What are /r/ADHD_Programmers' favorite Products & Services?

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😂😂😂 You sound like a software engineer.

Not meaning to laugh at you, but I cannot describe how not fucked you are. We do not program all day long. You sound like a completely normal software engineer.

1. 3-4 hours, especially as a student, is fantastic. Your ability to stay productive may also increase over time.

2. Software engineers spend a lot of time in meetings, reading code, or doing repetitive coding tasks (like writing unit tests) that don't require a ton of mental effort.

3. Some days I program for 12 hours straight because I'm in "the flow", many days I struggle to stay focused for 2-3 hours. I plan my tasks depending on how my brain is going.

4. I'm pretty sure 3-4 hours of actual coding is normal for the average software engineer. As your skills increase you'll be surprised at how much you can do in that amount of time.

5. If you choose to take meds, they will definitely help you stay focused on code.

You sound like you're on your way to becoming a great software engineer!

I'd definitely recommend CodeSignal or HackerRank as fun ways to improve your skills and prepare for interviews. They gamify coding challenges and I've found them to be extremely fun and helpful.

Try to find jobs where you're interested in the tech stack and/or product, that's what will help the most if you have ADHD.

Looks neat, but I personally use https://obsidian.md/, and find that it models my brain super closely - Specifically the quick [[wikilink]] style of linking to (even nonexistent) files.

I'll definitely have to give nb a look though, that's neato.

I've spent a few days building an app demo on codesandbox. It was basically something to give me chance to practice Typescript (using React) on, but I thought I'd try to make something that people here might be interested in.
https://codesandbox.io/s/dae-211ii?file=/src/App.tsx

The basic idea is that we ask/answer quick, questions about ourselves, and then get shown the data from user answers along with a comments section. My thinking is:

• /r/ADHD rules suggest against using "Does Anyone Else...?" posts. But I think a lot of people would like an outlet for this kind of post.
• There is loaaads of science/info out there that could help us all, but many people with ADHD don't find it accessible. This would break information down into small chunks.
• There are loads of interesting correlations and commodities with ADHD. I think it could be really interesting to try to get data about each of our characteristics and see if we can identify anything useful.

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Also, if anyone familiar with Typescript could have a look at my code and give me any pointers then that would be really appreciated. Thanks!

here is that specific desk mat. You can just search desk mat or large mouse pad and there’s lots to choose from. I apologize for the anxiety.

I also learn by video much easier than reading docs/books. My recommendation would be to check out Udemy.com for courses in the language you want to learn. They often go on sale. I purchased a 49 hour Vue.js course for $12 on sale a couple of months ago.

The course is great. Each step is 5-10 minutes long and he provides great examples for each concept. He provides "starter" code that you can use on your local machine and code along with each exercise. Then there are small tests and quizzes for each chapter. I can't speak for Java but I'm sure there are some great Java courses there as well.

Yes, Since this is "ADHD_Programmers", I'm assuming you are a programmer, therefore there is this thing called UML ( Unified Modeling Language) that defines a collection of diagram types and its interfaces, that can be used to describe the behavior of the software ... And example of this are state machine diagrams, class diagrams, use case diagrams. Google it there is a lot of information about this online.

Regarding the tool that you could use if you don't want to spend money ... give this one a try, no need to buy license if it is not for commercial use.

SysML is kind of the same as UML, most of the diagrams used on UML are used on SysML, but SysML is to describe systems parts and its interactions (Mechanical/Software/Electrical)

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I hope this helps !!

ADHD boss here, what we did is make sure we do a few things.

1) All zoom meetings are recorded with Otter.ai with voice transcription.

2) Ad-hoc zoom meetings are initiated in Slack, and if a video recording is made, it gets posted to the Slack channel that started the meeting.

3) Channel notes are made during or after the meeting for task bread-crumbing.

Both the otter.ai text notes, AND video recording stays in the slack channel for the project/topic at hand.

Its such a common thing to _talk_ about an issue right then and there, agree what needs to happen, make notes on next outcomes, schedule when the people are going to work on something, and leave it until we get to it.

Almost every week we are able to cycle through a few "exception" tasks that was not planned earlier that week so we can make progress.

We by no means perfect with meetings or organizing ourselves for tasks, but we def do not want to miss a good opportunity for clarity.

Sometimes it sucks for the company to spend upwards to $500 in attention of the team members on a 1/2 hour meeting, that only results in a $250 billable hour change to the project, but the client values it greatly. So we do it.

I use Obsidian.md and take notes on everything I do all day every day. Sort of like a Bullet Journal but digital. Obsidian automatically cross-references everything I put in brackets, so I can write: "- spoke with [[Marty Jones]] about the [[New House]]" and this line will appear where I wrote it in today's note, but also in an automatic Marty Jones note and New House note.

I rarely go back in my notes, when when my mind blanks it's saved me to be able to go back and refresh my memory. It seems just writing it and knowing I have it safely written down does something to help me remember in the first place.

I bet ADHDers face greater difficulties with this task. Medication will most likely help you. I also highly recommend a classic book by Michael Feathers, Working Effectively with Legacy Code.

While there is a few ADHD courses for ADHDers on platforms such as Udemy, I never have taken them, nor can vouch for any of them.

Have you checked out either Healthygamergg or HowToADHD channels on YouTube? Both are very informative and the way the latter is formatted does a pretty good job keeping most people's attention.

Executive Functioning is broken down into several categories. The first time I encountered this was in The Disorganized Mind (link here: https://www.amazon.com/Disorganized-Mind-Coaching-Control-Talents-ebook/dp/B000V770G4?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=2a386d2b-7b25-4bf6-9223-3d3e8e8322e4). If you can get an idea on what you struggle with, you can narrow down the resources to just that (like time blindness for example)

I found a lot of value from https://www.freecodecamp.org/ - not only is it free:) but it's very clear what path you're taking (if you look at the curriculum page) but it's broken up into bite-size chunks so I found that helpful to stay more focused because I could set small goals of "complete 3 tasks" and then take a break. And there's also a great community that's very supportive, so that is helpful if you get stuck but also helps keep that motivation up. Good luck!

Dude, Notion. I can't recommend it enough, especially if you're technically inclined.

It's a note-taking app designed by the designer of the original mac, block based with built-in things like kanbans, databases, galleries etc. API is on the way, pricing is fair, free lasts you forever. I've spent a decade trying out, even developing my own apps for this but Notion just does _everything_

https://www.notion.so/

Been there x1000. Was even worse when I used Atom, as it comes with less defaults than VSCode, and therefore it felt like real productivity.

I tried to get away from all of that, remembering the code is more important, but still try to spend a bit of time here and there learning keyboard shortcuts, as those are 100% useful.

Well that's more responses than I expected. Please sign yourself up for a timeslot on this calendar. One per person, please.

I don't have a degree anywhere near CS or software and have sever ADHD - concentration problems and severe impulsivity. However, I taught myself programming and have been working in software for 25 years - unmedicated for most of that time. I got started by picking a language with a certification, got that certification, then got my first low paying gig, and at that point, any employeer has only cared what I said in the interview. I've never been unemployed, make a very good salary, and my past job titles include Principal Software Architect for IBM and I turned down an offer from Google.

I have severe adhd so studying for the certification (or anything) tis challenging for me. But, you know, I figured it out using some non-traditional methods. For example, for me, I magically retain a reading if I first read it out loud and record it and then take a walk listening to what I just recorded. It is an utter waste of time for me to just read and study - I'll get about 1% retention and tis a miserable exercise. But reading out loud and listening to it is like magic. Not saying this will work for you, but keep trying stuff out and I'm sure you will find something that works

Summary

1. Find an area in programming or technology with a certification.
2. Figure out how you can study and pass the certification test. Keep trying weird shit until something works.
3. Use certification to get first tech job
4. Profit

This is what worked for me. If I was a young pup, trying my self-taught/ADHD program again, I would focus on the langauge Rust. I would go for this certification https://degreed.com/skill-certification/rust

There already is an extension that does that super well, it's a game-changer for my ADHD brain.

It's called readermode.

Here are screenshots from a page with text before and after use of the extension.
Invested in the Pro version (which is a one-time payment of $15 with lifetime free updates, it's really worth every cent). Besides presenting text in a very comfortable-to-read-way (even for ADHD brains), it also has text-to-speech, autoscroll, is super customizable, etc.

I'm always looking for problems without solutions to help create helpful stuff for people, but in most cases I'm able to find already existing solutions that are just not known to the right people with specific problems.

For my personal 'for fun' projects, I use Kanban to plan, chart and track progress. My team at work uses Jira, but that's overkill for personal projects. You can get web kanban boards like KanbanTool for free. also do like making one out of tape and moving stickie notes around. The tactile process of externalizing thoughts into physical space is very helpful.

I've been using the Pomodoro Technique for a few days now and feel like it's extremely useful. It helped me accomplish tasks easier because all I need to do is focus on one objective for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. The link I've included is from one app, but the app I'm currently using is https://pomotodo.com/ which attracted me because it includes a To Do List with the Pomodoro timer. I was struggling with this web design project in Wordpress with a crappy theme. Now I've accomplished more in the last couple of days than I did in the last month.

Has anyone else had any experience with this technique?

I'm going to send you down a different road.

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469

Try to find a copy of said book, and give it a read.

Then come back to us after you've read it.

if you have a big block of code thats somewhat complex thats hard for everyone to read. This is why we leave comments. My recommendation is to heavily comment your code at first so that you can more easily remember what you were trying to accomplish

take a piece of code you find hard to understand and go through it. Stop at each spot where you dont know what its doing and google it to figure it out, then comment that in the code. In this way you can teach yourself from someone elses work.

Now if you don't know the basics of objects oriented programming - for instance if the terms "class" "property" "dot notation" etc mean nothing to you, I think you should stop and do some quick studying on that - because javascript is DEFINED as an object-oriented programming language. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/object-oriented-programming-crash-course/ -

give yourself the goal to write some simple code that creates an object with properties. Then modify those properties using Js dot notation.

You might look into IFTTT. It's an automation framework that I've never personally used, but heard good things about. So you could set up notification triggers for relatively complex events, e.g. "if it's Tuesday the 17th at 3:45 PM and I'm connected to my home WiFi, remind me that I'm supposed to be meeting with a friend at the park in 30 minutes."

It's never too late or too hard.

Start here with the Foundations https://www.theodinproject.com/paths

And I've heard good things about this book: https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Programmer-Introduction-Creative/dp/1593274246

Come back after those and explain what you want to build and you'll get suggestions for next steps.

Also just search for "time lock safe" on Amazon. This one is interesting: https://www.amazon.com/kSafe-mini-Phones-Locking-Container/dp/B07PWNCWJ2/ref=sr\_1\_13?crid=16T2HE9UAPV55&keywords=time+lock+safe&qid=1662299610&sprefix=time+lock+safe%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-13&ufe=app\_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4...

If you like Maths and Circuits, look into embedded systems. Depending on how deep you want to go, you can work with circuits, maths (especially embedded is getting popular in AI, Digital Signal Processing etc etc). A lot of what you do here is low level and you dont always have the luxury of nice IDEs for e.g

I switched from a software engineer to embedded systems. I am currently doing my masters in it, I didn't enjoy software engineering. I always enjoyed tinkering with electronics as a kid, so this is something I really enjoy.

I do find it a bit more challenging, because my adhd makes it hard for me to read, a lot of embedded is going through pages and pages of datasheet, so that is kind of a bummer.

I would suggest you get a starter arduino kit or what I did was get this book: AVR Programming: Learning to Write Software for Hardware and an AVR programming kit, there are plenty of them, get a beginner one and then have a go at it, see if you enjoy it.

I need as few distractions as possible, so I set all notifications to minimal or none so I can focus.

I don't use this app anymore since I don't need pomodoro timers to manage my time, but this is a really nice, minimalist timer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apps.adrcotfas.goodtime

I always keep slack and outlook on my laptop on the side and have them in separate desktops so I don't see notifications when I'm using the screen for other things. They're always my farthest left window so I can get to them easily with a swipe gesture.

I keep my main focus on my main monitor, usually a full screen vscode split into two internal windows. I then keep the primary context in a browser on my side monitor.

If I'm on meds, distractions aren't hard to deal with and I can comfortably ignore them. Without meds, even my setup is not 100% at prevent distractions. So it sounds to me you're either undiagnosed or diagnosed and not on meds.

I highly recommend getting on meds.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you are an Emacs user (or are willing to give it a chance), check out Org Mode. It does everything OP mentions and more. You can make ToDo lists, calendar events, setup hyperlinks (to source code, web pages, and even outlook emails with the correct setup). It's highly customizable and it made me 1000% more productive at work. Best part is that it already comes prepackaged with Emacs, so it's ready to go once Emacs is installed.

I said this before on another thread but I’ll add it here again

NOTION…. This app is incredible for this. It’s allowed me to complete more projects than I thought I could.

When I get an idea explosion I add it to my notion pages. It allows me to expand on the idea in a structured way. Because it’s organised I end up following up on my idea and completing it.

TL:DR - Use Notion : https://www.notion.so/

I use a gravity timer to push myself to START the task. I tell myself I have to do something at least for the duration of the timer. By the alarm, hyper focus has set in and it’s all good. It’s the STARTING tasks that’s got me tucked up.

It has to be physical and visual and QUICK so none of this “set a timer on your phone shit” because picking up my phone is just not going to happen and I can ignore my phone easily. Secondly, it has to show the countdown. Finally, the small-duration timers work best.

This is what’s worked me for me lately: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089CHXTZF/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_ASNRTWTC4Z3ZGTBGKNQT_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Except there's a limit, since you'll hit protein oxidation past 0.7–0.8 g/lb, which corresponds to a bit over 500 kcal for a 170 lb person. Then you'll need to make up the rest of your daily energy intake with something else, preferably fibrous starches and healthy fats (i.e., saturated fats).

I generally use plain text notes with a bit of inspiration from the bullet journal method for how I track the status of different items.

  - Todo item
  X Completed item
  > Deferred item
  * Info note or reference link
  Q: Question requiring follow up (either research or asking team/client)
 !- Important item

And of course, using indentation for sub-tasks, etc.

I can tell you it feels pretty nice to see a block of tasks that's X's all the way down :)

I've been meaning to get into using Obsidian because it looks like some next level note management, I just haven't taken the plunge yet.

For one of my gigs I use a spreadsheet for time logging, so in that case I'll queue up my current priority tasks into the time logging spreadsheet (either copy-and-paste from one of my planning text files, or just enter ad hoc tasks when anything unplanned comes up). I usually try to pre-fill the time and date columns where it makes sense (ex. scheduled meetings or tasks with a specific action time), but for most tasks "on-the-radar" I'll leave time and date blank until I actually start working on the task. Working in the spreadsheet has an added benefit to punch in time estimates and use SUM() to check on totals (ex. when planning out tasks for the day or week, it can quickly give a sense of what the estimated workload looks like and then redistribute things as needed.)

This is the one I got! I have two other balance boards (one was free with my standing desk, the other is the standard disc on a ball type) but this one is my favorite fidget.

Adjustable standing desk + balance board

Kitchen timer. Every time you walk away from a task you need to come back to in an approximate amount of time, delegate responsibility to the timer.

Naturally occurring caffeine. I don't get the crash with it.

"Synthetic caffeine will absorb through the digestive system much faster than the naturally occurring plant caffeine. This means a quicker spike, and of course, a quicker crash—unlike the naturally occurring caffeine in plants provides a balanced caffeine 'lift' (largely due to also present high level of naturally occurring vitamins that prevent the caffeine crash)." I bought these ones: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Coffee-Pure-Supplement-Management/dp/B00E0HITK2

While on the topic of crunch and burnout - this is an enlightening read: https://www.amazon.com/Press-Reset-Recovery-Video-Industry/dp/1538735490/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I have this one, which has been pretty good for about a year. Not top-of-the-line stability, and storage leaves a bit to be desired, but good value for the price.

I also have this wobble board, which has been a game changer for the standing desk. It seemed like something that would be way too annoying and difficult to do for any duration, but actually it’s the opposite. I find it way more comfortable to shift my weight back and forth and all around than to stand stock-still. Even when my feet and legs are tired from standing on it, I find it really compelling when it’s nearby. I’d recommend shoes or padding its surface tough; the high friction sandpaper surface is a little hard on the bare feet after a few hours. I don’t find it distracting from work. And the best part is how it makes my back feel. Compared to standing flat, I notice I’m immediately forced to engage my lower back and it feels great.

I had that problem too until I got this. I was never sure If I took my medication or not, and errored on the side of not taking a double dose.

Since, I’ve got this thing on my nightstand with a bottle of water every night. It’s the first thing I see in the morning, so I take them and drink a bottle of water. If I know I’m going to be out of the house during the evening dose, I pocket the evening cartridge for that day.

Has been working out great 🙌 and haven’t missed a dose since.

Since I wrote this, I found this app (Android) that specifically repeats certain, important notifications every few minutes until I acknowledge them. Although I am still perfectly capable of ignoring any single notification, there is now a higher likelihood that I will indeed eventually take care of whatever the notification is trying to tell me, higher than if it only went of once, at least. The concept is still not perfect but it's an improvement, in my opinion.

Additionally, I've made an effort to drastically reduce notifications in general so that any notification that does occur has more of an impact. Most notifications are now caught by this app (Android) and I get a reminder every two hours to go through them all at a glance instead of having to check my phone every few minutes. This has been an actual life changer.

I've also started working on an app myself to help me log what I'm doing throughout the day which uses a similar concept for notifications. It's supposed to pop up and ask me at random times what I've been doing since the last time it asked me and then save my answer so that in the end I have a very simple journal. It will keep trying to get my attention until I write something or until I tell it to ask again in (x time) if I'm busy right this second. It's nowhere near finished but I've run some tests over several days, using a kind of prototype built in Tasker, to test the concept, and I don't think I ever abused the Remind Me Later.

Honestly, I kept trying to re-create solutions from other people until I got the hang of what it takes to break things down.

Only thing I can help with understanding is the concept of building a tool, or a system.

A tool can do its one purpose, with varying levels of quality. Is it a command line audio player? Or is it a calculator? Does it search text in a file? A set of defined inputs and outputs.

A system, is like building your own language on top of another language. You use this new language to then build what you actually want/need. For example a CRUD application, the concept doesn't explicitly exist in C# (ignoring MS libraries for db work etc,.). You are adapting the Idea (CReate, Update, Delete) and using C# to implement it. Then on top of that is the "what" ... is it a CRUD application for a ToDo List, Phonebook etc,.

I was honestly very lucky that I started my career from working desktop IT work. That forced me to interact with end-users, and they came to me with lots of problems. Most of the time I could fix within my control; other times it was ... you know what, the computer doesnt have the software to do what you want to do. It would have to be invented in order for it to exist to help you. [Separately, I made the mistake of trying to solve these problems for free, but thats another convo]

I personally really enjoy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Righting-Software-Juval-L%C3%B6wy/dp/0136524036

Maybe you'd get some mileage out of it.

I literally just got one that's huge, which I love because I also sit with my legs crossed (only downside is it doesn't have armrests but tbh they'd be way too far apart anyway)

I have, love, and highly recommend this guy: H&A Cross-Legged kneeing Chair for Office or Home, Meditation Seat for Reducing Back Pain, Ergonomic Posture Corrective Seat with Height Adjustable (Black), 26.5 inch x 23.5 inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B9NDFM9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BAHW6EHCJAXE0ZAM1NBM

Hah, im literally lookinginto this myself...

https://www.amazon.com/Pipersong-Meditation-Support-Adjustable-Flexible/dp/B09KN5HM1C

Ive seen this recommended a bit but havemt pulled the trigger... im planning to also invest in an ergonomic kb and mouse as well.

r/sysadmin has some decent threads on this if you search around.

I see you are a knowledgeable with tech.

Here is two hints, personally i use taskwarrior, i've made an extensive post of my setup here but i've made some changes in between.

Really extensible to fit your needs if you know a bit of shell scripting.

There is also Org-Mode. Not my cup of tea but it may better suit your needs than mine !

Its hard to have voiced your concern multiple times and not see a change.

Firstly buy this . Best gift for ADHD folks(like ever)

I would raise my issue of lack of focus at an appropriate time and suggest requirements for you to be engaged. Extroverted folks don't need this buy you do and it would help if your teammates accommodate you.

Loosing focus during standups is also common since its pretty dull,feel free to zone out :P.

I wonder if we're thinking of different kinds of earplugs... I'm thinking like these, which are just as easy to put in and take out as AirPods: Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015WJQ7A/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_YZZSNKT25ZJPW0Q25779?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

When I was studying for A+ in 2014, I bought this book and just read it as much as I could while taking notes on things that looked important or interesting. The book was bigger than necessary and I passed easily without getting all the way to the end (some chapters went unnecessarily deep into registry settings and were quite dull imo). There might be better books out there 🤷‍♂️

I focus and retain info better with written material, but if you prefer video courses I can recommend Pluralsight.

I got this fidgit. You flip it around kinda like a butterfly knife or something? It helps me focus a lot.

I strongly recommend you read Lifting the Fog: A specific guide to inattentive ADHD in adults.

I went through most of my life knowing I was struggling with something. I was almost certain it was not ADHD, because I don't fit the classic set of symptoms.

I finally got diagnosed with ADHD-PI (that's the "predominately inattentive type") when I was ~36 years old. I wish I had known sooner!

Keep in mind, if you're able to manage something that is listed as a problem for people with ADHD, but the reason you can manage it is that you've developed elaborate effortful coping mechanisms, that still "counts".

For example, I almost never lose my wallet, keys, phone, pens, etc. That's because they each have a specific place where they live in my backpack, which comes with me everywhere, and they go back where they live as soon as I'm done with them. Because if I don't do it that way, I **will* lose them*.

This is a good example of why talking to a psychiatrist has such a high value compared with looking at a list of ADHD traits. With a psychiatrist, I can explain why I don't tend to lose wallet, keys etc. And the psychiatrist can then say, "Excellent! You've developed some very effective habits for coping with your ADHD."

I’m super particular about the kind of noise blocking.

Sometimes heavy metal is so calming. I grew up listening to that, so it feels like home.

Sometimes it’s rain sounds ( https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php ) and Lofi.

Sometimes edm, jazz, Japanese hip hop, or samba. If I’m particularly distractible I layer soundscapes - something like cat purr over thunder storm or wave noises over a cafe.

The key for me is that it can’t have language that I can understand and it has to block the outside world. Otherwise I come out of flow super super easily.

But yeah, the minimum things I need for work are my computer and noise canceling ear phones with some sound on them.

Anki is truly a game changer... and it's free!

https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Cloze (fill in the blank) cards are the best for memorization. Image occlusion is a fantastic add on if you need to identify parts of a structure/picture.

Anki is not particularly user friendly, but after a 10 minute youtube tutorial, you should be more than prepared to make your own cards.

Ha! There might be a reason Java class defeated you. I find Java to be clunky to work with and the IDE's for it, specifically Eclipse, just suck (in my opinion).

Web Dev? Start with HTML, css and Javascript.

I think Visual Studio Code is a great editor to start with. HTML, css, and JS are just text files, easily edited with notepad, but VS Code offers lots of nice little features.

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/html

I stay as organized as I can.

I'm on android, if you are too, check out these apps:

https://www.any.do/to-do-list-app-for-android/

Anydo has a little widget on my homescreen, one tap and I can voice-dictate a task if I'm pressed for time, or type it out with further details.

https://digibites.nl/digical

Syncs with Google Calender but has a nicer interface.

Every single event or appointment has multiple alerts.

And Trello for larger tasks, projects, milestones for tracking my projects.

And Obsidian for taking notes (not on Android through, but on my laptop).

I have a Pixel, so not sure if this is available on other devices, but I frequently just speak to my phone and this launches Google Assistant.

I can be driving, or watching a movie, or cooking and I want to add a task or a quick reminder. This literally takes me just 5 seconds ...

"hey google, set a reminder to pick up milk from walmart at 5pm", or

"hey google set a timer for 90 minutes", or

"hey google send a text message to james thomas, hey whats up?"

From what I understand, you can't use define react hooks outside of a functional component. When you are defining "useMyCustomHook", it's outside of App. Also, you want to use useState to set the checkTerm and useEffect to be called whenever checkTerm is changed so you are going to have to pass checkTerm into the useEffect call. Here's a rough example if that's not making sense.

My initial thought is just use the ones designed for parents/ general access control, but give the access info to the account away (trusted SO/friend) so you cannot easily modify it.

However, I went looking for something that really restricts you, where you can't easily uninstall it. And this one sounds like it has all that you're looking for, and then more. I haven't used it but it looks both well designed and incredibly extensive, if you don't mind paying for the pro version. But I think just the free version covers what you're looking for, just set it to block all internet usage at a certain time.

But as far as phone usage, even that website states that doing something like this for a phone isn't easy due to their OSes. I'm sure there are apps out there, just they can't stop you if you get creative with trying to get around them to access whatever

You are seeing coding benifts because you are relaxed, maybe even enlightened.

The key, for me, is meditation. 20 AM minutes , 20 PM minutes /day can and does make incredible differences.

https://www.headspace.com/ is the bomb but now they have monetized this into such a racket .

I started with them about 5 years ago. It's one of those 2 +2 = 144 on somedays, and equals 4 on other days and 22 on others.

Don't know, don't care. it works and get on with the rest of my day... or sleep

YMMV

Break down the stuff into smaller bits with less failure-fear overhead. I'd also personally put more emphasis on the problems that arise than on increasing desire, since it seems that's adequate.
So for each of those links (fear -> paralysis -> mental garbage) I'd figure out:

how to realize when it's happening & interrupt it into executive-mode,

if anything in your environment is contributing and can be fixed (are you hungry? thirsty? need tea? is it too loud? too cluttered? need to take a breather/walk?),

and how to respond to it effectively
(fear -> re-frame thoughts & ACTIVELY relax, maybe w/ breathing exercises;
paralysis -> get up and move around to jog your brain a bit, work on a different
piece, etc;
mental garbage -> physically write down tasks/distractions for later, re-frame
negative thoughts & false self-criticism)

​

This is my favorite background-sounds generator for anxiety. The whole site is very good imo.
https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/japaneseGardenSoundscapeGenerator.php
Lyricless music also helps me considerably, as does the pomodoro method.

You can start on leetcode very early, no need to wait. No shame in reading solutions instead of solving things yourself, either. https://leetcode.com/problemset/algorithms/?difficulty=Easy https://leetcode.com/problems/two-sum/ That problem is a great example. There's a very straightforward solution that uses just basic syntax, and a also very simple one that requires one tiny bit of theory, but is actually even simpler to code.

I get my fix through creative coding endeavours on the side - there's plenty overlap with adjacent fields to allow narrowing down and focusing on audio processing, visual arts, interactive experiences, game development, procedural generation, hardware & robotics, data visualisation, etc.

If any of it sounds appealing to you, consider picking up a few books on Processing for inspiration; it's one of the better-established frameworks of its kind with an active community around it, and also uses Java.

It might be worthwhile to explore some of the options on the side while you continue with your current job, and see if any potential niche seems like it could be your thing to branch into, whether as primary career focus or a side gig.

You sound like you would benefit from exercises that help you "think like a programmer". Normally I think hackerrank is a waste of time, but in this case, given where you want to earn skill points, I think it could really help. Plus it looks good on resumes.

Commit yourself to 15-20 minutes a day consistently on hackerrank, regardless of whether you complete a problem or not. I'd even block a few hours the first time you log on to get used to some of the intricacies (it's very picky about output format).

https://www.hackerrank.com/

It is but I also hear a lot of server devs tell me they prefer using other languages now and that Java sucks haha

I learned most of my skill set on the job after getting my computer science degree but I've heard good things about this website for online learning: https://www.hackerrank.com/

I'm currently going through the steps to eventually maybe get a diagnosis, and programming has been one of my favorite things for a long time.

I started when I was younger through free online resources (I didn't have the money as a sixteen year old to take serious classes) and the best one by far I could find was FreeCodeCamp (https://www.freecodecamp.org/). It's open source if I understand correctly and has a great community, and the best part for me was their algorithm exercises and projects. I spent a whole summer with those and am still not done because there are so many.

I know this sounds like an ad heh, but from personal experience I would really recommend this resource. With the projects you can look at other people's code for inspiration if you get stuck, and ask for feedback when you're done. Hope this helped at all, and good luck!

I recommend WebWork Time Tracker. It will track your hours and show those in reports.

The tracker will also capture screenshots, show your activity and productivity levels, help you to manage your time, projects and tasks.

It is a good tool and easy to use.

I personally use Otter (https://otter.ai), it can identify multiple speakers (seems to have issues with harsher accents tho, but I haven't used it that recently) and saves the meeting for later too. Not much more to ask of it.

They should have a free offering (last I checked they did).

Also, I recommend Zed Shaw's book for ADHD folks because it takes an exercise based approach and is great for the impatient.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Python-Hard-Way-Introduction/dp/0134692888/ref=pd_sim_3/138-2753286-5467614?pd_rd_w=pAba7&pf_rd_p=80152b05-d527-42f7-bbb4-c9d645b6dcf5&pf_rd_r=MF5YXFE21470174SFNXX&pd_rd_r=f30d5028-80ef-42c7-bbc7-baf497f82c...

Exactly. There is a great book called "The ADHD Advantage", https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-Advantage-Diagnosis-Greatest-Strength/dp/0399573453. And I back that but you can't say that it doesn't get a bit ridiculous on this /r. Either way, fight on boys.

Better to estimate effort than time. Look up ‘planning poker’, and the RICE matrix, for better alternatives. :)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker

https://www.intercom.com/blog/rice-simple-prioritization-for-product-managers/

Ah... start with Rust, then OCaml, and maybe Haskell. Rust's "strictness" comes with improved memory management and concurrency safety involved with memory ownership. I'm finding myself doing more OCaml (and ReasonML) because of the speed of prototyping. Haskell is all-around useful to stretch your skills as they're always adding improvements to the language.

Edit: I realized that there are multiple Rusts that could be confused, I'm thinking about https://www.rust-lang.org/ not the game, https://rust.facepunch.com/ .

I started with Coding Bat and moved on to CodeFights which has pivoted to CodeSignal. Beyond that look for things that annoy you or things that you don't like to do. Then figure out how to automate them.

Hi! Thanks for asking :) I'm currently trying to get through The Odin Project's full-stack ruby on rails course, as there may be an opportunity to do that in my area. I've already learned the basics of HTML/CSS/JS.

I've done some C++, MySQL/Oracle, Python.

I don't know what particular field I want to get into yet. I enjoy back-end more than front-end. It's all fun, though (aside from when I want to punch my computer monitor, haha).

I'd never get anything done if I didn't take screenshots (and make a lot of Git commits on a development branch) to remind me what I was doing. SourceTree works wonders for seeing differences between my many commits (I then squash merge a dev branch into the master branch when I'm ready).

Regarding the Vim version, are you referring to vim-orgmode? Cause I tried it, and it's not good. I appreciate what the developers are trying to do, but I don't think Vim best platform for something like org. To get something close to orgmode, you have to install a dozen other plugins. Some of them are really old and doesn't necessarily work well togeter. In the end, you get a very clumsy version of what org-mode is supposed to be. Besides being slow, there are lots of bugs and broken functionality. I just keep this plugin to occasionally open org files when I mess up my Emacs configuration. If you wanna stay with Vim, I think vimwiki is a better option.

Senior Android dev can here. I make tutorials into PDFs and then draw on them with my iPad and apple pencil. Drawing engages my brain and keeps me on task and not being in a web browser vastly helps me keep on task. I'll also usually use an app called forest while I am doing the tutorials. https://www.forestapp.cc/ .

Oh atlast i did it actually its called https://wakatime.com/ nd they have somekinda api that we can work with , ig ifs not the thing u asked in the post but its something that u needed hope it helps have a nice day

I've tried the Cold Turkey app from this place and it's pretty good, but they have a new thing called micromanager which allows you to whitelist apps by time blocks: https://getcoldturkey.com/micromanager/

Just for your inspiration, it imideatly reminded me of this: https://moodpanda.com/depressiondiary.aspx

There is also this, which I always wanted to try but never did: https://habitica.com/static/home

Never tried them. I'm too happy to finally found a todo app that works for me. But it does sound interesting

I came across dendron when I was researching modern knowledgebase software, but I couldn't figure out what set it apart from [https://obsidian.md], so I settled on Obsidian because it looked like it had more steam behind it. Are there any features that are exclusive to dendron, or are both projects a mirror of one another?

I kindly recommend y'all the suppliment Lion's Mane. It keeps the brain chill 😇

You can check out the reviews here https://www.amazon.com/Host-Defense-Mushroom-Capsules-Cerebral/dp/B00OVF9DVM/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3KPTFIT6Y3834&dchild=1&keywords=lions+mane&qid=1634319754&sprefix=lion&sr=8-3

I bought this spinning door sign for my home office which is great, might be worth considering for a long term solution.

First of all, I legit thought the title of this post was about Erectile Dysfunction.

I've certainly had problems when it comes to designing solutions to problems, although I'm not sure it's ever led to panic, probably more just a sense of being overwhelmed and then wanting to pivot to something else.

But if I were to make a guess at a solution for yourself, I feel like you might need to revaluate your design/problem solving process. Im not sure what your process is exactly or whether flaws in that process are what could be leading to this sense of panic, but it couldn't hurt to reevaluate it.

Im about half way through this book and have been reading it off and on, and highly recommend it: https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050

Lastly, I'd just say that it may come down to internalizing the idea that there will likely never be a perfect solution on the first pass of a problem. After all, problem solving usually requires an iterative approach. From my experience (and I'm fairly sure there's scientific research that supports it) there's a strong correlation between ADHD and perfectionism. For me it was one of the hardest things to grapple with when I entered this field, and still is to this day. It's very easy to want to design a perfect solution and then implement it, and many people will tell you that you should make a design as perfect as possible before moving on to implementation. But for those with ADHD, I think there are major limitations to that theory.

This is always a safe bet.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M8RT5QN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_SYN5E16S015A5NBMA9BD

To explain the joke: in some coding languages, lines have to end with a semicolon or the code will not work. Sometimes it's really difficult to find the line that is missing the semicolon.

I also found this while browsing and I chuckled...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJVTKS1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_TV2RR9SF25QVFF30MM4V

The joke here is that "!" usually means "not", so "!=" means "does not equal". So "! False" means "not false"

I'm reasonably confident that you can find mugs or other products with those jokes on them if you want to get some non-shirt object for him.

Active noise cancelling headphones are much better at cancelling white noise, like an AC or engine, than sporadic noise, like talking. I think you might be happier with noise isolating headphones, like this. Bonus: no battery. You can get wireless ones, but fuck bluetooth.

My biggest fidget toy while using my PC is this infinity cube: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085L2N6SF/

I also have a Rubix Cube I play with a lot and a fidget spinner. I like things that are made of good materials like strong cast aluminum and put up with a lot of punishment.

Hey! I have this exact same thing. I just went in today for an ADHD diagnosis, will get my results in 2-4 weeks.

After months of struggling to make progress and constantly beating myself up for taking so long to do simple tasks at work (software engineer) in hindsight, I realized it was high time to get myself checked.

I started reading The Smart but Scattered guide to succcess to work on improving my executive functioning skills. The problem you are facing (task initiation, procrastination) is mentioned with strategies to overcome it. Hope it helps you! :)

Interesting. Does have some cool features!

I'm not sure even with the adjustable depth if it looks large enough, though it's hard to tell.

This is the chair I currently have, for reference/curiosity's sake: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VKXRJSK/ It's not perfect, it's just what I could find quickly and cheaply to replace the glider when it broke.

I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZS4LNZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_lieuFb2WE6523

I very nearly got this one: https://therapyshoppe.com/products/P3201-foot-fidgets-for-feet-fidgeting-foot-bouncy-band-roller-calming-focus-fidget-tool-shop-shoppe but ultimately I gave in to the convenience of already having an account on Amazon and not handing out my credit card number to yet another website that's probably running some EOL version of Magento or, god forbid, Joomla, just waiting to get hacked.