frequently through the day. Capturing your tasks in one consistent place isn’t enough to stay on top of things but without it, nothing else you do is going to work. ## 2. Technical Accommodations are Taxed You will find plenty of businesses promising you relief from the struggle of ADHD via their software solution in exchange for some of your money. Don't get me wrong, apps can really help and I use some myself, but delegating your cognition to a computer comes with a tax for each benefit it offers you. At a certain point, the taxes add up and the sum total of what you're doing ends up not being worth it. The taxes refer to managing your systems at the expense of maintaining sensitivity to reality. If you make your phone your "second brain" it means that your first brain is going to constantly be on your phone, making your ADHD catastrophically worse. More at [[Productivity Tools are Taxed]] ## 3. Rest, diet, and exercise—in that order—are the most powerful ADHD medications available to you. This is not to give any advice about drug-based medications you may be taking. I defer to your mental health professional on all of that. Pamper yourself to sleep. Do whatever it takes. Listen to audiobooks, white noise, sleep masks, ear plugs, hot tea. Find your own way. Take care of your sleep and you’ll have a high return on your investment. However...notice I say "rest," not "sleep" in the title. I will gladly trade 8 hours of anxious sleep for 30 minutes of meditation and 7.5 hours of restorative sleep. Everyone talks about managing attention but no one talks about managing recovery. With ADHD, we are constantly expending effort on what is for everyone else effortless things. Just like resting between reps at the gym, we also need rest time between units of struggle. Don't thread your once daily sleep session as a catch-all for rest.  ## 4. Use time itself to manage intensity and impulsiveness. Set a timer if you must. If you find others bristling at how you respond or interpreting your responses as severe, dramatic, intense, etc, hold yourself to putting space between what you’re responding to and your response. One way to do this: Never complete your online checkout on the same day. I look over my “saved for later” items looking back over a year and am stunned that I ever really wanted anything there. If you need more, try habituating sandwiching your language with buffer statements like “I see what you mean. (repeat it back)”, “Thanks for making that clear” or ask for permission to say what you’re about to say. It takes the edge off. ## 5. Find an outlet. ![[69C2168F-AD82-44A0-ADC9-0CCDFAF4462C_1_105_c.jpeg]] Managing ADHD doesn’t have to be about constantly suppressing and modulating yourself to appear normal, but to be perfectly honest some of it is. “Just be yourself” is shit advice for some people. Join an improv group, a team sport, something that is purely for fun on the side. Do something artistic. Give yourself some special ritual where you are fully allowed to be yourself. Don't manage your ADHD to such an extreme that you don't get to enjoy your time on Earth.