Hi,

I started a new job 2 months ago. It is way below my skill level. I am only here for 4 hours a day.
I took some flaxseed oil and I was on a high for about 4 days and even the most boring, tedius stuff was fun. Then the flaxseed wore off. Damn!

I work in a cubicle. That's ok as I like my space. Although this job is extreemly boring it has a lot of good points.

People drop off work for me and I am left alone to do it. No one tries to hurry me. I am the only one who knows how to run the AutoCad software that I use to do and drawings needed. I can listen to music with head phones.

I am looking for some coping tips. What I am asking is, what would some of you do to help pass the time if you were in a situation like me?
You would only have to work 4 hours a day.

Thanks

Ernie

I'm forced to smoke illegal substances to handle boredom in this world.

T-Bass

I am looking for some coping tips. What I am asking is, what would some of you do to help pass the time if you were in a situation like me?
You would only have to work 4 hours a day.

Thanks

Ernie

I'm with you, music is my life and on many occasions it has gotten me through the most tedious of days. If I were you, I would set myself up with a wide selection of music in the office to cover any mood that you might be in.
And remember that if you get tired of music there is always comedy and books on tape :) good luck



I'm forced to smoke illegal substances to handle boredom in this world.

T-Bass


No one is "forced" to do anything...life is full of "choices", right or wrong, it's up to you to make them. Your answer appears to be a scapegoat and it's apparent that you promote it in an attempt to justify "your" decision.

Hi,

Comedy on tapes. Great idea. I forgot all about that one. A good number of years ago I was on a full time job where a lot of times I didn't have much to do.
I purchased a set of tapes of a comedy team called "The Bickersons". It got me through a lot of boring times.

Thanks for the reminder.

Ernie

No one is "forced" to do anything...life is full of "choices", right or wrong, it's up to you to make them. Your answer appears to be a scapegoat and it's apparent that you promote it in an attempt to justify "your" decision.

I'm forced to live, it wasn't my choice to be born, I'm also forced to pay bills & rent with a job that bores the hell out of me, but drugs makes things interesting. Yes I'm a drug addict, This is what keeps me alive or out of jail. I give impulsive a whole new meaning.

T-Bass

Hi,

I saw your post on how to deal with bordem at work and I have a few suggestions...
(I'm not sure what you're already doing, or what your job constraints are)

-its a proven fact that even people that don't have ADD/ADHD need breaks at least every hour if they're
sitting in one place for long periods of time so get up periodically and walk around or
-if you can do your job while getting up and pacing
around your cubicle at times thats great also
(depending on how ADD effects you, you may think
and concentrate better while moving around anyway, I
know I do (its the only way I made it through college))
-if you can toss a small foam ball back and forth against
your cubicle wall while working thats a good way also
-drink lots 'o' coffee
-hard candy is good for focusing (little blood sugar boosts)
-play a game with yourself (great for time management too) for ex} say to yourself I have to finish this project by my minibreak, when I finish then I can get up and walk around the office (or you can go get another cup of water or coffee) or race yourself, lets say you finished 2 pages (or whatever) before your last break...so this time you'll finish 3 (make sure your goals are reasonable though)
-break your day up into small segments (it makes the day go by a lot faster) ex} if you did 30 min segments, in a 4 hour day you'd only have 8 segments

I've got tons more ideas, hopefully these made sense and my writing was too sporadic e-mail me if you need more

Thanks

I love deadlines. The other day I had to (actually I chose to) go back and place some drawings I did in a different format. No one ever hurries me so it was me doing it to myself. I felt energized and the time flew by. The work I do is so simple I am just not challenged. In addition, I can take all the time I want to create a drawing. It's only 4 hours a day and I am just trying learn to view my job as some quiet time for myself... I can listen to music, hypnosis or audio books using head phones. I have been searching the internet for NLP Audio Recordings for Adult ADD with little results. I listened to an hypnosis download the other day about gratitude. I'm trying to train myself to just be comfortable in the moment. I don't know if this is possible with ADD... But we all can't find challenging, stimulating work. I get so sick of hearing that. "Find a job doing something that you are passionate about". I also suffer from depression so it's pretty hard to get passionate about anything.

Thanks

Ernie

Your from marlborough, MA ......... cool !

I wish I had some ideas, the only thing I can think of is to find a way to be busier. Duh :o I know, that's what your saying I'm sorry.

Andiemedic:

Watch the coffee intake. Yes, it's helpful for us ADD people, seeing as how caffeine does have some of the same effects as Ritalin, though at a much much much lower level(explaining why so many ADD people self medicate with caffeine before being diagnosed). Unfortunately, it dehydrates you big time, thereby actually enhancing your ADD symptoms, as well as making you uncomfortable in your own skin.

Also, depending on the drug you're using at the time, your heartrate/bloodpressure are increased. Coffee can, in many cases, not just double that increase, but increase it exponentially. This is bad enough, but if you get into a situation where your BP/HR would increase naturally (exercise, deadline times, stressful situations), it could in fact increase to unhealthy levels quite rapidly, which is good for no one.

As for what to do at work, I like to make sure I have 10 things going at the same time. Music, my IM software, cellphone(work related) and at last 2 different work related software programs(usually Outlook for email and excel for data stuff). At least that way I'm usually stimulated enough to pay attention to the tasks at hand, and I can then do what I need to do. This is only possible because I have the luxury of working from home, but it does help. So I say try to have a lot going at the same time, preferably including one thing that's completely unrelated to work, like IMing a friend.

Works for me, usually.

bcaddkid-

You are correct there are people with ADD/ADHD that can be effected negatively by consuming caffeine, but there are also people with ADD/ADHD whom caffeine has positive affects on. It has to do with neurotransmitters, how the caffeine is absorbed in your body, and how it effects your personal brain chemistry in general. But caffeine does affect everyone differently. If you do see negative effects with caffeine then you should probably try to steer clear.

While caffeine is a natural diuretic, drinking a more than adequate amount of coffee probably won't dehydrate a fairly healthy adult enough to negatively effect them (even with ADD). But if they are worried about the dehydration they can couple the coffee with water. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that the pt. is in relatively good health, with no other serious medical conditions and not in a hot, humid environment (I'm assuming the office is air-conditioned).

As for the BP/hr, you are correct again, good sir, most ADD/ADHD meds can cause an increase in BP and pulse, in addition to possible PVCs (premature ventricular contractions (PVCs every so often are common, especially with age)). No need to worry, people live with them for years, and generally receive no tx for them (some never even know they have them), in fact whoever is reading this, may just be throwing a couple of PVCs, right now. :eyebrow:

Other common causes of PVCs include smoking, stress, and yep you guessed it caffeine. But...it is highly unlikely, that given a relatively healthy young adult (taking ADD meds), in good cardiovascular shape would raise their BP or pulse to a dangerous level or cause too many PVCs, by drinking an appropriate amount of coffee (everything in moderation :) ). Again this is all based on the assumption that there are no other serious medical conditions, this pt. is dealing with. If you have trouble with hypertension, tachycardia (fast heart rate), and/or any other serious medical condition then you should consider consulting your M.D. before drinking coffee (or any other stimulants), while on ADD meds.

Due to the nature of my job I have the ability to check my BP, pulse, and heart rhythym (for PVCs or other arrhythmias) anytime I feel the need. Although, I am young, fairly healthy, excercise regularly and therefore have a relatively fit cardiovascular system (with a low BP (even on ADD meds and caffeine), low resting heart rate, and never a PVC).

Anyway, the coffee was only a suggestion, a good alternative is green tea (what I generally drink), it has less caffeine and is good for you (lots 'o' antioxidants).

Take Care :rolleyes:

People drop off work for me and I am left alone to do it. No one tries to hurry me. I am the only one who knows how to run the AutoCad software that I use to do and drawings needed. I can listen to music with head phones.


Hi, Ernie.

My job requires the use of AutoCAD as well (at times). On certain projects, we have to maintain a large number of similar schematics. Because of this (and since we are using AutoCAD alone), there are often changes to be made that are common to all sets of drawings (repetition across packages) or changes made to each drawing (such as titles, drawing no's, etc.) Not very fun at all. Such boring work has caused me to look for more tolerable solutions.

Note: the following is how I work around boredom. I don't expect anyone else to work the way I do. Most people mistake myself for being insane, so if anyone here does, it won't hurt my feelings!

Much of the tedious work I have eliminated by means of programatically generated batch scripts (generated by programming languages outside of AutoCAD) that call helper routines written in AutoLISP. My AutoLISP/Cygwin combination has proven quite useful. I can replace DTEXT, MTEXT, and even text within blocks (which I do forntitle block changes). I can replace text using regular expressions. I have a lisp reactor loaded that changes the revision date and logs my changes for future reference. A batch plot script generator that I made can take the output from my log so I don't even have to remember what drawings I've changed.

I also wrote an addin (ARX) in my spare time (as in, not at work) that does regular expression text replacement over a set of DWG files. That same ARX has a utility that dumps certain information on a set of files to a specially formatted text file. I can use the information in these files to make reports, locate drawings, draw inferences and even detect certain errors, all without having to manually page though any drawings. I can also generate certain drawings based on this information (such as a table-of-contents).

With all of the time I save, I can make up for my slowness caused by boredom because I am often not direcly doing the work!

The negative side effect to this is if someone gives me something that I cannot easily script, I am quite unproductive. That's when I go on coffee binges and try to use another activity (an interesting activity, like surfing the web in a clandestine manner) to stimulate my brain. After a while, I'll come back to my original activity and hope that I'll be productive. Walking around is quite helpful as well when I'm understimulated.

The overall theme here is to find a new, more interesting way of doing your work. AutoCAD is a fairly powerful program. I don't expect anyone to go out and jump on programming, but there is much to learn.

I could not live without coffee!

Hello fellow ADD Cadders,

I was a contract Mechanical designer for over 10 years. I agree with writing LiSP routines and the occational walk. I also would make prints of my references for later use. I was wondering if either of you have considered getting into a more powerful software. Up here in Michigan, the industry is tough. I am considering Catia or Pro-E. Very expensive though. How is the industry in your areas. Who knows I may move.

Watch the coffee intake. .... it dehydrates you big time.I've always thought that too, until I read:

"In a recent review article, “Caffeine, Body Fluid-Electrolyte Balance, and Exercise Performance,” published in the June 2002 issue of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, researcher Lawrence E. Armstrong, a professor of exercise and environmental physiology at the University of Connecticut, found that caffeine is not the dehydrating demon some people believe. In fact, he concluded that caffeine is no more a diuretic than water."

...not that I advocate Coffee as a permanent solution.