addprogrammer

mellowfish,

I've spent an enormous amount of time researching what "ADHD" is. My efforts, unfortunately, have only turned up what is true for me - no doubt because we are, psychologically speaking, so unique from one another.

I cannot "load" and then cannot "maintain" relevant threads of thought in "working memory." Let's translate to the practical: I have little control over what I focus on.

You did not mention what Adderall XR dosage prescribed. Docs usually start adults at 20mg. But 25 and 30 mg are also available. You simply may need a higher dose.

Regardless of dose, I discovered that stimulant meds alone are not enough. Try using pen and paper to compensate for "working memory" problems.

I call ADHD the paradoxical brain disorder. Here's why. The challenge of a really "wicked" programming algorithm will stimulate my "half-asleep" brain sufficiently to be productive and "amaze" people, AND, also disgruntle them. Why? They say, "he can write low level code but can't clean up his desk. Must be, he's LAZY." Not so. There is nothing stimulating about cleaning up anything. I honestly can not figure out how to do it because there is no stimulation. No one believes me, but you will because you too are ADHD.

How to compensate? I've discovered that I can clean up my desk by planning it ahead of time. It is a simple ADHD coping skill. We need to plan much more so than the "normals." So try stuff like planning the day before (in detail) what you will do and how you will do it for the next day. It is an extraordinarily simply strategy. But it, at least for me, works.

Another "trick of the trade" is too add stimulation to boring but essential work functions. We've all suffered though meetings where it seemed the purpose was nothing more than for management to tout their brilliance. Us ADHDers end up "sawing wood" at said meetings which usually does little for our advancement. Try doing two or three things at once. The speaker doesn't know you are scheduling. The poor slob thinks you are diligently noting his brilliant ideas. So it is a win-win sit. Actually, I find I pay more attention when multi-tasking not less.

Whatever, Adderall alone is not enough. Not for me anyway.

Bob

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Bob