I have ADHD and have noticed that I have extreme difficulty maintaining a schedule or forming habits. Almost everything I do is the result of by moment to moment decisions. I flit from project to project as needed, and have hundreds of things going on all the time.
This inability to form habits is extreme. If something's not right in front of me I forget that it exists. I've tried to start smoking, but as soon as the pack is gone I forget to buy another. I don't shower until it starts to effect me. I don't sleep until I can't keep my eyes open. I forget to eat until my stomach hurts. I truly don't believe I can become addicted to anything. I've been tempted to try crack because I've heard that everybody gets addicted to it and I might be able to use it to create artificial motivation in myself. I tried chewing nicotine gum every time I took a shower, but I just couldn't remember to do it, and it wasn't helping enough with forming habits.
I also have memory problems and basically have to re-invent everything from scratch all the time. I'm really good at solving problems so I've been able to cover up most of my failings. One story that highlights this happened when I was taking the ACT. There was one question at the end that I had to invent calculus to solve. I had a feeling that I hadn't solved a problem like it before, but I went ahead and solved it anyway and got every question on the math section correct. My verbal skills on the other hand were just barely acceptable.
Another anecdote about lack of schedule and routine also comes from my highschool time. Between classes I'd routinely forget that I had another class to go to. I'd see someone in the hall and start talking until the bell rang. In my highschool being late 3 times was equivalent to an absence, and 7 absences was an automatic fail. Needless to say I had probably the worst GPA in history. I also did very well on tests, but could never ever remember to read my book or do my homework.
Basically, a consistent theme is I'm totally worthless until I stumble into a magical sprint where I get 2 months worth of work done overnight.
I just spent from 1:30am to about 5:00am in my car with my laptop and was able to make 6 much needed git commits as well as taking care of a bunch of other issues with my main project. The last commits were the end of August with 14 commits over just a few days.
Wow, that was a ramble, but I've been up for about 30 hours now so that's not surprising.
Oh, I take adderall and it helps. Interestingly, sometimes I'll drink caffeine and an adderall and then take a relaxing nap. I also forget to take my adderall quite often.
This inability to form habits is extreme. If something's not right in front of me I forget that it exists. I've tried to start smoking, but as soon as the pack is gone I forget to buy another. I don't shower until it starts to effect me. I don't sleep until I can't keep my eyes open. I forget to eat until my stomach hurts. I truly don't believe I can become addicted to anything. I've been tempted to try crack because I've heard that everybody gets addicted to it and I might be able to use it to create artificial motivation in myself. I tried chewing nicotine gum every time I took a shower, but I just couldn't remember to do it, and it wasn't helping enough with forming habits.
I also have memory problems and basically have to re-invent everything from scratch all the time. I'm really good at solving problems so I've been able to cover up most of my failings. One story that highlights this happened when I was taking the ACT. There was one question at the end that I had to invent calculus to solve. I had a feeling that I hadn't solved a problem like it before, but I went ahead and solved it anyway and got every question on the math section correct. My verbal skills on the other hand were just barely acceptable.
Another anecdote about lack of schedule and routine also comes from my highschool time. Between classes I'd routinely forget that I had another class to go to. I'd see someone in the hall and start talking until the bell rang. In my highschool being late 3 times was equivalent to an absence, and 7 absences was an automatic fail. Needless to say I had probably the worst GPA in history. I also did very well on tests, but could never ever remember to read my book or do my homework.
Basically, a consistent theme is I'm totally worthless until I stumble into a magical sprint where I get 2 months worth of work done overnight.
I just spent from 1:30am to about 5:00am in my car with my laptop and was able to make 6 much needed git commits as well as taking care of a bunch of other issues with my main project. The last commits were the end of August with 14 commits over just a few days.
Wow, that was a ramble, but I've been up for about 30 hours now so that's not surprising.