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throwme999 commented on Goblin.tools: simple, single-task tools to help neurodivergent people with tasks   goblin.tools/... · Posted by u/ValentineC
throw80521 · 5 months ago
Yeah, I get it. It really is exactly how you describe, compared to how I lived before at least - like being on top of the world all the time. No organizational tools or anything required, except maybe a couple calendar reminders for big events each month. No alarm either, now I wake up naturally each day and still get enough time to prepare for work each morning and maybe even watch a bit of TV. (To be fair, I'd probably want to schedule things more often if I had more social obligations to fulfill, but I'm relatively alright working on things by myself right now.)

I did purchase a fitness monitor though, which I found an excellent investment since it provides me with ideas as to how I should spend my energy (exercising or recovery). But it doesn't really impose any "must-do" activities; it only reflects the state of your body day-to-day and leaves the rest to you. I'm already motivated enough to hit the gym for 30 minutes whenever I feel up to it, so it's just an extra thing on top to track my progress.

It's not like every single day is perfect or anything - example, today I fumbled my sleep schedule and couldn't as get much done - but even the off days I can accept with a feeling of grace knowing they're only temporary, and even times like these are necessary in reaching happier places.

throwme999 · 5 months ago
I'm glad you worked it out!
throwme999 commented on Goblin.tools: simple, single-task tools to help neurodivergent people with tasks   goblin.tools/... · Posted by u/ValentineC
throw80521 · 5 months ago
Fair warning, what will write only applies to my circumstance and I have no intention to denigrate the life experiences of others.

I used to prescribe myself labels like ADHD. In fact I probably got into this habit at a very young age since people around me were already talking about labels and how they did or didn't apply to me, and I soaked all this up as children are wont to do.

I no longer abide by such labels anymore and still live comfortably. I discovered that what I called "ADHD" and motivated me to get on the Ritalin/TODO list/5-alarms-a-day train was my method of relieving myself from stress. Distracting myself was my way of coping with stress I found impossible to deal with or even approach at a lower level.

And historically, I had experienced the consequences of not distracting myself firsthand. In the past, when I forced myself take breaks and do literally nothing for a week at a time, I was stressed for what seemed like no reason for every waking hour. The stress would only be relieved when I went back to distracting myself with something (on my computer, at work, etc.). The difference was I was previously unable to recognize the cause of this stress and this address it effectively.

When I was able to address the underlying cause of stress (and this lurked in the background for years or even decades and would not have appeared consciously without heavy-duty and sustained focus), my desire for Facebook-Twitter-HN disappeared overnight. So did my stimulant prescription.

With that, the label "ADHD" disappeared as well. I called myself that a lot over the years. It turns out I was just fighting myself the whole time for seeing myself as "too weak" to deal with being unable to sustain "attention", and targeting my distraction as if it were the ultimate cause, not the symptom it really was. The stress was the real problem, and it remained latent for years without me so much as thinking of it.

On top of being distracted all the time from stress, my belief was if I couldn't stick to a stringent schedule with every minute detail mapped out for each day, I was a failure. Because my impression was that that's the standard you needed to set for yourself to address "ADHD", and if you weren't putting in your reps, your condition would dominate you and you'd live a miserable existence... which made miserable, which only made me believe more strongly in this narrative, and so on in an endless spiral.

I should mention everyone around me also believed in the "disease model" of psychology, so they only served to reinforce these beliefs. I think I renounced this model a bit too strongly in hindsight, as a few of my relationships have been left permanently altered as a result.

Now I don't bother to follow a strict schedule except for work things. I clean my place on Sunday. That's my only real obligation I've set for myself. Things that "need to be" done somehow get done automatically - because I don't need to pressure myself into doing them, I just want to, and they don't take much time. I no longer feel the need to sweat any of those details or micromanage my own life anymore, and instead just take life as it comes.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I've never been happier with myself living this way.

throwme999 · 5 months ago
> Now I don't bother to follow a strict schedule except for work things.

Huh, "just" that? If I could do that I'd feel like I'm on the freaking top of the world.

u/throwme999

KarmaCake day1March 25, 2025View Original