r/ADHDerTips

How do you guys and girls manage it and how to control it better

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Usually this happens when I'm watching a video, but I have to genuinely force myself and fight myself so hard to not give into distractions or switch tabs/videos and just focus on what I'm currently watching

It could be even a video I actually want to watch or a task I really need to do, but there's like a voice or a puppet in my brain telling and pushing me to turn my attention to something else

Light therapy can be super helpful for ADHD as well as comorbidities. But there's a few tricks to getting it right.

1. Get a vitamin D (UVB range) lamp. This will have the best biological effect.

2. Only use 15-25 minutes a day to prevent skin damage. Make sure you don't fall asleep with it on or anything like that.

3. Don't wear sunscreen! It limits efficacy. But, make sure you wear it afterwards for the day. You still don't want skin cancer.

my mom says just wake up early and go out, there is no such thing as ADHD, and don't use your phone too much (while playing games all day on her phone)

anyway, I followed her advice to wake up early and go out after waking up

and decided to not use my phone for just one hour after waking up

that one hour somehow became 4-5 hours...

and I feel a lot better

Yeah I know that's anti-climatic and no one wanted to hear mom wisdom from every mom ever but it worked

maybe you all should listen to your mom too (except the part about denying the existence of ADHD and saying your diagnosis is fake and invalidating you)

I always used to hate laundry. So many steps, lots of time commitment, and it always felt overwhelming. More often than not my laundry basket would be for my clean clothes and my dirty ones would pile up on the floor.

However, I moved into a new apartment (coming up on a year). No in unit laundry, community washer is small and costs 2 bucks, and most importantly: the dryer sucks. Clothes don’t dry until the 3rd cycle, which would be an extra 6 dollars. Being in college, I can’t afford that every week lol.

And so, I started air drying my laundry. Got a cheap $10 drying rack; it takes up a bunch of space in my room when I put it up, but it gets the job done.

Here’s what makes it a hack; every step now feels urgent (easy motivation) or easier to initiate. I have to get my clothes immediately after they’re done from the washer, as it’s the only one on the floor, making it feel urgent. After getting my wet clothes from the washer, I have to put them up right away on the rack so they don’t get moldy. Then, the magical part, my hamper is now open for new clothes & I can take as long as I need to ignore the drying clothes. And since it takes up so much space in my room, it being a physical nuisance motivates me to fold my laundry once it’s dry. The loads need to be small to fit in the washer/dry properly on the rack, so I don’t even need to fold that much; which is great, it’s my least favorite step.

Now, laundry feels way easier even though it’s technically more inconvenient. I highly recommend trying it out if you hate laundry.

TL;DR: Start air drying your laundry. Ideally the rack will block your bed for max annoyance. Less steps and more urgent.

1. Setting a short timer

Short enough so that I can think "fine, I can do the thing for x amount of minutes". Then I'll set the timer and start doing the task. Usually it'll get me over the hump of starting and I'll be good to keep going. If not, at least a couple minutes is better than nothing.

2. External accountability

Body doubling literally feels like magic. I'll also let people know my plans or share goals on social media! Making the things I have/want to do exist outside of myself.

3. Reduce entry barriers

AKA micro tasks. Finding the smallest possible way to start something. If "write that email" puts me into fight or flight mode for whatever reason, I'll reduce it down to just sitting at my desk. Then, turn on computer. Then open google... you get the idea.

4. Changing the scenery

It's one way to shake things up and add novelty (+ a little body doubling). Or just moving things around on my desk so it feels *fresh* again.

5. Doing something fun FIRST

It sounds counterintuitive but just stay with me. Fun is fuel for ADHD. Trying to "eat the frog"/get the worst thing out of the way is like trying to run a car on empty (and you're also more likely to procrastinate). Doing something fun first like listening to your favourite song or playing with a pet for a couple minutes helps to power me up to get through the boring stuff.

I hope you find these helpful!

TLDR: The moment you think of doing something… you count 5-4-3-2-1 and STAND IMMEDIATELY

that's it, once you stand up, you will automatically do the task you are supposed to do :)

why this works: It interrupts task paralysis, bypasses your brain’s favorite hobby: procrastination rationalization, It forces action before emotion catches up

I AM GONNA TRY IT TODAY FOR GETTING OUT OF BED AND REPORT BACK IF IT WORKS, READ ABOUT THIS TIP ON SOME OTHER SUBREDDIT :)

ADHD feels like a disability in ways people don’t see. I wake up tired even when I have slept well, even 10 alarms can't wake me up... I stare at something simple and feel like my brain refuses to comply it is like there’s a wall between my body and my brain and something is missing..It’s knowing exactly what you need to do and still not doing it. Not because you don’t care. Not because you’re lazy. But because something inside you just… won’t start.

watching other people do life so easily, They reply to messages, They finish tasks, They show up on time, and I just sit there wondering why everyone is 10x more efficient than me

people always tell me “just try harder” and I want to scream because they don't understand, I ALREADY AM, I feel broken in a world that keeps moving like I don't matter, Some days it really does feel like a disability, Just in a quiet, exhausting, everyday way that no one believes in because I look fine...

Hi everyone,

I live in Cyprus and I’m trying to understand the rules around Elvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate).

As far as I know, it is not currently available to the public in Cyprus, but I’m not sure whether that means it is fully illegal or simply not marketed/prescribed locally.

My question is this: if I were assessed by a psychiatrist in another EU country where Elvanse is available, such as Spain or Germany, would it be legally possible for that doctor or pharmacy to prescribe and ship it to Cyprus?

I’m also wondering whether any EU mutual recognition or cross-border prescription rules would apply in a case like this, especially since lisdexamfetamine is a controlled medication.

Has anyone here dealt with this situation before, either in Cyprus or with another EU country? I’m mainly looking to understand the legal and practical side of it before speaking to a doctor.

Thank you.

My girlfriend and I have been together 7 years. She has ADHD and she ends most days feeling like she did nothing - when I can literally see she's been doing stuff all day. While some other times, she can't even get the simplest things done.

To-do lists made it worse. Every unchecked box was proof she "failed." Journaling never lasted more than a few days. Reminders just got ignored. At some point I came across the idea of a "done list" - instead of writing what you need to do, you just write down what you already did. I mentioned it to her and she shrugged it off. Fair enough.

I ended up building a small app around the idea, mostly because I wanted to make it as frictionless (and pretty) as possible for her. She started using it and the difference was immediate. By the end of the first day she looked at her list and said "I didn't know I did this much today." She genuinely got excited. She started asking me to add features — she wanted to see her weekly patterns, what categories she logs most, what time of day she's most active, etc.

I know this won't fix everything, but for us it's made a real difference in how she feels about her days. She's not doing more, she's just finally seeing what she was already doing.

The app is called DidThat if anyone's curious. I wasn't planning to share it here cause I know people hate self-promos, but honestly if it helps even one other person the way it helped her, that'd mean a lot.

Not therapy. Not "try exercising." Not a planner you used for 5 days.

I mean the thing that actually stuck.

The weird, specific, unglamorous thing that quietly shifted how your brain works day to day

that you almost didn't even notice was working until it wasn't there anymore.

Hi, I am looking for advice on time management, I NEED to change. I, 24f, struggle with time management and it seems to be a flaw of mine I can’t change no matter how hard I try. I have ADHD, and while this of course isn’t an excuse, it is a common struggle for those with ADHD, so it does provide some context for why this is so difficult for me. Yesterday my partner expressed that this bothers them and that I need to work on it, and they are absolutely right, and hearing this really hurts because I hate knowing this flaw of mine affects them, and I feel terrible about it. 

My partner also has ADHD, but our neurodivergence presents very differently. They have good time management and are extremely punctual. My partner is an absolute angel and brought this up very kindly and we had a peaceful conversation about it. I remember early on in us seeing each other, they told me a reservation was like 30 minutes before it actually was so I would be on time, and this made me want to cry because it felt like the epitome of being taken as I am and them working around my worst flaw. They absolutely should not have to do this or regulate my timing for me in any way, and this did not make me think it was something I didn’t need to work on, but it did mean the world to me. Last night, they told me it is their one complaint about me and that I need to improve. I feel really bad. I received it well and acknowledged that they are absolutely right and I will absolutely work on it, but I am so scared to let them down. I will say, this did particularly hurt because I was formerly in a very unhealthy relationship where essentially everything about myself was gradually seen as a flaw and something my ex despised, so it's sort of like this deep rooted fear that I am difficult to love and inevitably, even if someone sees me truly and loves me, they will eventually wish I was different. That relationship was drastically different, and my ex grew to resent not just things that were valid like my lateness but also my friendliness, my emotions, my quirkiness, my interests, the way I talk, really everything. So I know this is not at all the same scenario whatsoever, my partner is amazing and accepting and loves me for who I am, and it is completely valid that they have an issue with my lateness, and they couldn’t have brought it up in a more caring way. Still, it sent alarms going off in my brain like “you better change or they’ll grow to hate you”, even though I know this isn’t the truth. I want to change not out of that fear but because I love and respect them so much and want to be receptive to their needs and not cause them stress due to my flaw. I also want to change for everyone else in my life, and especially, for myself.

It may sound like bs, but I swear my brain truly cannot conceptualize time. I really, really hate this about myself. It makes my life so much harder, it makes people upset with me, it causes consequences, and it is disrespectful to others. I can’t stress enough how if this was something I could easily change, I absolutely would have by now. I always seek to improve myself, I am receptive to criticism, but when it comes to this one flaw of mine I cannot seem to change it, at least not enough. 

I hate that this flaw makes me seem lazy and careless, though I understand why it does, but it is truly not the case. I care so much, I actually hate being late! It gives me horrible anxiety to have to walk into something late and feel eyes on me or anticipate that I’ve upset people, etc. I also fear making people mad at me, more than anything else. I am pretty conflict avoidant so I try my best to avoid upsetting others as much as possible, and if I have a behavior that upsets someone I rapidly try to correct it and improve myself. So I just cannot stress enough that I dislike being this way, and upsetting or disrespecting others is the last thing I ever want so if I could have changed this about myself by now, my god I would have. 

I have made tremendous improvement when it comes to being on time for classes and work, and I am proud of myself for that, but my progress is still not enough, and I still let others and myself down sometimes. I think what is hardest for me is social plans, occasional plans and events especially if I have to get extra done up, and I will genuinely clear the entire day to avoid lateness and yet I still tend to fail. I am also medicated for my ADHD and that helps a lot too as my time management is severely worse without my meds, but even still, it's not enough. 

To those who have good time management it may seem like a matter of choice and something to easily fix, but as someone who lacks this ability, I seem to notice that there is truly a fundamental difference in the brain wiring of someone with good time management, and someone with poor time management. 

I also want to stress that it's not a matter of me “not being raised right” because my entire family is extremely punctual, all of them except me. Like whatever gives them that ability, I lack and am the odd one out and lord have I received so much backlash and punishment about it my entire life, so it truly has nothing to do with me having been enabled or anything. 

All the advice I have ever received seems to come from people who don’t share this struggle, so those methods don't really work for me. Just leaving 10 minutes earlier, or waking up 10 minutes earlier, really doesn’t make much of a difference, or at least not enough of a difference, because the issue really isn’t how much time I have, it’s how I conceptualize that time. Whether I have 20 minutes or 4 hours I tend to find myself down to the wire, in a panicked state with so much anxiety because I am still late or best case scenario, just on time, but fighting for my life to make that happen. 

I would never ever tell my loved ones “I am who I am take it or leave it” or just expect people to accept this about me, but I fear that to an extent, this may always be a problem, and I will never be wired in a way where I can easily conceptualize time. But still, I will do anything to improve.

So please, any fellow neurodivergents with timeblindness who have made massive improvement, I would greatly appreciate your advice. And for those who struggle the same as me and are also still trying to improve, I would love to hear your thoughts just to know I am not alone.