I’m sorry :( I’m currently homeless, and thus my only access to WiFi is at public locations like coffee shops (and libraries, but my local library is well used and so quiet that I’d be even more of an asshole to do calls there).

Though I am admittedly part of the problem, I confess that this has, if anything, made me more judgemental of people who engage in calls like this in an assholeish manner. For instance, I try my best to be as discreet as possible, as well as choosing places that are busy enough that my voice is more likely to blend into the background noise (I’m fortunate that my headphones are quite good at picking up my voice).

Commenting to pin so I can reply more fully when less sleepy

Yeah, I second the advice of keeping a journal. It doesn’t have to be something that you continue indefinitely, but it can be invaluable for this initial period, especially if you end up trying out different meds.

The journal doesn’t need to be super detailed, and you don’t need to be perfect in recording stuff everyday (that would be ideal, but we don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of good), but some rough notes are good. Where relevant, include info about if there’s anything that might be contributing to your mental state (e.g. if you got very little sleep the night before, or if you had lots of caffeine).

Also, try not to forget to eat. Adderall doesn’t need to be taken with food, but I found it useful to ensure I did, so that I wouldn’t forget to eat, as it’s an appetite suppressant. Through keeping a journal, I found that my foggy days were more likely to be the ones in which I forgot to eat

Some ADHD medications (like atomoxetine) need to be taken every day, in order for them to be effective, and they take a while to be effective (much like antidepressants). And you’re right that Adderall isn’t like that, and is likely to start being effective straight away.

However, there is still an acclimatization period of sorts. For me, this was discernible in the fact that initially, I had a few minor side effects, but after a while of taking my medication every day, they disappeared. So like, on the biochemical level, there is some impact of taking it regularly. But there’s also the more human side of adjusting to stuff — as I outlined in another comment I left on this thread, once I found a medication that worked for me, I needed to develop new strategies to actually manage my focus and routine and stuff (the meds helped, but they weren’t a silver bullet is what I’m saying).

It’s possible that maybe Adderall just isn’t for you. I was first tried on instant release methylphenidate (basically ritalin, but unbranded), and I think it improved my focus. However, it also gave me brain fog that negated any benefits.

They tried me on the extended release methylphenidate after that, which had similar effects. Then they tried me on dexamphetamine (basically Adderall, but slightly different), and it worked really well for me. So maybe you might need to try other medications (such as methylphenidate, or a time release version of Adderall, such as lisdexamphetamine (branded = Elvanse, I believe), or even one of the non-stimulant ADHD meds, like atomoxetine or guanfacine.

However, I would also note that whilst for me, getting onto medication that worked for my ADHD was like a miracle, it wasn’t something that solved stuff on its own. I remember that when I was fairly newly on dexamphetamine, I spent an entire day organising my Spotify library. I suddenly had focus, but I needed to learn new skills and strategies to be able to manage that. I also find that I am still pretty scattered brained, and bouncing between topics at a mile a minute. However, I do find it easier to follow conversational or thought threads, to help keep me on track.

It’s super interesting to me, because there have been times where I have been unable to access my medication where I was even less capable of functioning than before I had medication. I felt bad about this at first, but a friend explained that it’s no wonder I was doing worse than before I had ever had medication for ADHD, because back then, I had loads of coping strategies to mitigate my unmedicated ADHD. They weren’t bad strategies, but they were built for a particular context, and thus when I started on medication, I gradually learned new coping strategies that fit with the version of me that was medicated, discarding the old strategies.

In short, maybe Adderall isn’t the ideal med for you if you feel like you’re still scatterbrained, but faster. However equally, being medicated doesn’t stop you from being ADHD — you’ll probably always have a higher than average level of scatteryness and context switching. Also, it’s likely you will need to build new coping strategies for the version of you that’s medicated, and that will take time.

Edit: I wanted to give an example of one of my coping strategies. So I have found that even when I am decently focussed and medicated, I struggle to focus on one task for a long time (unless it’s a task that I am enthusiastic enough about that I get pulled into ADHD hyperfocus, a fun but dangerous path that I have learned is healthy, in moderation). So rather than fighting my instinct to constantly be switching contexts, when I have lots of Tasks to do, I will let myself cycle between them — I half-jokingly call this “ADHD circuit training”.

What this looks like in practice is that I might spend a chunk of time trying to write an essay for university. Then once I find myself encountering resistance to this task, rather than pushing onwards, I switch to a new task, such as tidying up my space. Then before I become fatigued with that task, I might spend a little bit of time doing some fun reading. Then maybe I might organise some of my files (a task that feels productive, but isn’t particularly). Then I will go back onto my essay task.

I do still need to hold myself accountable to doing some of the more boring tasks (like, I don’t just give up if I am not immediately making progress on the essay), and I find it works best if, at the beginning of the working day, I decide what tasks I will likely cycle between (so I don’t get too off track from my goals). I also need to set myself some time boundaries — I tend to find that 90 minutes working on a task is enough time to build momentum without being too long. I might take small breaks within this 90 mins, but in general, it’s a good guideline. It’s mostly useful because it means I can set a timer, and it means I don’t lose track of time too much.

For the tasks that I really enjoy (like the fun reading, or mundane organisation tasks that feel productive), the time boundary helps ensure I don’t get drawn into spending too long on one task. I’m fairly adaptive with it though, but that’s because I’ve gotten quite good at recognising when I should push myself and when I need to be kind.

However, I must emphasise that what works for me may not work for you. Someone else on this thread suggested you try various time management and planning strategies that you may have tried in the past but found unhelpful, and you should also not beat yourself up if some of those don’t work for you either. You’ve got to find out what works for you, and develop your own understanding of what battles are worth fighting and when it’s better to just lean into your natural way of working.

Yay, teamwork!

Good kitty

I can’t imagine that it would ever have enough impact to reduce their population

It’d probably still count as littering, which would be fineable, I imagine

I once had a crow friend who would knock on my window if I was late coming out to give them their seeds. It was just the one crow that was bold enough to do this. Sometimes he’d do it way earlier than usual, and I am 100% confident that he wasn’t mistaken, just being a cheeky asshole and trying his luck. I miss that asshole bird.

Seconding the crow effigy idea (well, I didn’t do it with an effigy, I just left them a couple of shiny stuff).

For me, what I did was sit on my doorstep for a while, to get them used to the sight of me. And then I made sure they saw me leaving the shiny thing. I wasn’t forbidden from feeding them, so I also let them see me putting out some seeds.

Although feeding them is prohibited, the crow effigy idea person said to have a few cashews or similar in the little nesty thing, and I agree that this would be likely be necessary to draw them over at first.

If you’re okay with bending the rules a tad, if the sitting outside thing works and you’re able to not scare them away, then leaving behind just a cashew or two in your wake (if the crows are nearby) could help them to begin to associate you with good stuff.

Though if they’re dive bombing you, it might be challenging to come back from that

I’m sorry that this is the case. You deserve someone who loves and respects you enough to put in the work to understand what makes you feel loved and appreciated.

I like wearable fidget toys. I have an enamel pin of centrifuge tubes, which actually spins^[1]

I also have a couple of cool interactive pins from AtelierEumori (currently on break). I have this social battery pin and this TTRPG dice pin

There’s a couple of rings that I have long been coveting, such as this one, this one, or this one^[2]. I don’t own any of these, because they’re super expensive, but they’ve inspired me to learn how to make stuff like this — I’ve been learning how to use a jeweller’s lathe.

I like wearable stuff because otherwise I will forget them or lose then. I do have some begleri, which are as much as a skill toy as a fidget toy. This aspect of skill is why I like them — I like the feeling of practicing stuff. For this reason, a standard deck of cards is also something I like to fiddle with. Unfortunately, I tend to forget to take them with me, so I’m not actually very good at this stuff.

[1]: From dorbitalgames, but out of stock

Marmite is really good for this. Some of the other go-to “umami bomb” condiments aren’t vegetarian, but Marmite works well for vegetarians

For his sake, I really hope he did do it. I mean, being imprisoned as he is would suck regardless, but it would suck extra hard if he didn’t do it

In that case, the finished product would be of pretty mediocre quality, in my case. That’s because most of my projects are things that I actively want to learn, and I tend to be overambitious when setting aims. Despite this though, even when I completely botch it up, I struggle to think of a time where I have regret my endeavour. I like the learning

No. The main reason I do projects is for the learning. Any useful items I produce as part of the process are just happy side effects.

Everyone reacts differently, and I’ve known people who don’t find medication helpful, but personally for me, they saved my life. I was going through some real bad depression at the time, but being medicated felt like a big boost to my mental wellbeing. It was much easier to do all the things that they say that depressed people should do to get better, such as personal care, dragging oneself out of the house, and engaging in hobbies.

It wasn’t a miracle fix — and I did need to work at developing new skills to ensure that I wouldn’t forget to eat, or spend an entire day organising my music library rather than anything I’d actually want to spend that much time on. So be cautious about expecting a miracle. Medication didn’t solve any of my ADHD problems, it just transmuted them into easier to manage forms. It was like a ladder dropped into the pit I was in, but climbing that ladder still took a lot of work

Something that feels notable to me in your comment is “will they help me read books again?” “Again” sticks out to me, because if you used to be able to read books but now no longer can, then it might be something in addition to ADHD that’s blocking you — burnout, for example. If you are struggling with burnout, then be careful because if you go into meds with the wrong mindset, you could do yourself more harm. Like, if the meds help you to be more productive at running yourself into the ground, that would not be good. My sympathies if this is indeed where you’re at. Personally, I would find it hard to recover from burnout without being on my meds, because they help me to focus on things that I want to do as well as the things I have to do, so they definitely do help overall. I just need to work hard to be kind to myself, and that’s easier said than done

Seconding the coffee shop recommendation. When I found a place near me that was nice and not overwhelming, I really enjoyed being able to be a regular there. There were days when I was not well and knew that it would help me to get out of the house at least once, and it was nice to have a place like this that could act as an achievable goal.

Even on good days, I find it useful to have somewhere I can go and exist and feel safe in a place that’s not my home. I find I get more work done this way sometimes, so I’ll often take my laptop, my headphones, and just spend an entire day working in a café. My regular place had a few tables that were sort of tucked away in a nook, and had a plug socket nearby, so it was great.

I linked it in a top level comment, but if you’re someone who likes watching long, thoughtful video essays, this is an excellent one on the precise topic of your comment, from one of my favourite science communicators