Soooo “it all kinda depends.” I believe a part of it is how ADHD manifests in the person and the coping mechanisms they’ve found that works along with whether or not there are pre-existing habits/emotional baggage that may impact its effectiveness.
There are actually, there are a few decent brands of nonstimulant ADHD drugs, with one brand being more popular among my ADHD diagnosed friends cause it works and doesn’t give them liver problems. I’m also not a doctor/talk to a doctor about these options.
I’m personally very bad at focusing during conversations in person and in general, even on tv/movies and rely on captions to focus. If I can, I like to jot down notes where I’m fully transcribing lectures/meetings or I doodle on the side and it helps me focus on a person talking.
If I can’t, it’s a full body experience that uses all of my energy and willpower when I try to actively engage and remember key details in a conversation. This gets significantly harder at parties since there’s tons of crosstalk that tempt my attention from alllllll directions which does burn me out faaaast.
I know some people say use lists, and I think it depends on the context. I just talk at my watch to add things to a grocery list on my phone and it helps keep me organized when I go. I do the same for vacation packing so that I add to a list as things spontaneously occur to me over the course of days/weeks.
On the other hand, an ADHD friend of mine is super allergic to lists and legit will not use one and is dying to leave a store from minutes of entering/forgets what he needs to buy constantly, so sometimes there can be more to a attention deficit problem than just “are ya bad at focusing on this task?”
In the end, whether it’s working with a therapist, or yourself, trying to have a better understanding of where your struggles are (and successes!!!) will be the best first step at identifying what coping mechanisms work for you.
Soooo “it all kinda depends.” I believe a part of it is how ADHD manifests in the person and the coping mechanisms they’ve found that works along with whether or not there are pre-existing habits/emotional baggage that may impact its effectiveness.
There are actually, there are a few decent brands of nonstimulant ADHD drugs, with one brand being more popular among my ADHD diagnosed friends cause it works and doesn’t give them liver problems. I’m also not a doctor/talk to a doctor about these options.
I’m personally very bad at focusing during conversations in person and in general, even on tv/movies and rely on captions to focus. If I can, I like to jot down notes where I’m fully transcribing lectures/meetings or I doodle on the side and it helps me focus on a person talking.
If I can’t, it’s a full body experience that uses all of my energy and willpower when I try to actively engage and remember key details in a conversation. This gets significantly harder at parties since there’s tons of crosstalk that tempt my attention from alllllll directions which does burn me out faaaast.
I know some people say use lists, and I think it depends on the context. I just talk at my watch to add things to a grocery list on my phone and it helps keep me organized when I go. I do the same for vacation packing so that I add to a list as things spontaneously occur to me over the course of days/weeks.
On the other hand, an ADHD friend of mine is super allergic to lists and legit will not use one and is dying to leave a store from minutes of entering/forgets what he needs to buy constantly, so sometimes there can be more to a attention deficit problem than just “are ya bad at focusing on this task?”
In the end, whether it’s working with a therapist, or yourself, trying to have a better understanding of where your struggles are (and successes!!!) will be the best first step at identifying what coping mechanisms work for you.