u/MindlessPermit9592

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

Sometimes I tell myself that I should be studying, working, or learning something useful. Because of that, I don't go out, meet friends, watch a movie, or do anything that would actually help me relax.

But the strange part is that I don't end up being productive either.

Instead, I spend hours scrolling on my phone or doing random things that don't matter. The whole time, my mind keeps reminding me that I should be doing something important. So I can't enjoy wasting time, and I also don't get any real work done.

It feels like I am stuck between wanting to be productive and being unable to start.

When I look back, I feel sad thinking about how many days, months, and even years disappeared like this. If I had at least enjoyed that time with friends, hobbies, or family, I wouldn't regret it as much.

What hurts the most is knowing how much time and potential I have lost. I really want to break this cycle because I don't want more years to pass in the same way.

Does anyone else feel like this?

I used to think I was saving money by buying the cheapest option every time. But with ADHD, the cheapest option often ends up being the most expensive because I never actually use it.

A few examples from my life:

I can buy vegetables for ₹40, but if I have to wash, peel, and chop them after work, they'll probably stay in the fridge until they go bad. I'd rather spend ₹80 on cleaned and chopped vegetables and actually cook them.

A ₹150 notebook that I enjoy writing in is worth more than a ₹40 notebook that sits untouched because I don't like using it.

I'll happily pay ₹500 for gummy vitamins instead of ₹250 tablets because I'll actually remember to take them.

Spending ₹200 extra for home delivery saves me from putting off grocery shopping for another three days.

Buying a ₹900 water bottle that keeps water cold all day means I actually drink enough water instead of forgetting.

I don't mind paying for Spotify Premium because if ads interrupt me, there's a good chance I'll end up scrolling Instagram instead of listening to what I opened the app for.

For a long time, this made me feel guilty. It felt wasteful to spend more when there was a cheaper option.

Then I realized I wasn't paying for convenience. I was paying for consistency.

With ADHD, the real cost isn't always the price tag. It's the mental energy needed to start, remember, and finish something. If spending a little more removes that friction and helps me actually do the thing, it's usually the better deal.

I've also learned that this doesn't mean buying the most expensive version of everything. It means asking one simple question before I buy something:

"Will this make it easier for Future Me to actually use it?"

If the answer is yes, that extra ₹100 or ₹500 is often much cheaper than buying something I'll never use.

What's an ADHD tax you've learned to pay upfront that actually saved you money, time, or mental energy later?

People have always told me I'm intelligent. Teachers, friends, coworkers, people who know me well. I never really believed it, but after hearing it enough times, I figured there must be some truth to it.

The problem is that having ADHD makes it incredibly hard to actually feel intelligent.

Some days I can solve difficult problems, learn complex concepts quickly, or come up with creative ideas that surprise even me. Then the very next day I'll forget something important, make the exact same mistake I've made dozens of times before, lose track of what I was doing halfway through a task, or spend an hour looking for something that was sitting right in front of me.

That's where the constant self-doubt starts.

When I achieve something, I think, "If I can do this, maybe my ADHD isn't really that bad. Maybe I'm just making excuses."

But when I struggle with basic things that everyone else seems to handle without thinking, I tell myself, "How can I be intelligent if I can't even remember simple things or stay focused on one task?"

It feels like I'm stuck between two identities that keep cancelling each other out. I'm not "successful enough" to feel like my ADHD is real, but I'm not "functional enough" to feel as capable as everyone says I am.

Logically, I know intelligence and ADHD can exist together. I know one doesn't cancel out the other.

Emotionally, though, it's exhausting trying to believe that when my own brain keeps giving me reasons to question both.

I recently interviewed with G-Rank for a Junior Developer role.

The interview went well. They asked me questions on PHP, HTML, and CSS, and I answered them confidently.

After the interview, they told me they were looking for someone with 1 year of proper job experience. I'm a 2026 graduate, and while I don't have a full-time job yet, I do have 4 months of internship experience.

That's completely fair if they specifically wanted full-time industry experience. What surprised me was what came next.

The role required the selected candidate to relocate to Bangalore with salary of ₹10,000 per month lol.

Idk what to say but expecting experience, asking candidates to relocate to Bangalore, and offering ₹10k/month.

As a 2026 graduate, I'm finding it really difficult to even get interview calls despite applying to many companies. For those who have been in a similar situation, how did you land your first developer job? Any advice would be appreciated.

(I used chatgpt to improve grammer)

I don't know if this is an ADHD thing, but I've had this habit ever since I got my first smartphone.

Whenever I find something interesting, I tell myself, "I'll read this later." So I take a screenshot or save the post. The problem is... I almost never go back to it.

Now my gallery is full of thousands of random screenshots. There are blurry photos, multiple pictures of the same thing, accidental screenshots, and even photos where my thumb is covering the camera. It's a complete mess.

The same thing happens on my laptop. My Downloads, Desktop, and Documents folders are full of random files. Every few months I get tired of looking at the mess and just move everything into one big folder without organizing anything. At least my tax documents are in the right place.

I also have bookmarks saved in different browsers, but I don't even have one browser that I use all the time. Sometimes I bookmark something, sometimes I screenshot it, and I honestly don't know why I choose one over the other.

The funny part is that all of those screenshots and saved posts felt really important at the time. I was sure I'd come back and learn from them. But unless I needed the information immediately, I almost never looked at it again.

I keep imagining that one day I'll become one of those super organized people who have everything sorted into folders and actually use all these apps properly. But I can never stick to one system for more than a few days.

Does anyone else do this, or is it just me?

I was diagnosed with ADHD recently, and since then a lot of people have asked me what it’s like. Whenever I explain some of my symptoms, the usual response is, “Everyone does that.” To be honest, I used to think the same thing before I got diagnosed.

The example that makes people understand is this.

Imagine I’m having a one-on-one conversation with my manager or teacher about something I’m actually interested in. They’re talking directly to me, and I’m listening carefully. Then suddenly a random thought appears in my head. It could be anything i.e a memory, an idea, something I forgot to do, or even a completely unrelated question.

Within a few seconds, my brain starts following that thought. Even though I’m still looking at the person and trying to pay attention, I’m no longer really listening to what they’re saying. A few moments later, I realize they’ve finished talking and are waiting for my response.

The problem is that I missed part of the conversation. Now I have to guess what they were saying based on the last thing I remember hearing. Sometimes I get lucky, and sometimes I have no clue.

Most people get distracted once in a while, and that’s normal. The difference is that this happens to me regularly, even during conversations that I care about and genuinely want to focus on. When I explain it this way, people usually stop saying, “Everyone does that,” because they realize it’s not just normal distraction. It feels like my attention gets pulled away without my permission, and that can make everyday life much harder than people expect.