The Double Agent of ADHD

The very first thing a lot of people learn about ADHD, even if they remain fixed on fiction of “just boys with ants in their pants”, is the short attention span. This is of course more complex than even the name Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder suggests, but the simple fact that there are very few and specific things someone with ADHD can easily focus their long-term attention on is very real and very impactful. It can be our saving grace or, much more often, our downfall.

The word “routine”, noun, means ‘a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program’. In other words a bunch of things, sometimes that you have to do, repeated over and over again. When applied to ADHD, this can trigger multiple symptoms, such as difficulty with transition, resistance to repetition, simple boredom, memory problems, time blindness, difficulty with decision making, difficulty creating and maintaining structure for oneself, and the idea that creative people must live in chaos or betray their artistic soul. The idea of embracing something so downright painful is incredibly hard for the ADHD brain to comprehend.

To me, as a person with lifelong ADHD, routine seemed to be something that happened to other people. I didn’t even have school to give my life structure until I started training as an ADHD coach. After my diagnosis, I began slowly scooping my life into a more comfortable and workable shape. Many things began to emerge that stood the test of time as being very helpful to me. But when I tried to get every one of them done in a day, I would get distracted between each item, and a list I assumed would take others less than an hour took me half or three quarters of the day.

Over years I tried to tweak, alter, and change things until I now have what I proudly call a morning and evening “routine”. It is a list of things that all, in one way or another, form the foundation of my life. They allow me to accomplish everything from maintaining friendships, to housework, to the two businesses I run, to assisting family in times of crisis and celebrating with them in times of joy. I cannot overstate how essential they are to me.

An excellent example is something that happened just this week. Even though I’ve been working on myself and my life since my diagnosis almost 8 years ago, a real, solid, regularly followed routine is a relatively new thing, at least in its current, and historically most useful, iteration. I woke up feeling very low and because, for ADHD, emotion is reality, it was very hard for me to imagine that anything could help lift me. I knew, however, that my morning routine was very beneficial to me, so I started it.

Throughout the process, which takes me between an hour and 90 minutes, I realized my mood turned completely around. I felt content, happy, even energetic. I attribute this to the comforting nature of the familiar flow of tasks, the knowledge that I was accomplishing something important, and the soothing transition ritual and dopamine creation strategy I have in place.

In order to circumvent the list of symptoms of ADHD I’ve listed above that interfere with my ability to accomplish daily routines, I have four major ‘fierce systems’ in place:

The first is headphones playing something I really like (Netflix, YouTube, music, or podcast) to keep my interest focused, allow for easier transition between tasks, and production of low-level dopamine. The second is an agreement I’ve come to with my family that if they see me with both headphones in my ears, they are to refrain from talking to me so I don’t become distracted from my routine. The third is a stopwatch I use for recording how long the routine takes me every morning. This is like a game, or a race against myself, seeing how efficient I can be, and helps produce more dopamine. The final system is, of course, that each routine (every day of the week has slightly different tasks) is recorded as a list in a phone reminder.

This is what I have to do in order to keep my life running smoothly, with the double agent that is routine, in an ADHD brain. When I imagine how other people, who have brains untroubled by these things, glide smoothly through their lives, without a second or even first thought to structure, routine, or dopamine, I have to admit to feeling jealous. That being said, I have proven to myself that I can overcome challenges of neurobiology and work with the very nature of who I am. All, I might add, without the benefit of medication or coffee. That is something of which I am very proud.

What role does routine play in your life?

Captain Motivation!

ADHD has a hard time with procrastination and this is a relatively well known fact. What isn't as well know is why this challenge occurs. Recent research has suggested a factor might be our reward systems. This is a neurophysical term that basically means motivation. Dopamine is a neurochemical that allows the brain (ADHD or not) to sustain motivation.

The ADHD brain produces lower levels of dopamine ordinarily, however it has no trouble working on something fun, because the enjoyment is producing dopamine which allows us to focus. But take away that enjoyment, and the dopamine it produces, and it becomes significantly harder to sustain focus, sometimes to the point of a physical impossibility.

I was faced with a challenge of dopamine production this week. I am working on an extremely boring task and was flagging in attention and motivation. To make matters worse the task was also extremely mentally taxing. When my brain works harder, it requires more dopamine to function, which means the small amount of dopamine I had was being used up faster.

I had been working on the task for several days when one day I saw that Canadian Netflix had added Captain America: Winter Soldier. Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of my top fandoms and I hadn't been able to see the film when it was in theatres, so I was very excited. Due to issues of morality and technological incompetence, I do not stream or pirate media of any kind.

So I decided Captain America would be my reward for finishing my task. The prospect of being able to watch this movie provided me with the dopamine I needed to finish the task in increased mental comfort. I finished in 3 days.

What do you use to leverage your motivation?

Five More Reasons You Want an ADHD Brain on Your Zombie Apocalypse Team (Part 4)

Fourth installment of a four part series. (Part 1 is here.)

Disclaimer: Not every person with ADHD will have any or all of these. Displaying anything in this list doesn’t mean a person has ADHD. The things on this list aren’t unique to ADHD.

16. The sunny side of armageddon

Through a lifetime of negativity that is constantly bombarding us, we have developed a defense mechanism of optimism that is infectious and hard to destroy. We can see a light at the end of the tunnel, beyond the shuffling horde, and we’ll tell you about it.

17. “It’s ok. Go ahead...”

Practical and realistic is something you maybe didn’t expect, but if somebody gets bit, we won’t hesitate to do the right thing, even if it’s us. We’ll understand.

18. What you see is what you get

ADHD people are genuine and authentic. We don’t hide anything. In a situation where secrets end lives we skip the drama.

19. Canary in the coalmine

Our sensitivities mean we will sense and express a problem even before the rest of the team has realized anything is wrong. That seemingly innocent person we just took into the group? We know what that scrape really came from.

20. Maverick

Even before the apocalypse we looked for excitement everywhere. Now that works to the team’s advantage. We will be quick to take risks, volunteer first for dangerous missions, running through zombie-infested streets to rescue babies and all those other hero things. No photos, please.

The Squirrel Effect

One of the lesser known symptoms of ADHD is that of interest. Or rather it's known by other terms. Ever see a dog be completely engrossed in something, like say a treat, then the very next second it's off after a squirrel? That's the big joke among ADHD individuals. We’re constantly off after squirrels.

It's not that whatever topic came before the ‘squirrel’ isn't interesting or important, it probably was, it's just that our brains are wired to respond to the newest interesting thing. It's one of the reasons many people are forming the theory ‘ADHD’ as we know it today may have developed as an evolutionary result of hunting. Because let's face it, we are terrible gatherers.

Like so many things, this symptom has two sides. A lot has been said and written about the impairments caused by ADHD and those people aren't wrong. There is another side, however, that often goes overlooked.

If something really new and interesting comes across our desk, an ADHD person can put in an incredible amount of time and effort and get the project done really well. This is why it's important to harness the power of the squirrel effect.

For a long time after I realized that the new and interesting took priority in my brain, often at the expense of other things, I avoided leaping on anything right away. I forced myself to only work on the next thing on my to do list.

The problem with this is it's once again looking only at the bad side and not at the good side. Those new and interesting things still needed to get done, but by the time I got back to them they were old hat and boring. They took twice the effort because I'd intentionally left them to later.

The moral of this anecdote, as I took it, was this: when a squirrel runs across in front of you, always pause to see if you're about to run into traffic, but if you're in an open field, you go get ‘em.