Anyone have any tips? I'm a server(terrible adhd/add friendly job) and its kinda like this, when im at work sometimes I would compare myself to a flashing light on a Christmas tree. Although this light is a bit broken, when I do flash/focus I shine brighter than any bulb on the tree, however when I don't, I am the dimmest bulb on a tree. I'm on Adderall IR, im finding that it is easier to slow your mind down on it. Not a free ride, but it gives me the MIND power to calm down a bit, and focus on whats in front of me.

When it wears off I find myself forgetting everything, when we get busy I even forget more. Its more of the PRESSURE thats throws me off.

Here's my theory, Adhd/add'ers in general excel at what they are interested in right? When I Shine im interested in money, or making a specific customer happy that I like. Lately ive been kinda not interested though. Ive saved up enough money that my interest to serve tables and shine has diminished even though I don't want that.

If anyone out there has ever been in a situation like mine any help would be appreciated. Maybe tips to get interested in things so my mind can focus on my job so I shine. Adderall helps to calm me and makes it easier to shine, but having no interest in serving tables(same over and over thing) it has little effect.

I TOTALLY know what you mean. Here's an interest that I've found works with me. Try it out for yourself.

I set a standard of Consistent Personal Best as a challenge to myself.

Keeping Work Interesting
I used to make the mistake of comparing myself to others when I was performing as 'the brightest bulb' at work.
Whenever I did that, I'd start to unconsciously pull back on how hard I worked
because I was 'on a roll'. Sooner or later, I'd stop doing enough of the good habits
that kept me 'shining bright', then some of my bad habits would kick in, and I'd
SPIRAL DOWNWARDS.

So I stopped comparing myself to others as a standard of how bright I shone.
I started comparing myself only to myself. PERSONAL BEST as much as possible.
And as CONSISTENTLY as possible. That allowed me to keep the challenge going
virtually indefinitely, because as an ADDer it was easy for me to shine, but it wasnt
as easy to shine continually.

A Smart Guy's Quote
Some smart guy once said:
"It's important to find a victory in every defeat, but ALSO a defeat in every victory"- Smart Guy
I try to remember the 1st half when I'm doing bad, so that I can raise my confidence.
Then when I'm doing good, I use the 2nd half of the quote to raise my self-standards.

Self-Talk is important to keep your cool. Dont beat yourself up when you start to
lose the productivity of when the Adderall is in full force. Keep yourself as positive
as possible. The panic emotions will lower your working memory
(and as ADDers we can't spare any of our executive function being lost).

How to Calm yourself
When I DO start to feel the inner tension rising, I try to regulate it by calming myself
down purposefully. My work situation allows me to find a quick quiet place to meditate
for 5 or so minutes. You may not have that luxury as a server, so instead,
you might want to try deep breathing techniques while you're serving.

One of the things it does is raises the oxygen level in your blood and thus your brain.
The effects are helpful and quick.

Here's a summary of what I know:

1. Breathe in from your nose
2. Fill your lungs to the max
3. Allow your gut to relax and your diaphragm to expand downwards
(and your belly outwards)

(I theorize that the oxygen passing through your sinuses travels to your brain somehow
because it can give a 'mini-headrush' of awareness, at least for me)

Here's a link to one of the top searches from Google on Deep Breathing.
http://www.authentic-breathing.com/articles.htm#exercises
(Haven't read the site's articles so buyer beware)

Keeping Work Interesting
I used to make the mistake of comparing myself to others when I was performing as 'the brightest bulb' at work.
Whenever I did that, I'd start to unconsciously pull back on how hard I worked
because I was 'on a roll'. Sooner or later, I'd stop doing enough of the good habits
that kept me 'shining bright', then some of my bad habits would kick in, and I'd
SPIRAL DOWNWARDS.

So I stopped comparing myself to others as a standard of how bright I shone.
I started comparing myself only to myself. PERSONAL BEST as much as possible.
And as CONSISTENTLY as possible. That allowed me to keep the challenge going
virtually indefinitely, because as an ADDer it was easy for me to shine, but it wasnt
as easy to shine continually.


I really like that one. Personal goals, things that push my own personal limits have been my motivation fuel for many years. Keeping it consistent is in itself a goal that can bring anyone to great realizations.

For the Gift of Hyperfocus: Do what you love.

Rinse, Repeat.

Thank you so much for the reply. I read this right before I had work. It did help, im just trying to relearn again for the 100th time my good habits, and hopefully by doing what you say I will succeed.

Only one more question, OK so I calmed down with the breathing techneques, adderall ect, and my problem is that I dont feel "Normall" when im calm. I get stuff done, do it way better, I just feel kinda Anti-Social when im calmish. Normally im pretty hyper. Is this norm?

I TOTALLY know what you mean. Here's an interest that I've found works with me. Try it out for yourself.

I set a standard of Consistent Personal Best as a challenge to myself.

Keeping Work Interesting
I used to make the mistake of comparing myself to others when I was performing as 'the brightest bulb' at work.
Whenever I did that, I'd start to unconsciously pull back on how hard I worked
because I was 'on a roll'. Sooner or later, I'd stop doing enough of the good habits
that kept me 'shining bright', then some of my bad habits would kick in, and I'd
SPIRAL DOWNWARDS.

So I stopped comparing myself to others as a standard of how bright I shone.
I started comparing myself only to myself. PERSONAL BEST as much as possible.
And as CONSISTENTLY as possible. That allowed me to keep the challenge going
virtually indefinitely, because as an ADDer it was easy for me to shine, but it wasnt
as easy to shine continually.

A Smart Guy's Quote
Some smart guy once said:
"It's important to find a victory in every defeat, but ALSO a defeat in every victory"- Smart Guy
I try to remember the 1st half when I'm doing bad, so that I can raise my confidence.
Then when I'm doing good, I use the 2nd half of the quote to raise my self-standards.

Self-Talk is important to keep your cool. Dont beat yourself up when you start to
lose the productivity of when the Adderall is in full force. Keep yourself as positive
as possible. The panic emotions will lower your working memory
(and as ADDers we can't spare any of our executive function being lost).

How to Calm yourself
When I DO start to feel the inner tension rising, I try to regulate it by calming myself
down purposefully. My work situation allows me to find a quick quiet place to meditate
for 5 or so minutes. You may not have that luxury as a server, so instead,
you might want to try deep breathing techniques while you're serving.

One of the things it does is raises the oxygen level in your blood and thus your brain.
The effects are helpful and quick.

Here's a summary of what I know:

1. Breathe in from your nose
2. Fill your lungs to the max
3. Allow your gut to relax and your diaphragm to expand downwards
(and your belly outwards)

(I theorize that the oxygen passing through your sinuses travels to your brain somehow
because it can give a 'mini-headrush' of awareness, at least for me)

Here's a link to one of the top searches from Google on Deep Breathing.
http://www.authentic-breathing.com/articles.htm#exercises
(Haven't read the site's articles so buyer beware)

Thank you so much for the reply. I read this right before I had work. It did help, im just trying to relearn again for the 100th time my good habits, and hopefully by doing what you say I will succeed.

Only one more question, OK so I calmed down with the breathing techneques, adderall ect, and my problem is that I dont feel "Normall" when im calm. I get stuff done, do it way better, I just feel kinda Anti-Social when im calmish. Normally im pretty hyper. Is this norm?


Thanks again for your reply. Maybe you can help me with one last question. Is it "OK" to feel calm. When im on meds I calm down. I feel kinda anti social, because normally im a hyper fast/hard worker. I tried your breathing techne's and it calmed me down, but I have to fight to stay down lol. Have you expierence this also?

Its normal. For someone whos been 'hyper' all their life its a weird feeling to have because Its NEW. Now that you've grown strong enough wings to leave the nest, you're semi-frightened by the height you've attained now that you're flying above the clouds. It feels great but it also feels kinda scary (like, 'WTF is going on').

1) Learn to love it. Enjoy this feeling while it lasts because at one point it may feel like the meds crash (more on this later). The thing that happens is we've been used to so much doing without thinking, now that we can think, we kinda go ok... so i can think now... what do I do next?

While you're in this mode, just learn to start creating the best habits and noticing ALL the things you Couldnt notice before because of the brain fog. Use this increased awareness to observe and learn, and create new models of doing things in your head to increase your efficiency (remember the self challenge?)

(Quick aside: At one point in time after starting meds, your meds will crash, Like NOTHING works. Don't fret. This is also normal, and using healthy lifestyle techniques will boost this to the point where you don't notice any ups and downs anymore.)

2) Learn to Balance it. You've discovered the mindfulness that comes with having a calm brain. Flying above the clouds is great to give you the big picture of things, but if your goal is racing between the trees better than the other birds, you've gotta come back down to the forest to do that.

What I mean is, that super-calm state isn't the 'ideal state'. Super-hyper-hardworker isnt the ideal state. The ideal state is a balance in the middle. And I dont mean 50% hyper + 50% thoughtful either. I mean being in a state of mind that allows you to shift back and forth between a 40/60 ratio or 30/70 ratio Whatever the situation requires of you.

This takes practice, so first get used to that state of calm awareness, then allow yourself to find your hyperworking self again (maybe by trying a day without the usual exercise to bump up your hyperness), then develop yourself to the point where you understand how both states work and can flow between a balance of the 2, like the unending spinning spiral of Yin and Yang.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Yin_and_Yang.svg/100px-Yin_and_Yang.svg.png

Another technique that I sometimes use is to set some deadlines and be realistic.
By realistic I mean you are honest with yourself that "today I am really having a hard time concentrating." .... So instead of trying to maintain focus for an entire hour or few hours or a day .... Instead of pretending that, I try to say, "OK, let me try to work hard for 20 minutes or 30." Say to yourself, I'm gonna try to work really hard and then I'm gonna get up and walk around and take a break .... and then do it again ...

I find that doing this I actually get a lot more work done and feel much more a sense of accomplishment THAN IF I PRETENDED I could work a full hour straight ....but jobs vary and not everyone can do this, I realize.

Wow, thanks again for all the feedback. I'm starting to get used to that "Balance" I suppose. Once you accept it, and use it for a while, you start to see the positiveness that comes from it. The last week ive got normal to being "calm." Things are looking up. Personal goals are more important than I realized, once you learn how to use them :)

I left the forest a while ago and when above the clouds, where everything is clear, I try to remember to race only with myself (using your words makes it prettier)
I struggled whith these alterning spirals so very much since I can remember and the reason I don't as often anymore it's because I removed myself from some of those triggering structures and realities since a few years when I decided to start working from home. I still see collaborators at meetings, but not every day. Then there are the social activities I chose and those are fine because no one is imposing them to me :p
When alone, I manage to slow down the brain and calm the spirit with occasional interferences, but the more people around, the more scattered and hyper I get. So, for me it's also situational. I don't think I've ever achieved an 'empty' or 'mindless' meditation, but going a bit monk keeps hyperfocus less fleeting, de-fogs the environment in general and on occasion I even manage to finish projects on time! :o
I totally agree on the personal best. It has helped me enormously to keep some sort of consistency.
I tend to extremes though... I want to find that balance you speak of in every situation.

Its normal. For someone whos been 'hyper' all their life its a weird feeling to have because Its NEW. Now that you've grown strong enough wings to leave the nest, you're semi-frightened by the height you've attained now that you're flying above the clouds. It feels great but it also feels kinda scary (like, 'WTF is going on').

1) Learn to love it. Enjoy this feeling while it lasts because at one point it may feel like the meds crash (more on this later). The thing that happens is we've been used to so much doing without thinking, now that we can think, we kinda go ok... so i can think now... what do I do next?

While you're in this mode, just learn to start creating the best habits and noticing ALL the things you Couldnt notice before because of the brain fog. Use this increased awareness to observe and learn, and create new models of doing things in your head to increase your efficiency (remember the self challenge?)

(Quick aside: At one point in time after starting meds, your meds will crash, Like NOTHING works. Don't fret. This is also normal, and using healthy lifestyle techniques will boost this to the point where you don't notice any ups and downs anymore.)

2) Learn to Balance it. You've discovered the mindfulness that comes with having a calm brain. Flying above the clouds is great to give you the big picture of things, but if your goal is racing between the trees better than the other birds, you've gotta come back down to the forest to do that.

What I mean is, that super-calm state isn't the 'ideal state'. Super-hyper-hardworker isnt the ideal state. The ideal state is a balance in the middle. And I dont mean 50% hyper + 50% thoughtful either. I mean being in a state of mind that allows you to shift back and forth between a 40/60 ratio or 30/70 ratio Whatever the situation requires of you.

This takes practice, so first get used to that state of calm awareness, then allow yourself to find your hyperworking self again (maybe by trying a day without the usual exercise to bump up your hyperness), then develop yourself to the point where you understand how both states work and can flow between a balance of the 2, like the unending spinning spiral of Yin and Yang.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Yin_and_Yang.svg/100px-Yin_and_Yang.svg.png

Why should you waste time in things your not interested in? If you dont feel it then F it.

Having said that. Sometimes you have to realize the interest in something that seems non-interesting. ie chores, health, homework, taxes, visiting non-liked family, cleaning the house, etc. yea?

In Dr. Hallowell's Delivered from Distraction, he actually talks about this part of ADD. The idea is to CONNECT with that thing you're not interested in, in a way that's fun so you are PLAYING while working. Granted, with chores like paying bills or doing dishes, etc, that doesn't always work. I actually try to put those old Disney songs on in the background because they are cheerful and fun to sing a long with. That's not for everyone though. I also look at those chores and instead of thinking about how much I loathe doing them, I foucs on how much better I'll feel once they're done and allow that feeling to carry me through the task. Another way I also try to motivate myself is to think of it as taking care of myself. Learn to love yourself, both good parts of ADD and annoying parts. Just like it feels good to take care of a pet, dog for example. You feed, water, give baths, clip nails, take for walks, etc. You know it's good for the dog. Well, taking care of your bills, dishes, vacuuming (I hate that one), laundry, stupid tedious paperwork at work (also most hated), etc. are good for you. And doing things that are good for you really does make you feel better, even if they are things you don't really want to do. You are most likely a positive person naturally, but sometimes you're dejected when you look at things you are unmotivated to do. But if you really look, you can find that positive thread that will get you moving and once you've found it, DON'T LET GO! Anyway, that's my 2 cents. If anyone else has other ways they try to keep motivated, I'd love to hear them because while my ways work great 85% of the time, I'm only human.