u/TurnipSmart

This is not an ad. I somehow made it through college, built a career in my 20’s through sheer pain and frustration with myself, and am finally at a stage where I have decided to really focus on treating my ADHD. For background, I was diagnosed at 7 and didn’t learn how to read until 3rd grade. Special ed classes, the works, until around my 3rd year of highschool when all of my peers were submitting college apps and I was lost. Pushed myself through community college and got into my dream 4-year school (still don’t know how). Then moved into a career that I knew my ADHD would fit. Fast forward, I’ve made a career transition and am at a great firm now but have realized that I literally never built long term ADHD coping skills. I always just took my medicine and crossed my fingers.

Until a few weeks ago. I recently made what I think is the best impulse buy of my life. Typically I regret these, but this seems to have paid off. I purchased a digital portable timer that goes up to an hour, which can be adjusted down to the second. I have started a regimen of whenever I have a task that I am putting off, work or home, I set the timer for 20 minutes and literally just do whatever I can to make progress on that singular thing. Nothing else is allowed to exist for me during that 20 minute period.

Sometimes I catch myself looking at the timer with 4 minutes left. My goal is to get up to an hour of pure focus without looking at the timer. I am basically training myself like a dog and it’s working.

Just wanted to share for younger folks who may be in the position I was in. Angry with themselves, and feeling inadequate. Keep trying different tricks, you aren’t faulty, you are normal.