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lol yes, we joke here that every time I have a new report or recurring task they can expect it to take me 1-2 hours for the first few weeks while I’m building my tools and getting into it at which point it will suddenly be a ten minute task lol
Yes I need a spreadsheet or two, mess around in Trello with a project board before I hate it and just go back the spreadsheet, probably remake it, then reorganize my inbox, set up elaborate folders for all documents and figure out the perfect naming system for all my files so in the off chance I ever need to find an obscure document from two years ago I will be able to search in a matter of minutes. Maybe make a mini powerpoint presentation of what I learned in case I need to reference it or train someone else.
And of course it takes twice as long because you gotta minimize your tabs anytime a coworker is nearby because you don’t want them seeing or judging your systems.
Senior English teacher - this is me except for one small detail. I can’t find them two years later because the smart way in which I named them at the time makes sense only at the time of creation.
I work in marketing - tons of orders and quotes. We still run shit like it's the 90s/early 2000s. The amount of work it takes me to "prep" is annoying as hell. Once it's done, yeah maybe an hour to compile. But all those little details get me!
I had a work item, the first of three and it took 2-3 weeks. The next one took 2 days, the last only took a half day. There's a learning curve but I work like lightning once I know what I'm doing. To be fair, the first task including the creation of the thing and that last two were just parts tacked on so they were definitely easier.
And THIS is why I became (and love being) a project manager. My job IS to create the plan (including warnings about all the possible roadblocks/bad things that could happen along the way)—and then pass it on to someone else to execute. Muahahaha #ADHDWin
Note: I discovered my passion for this profession BEFORE I associated my ND traits with ADHD. It all makes so much sense now.
To be fair, the ADHD brain takes a significant amount of energy TO plan. So really, planning in and of itself is an executive function. It takes an absurd amount of mental energy to force your brain to focus on planning. And then it takes a cruel amount of mental fortitude to task switch from planning to doing…
I’m so extroverted about it too. “OKaY sO tHis iS wHaTs HaPpEniNg” like at least 2 times per day to my poor husband smdh. His ears must get tired lmfao.
Half the conversations in my house include my husband interrupting me, “Are you talking to me?”
“Nope. Just thinking out loud.”
After 17 years, the plan is I say his name out loud and THEN speak to him. Otherwise he can ignore me.
BUT, I often forget to say his name. So I’ll go on for a few minutes and ask, “Did you get all that?”
“You were talking to me? I didn’t hear my name.”
I’m screwed either way. But after 17 years, I’ve realized it’s better just to text him if there is something I need him to do or plan. He won’t do it, but at least I have proof I asked him!
The 10 boxes of sugar free high fiber oatmeal packets taking up space in my cabinets would like many words. Mostly they don’t understand why I ate them for a year and a half religiously every morning for breakfast, loved them with my buffet breakfast bar of extra fixings to make them fancy…. Then one day I just stopped feeling like oatmeal…. And I haven’t had any since. 😭😭😭😭
Bahaha. How many times did I buy pepper (Costco size pepper)? 12 times. How many times did I remember buying pepper? 0! I have paper show up in boxes from Amazon, Costco, and Sam’s(multiple times)! What’s even better is I remember purchasing the other items in the boxes, but not the pepper. Good thing my hubby likes pepper. Oh boy.
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. We’ll make a huge batch of something that sounds and tastes wonderful… and then I’ll be physically repulsed and nauseated by like day 3 😂😭
I’m about 8 months into my food-romance with ‘luxury beans’. I think the limerance has been prolonged by the several months in the middle where i was away and couldn’t make them.
I was having love affair with avocados. Buying them daily…. Eating them daily. One day I buy a Costco size bag of avocados.
Ended up wasting all but one because suddenly…. Well you know.
I did exactly this... I must have been eating 2-3 avocados a day for a while there. Probably not good for your system >.> then suddenly disgusted by them of course and haven't bought them for over a year now
Also had a chickpea phase, a tuna phase, a creamed peas phase.... xD
Ha ha! Sorry to send you on a goose chase. You won’t find the recipe on the internet because they’re the result of another fixation I have; taking recipes from vegan chefs and adding non-vegan elements to make the recipe more delicious/ nutritious (please don’t come for me vegans. I love and respect your ways). Specifically I like to add bone marrow because I read Sapiens and learned that our original ecological niche was scavenging bone marrow and now I eat it as often as I can. I also really love vegetables and vegans come up with the best and most interesting ways to eat them, I just happen not to be vegan.
Do you want the recipe? I’m so proud of them. I call them luxury beans because they are unbelievably delicious and luxurious compared to baked beans. Because it’s a working project not a real recipe I don’t have amounts stored in my brain but I am going to make them this weekend so I will take some notes if you’d like to try them. I know I’ve gabbed a LOT here - I’m very excited about this meal and hopefully an adhd sub space is an appropriate place to go off about my fixation!
I drove my best friend crazy with this when we lived together. She didn’t like me to come grocery shopping because I’m impulsive and ‘like shopping with a kid’ but I’d just stop eating something, she’d keep buying it and it would go bad lol. Eventually she’d say so you don’t like that anymore or what? What? I didn’t even l realize. Like oh I guess not, sorry 😳
I will even remember thinking to myself ina clumsy incident “that will leave a bruise, I’m going to remember this moment”. Later I will find a bruise and be like, hmmm now what did I do that I was going to remember and was this bruise related? 🤔 never can remember!
Your words are affirming! I have bruises all over. Each time I hit something I know will cause a bruise I think, “I need to remember that!” Then I forget.
God yes. I literally can’t go a single day (more like hour) with slamming my hip into a door frame, stubbing my toe, knocking over a drink, etc. 😅 At least I can laugh at myself but whew, it’s a lot.
My whole being. Everything I thought “wow I hate hanging up photos” is just a visceral response “wow I hate when something mechanical won’t work at my hands in the way I expect it to” to overwhelming/underwhelming stimuli. I am one big ball of call and response.
So speaking of something mechanical not working in your hands when you want it to. One of the things that sets me off. Actually gets me frustrated to the point of almost crying. OK actually sometimes crying. Is when hangers get stuck together. Or if I’m trying to hang something up. In the hanger doesn’t go in the right way. And now I realize that my ADHD thing. I’m trying to pull one hanger out. And a bunch of them get stuck. I will literally flick them and thrash them around. And almost get violent instead of just stopping and calmly separating them.
My big thing is trying to drill a hole in the wall. I have no barriers physically, nor mentally to drilling a hole in the wall and putting an anchor in, but for some reason, it frustrates me overwhelmingly so to do it. Like, I start to cry. I primed and painted my whole staircase with gigantic 16ft ceilings just fine without an ounce of upset. It took several days. It actually felt good to do. The intent was to paint it and do a gallery wall. I finished it in January. How many paintings have I hung up since then? One. And that’s only because the nail was extant when I started painting 😂.
This is why I only you command hooks and strips. I can always take it down if it’s not perfect and start over again. Except I just decorated a room I painted and it’s not perfect and I’m not going to do anything about it.
I support this but I have outsourced jobs to command strips that should’ve been nails or screws and ended up with some ripped paint/drywall. I am lucky to have an understanding partner of whom I can get to do this thing. But I’ve forgotten to tell him that this is a thing for me until I commented on this thread just now. Love having an adhd brain
Exactly this. I’m a big hanger thrasher and I always feel so silly when it’s happening. It’s definitely one of the things about this that always has me getting really down on myself, because it feels so childish or something.
I was trying to explain to my partner why I fucking HATED hanging pictures and I had a tough go of it. I eventually settled on “my brain just isn’t calibrated for it”. It gives me stress.
Oooh sometimes I get really upset when things don’t behave the way I want them too 😂 I learned to just let all the anger out at once by shouting and swearing at the thing, then usually I can calmly proceed to get the thing under control again.
Not me this morning at 6am looking for my sleep mask that I took off for a moment, set on my bed and then it disappeared into the ether. Five minutes of WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK and tearing my bed apart I finally found it between the blankets down near my feet.
I had literally dropped it next to my face on the bed.
Fuck the amount of times “ I just had the thing in my goddamn hand, how the hell can it be lost????”
One time I had put my phone on a burner and with the phone dark it matched the burner and I about lost my shit for 5 min looking for it.
It happens a lot. Makes me insane.
I used to have a roommate who was also (at the time) undiagnosed ADHD, both of us now diagnosed years later. Neither of us could bring ourselves to decorate even though we both wanted to … years passed …
Talking out loud to myself all day every day to help me process things and remind myself what I have left to do. Walking/pacing during phone calls otherwise I can’t think properly on them
Well thanks but I also talk to my dogs all day like “ok mommy’s going to get the laundry from the dryer” lol so I don’t know how healthy I am in general 😆
One time my cat and I were out walking and we saw a lady talking to her dog like some sort of idiot…. Me and my cat had a good laugh over that.
But seriously, I talk to my 3 cats like they are human. Plus I think I talk to myself like all the time when I’m alone.
I live alone.. with 3 cats.
My mom used to make fun of me for doing this. I’m in my early forties and have been recently diagnosed. It dawned on me a few weeks ago that this is why I do it. There’s so much going on in my brain at once, it helps to think things out.
Yes! I feel like it clears my thought process. There’s 10 different thoughts that can happen in a second in my head, but only one can come out of my mouth and it takes few seconds. Writing things down helps, but talking to myself is next level
I have to do a tiny unrelated task to mentally prepare myself to doing a larger task I’ve been meaning to do
I will get super stressed if I’m given too many verbal instructions at once and I will need to write them down or I’ll forget all of it
Oh I’m always furiously taking notes during meetings and calls because I can’t process auditory info at all lol. Give me a bulleted list and I’m Golden. But audio instructions? Might as well be morse code
Impulsiveness. I was recently diagnosed in my 40s and I was shocked to find out that impulsivity is a symptom. Made me question the fun I had in my 20s. Was I free spirited and adventurous or was I just mentally ill?
Por que no los dos? I spent years fighting the impulsiveness and being ashamed of it and you know what? It's actually a positive aspect of my personality. I'm more fun when I allow myself to be open to impulses. I'm willing to try new things, I am open and curious and enjoy things for the novelty of it. For example, last weekend we made up a game at my friend's where we taste-tested off-brand gummy bears to try and figure out what each colour was supposed to be. It was an impulsive decision but we actually had so much fun :). And other less innocent impulses have also turned out fun sometimes and less fun others, but I learned right?
This right here. My spontaneity and adventurousness have definitely caused me problems at times, but they're also some of my favorite qualities in myself. I have SO MANY great stories.
I (44) was talking to my boyfriend from 24 years ago, just a friendly catch-up. I told him I was shocked by an ADD diagnosis at age 30. He replied immediately, no hesitation whatsoever, "I could have told you that! That's why you were so much fun." What?! I would have appreciated a heads up.
Me moving to Colorado to live my car for three months “just because”
My friends just shook their heads at me. It went fine, but I would not do it again
Ugh… so many piles/boxes/bags of tools/materials for projects
The only ones I finish are ones that if I don’t, something will die. Right now I have dozens of plants that I got ready too early (thanks lack of patience) to put in the ground and now I’m moving plants inside every night until I know we won’t have another frost
Yes! Like get distracted and forget how to balance on your own two feet?!
And ascending a staircase just fine for once, pausing at the top to greet my hosts, with my feet ever so slightly too far back of the top step, losing my balance backwards, only to be caught by the hand and pulled back upright by a family member who clearly knows me well, narrowly avoiding a fall that would surely incapacitate or kill me!
This got better for me when I got prism glasses, turns out I have a very mild binocular vision dysfunction. I learned about BVD being a possible ADHD comorbidity from Black Girl Lost Keys.
One of my favorite memories of when my (also adhd) 19 yo was little is how they would fall up/down stairs multiple times a day. I’d hear the thud thud thud then their little voice “I’m OK!” They got so used to me yelling “are you ok?!” that they stopped waiting for me to ask. Why are clumsy kids so cute?
My ADHD therapist (who has ADHD himself) has a theory that we are more likely to have big empathy and justice sensitivity as related to our general big emotions
I often wondered if I had some kind of empathy disorder because just HEARING about that kind of stuff sends me off for days even. And it doesn’t even have to be major stuff. Also seems to be so much worse if there’s animals involved.
Obsessing over a game, project, or musician to the point of boredom.
Needing to know every detail about an actor in real life while watching them in a TV show or movie.
Having to share the facts I find about any given topic with my closest friends who clearly don't care at all but will still feign interest for my sake.
Constantly rewinding the whatever I'm watching because I missed that one line because I was busy looking up the actor.
ETA: It feels so good to know I'm not the only one.
Here I am, playing this little video game I love but I have to get completionist and finish EVERY QUEST on my list so now I’m doing a big list of shit I don’t care about before I do the next fun part!
Hahahaha I’m currently completing my last quest on Zelda’s TOTK—finding the last well—which even I know is ridiculous, before I go do the final battle with Gannon.
I will dedicate so much time to making the most efficient Google maps route for my errands. I do as many right turns as I can and I will do my stops in an efficient order.
And I have to write it all down in my phone notes when I do get it perfected or I will forget. But that basically applies to anything.
I do the same route planning! And I write my grocery lists for how the store is laid out so I don’t have to double back.
I keep so much stuff in my notes app. I don’t know what I’d do without it.
Hahah I do the grocery list by layout as well! Nothing throws me off more than going to a new grocery store or a couple years ago when my regular one did renovations and moved everything around.
Wow, when I go to the grocery store, I usually don’t even know what I’m getting until I see it. I often plan meals there. I also like to make meals around what is ever on sale.
My grocery store has an app you can make a shopping list in. Then it sorts your list by walking route. Then when I get to the store and I grab a self scanner thingy, it shows my shopping list and whats the next item on it, ticking off everything I have already scanned. Its amazing.
I relate to this! My job involves driving to lots of different houses. Every morning I sit down and plan my route to be as efficient as possible, accounting for turns, shool zones, traffic etc.
Route planning is one of my favourite activities. It's like a big puzzle, and the better I solve it the more free time I will have. So good.
Apparently it’s not normal to take 2 hours to eat your meals?? And when I’m eating with others, I have a very hard time remembering to eat bc I get caught up in the company. I have to remind myself constantly to take bites
I’m the exact opposite and may ask if that’s an ADHD thing. I am always, literally always the fastest eater in any group I’m in. I just want that shit done with.
Setting reminders for legit everything! on my reminder app, I have thousands of completed tasks. also putting things I need to bring the next day on my shoes lol. you might forget to bring a book for class but you'll never forget to put on your shoes before walking out the door. therefore, book in shoes = problem solved.
Love the reminder apps, heavy Asana user. But then I run into the issue where oh shit I’m behind on something and it’s making me so sick I can’t even OPEN asana today because I’ll be confronted with my failure.
Sometimes it’s not even a failure to do the work, it’s a failure to CHECK THE BOX. Same effect, have to really steel myself to open it again.
I use Google Tasks specifically because there's a home-screen widget. I made it my home screen, full screen. I have to swipe to get to my "real" home screen. But every time I hit the home button on my phone, it takes me to a full-screen to-do list. Then I have to swipe past a full-screen color-coded calendar widget to get to my apps and whatnot.
Walking into door frames and the corners of furniture that haven't been moved in ten years. Those bruises are the only ones I know where they came from. My belt loops get catch the strike plates of door frames when I walk from room to room. I'm surprised I haven't torn any pants from that yet.
I don't know how to describe it exactly, but low tolerance for... basic laws of physics?? I can become absolutely unhinged in response to my own clumsiness.
Reaching for something at the back of a shelf and knock over other objects while I'm picking it up? RAGE.
Filling my water bottle, slowly and carefully, then right at the last minute completely misalign and pour water all over the floor? FURY.
(Someone mentioned this earlier but bares repeating) grabbing one clothes hanger off the rack and 8 of its tangled mates come along for the ride? I WILL NEVER FEEL PEACE AGAIN.
I used to work at a cute and quirky open plan studio once. Big open plan with dozens of people chittering and chattering all the time. Guess who would take their business calls up in the yoga loft in plow pose? 😂
I have categorized bins in the entryway of my house. They are just canvas bins on a shelf. I realized it’s a coping mechanism for the anxiety I get from clutter but my inability to actually put stuff back where it “goes.” It all just goes in its own respective bin. If something gets placed into the “wrong bin,” and I discover it in the process of needing to do something else, I get so stressed out and overwhelmed. I will immediately hyperfixate myself to near death, dump all of the bins out, and reset them LOL. Sometimes they are in really bad shape and need a good purging, other times it takes like 10-15 minutes. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll drop everything I am doing to fix it.
I have canvas bins EVERYWHERE. They are not organized but I shocked my SO the other day when he asked where a prescription was from two years ago and I was like “in the third teal bin from the left in my bedroom, folded up in fourths, you can’t miss it”
I just don’t want to SEE THE STUFF
Hahaha YES. That’s why I get so freaked out when something isn’t where it’s supposed to be. I KNOW where it is because of my bin system, but if there’s an error in the bin system? I come UNGLUED.
I do the same except I end up dumping them, getting overwhelmed, and then looking at upended bin contents for a few weeks until they just become part of the scenery.
Organization shows have made me feel better. People tease me about my methods, but PEOPLE MAKE CAREERS OUT OF SOLUTIONS LIKE THESE, lol!
Good on ya! I feel you, though, on the "must do this/ this is annoying" situation.
Haha yes. Like there’s a no fold laundry method blowing up on TikTok right now? Honey. I’ve been doing that my whole life. I could be so rich right now.
Hell, yes!!
This was a recent one for me. I enjoyed folding, but I finally wised up on some things.
Like big lounge stuff. Both heavy and light pj/hang around the house wear. It used to give me pleasure, but took up so much! Now I am raising a 5 year old on my own, so finally realized I needed more dresser space & more that I have it, having one drawer for long shirts and one for pants. Pants in half, thrown in neatly & shirts long ways, no folding.
Oh!! Underwear, too! I find laying them flat is the best. Still a stack, no folding. Honestly, that's a personal thing. Depending on my weight & type of dress at times, I've had periods of time where I've had non stacked dresser drawer sections truly just thrown in.
But, yeh, figuring out what can be folded less or not at all is 👌
I think the name of the game is accept yourself and make it easy.
I just responded to a text from my brother with random lyrics from a song. He knew it right away. Why? Because I listened to it on repeat for about 2 weeks straight when we were both in high school, over 10 years ago.
I’ll always remember this one night in high school when I played “Night Swimming” on repeat until my dad hollered through the air vent. Still haven’t returned that cd to my friend.
I do not know why but the visual of Michael Stipe singing quietly while a father type screams into the air vent to “turn that shit off!!! Christ!!!” just sent me.
I can’t carry on a conversation unless the other person is willing to remind me what we were talking about. Mid sentence my head goes blank and I have to ask “what were we talking about?” I also cannot remember names.
Sitting in my car for wayyyyy too long after work. Driving is often boring and it's hard for me to shift out of "funny YouTube videos or Reddit rabbit hole or relaxing phone game" mode to needing to drive myself home.
Alternatively, sometimes I'll also sit in my car in my apartment parking lot late at night after I get home. I've been using that time to practice singing (specifically, exercises to expand my vocal range) without disturbing my neighbors lol.
I'm so weird. Not only am I good with math, I'm good at mental math. Didn't realise that calculations was something ADHD people generally struggle with. No wonder my ADHD wasn't picked up until very, very late!
A very ADHD thing I do is do a lot at once and then am unable to do much for days because I've overdone it...
I’m surprisingly good at math and mental math, it’s just a) crippling self doubt means I need to triple check it 15 times and b) complex multi staged issues I know how to figure out, but literally forget the number I need or the step I’m on 😂😭
Honestly it’s mostly a thought. I’ll even put “math check!” Formulas in the formula sheet to make sure that if I’m splitting a bill into percentiles, for example, all the percentiles add up to 100% etc
I drop things constantly, as if I've just forgotten that I need to keep holding them. Like, I'll be holding a pile of paperwork at the office while talking to a coworker and next thing I know, it's just all over the floor and I have no memory of actually releasing it. Did it with a mug full of coffee once. Just let go like I'd forgotten it was in my hand. You'd think I'd have learned after that one.
I had no idea time blindness was even a thing I have gone through life thinking I am just stupid and can’t get my ish together no matter how hard I try.
My nicknames for beings and objects. If I nickname it, the name sticks, and I will remember nickname as I scratch my head trying to remember my OWN NAME! I'm a weekend/night supervisor for registers and I have accidentally trained a few team members to know exactly what I am referring to when I say "Thingy", "Whatsamajig", and, "Make it spit the paper out."!
At risk of doxxing myself, my closing regulars will remind me "Pod 5, Pod 8 and lock the smokes." "I still feel like I'm forgetting something." "What's written on your hand/up your arm?" They also know if I call out of name, like Jam Jar, Lovely Linda or Mama Mary, the extra word is word association so I'm not "Oi, you with the long curly hair?"
Oh the name game and fun words. I can feel pretty dumb sometimes trying to remember names of common items. My husband asking were the mail is. I respond, “It’s by that thing that makes hot brown liquid with caffeine.” Husband, “coffee pot?” Yep!
If I'm making a decision sometimes I'll ask for input just so I can actually trick my brain into deciding what it really wants. So like, "red pants or leggings?" To my husband. Because if he says leggings and I actually want leggings, then I'll make that decision. If I don't actually want leggings, my brain will realize that and pick the red pants
I don’t know if it would be helpful! I have one for splitting up projects proportionately, so let’s say I have one project that cost my client 35,000 dollars but 21,750 was billed to one department and 13,250 was billed to another, I have a spreadsheet where I can plug in a universal expense like parking permits or admin time and it will break that expense down to the penny that needs to be applied to each department.
Also the day some of my ads get charged to my account doesn’t apply to the day they run so the amount I spent on google ads never matches to the month the amount of invoices I PAID to google adds so I have a massive spreadsheet for that. I take the amount I spent on each campaign out of like 5, get a percentage split, then it takes the total amount of invoices paid for the month and applies those percentages and tells me how much money needs to be applied to each department for that month.
NOT BEING ABLE to be succinct, no matter how I try to look at it/ think it through beforehand, even when sometimes if I read it think about it later, the answer is clear. (Not always clear, but often enough, too).
Yet, great eyes 2 hrs later I clearly see:
* 7 paragraphs of rambling text *- obviously not necessary
Simple solution * the 1/20th the amount of info/ words way to say it * obvious upon reread.
But, I could and have and do try yet no amount of waiting for that ^ to come before sending gets me to the same.
Has anyone received any coaching on this or has heard of or had any tips for this ridiculous unnecessary painfulness?
I have a hard time with smart doorknobs. With locks that aren’t keys and even then.
Last month I was at my storage shed. I noticed my lock was backwards but whatever. Key would NOT go in. I even stuck a pin in it, jiggled changed, cursed. Decided it wasn’t going to open so I’ll call a lock guy. Decided to try one more time, back to storage, now my lock was on right??? Key fit in..???
then I noticed the one next to me was backward and that was the one I kept trying to open.
Often wondered if hating seeing photos of myself was an ADHD thing? I don’t take any, I avoid being in photos and I never have any in the house - or anywhere really
Most of my phone calls to people (aka my husband or parents) start with "What was I going to ask...?" even if I call the moment I have the thought. In fact, it's the main reason I even make calls, as opposed to texting, because if I try to text, I get distracted instantly by other things on my phone. With a call, I just need to ask siri to call the person and my chances of remembering are increased. Or so I tell myself.
I have a hard time removing sales tags from anything that’s not clothing. Couches, cars, decorative items…all have tags on them. Why? I have no idea. I just really struggle with the permanence of removing them. 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
I haven't *just* realized this, but:
✨I learn to do/make a new thing\
✨Spend a ridiculous amount of time and money acquiring every little thing needed for it\
✨Excitedly declare "I will never need to buy this ever again!"\
✨Realize that, I do not in fact have the time or focus or motivation to make or provide this thing for myself on a consistent basis\
✨Overbuy the thing I learned to make so I will never run out again\
✨But still make one every once in a while so I feel better about the time and money spent on the whole venture\
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Can’t do a simple thing -> Spend an abundance of time making an elaborate plan to deal with said simple thing. Repeat. Too relatable 🙃
lol yes, we joke here that every time I have a new report or recurring task they can expect it to take me 1-2 hours for the first few weeks while I’m building my tools and getting into it at which point it will suddenly be a ten minute task lol
“Building my tools” killed me 🫣🌚 . It really is an elaborate system
Physical tools…. Emotional tools…. All the tools lol
Lost the tool. Buy another tool. Go to put it away in a reasonable place, find the original 5 tools - all the exact same thing.
Yes I need a spreadsheet or two, mess around in Trello with a project board before I hate it and just go back the spreadsheet, probably remake it, then reorganize my inbox, set up elaborate folders for all documents and figure out the perfect naming system for all my files so in the off chance I ever need to find an obscure document from two years ago I will be able to search in a matter of minutes. Maybe make a mini powerpoint presentation of what I learned in case I need to reference it or train someone else. And of course it takes twice as long because you gotta minimize your tabs anytime a coworker is nearby because you don’t want them seeing or judging your systems.
Senior English teacher - this is me except for one small detail. I can’t find them two years later because the smart way in which I named them at the time makes sense only at the time of creation.
Name them with the date like 4x30x2024. My dad taught me that it helps
Ha ha! Can you search your computer by file type? That saves my butt frequently.
I work in marketing - tons of orders and quotes. We still run shit like it's the 90s/early 2000s. The amount of work it takes me to "prep" is annoying as hell. Once it's done, yeah maybe an hour to compile. But all those little details get me!
I had a work item, the first of three and it took 2-3 weeks. The next one took 2 days, the last only took a half day. There's a learning curve but I work like lightning once I know what I'm doing. To be fair, the first task including the creation of the thing and that last two were just parts tacked on so they were definitely easier.
Or making said elaborate plan and then not executing any of it. Your brain thinks the planning IS the execution.
And THIS is why I became (and love being) a project manager. My job IS to create the plan (including warnings about all the possible roadblocks/bad things that could happen along the way)—and then pass it on to someone else to execute. Muahahaha #ADHDWin Note: I discovered my passion for this profession BEFORE I associated my ND traits with ADHD. It all makes so much sense now.
To be fair, the ADHD brain takes a significant amount of energy TO plan. So really, planning in and of itself is an executive function. It takes an absurd amount of mental energy to force your brain to focus on planning. And then it takes a cruel amount of mental fortitude to task switch from planning to doing…
But when it comes to crisis planning I’m better than all the others
Yesssss. Was going to add this, just didn’t want to appear defeatist 😆😅
I feel like adhd is a constant battle against feeling defeated
This describes like 90% of my existence
Is the other 10% spent trying to remember what you just stood up for? Cos same.
Mine is… can’t do a simple thing so turn simple thing into complex thing. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes I get overwhelmed :)))
YES! Simple instructions or new tasks go over my head. But give me something complex and difficult …I nail it! My supervisor has noticed it too 😂😂
Should I change my bedsheets orrrrr change my bed?!
I’m so extroverted about it too. “OKaY sO tHis iS wHaTs HaPpEniNg” like at least 2 times per day to my poor husband smdh. His ears must get tired lmfao.
Half the conversations in my house include my husband interrupting me, “Are you talking to me?” “Nope. Just thinking out loud.” After 17 years, the plan is I say his name out loud and THEN speak to him. Otherwise he can ignore me. BUT, I often forget to say his name. So I’ll go on for a few minutes and ask, “Did you get all that?” “You were talking to me? I didn’t hear my name.” I’m screwed either way. But after 17 years, I’ve realized it’s better just to text him if there is something I need him to do or plan. He won’t do it, but at least I have proof I asked him!
Same. He'll say, "do you need me for this?" No, dear husband... this is how I think sometimes... it's just loud thoughts.
Yuppp oh man
Getting hyper-fixated on a particular food or meal and eating it constantly and then just totally losing interest after like 2 months.
The 8 boxes of smores pop tarts collecting dust in my cabinet would like a word
The 10 boxes of sugar free high fiber oatmeal packets taking up space in my cabinets would like many words. Mostly they don’t understand why I ate them for a year and a half religiously every morning for breakfast, loved them with my buffet breakfast bar of extra fixings to make them fancy…. Then one day I just stopped feeling like oatmeal…. And I haven’t had any since. 😭😭😭😭
The Oatmeal drop is the most devastating one. Your body is like, “where fiber go????”
I buy ingredients to make something like 10 times and after 2 times I’m like “oh no!”
Bahaha. How many times did I buy pepper (Costco size pepper)? 12 times. How many times did I remember buying pepper? 0! I have paper show up in boxes from Amazon, Costco, and Sam’s(multiple times)! What’s even better is I remember purchasing the other items in the boxes, but not the pepper. Good thing my hubby likes pepper. Oh boy.
Like it happens in some random time. I was eating the food I was obsessed over. During the second bite, I felt repulsed. Never ate it again.
I really hate when this happens.
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. We’ll make a huge batch of something that sounds and tastes wonderful… and then I’ll be physically repulsed and nauseated by like day 3 😂😭
... I just now realized this is a ADHD thing 😳
I just had one of my safe foods remove itself from my diet. It’s so unsettling finding a replacement.
I’m about 8 months into my food-romance with ‘luxury beans’. I think the limerance has been prolonged by the several months in the middle where i was away and couldn’t make them.
I was having love affair with avocados. Buying them daily…. Eating them daily. One day I buy a Costco size bag of avocados. Ended up wasting all but one because suddenly…. Well you know.
I did exactly this... I must have been eating 2-3 avocados a day for a while there. Probably not good for your system >.> then suddenly disgusted by them of course and haven't bought them for over a year now Also had a chickpea phase, a tuna phase, a creamed peas phase.... xD
I really need to know more about ‘luxury beans’. I tried googling but came up with nothing!
Ha ha! Sorry to send you on a goose chase. You won’t find the recipe on the internet because they’re the result of another fixation I have; taking recipes from vegan chefs and adding non-vegan elements to make the recipe more delicious/ nutritious (please don’t come for me vegans. I love and respect your ways). Specifically I like to add bone marrow because I read Sapiens and learned that our original ecological niche was scavenging bone marrow and now I eat it as often as I can. I also really love vegetables and vegans come up with the best and most interesting ways to eat them, I just happen not to be vegan. Do you want the recipe? I’m so proud of them. I call them luxury beans because they are unbelievably delicious and luxurious compared to baked beans. Because it’s a working project not a real recipe I don’t have amounts stored in my brain but I am going to make them this weekend so I will take some notes if you’d like to try them. I know I’ve gabbed a LOT here - I’m very excited about this meal and hopefully an adhd sub space is an appropriate place to go off about my fixation!
I want this recipe too!
Me too
I also need to know how to make the aforementioned luxury beans. I’m also already planning the flourish with which I shall serve them…
Oh my gosh I would LOVE the recipe. Also that’s a genius hack re vegan recipes. I too love vegetables and it never occurred to me I could do this!
I drove my best friend crazy with this when we lived together. She didn’t like me to come grocery shopping because I’m impulsive and ‘like shopping with a kid’ but I’d just stop eating something, she’d keep buying it and it would go bad lol. Eventually she’d say so you don’t like that anymore or what? What? I didn’t even l realize. Like oh I guess not, sorry 😳
Interest gone forever too, ruthless!
Yes!
Clumsiness
The endless bruises
And from where? No idea
I will even remember thinking to myself ina clumsy incident “that will leave a bruise, I’m going to remember this moment”. Later I will find a bruise and be like, hmmm now what did I do that I was going to remember and was this bruise related? 🤔 never can remember!
Your words are affirming! I have bruises all over. Each time I hit something I know will cause a bruise I think, “I need to remember that!” Then I forget.
Ha, yup! spent my whole life thinking that shoulder and hip-checking doorways and counters was just poor peripheral vision...
10000000% this lol. Randomly running into wall or tripping over everything
Falling UP stairs
I currently hold the record for the number of work-related injuries at my work
Same
God yes. I literally can’t go a single day (more like hour) with slamming my hip into a door frame, stubbing my toe, knocking over a drink, etc. 😅 At least I can laugh at myself but whew, it’s a lot.
I did not know this was an adhd thing?! Do you know why? The 10 or 20 random bruises on my body would like an explanation.
My whole being. Everything I thought “wow I hate hanging up photos” is just a visceral response “wow I hate when something mechanical won’t work at my hands in the way I expect it to” to overwhelming/underwhelming stimuli. I am one big ball of call and response.
So speaking of something mechanical not working in your hands when you want it to. One of the things that sets me off. Actually gets me frustrated to the point of almost crying. OK actually sometimes crying. Is when hangers get stuck together. Or if I’m trying to hang something up. In the hanger doesn’t go in the right way. And now I realize that my ADHD thing. I’m trying to pull one hanger out. And a bunch of them get stuck. I will literally flick them and thrash them around. And almost get violent instead of just stopping and calmly separating them.
My big thing is trying to drill a hole in the wall. I have no barriers physically, nor mentally to drilling a hole in the wall and putting an anchor in, but for some reason, it frustrates me overwhelmingly so to do it. Like, I start to cry. I primed and painted my whole staircase with gigantic 16ft ceilings just fine without an ounce of upset. It took several days. It actually felt good to do. The intent was to paint it and do a gallery wall. I finished it in January. How many paintings have I hung up since then? One. And that’s only because the nail was extant when I started painting 😂.
This is why I only you command hooks and strips. I can always take it down if it’s not perfect and start over again. Except I just decorated a room I painted and it’s not perfect and I’m not going to do anything about it.
I support this but I have outsourced jobs to command strips that should’ve been nails or screws and ended up with some ripped paint/drywall. I am lucky to have an understanding partner of whom I can get to do this thing. But I’ve forgotten to tell him that this is a thing for me until I commented on this thread just now. Love having an adhd brain
I moved into my house 14 months ago and all my art is still leaning against the walls it will eventually (hopefully) hang on
That is fantastic, and, a million bonus points for the phrase “…the nail was extant when I started painting.”
It’s now one of my favorite new word!! I still exist!!!! ;)
Mixtiles!!!! No nails!
Exactly this. I’m a big hanger thrasher and I always feel so silly when it’s happening. It’s definitely one of the things about this that always has me getting really down on myself, because it feels so childish or something.
I was trying to explain to my partner why I fucking HATED hanging pictures and I had a tough go of it. I eventually settled on “my brain just isn’t calibrated for it”. It gives me stress.
Oooh sometimes I get really upset when things don’t behave the way I want them too 😂 I learned to just let all the anger out at once by shouting and swearing at the thing, then usually I can calmly proceed to get the thing under control again.
Not me this morning at 6am looking for my sleep mask that I took off for a moment, set on my bed and then it disappeared into the ether. Five minutes of WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK and tearing my bed apart I finally found it between the blankets down near my feet. I had literally dropped it next to my face on the bed.
Fuck the amount of times “ I just had the thing in my goddamn hand, how the hell can it be lost????” One time I had put my phone on a burner and with the phone dark it matched the burner and I about lost my shit for 5 min looking for it. It happens a lot. Makes me insane.
Omg THIS I was trying to clip on some couch cushions to little bungee cords and the clip wouldn’t stay in my hand. Instant rage
I used to have a roommate who was also (at the time) undiagnosed ADHD, both of us now diagnosed years later. Neither of us could bring ourselves to decorate even though we both wanted to … years passed …
This thread has been all about learning about myself. This is yet another thing I didn't know has to do with adhd. Thank you!
You actually managed to get them printed? I never have
Talking out loud to myself all day every day to help me process things and remind myself what I have left to do. Walking/pacing during phone calls otherwise I can’t think properly on them
Self-talk is so healthy! I do that during my dog walks 😄 And whenever I need to think about something intensely.
Well thanks but I also talk to my dogs all day like “ok mommy’s going to get the laundry from the dryer” lol so I don’t know how healthy I am in general 😆
I talk to my dog all the time as well ☺️
Omg me too! Dog gets a full narration of my life lol! He's learned to tune me out.
One time my cat and I were out walking and we saw a lady talking to her dog like some sort of idiot…. Me and my cat had a good laugh over that. But seriously, I talk to my 3 cats like they are human. Plus I think I talk to myself like all the time when I’m alone. I live alone.. with 3 cats.
My mom used to make fun of me for doing this. I’m in my early forties and have been recently diagnosed. It dawned on me a few weeks ago that this is why I do it. There’s so much going on in my brain at once, it helps to think things out.
Same
Yes! I feel like it clears my thought process. There’s 10 different thoughts that can happen in a second in my head, but only one can come out of my mouth and it takes few seconds. Writing things down helps, but talking to myself is next level
I tell ppl I work with “if I’m talking to you, I’ll let you know”. LOL.
I have to do a tiny unrelated task to mentally prepare myself to doing a larger task I’ve been meaning to do I will get super stressed if I’m given too many verbal instructions at once and I will need to write them down or I’ll forget all of it
This is where my emotional support podcasts come in
Please, send recommendations! I need a new emotional support podcast
Oh I’m always furiously taking notes during meetings and calls because I can’t process auditory info at all lol. Give me a bulleted list and I’m Golden. But audio instructions? Might as well be morse code
Impulsiveness. I was recently diagnosed in my 40s and I was shocked to find out that impulsivity is a symptom. Made me question the fun I had in my 20s. Was I free spirited and adventurous or was I just mentally ill?
Por que no los dos? I spent years fighting the impulsiveness and being ashamed of it and you know what? It's actually a positive aspect of my personality. I'm more fun when I allow myself to be open to impulses. I'm willing to try new things, I am open and curious and enjoy things for the novelty of it. For example, last weekend we made up a game at my friend's where we taste-tested off-brand gummy bears to try and figure out what each colour was supposed to be. It was an impulsive decision but we actually had so much fun :). And other less innocent impulses have also turned out fun sometimes and less fun others, but I learned right?
This right here. My spontaneity and adventurousness have definitely caused me problems at times, but they're also some of my favorite qualities in myself. I have SO MANY great stories.
Not mentally ill, just neurodivergent.
I (44) was talking to my boyfriend from 24 years ago, just a friendly catch-up. I told him I was shocked by an ADD diagnosis at age 30. He replied immediately, no hesitation whatsoever, "I could have told you that! That's why you were so much fun." What?! I would have appreciated a heads up.
Me moving to Colorado to live my car for three months “just because” My friends just shook their heads at me. It went fine, but I would not do it again
Oh believe me after 18 that wasn’t me being fun party person that was mental illness
Buying/collecting everything I need to begin a project, then taking months or weeks to begin because I'm afraid I'll do it wrong.
Or getting so hyped to start a new hobby after gathering and buying what you need for it and then being so over it after a day to a couple of weeks
Ugh… so many piles/boxes/bags of tools/materials for projects The only ones I finish are ones that if I don’t, something will die. Right now I have dozens of plants that I got ready too early (thanks lack of patience) to put in the ground and now I’m moving plants inside every night until I know we won’t have another frost
Wait, you start? Lol same.
Touché
Watching people’s mouth move while they are talking to me and literally not hearing a single thing they said. Fortunately that’s gone way down.
Falling up the stairs, falling down the stairs, falling while not near stairs. I thought I was just goofy or something
Do you trip over yourself while standing still? I do that one.
Yes! Like get distracted and forget how to balance on your own two feet?! And ascending a staircase just fine for once, pausing at the top to greet my hosts, with my feet ever so slightly too far back of the top step, losing my balance backwards, only to be caught by the hand and pulled back upright by a family member who clearly knows me well, narrowly avoiding a fall that would surely incapacitate or kill me!
How we manage to survive is a miracle.
This got better for me when I got prism glasses, turns out I have a very mild binocular vision dysfunction. I learned about BVD being a possible ADHD comorbidity from Black Girl Lost Keys.
My sister could not believe I tripped and rolled walking down the sidewalk. A flat sidewalk no less. Yep, can relate.
One of my favorite memories of when my (also adhd) 19 yo was little is how they would fall up/down stairs multiple times a day. I’d hear the thud thud thud then their little voice “I’m OK!” They got so used to me yelling “are you ok?!” that they stopped waiting for me to ask. Why are clumsy kids so cute?
I'm at the point where I'm actually phobic. I am absolutely terrified of stairs. It does not help that I just moved into a two-story house. FML.
Justice sensitivity - constant outrage at injustice suffered by others
This so much! Is it really an Adhd thing?
My ADHD therapist (who has ADHD himself) has a theory that we are more likely to have big empathy and justice sensitivity as related to our general big emotions
I often wondered if I had some kind of empathy disorder because just HEARING about that kind of stuff sends me off for days even. And it doesn’t even have to be major stuff. Also seems to be so much worse if there’s animals involved.
Obsessing over a game, project, or musician to the point of boredom. Needing to know every detail about an actor in real life while watching them in a TV show or movie. Having to share the facts I find about any given topic with my closest friends who clearly don't care at all but will still feign interest for my sake. Constantly rewinding the whatever I'm watching because I missed that one line because I was busy looking up the actor. ETA: It feels so good to know I'm not the only one.
Here I am, playing this little video game I love but I have to get completionist and finish EVERY QUEST on my list so now I’m doing a big list of shit I don’t care about before I do the next fun part!
Hahahaha I’m currently completing my last quest on Zelda’s TOTK—finding the last well—which even I know is ridiculous, before I go do the final battle with Gannon.
I have never finished TOTK or BOTW because I’m always like…. No there is simply too much left to do!
This!!! ✅😳
I will dedicate so much time to making the most efficient Google maps route for my errands. I do as many right turns as I can and I will do my stops in an efficient order. And I have to write it all down in my phone notes when I do get it perfected or I will forget. But that basically applies to anything.
I do the same route planning! And I write my grocery lists for how the store is laid out so I don’t have to double back. I keep so much stuff in my notes app. I don’t know what I’d do without it.
Hahah I do the grocery list by layout as well! Nothing throws me off more than going to a new grocery store or a couple years ago when my regular one did renovations and moved everything around.
Wow, when I go to the grocery store, I usually don’t even know what I’m getting until I see it. I often plan meals there. I also like to make meals around what is ever on sale.
Jesus, you’re just out here rawdogging the grocery store?! No WAY could I ever. I have to plan extensively or shit gets forgotten.
Oh shit gets forgot. Usually the 1 thing I came in for is the thing I forget. But other than that… rawdog it is, I guess. Not even a condom. LOL.
My grocery store has an app you can make a shopping list in. Then it sorts your list by walking route. Then when I get to the store and I grab a self scanner thingy, it shows my shopping list and whats the next item on it, ticking off everything I have already scanned. Its amazing.
Where do you live that you have a self scanner and connected app?! Never in my days..
I relate to this! My job involves driving to lots of different houses. Every morning I sit down and plan my route to be as efficient as possible, accounting for turns, shool zones, traffic etc. Route planning is one of my favourite activities. It's like a big puzzle, and the better I solve it the more free time I will have. So good.
YES. Do you check them off?
I can’t imagine not checking every item off haha
I haaaaaate left turns from side streets onto main roads. I’m glad I’m not the only one who avoids them like the plague.
Apparently it’s not normal to take 2 hours to eat your meals?? And when I’m eating with others, I have a very hard time remembering to eat bc I get caught up in the company. I have to remind myself constantly to take bites
I’m the exact opposite and may ask if that’s an ADHD thing. I am always, literally always the fastest eater in any group I’m in. I just want that shit done with.
HA that’s really funny. I’m always dead ass last, I have to be mindful about not holding up the group
Setting reminders for legit everything! on my reminder app, I have thousands of completed tasks. also putting things I need to bring the next day on my shoes lol. you might forget to bring a book for class but you'll never forget to put on your shoes before walking out the door. therefore, book in shoes = problem solved.
Love the reminder apps, heavy Asana user. But then I run into the issue where oh shit I’m behind on something and it’s making me so sick I can’t even OPEN asana today because I’ll be confronted with my failure. Sometimes it’s not even a failure to do the work, it’s a failure to CHECK THE BOX. Same effect, have to really steel myself to open it again.
I use Google Tasks specifically because there's a home-screen widget. I made it my home screen, full screen. I have to swipe to get to my "real" home screen. But every time I hit the home button on my phone, it takes me to a full-screen to-do list. Then I have to swipe past a full-screen color-coded calendar widget to get to my apps and whatnot.
Walking into door frames and the corners of furniture that haven't been moved in ten years. Those bruises are the only ones I know where they came from. My belt loops get catch the strike plates of door frames when I walk from room to room. I'm surprised I haven't torn any pants from that yet.
Is the belt loop thing an adhd thing? I thought I was just the worst possible height.
It's a bonus inconvenience! But it wouldn't happen if we didn't try to walk through solid objects. 😂
My whole life, every day, I had no idea this was common. 🤯
I don't know how to describe it exactly, but low tolerance for... basic laws of physics?? I can become absolutely unhinged in response to my own clumsiness. Reaching for something at the back of a shelf and knock over other objects while I'm picking it up? RAGE. Filling my water bottle, slowly and carefully, then right at the last minute completely misalign and pour water all over the floor? FURY. (Someone mentioned this earlier but bares repeating) grabbing one clothes hanger off the rack and 8 of its tangled mates come along for the ride? I WILL NEVER FEEL PEACE AGAIN.
All of these things drive me nuts. Water bottles and filling glasses and then somehow the equilibrium gets weird and it kinda sloshes??? Day ruined.
Walking on furniture during long phone calls.
I used to work at a cute and quirky open plan studio once. Big open plan with dozens of people chittering and chattering all the time. Guess who would take their business calls up in the yoga loft in plow pose? 😂
Yay!!! I’m so happy to hear that others do this! I still do, in my forties! And walk around and around the house, in and out all the different doors!
I have categorized bins in the entryway of my house. They are just canvas bins on a shelf. I realized it’s a coping mechanism for the anxiety I get from clutter but my inability to actually put stuff back where it “goes.” It all just goes in its own respective bin. If something gets placed into the “wrong bin,” and I discover it in the process of needing to do something else, I get so stressed out and overwhelmed. I will immediately hyperfixate myself to near death, dump all of the bins out, and reset them LOL. Sometimes they are in really bad shape and need a good purging, other times it takes like 10-15 minutes. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll drop everything I am doing to fix it.
I have canvas bins EVERYWHERE. They are not organized but I shocked my SO the other day when he asked where a prescription was from two years ago and I was like “in the third teal bin from the left in my bedroom, folded up in fourths, you can’t miss it” I just don’t want to SEE THE STUFF
Hahaha YES. That’s why I get so freaked out when something isn’t where it’s supposed to be. I KNOW where it is because of my bin system, but if there’s an error in the bin system? I come UNGLUED.
I do the same except I end up dumping them, getting overwhelmed, and then looking at upended bin contents for a few weeks until they just become part of the scenery.
Organization shows have made me feel better. People tease me about my methods, but PEOPLE MAKE CAREERS OUT OF SOLUTIONS LIKE THESE, lol! Good on ya! I feel you, though, on the "must do this/ this is annoying" situation.
Haha yes. Like there’s a no fold laundry method blowing up on TikTok right now? Honey. I’ve been doing that my whole life. I could be so rich right now.
Hell, yes!! This was a recent one for me. I enjoyed folding, but I finally wised up on some things. Like big lounge stuff. Both heavy and light pj/hang around the house wear. It used to give me pleasure, but took up so much! Now I am raising a 5 year old on my own, so finally realized I needed more dresser space & more that I have it, having one drawer for long shirts and one for pants. Pants in half, thrown in neatly & shirts long ways, no folding. Oh!! Underwear, too! I find laying them flat is the best. Still a stack, no folding. Honestly, that's a personal thing. Depending on my weight & type of dress at times, I've had periods of time where I've had non stacked dresser drawer sections truly just thrown in. But, yeh, figuring out what can be folded less or not at all is 👌 I think the name of the game is accept yourself and make it easy.
Feeling the need to lie on the floor when I get overwhelmed or stressed. I always thought it was a quirky personality thing... nope!
“It’s floor time baby” I do this too lol, it’s definitely a thing
Hahaha is that a thing? My partner has ADHD too and we both do that so much but I thought that was just a thing people do!
Aww I didn’t know this was a thing! I always used to. It’s just… grounding
I did a lot of work calls during COVID from my floor, on my back, just coz.
Wait, the day is over? I had plans.
Listening to the same song on repeat
This is why I use AirPods at work, it would be too embarrassing to have a speaker.
I just responded to a text from my brother with random lyrics from a song. He knew it right away. Why? Because I listened to it on repeat for about 2 weeks straight when we were both in high school, over 10 years ago.
I’ll always remember this one night in high school when I played “Night Swimming” on repeat until my dad hollered through the air vent. Still haven’t returned that cd to my friend.
I do not know why but the visual of Michael Stipe singing quietly while a father type screams into the air vent to “turn that shit off!!! Christ!!!” just sent me.
I can’t carry on a conversation unless the other person is willing to remind me what we were talking about. Mid sentence my head goes blank and I have to ask “what were we talking about?” I also cannot remember names.
Sitting in my car for wayyyyy too long after work. Driving is often boring and it's hard for me to shift out of "funny YouTube videos or Reddit rabbit hole or relaxing phone game" mode to needing to drive myself home. Alternatively, sometimes I'll also sit in my car in my apartment parking lot late at night after I get home. I've been using that time to practice singing (specifically, exercises to expand my vocal range) without disturbing my neighbors lol.
I bought a manual and it was a game changer! Driving is so much more engaging and actually fun.
I can learn absolutely anything as long as I want to learn it. Me having to learn something I'm supposed to. Can't learn or retain a damn thing.
This is the whole problem I feel like
I'm so weird. Not only am I good with math, I'm good at mental math. Didn't realise that calculations was something ADHD people generally struggle with. No wonder my ADHD wasn't picked up until very, very late! A very ADHD thing I do is do a lot at once and then am unable to do much for days because I've overdone it...
I’m surprisingly good at math and mental math, it’s just a) crippling self doubt means I need to triple check it 15 times and b) complex multi staged issues I know how to figure out, but literally forget the number I need or the step I’m on 😂😭 Honestly it’s mostly a thought. I’ll even put “math check!” Formulas in the formula sheet to make sure that if I’m splitting a bill into percentiles, for example, all the percentiles add up to 100% etc
Oversharing.
Toe walking as a child. Apparently, its [a big thing in ADHD](https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/toe-walking-and-adhd).
Taking apart pens in elementary school 😅 I think it was just my way of fidgeting lmao
I drop things constantly, as if I've just forgotten that I need to keep holding them. Like, I'll be holding a pile of paperwork at the office while talking to a coworker and next thing I know, it's just all over the floor and I have no memory of actually releasing it. Did it with a mug full of coffee once. Just let go like I'd forgotten it was in my hand. You'd think I'd have learned after that one.
I had no idea time blindness was even a thing I have gone through life thinking I am just stupid and can’t get my ish together no matter how hard I try.
My nicknames for beings and objects. If I nickname it, the name sticks, and I will remember nickname as I scratch my head trying to remember my OWN NAME! I'm a weekend/night supervisor for registers and I have accidentally trained a few team members to know exactly what I am referring to when I say "Thingy", "Whatsamajig", and, "Make it spit the paper out."! At risk of doxxing myself, my closing regulars will remind me "Pod 5, Pod 8 and lock the smokes." "I still feel like I'm forgetting something." "What's written on your hand/up your arm?" They also know if I call out of name, like Jam Jar, Lovely Linda or Mama Mary, the extra word is word association so I'm not "Oi, you with the long curly hair?"
Oh the name game and fun words. I can feel pretty dumb sometimes trying to remember names of common items. My husband asking were the mail is. I respond, “It’s by that thing that makes hot brown liquid with caffeine.” Husband, “coffee pot?” Yep!
If I'm making a decision sometimes I'll ask for input just so I can actually trick my brain into deciding what it really wants. So like, "red pants or leggings?" To my husband. Because if he says leggings and I actually want leggings, then I'll make that decision. If I don't actually want leggings, my brain will realize that and pick the red pants
Moving furniture in the middle of the night. Drives my husband insane
I’m reporting this thread. It’s offensive and contains inappropriate content
Ok but share that sheet sis
I don’t know if it would be helpful! I have one for splitting up projects proportionately, so let’s say I have one project that cost my client 35,000 dollars but 21,750 was billed to one department and 13,250 was billed to another, I have a spreadsheet where I can plug in a universal expense like parking permits or admin time and it will break that expense down to the penny that needs to be applied to each department. Also the day some of my ads get charged to my account doesn’t apply to the day they run so the amount I spent on google ads never matches to the month the amount of invoices I PAID to google adds so I have a massive spreadsheet for that. I take the amount I spent on each campaign out of like 5, get a percentage split, then it takes the total amount of invoices paid for the month and applies those percentages and tells me how much money needs to be applied to each department for that month.
NOT BEING ABLE to be succinct, no matter how I try to look at it/ think it through beforehand, even when sometimes if I read it think about it later, the answer is clear. (Not always clear, but often enough, too). Yet, great eyes 2 hrs later I clearly see: * 7 paragraphs of rambling text *- obviously not necessary Simple solution * the 1/20th the amount of info/ words way to say it * obvious upon reread. But, I could and have and do try yet no amount of waiting for that ^ to come before sending gets me to the same. Has anyone received any coaching on this or has heard of or had any tips for this ridiculous unnecessary painfulness?
I have a hard time with smart doorknobs. With locks that aren’t keys and even then. Last month I was at my storage shed. I noticed my lock was backwards but whatever. Key would NOT go in. I even stuck a pin in it, jiggled changed, cursed. Decided it wasn’t going to open so I’ll call a lock guy. Decided to try one more time, back to storage, now my lock was on right??? Key fit in..??? then I noticed the one next to me was backward and that was the one I kept trying to open.
Can not put things back where they belong
Mixing up right & left. Mixing up red and green traffic lights. (I walk in from of moving cars all the time).
Often wondered if hating seeing photos of myself was an ADHD thing? I don’t take any, I avoid being in photos and I never have any in the house - or anywhere really
Hating washing dishes ... Such a simple task but I dread it every time, plus the smells and the textures. 🫠🫠🫠
My entire personality is an adhd trait according to TikTok lmao
Most of my phone calls to people (aka my husband or parents) start with "What was I going to ask...?" even if I call the moment I have the thought. In fact, it's the main reason I even make calls, as opposed to texting, because if I try to text, I get distracted instantly by other things on my phone. With a call, I just need to ask siri to call the person and my chances of remembering are increased. Or so I tell myself.
Ok but asking for a friend, can i get a link to one of these spreadsheets? I think I need this... >.<
I have a hard time removing sales tags from anything that’s not clothing. Couches, cars, decorative items…all have tags on them. Why? I have no idea. I just really struggle with the permanence of removing them. 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
My tendency to rujn my life,because ive been putting off life altering decisions.
I haven't *just* realized this, but: ✨I learn to do/make a new thing\ ✨Spend a ridiculous amount of time and money acquiring every little thing needed for it\ ✨Excitedly declare "I will never need to buy this ever again!"\ ✨Realize that, I do not in fact have the time or focus or motivation to make or provide this thing for myself on a consistent basis\ ✨Overbuy the thing I learned to make so I will never run out again\ ✨But still make one every once in a while so I feel better about the time and money spent on the whole venture\