Hyperfocus
I find "hyperfocus" and "flow state" to be analogous with one key difference - when hyperfocusing, I struggle mightily to sto...
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Soooooo relatable. I remember sessions of easy 15+ hours just coding, no drinking, no peeing, no eating, no blinking, just coding. Some times whole weekends. I have that with other things as well. As soon as I'm interested in something, the hyperfocus kicks in. Easily also drives me to work longer hours than I should, skip lunch, fail to join / forget all my important meetings etc.
That is both, awesome and horrible at the same time.
Dr Russell Barkley called it the diabetes of the brain to explain how devastating it can be if left undiagnosed || unchecked, and also how easily treatable it can be given the right environment/medications/therapy compared to other disorders.
But ADHD sometimes brings along other "friends", creating toxic and messy feedback loops between each other, making it not so easily treatable after all.
You may get ADHD alone, and still being hurt given how an EF/SR dysfunction can create all kinds of side effects not visible related to ADHD.
I have yet to attempt a technique that successfully manages hyperfocus. Anything timer-based I will literally just ignore the timer because it feels so bad to stop. I haven’t given much effort to trying a goal-based approach but the idea of taking advantage of natural breaks in the activity like achieving a particular goal sounds promising. I’ll have to give it a try. Thank you for writing this!
As someone who has ADHD, I can totally agree with this and the previous posts. I think however, it has helped me become better in whatever I've strived for because of the hyperfocus but it can hurt in some areas as well.
One thing that I found to be helpful is 'conquering one fort at a time' strategy. I use Google Keep to list all the to-do items in my life. Literally everything is first written down in the list. Next I pick up one task and focus on it completely. From the time a wake to the time a go back to sleep, I think about it, plan it and find ways to accomplish it. Now as for the daily chores I follow a timetable with self discipline. I allocate time to each chore, say, meditation, cleaning room, exercising and then thoughtlessly do it at that time.
Thanks for writing this series of articles! I have bipolar and have very similar experiences between "can't start" and "can't stop" and it was nice to get some advice regarding them, especially as it relates to writing software for a living.
All the best! :)
Thank you for explaining pros and cons of hyperfocusing in those of us with ADD/ADHD and sharing what you have found to be useful in managing