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submitted 4 months ago by PixelProf@lemmy.ca to c/adhd@lemmy.world

Random urge to share some hacks that I've come up with that have worked for me and might be helpful to others, and encourage hearing some more!

The most generic ones: Reduce decision making, focus on "if this then that" systems, and provide clear visual indicators.

Tl;Dr:

  • Flip pill bottle upside down when taking meds to remember you took them.
  • Smoothies are a super easy food that can be really nutritious and might bypass stim meds appetite loss.
  • Scales for cooking means only needing one tool for measurements and not needing to clean lots of spoons; use non-American recipes or write down conversions once the first time you make something.
  • Before bed if you're racing thoughts, write things down in a notebook and put it somewhere you have to pick it up (e.g., on coffee maker).
  • Take notes using a non-linear tool like Obsidian canvas to better represent your non-linear train of thought.
  • Freeze all of your food and prep more than you need when chopping to freeze it.
  • Learn to cook meats from frozen, e.g., in the instant pot, to avoid thawing or meat going bad.
  • Keep colourful stickers or sticky notes around so you can place them on things to remind you to look at it and deal with it later when you have time and energy instead of forgetting it when you look away.

Can't remember if you've taken your meds? Visual indicator systems to the rescue! I flip my pill bottle upside down once I've taken it, and keep it visible near my bed or by my coffee table/desk. If it's past 3pm, if I see it, I flip it right side up every time so that I don't leave it upside down overnight and get confused in the morning.

Not eating breakfast? Smoothies. Keeping the Sims metres full is important. I always run into decision fatigue in the morning/afternoon and by then I'm too faded to decide to eat, or Vyvanse has me too not hungry to consume food, or I'll spend forever making food to ignore my work. Bonus: Get a scale for cooking so you dont need to find and clean dozens of spoons and convert your recipes to masses (North Americans).

So smoothies. I ignore work for a day to do a wild research binge, figure out the nutritional value of some different smoothie mixes, experiment, and now I've got a go-to breakfast every morning that doesn't hit my nausea and gets me nutrients. You can also measure out 3-4 at a time and freeze them in small containers, excluding wet ingredients.

BTW my go-to right now is appx. 150g milk, 50-70g sugar free yogurt, 60g frozen blueberries, 70g banana, 25g rolled oats, 25-50g spinach, 7g chia seeds, maybe 30g strawberry if I'm feeling it, maybe a dash of cinnamon if I want. Seems decent in terms of nutrients, and all stuff I've got frozen or on hand anyways.

Bonus: A microwaved sweet potato is better than it deserves to be for 5 minutes of microwaving and pretty nutritious and sating.

Planning tomorrow at bed time? Before bed, I've got tons of thoughts about what I need to do the next day. I write them in my notebook, then put my notebook on my coffee maker (a Clever brewer for easy cleanup, decaf beans) so that I have to pick up the notebook anyways. Not every day, but if anything pressing comes up.

Note taking is tough linearly? My thoughts aren't linear, neither are my notes. Ever since I started using Obsidian for note taking, I find myself using the Canvas option which basically makes your notes into a graph/flowchart. Then I can colour code, link notes to other notes, turn each bubble into an entire page of notes, tag the notes. It even has an option to show you a random note on startup which can be helpful if you take notes and never read them.

Food going bad? Prepping is too much transition to cook? Freeze everything. Prep more than you need. If I'm already cutting half an onion for a meal, cutting a full onion isn't hard - in fact stopping halfway might be harder. Cut one or two, toss it into a sheet, stick it in the freezer, and now you're saved chopping for a bit. Bananas on their way out? Cut them into pieces and freeze them, frozen bananas are a freaking snack. Cutting bell peppers? Freeze that shit. Fresh spinach? I skipped the parboil and just froze it in a freezer bag and it worked great for smoothies and adding into curries. Freeze it all.

Meats going bad? Instant Pot was a saviour. Cooking chicken and sausage from frozen in the instant pot works great for all kinds of things. Slap a premade curry paste onto a frozen chicken, throw in some frozen spinach and frozen peas, meal ready in about 30 minutes. I use naan for everything because it freezes and reheats well; mini-pizzas with frozen pepperoni that's portioned out, naan as a sausage bun, garlic naan with pasta, whatever, it's versatile and freezes well.

Can't do this right now and then you forget? Having the short-term memory of a fly sucks. Have sticky notes or stickers around the house. Then when you notice you need to clean the toilet or refill something or whatever it is and you can't do it right now, just stick something colorful on it so that you look at it at a better time. I don't even bother writing things down on the note, it just needs to draw my attention at a time I can deal with it.

Just a few, might add more if some come to mind, but hoping to hear some other's thoughts :)

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[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

More like meta-advice. Try everything. Even the stupid ones you know won't work. Then you can start identifying elements that you can adhere to and ones that don't work.

If you have loved ones that you're comfortable opening up to, explain your thought process. Ask about theirs. For instance I hate the notion of "clean" things not being able to get dirty. I look at cleaning as an ongoing process so I don't do a heavy clean and then avoid the area/item. Occasionally do a bigger clean, but for the most part, just keep up with little things. Explaining that to my wife helped her understand what my mindset was.

Lastly, try using a remembral. Ever have a thought you wanted to recall in a few minutes but didn't want to write it down? I have a rubber band on my wrist. If I need to "set a reminder" I'll loop it over a finger, then repeat the thought or reminder a few times. If I lose track, I'll definitely feel the rubber band in the awkward position. And since I've anchored the reminder with the rubber band, it's easy to remember.

[-] PixelProf@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

The remembral is really smart! I might need to find a way that works for me for that one.

Being really open is also great; radical authenticity and openness (with those it's appropriate and comfortable) has helped me learn and help others, and gotten acceptance from people I'd struggled with. "Let's assume I've been living underground for a while, how exactly do you go about X, if you're comfortable answering?" Also great for those with absent/developmentally lacking childhood experiences.

this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2024
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