You are absolutely not alone. As various factors rise & fall, sometimes they stack up and I just lose hard for a day. Do what you can to be nice to yourself on those days. Beating yourself up for not functioning "normally" is like mocking a quadroplegic for not walking with proper posture. Days like that I try to make time to do something slightly creative with no end goal, like record some bass lines then delete them. The required solitude is an amazing treat (if you can get it), the creative outlet feels like finally letting go of a fart you've been holding in public all day, and the final deletion keeps anything from having any pressure to be good enough.

Yes. It's part of having ADD / Executive Dysfunction. You're not alone, your feelings are absolutely real and valid, and it's ok to not be at your best 100% of the time.

Something I've learned during my almost 5 decades is that you have to save up against the ADD bad days. In other words, don't procrastinate about dishes or laundry because there will be days when you're just not able to do them. Save up for those days by getting shite done! (Obviously not today, you're having a bad day)

I used to beat myself up something terrible until I realized that.

You're not alone. Lots of people share the same disability as you, but that doesn't cheapen your individual suffering.

Absolutely. The most useful "habbit" I have for managing my ADHD is being brutally honest with myself at all times.

If you learn to reflect on your patterns and feelings, you start getting a good idea early on when you're gonna be in one of those dysfunction days.

Best thing I've found to do about it is "take the day off". If I know everything is gonna be uphill in a unique way, I take it easy. If I'm at work, I try to focus on the most accessible micro-tasks, or "tedious" things that take zero cognitive work.

For me those days are a sign of burnout and I know little will be accomplished if I force myself to overwork that day anyway. So I prioritize resting my brain. Sometimes it means doing nothing at all, sometimes it means video games or folling around with in GarageBand with a keyboard and bass.

Letting your brain do whatever random bullshit it's craving can be just as restful as doing nothing. Sometimes these days can actually be really productive for my hobbies, or housework, or spouse time, just depending on what my brain wants.

Sometimes feels like these days are the norm to be honest and the days where I can do stuff is the exception to the rule. I've managed to up my work productivity massively with meds and habits but man life is still such a challenge. I find I feel suddenly hopeless whenever I have ''free'' time.

/me waves from that place

It's absolutely a thing. It was a game changer for me when I gave up fighting it and just accepted that "whelp, my brain's just gonna brain today." If you can, just try to give yourself what you need and slow down. It is what it is.

I also find something satisfying about doing a big methodical cleanup after I feel better from a slump, your milage may vary.

Definitely. Probably sleep is a big factor. Maybe diet? Idk. I do better with exercise usually. Like today I was doing a bunch of stuff in the yard for 3h. I'm exhausted and sore but tomorrow I suspect I will be "on it" more than normal.

Who knows what else --sunspots? Subtle shifts in Earth's magnetic field?? Lol

Oh yeah, for sure. If I am able I sometimes even plan them, like I will just let my brain bounce around between 4 or 5 projects I have going or video games or whatever. Those days I try hard to reframe my goal to just work on something, not anything in particular, and it seems to help me not feel like crap about it. I hate how we ourselves are our own greatest critics sometimes, it’s really just not helpful, that’s why I try to trick myself into tiny accomplishments that way.

My strategy for these days is to let myself off the hook for finishing anything. "Just put three dishes in the dishwasher, then you can go back to the project your brain will let you think about." Sometimes that's enough to break the spell and load the whole dishwasher.

I had the day off work yesterday and I straight up couldn't do anything fun or productive, just ended up napping and browsing the internet all day because I couldn't figure out what to focus my energy on.

Had that big time on a workday earlier this week. Had some tasks to perform that I expected would be easy, which only made it worse. Turns out, they took longer than I expected the next day, and I’ve still got some left to do on Monday.

But anyway, no, you’re definitely not alone.

sigh, yes, I read a great description the other day of executive function and was just gutted at how well it describes by executive DISfunction :(

I cannot bring myself to do most of the things that need to be done in my house, and spend so many hours wasting time on the couch. A couple months ago, I decided to turn the tables a bit…I realized that even if I was stuck on the couch for whatever reason, I could still be productive in many ways. So, I decided to focus on the good things I could do from my couch (host zoom meetings for my support group, manage a couple facebook groups, do volunteer work for my choir…) and so I feel better about my crappy executive function…

I try not to beat myself up about it. I remind myself that everyone has off days, and everyone deserves some R&R.

I too am part of the club. This is normal... unfortunately

Been there this last friday, absolutely sucks and ruins my weekend with all the guilt and not being able to rest since now I have the urgent feel to do everything to make up for what I didn't do on friday.

I know we shouldn't being so hard on us but it's just so difficult sometimes.

Hormonal fluctuations have been shown to affect symptoms. You* can talk to your doctor about a small bump up in meds for when you are most affected. I can't remember if it's just before a period or during that symptoms get worse. I recommend tracking your period and making notes of when it's worse for you. Menopause is crazy for many reasons, but defo for ADHD.

*Anyone who has a period.

OMFG yes!!!! Even with a good med regimen I have days where my EF is just not firing on all cylinders. YOU ARE NOT ALONE