Being productive with ADD/ADHD/high-functioning autism
ngon master
I may or may not have ADD, I went to a psychologist when I was in high school, tried a bunch of different medications that did not really help, stopped taking them and stopped thinking about it. But recently I've been starting to wonder if that may be part of the reason I have a hard time finishing projects, So I was wondering if anyone here has ADD/ADHD/high-functioning autism and how it affects them as an artist.
Replies
when i was young they were trying to diagnose me with ADD and ADHD. but as i grew older i started to realise the reason who i never complete anything, is i set completely un-realastic targets for myself, and get depressed when i don't hit them, which lead into be delaying and putting off everything.
Best thing would be to learn how to hold a schedule, schedules are fantastic things for a person with ADD or similar, as familiarity is relaxing.
Everyone will experience procrastination and inability to finish projects, with a diagnosis you'll be taking it to the extreme though, there's no easy way around it though, good old fashioned brute forcing is how you do it.
I've never been diagnosed/treated with ADD (I don't even know if they largely heard about it in Russia), but I can relate with many points this article brings out.
the self-help section is a bit on common sense side imo, but it's nicely explained and laid out.
at the same time, I've been forced to do a lot of scheduling and planning during the past few years and I can say it helped a lot, I don't have as much time to procrastinate/self reflect now as I used to do a couple years ago. my time is mapped more efficiently, and I also have more reasonable expectations of myself at this point.
best of luck.
I have just started to go in therapy so hoping it will get better by time now.
But as eld said, it's pretty much forcing yourself to keep going, as you can tell from looking at my thread I can start something and finish it months/half a year later.
What I think may help is getting a better self confidence since I find that's what's stopping "us" from finishing projects is the fear of failure since we really want to be perfect and show that we can do what we want to.
ADD & ADHD often results a higher risk of becoming addicted to something, games are no different.
It's not excuse though, it's just that something like a game where you can zone out completely is extremely easy on the brain.
It has something to do with the instant rewards you'd get from drugs or games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocus
Exactly. I've struggled with this for WAY too long and just recently started to seek help. Always just thought it was my own issues with not paying attention but when my son had a learning / speech delay I was asked about my past and it really started to come to light.
Makes a lot of sense now looking back over the years and seeing where I really struggled and was able to succeed....
Good to hear you are seeking help, I think it can help a lot with it really, I have just started seeking help to.
On that note, when will you start streaming Large Martin again?
ADHD meds are like glasses. They can give you glasses to treat your far-sightedness, but they cant make you read.
@Stromberg: I hear ya on the social thing, its definitely the worst part.
-It's a project I was never interested in enough in the first place
-I took too long working on the project, dragged it out too long, and began to lose interest over time.
-The project was too ambitious
-I don't like how the project is going
-There could be a problem in your workflow that is slowing you down
Make sure to keep things like this in mind, it may be as simple as that.
I am not someone that takes my ad/hd to heavy I am pretty relaxed about it, but the worst thing I hear someone say if I tell them I have ad/hd is "I did not like to do homework when I was young either so I must have it" cause I find that very rude and naive.
There are those with ADD/ADHD who genuinely cannot function without meds. A lot of ADD/ADHD is mild, and the mild form is quite frustrating.
Seems like you haven't done any actual research.
I have a problem with motivation. Even if I desperately want to do something, no matter how many times I force myself to do it... that natural motivation that others have doesn't seem to come to me.
I too am trying to get my condition figured out, because it is stopping me at every corner. I think mine leans more towards depression though.
also, this lady is my hero.
"be your own Therapist."
[ame="
Yes, smaller goals are definitely one thing that can help. However, sometimes meds are the only way.
Dismissing someone's condition isn't right though. You don't know what it is like to have such a condition. It is HELL.
I get very disappointed if I don't reach my own goal, so I spend more time thinking about than actually just working, stupid I know :P
Just to say I think it's a good talk to have, since I have hoped for this to be brought up
And other times you just have to brute force trough it
I (like every other kid in the 90's) was diagnosed with ADD. I took different meds for it for a few years.
Fast foward to now..I've seen myself struggle with concentrating more over the past few years. I'm beginning to wonder if I have some mild adult ADD. I have no trouble playing a videogame all night, or working on 3d stuff if I'm on a good roll..but if things are stagnant or I'm not particularly excited about what I'm working on...I have a hard time staying on track.
I have 2 suggestions that help keep me focused.
1: Like Alberto Rdrgz said, get in the habit of using lists. When you start zoning, its really easy to lose track of what you are doing or what you need to do. Sometimes I'll get overwhelmed, but since I write down everything I want to finish, its easier to focus on one specific thing and check it off the list. I have a whiteboard in my office at work (and at home) that I use all the time..as well as a pad and pen at my desk for this reason.
2: Music. Might just be me...but whenever I slip some headphones on and listen to music, its easier to shut out all outside distractions and focus on my computer. If I need to motivate myself..I'll listen to really upbeat, loud music and start chipping away at work.
Large Martin will resume as soon as my home pc is set back up in my new apartment here in Santa Monica. Had another UPS computer destruction extravaganza while shipping it to Santa Monica after taking my job at Treyarch.
I get the exact same thing;
I'm all fired up at the start of a project, busting ass with excitement, then halfway through, motivation starts to wonder off, and it gets to the point where anything other than actually doing the project becomes very tempting and giving up or starting something else seems like the most appealing idea.
I dunno if this is related but I always feel like the idea of doing a project is always far more attractive than actually doing it. Like I'll get so hyped about a new project, think about all the little things I'm gonna do and get all excited and then I actually do it and I just wanna bail on it after a couple of weeks or whatever.
I see a shrink once a month and I refuse to take meds (off topic but I'm not keen on the concept of psych-meds) but whilst it's good to chat with someone, he's as puzzled as I am.
Some great advice here though. It is incredibly hard when your mind is working against you. I enjoy seeing others who actually know just how difficult it is. It irks me a lot when people are just like 'man up, of course it's hard but we all have to get through it'... Sure it's hard for everyone, nobody said its easy, but it's quite clearly harder for some than others. I think it's very small minded and quite offensive to assume that all minds are equal when some issues are quite possibly genetic, chemical, and/or variable from person to person.
Good to hear you will continue on it
Be sure to tell on polycount when you are streaming again.
Hope you are having a good time at Treyarch
Even then, I only finish like 40-50% of the projects I start. I also noticed just now how if it's even slightly boring (like simple environment stuff) I get distracted so badly that I barely progress.
I guess what I'm saying is find something you really, really like making. In my case, environments just can't hold my attention: vehicles/hero props do, but only the ones I'm really into. Like I read about them, or make stuff up about them. I even listen to music that fits it, I'll go as far as looking for fitting music even.
In the bane of side-tracking this thread... PLEASE disregard this post.
well, except jesse of course... :P
dude ... thank you. I was going to UPS mine across country. What would you suggest?
Replied via pm...
Source: http://www.lifeskillsu.org/campus/campus_key/rdj/reward_deficiency.html
What this means is, a person with such a condition like ADHD will have an initial excitement for something and will tend to hyper-focus on that that thing. As time goes on, the excitement wanes and the person loses the ability to maintain focus and interest. You essentially "burn out" you enthusiasm prematurely.
My condition includes this burn-out effect. In addition, I also suffer from the distraction issue. As my "reward" sensation recedes, I become more easily distracted by other stimuli that make me prone to being "flighty" or aloof; impulsive behavior ensues as well in search of new satisfying stimuli. My working memory and processing is debilitated as well, which makes it very difficult for me to handle things "on-the-fly" and I have to externalize my memory to other devices, like notes, in order to hold on to the information while I work on it. Not only this, but people with ADHD tend to see tasks as bigger than they are and require more time than others to complete them; it can be so severe as to cause that person to avoid the task altogether out of performance anxiety.
It's hard for people that don't have such a condition to understand it, even those who have it don't really understand what is going on and why they act the way they do, because people with ADHD minds are as foreign to "normal" people as extra-terrestrials are to all of us. Their frame of mind is completely different from the majority. It's a hard thing to pin down and probably leads people to believe that it is a myth. I can promise you, it is not. It is very real and it makes my life hard.
In the past, my best method for dealing with my ADHD was developing habits of a very structured and orderly daily routine. When I know what I'm going to do, how I'm going to do it, and when, it's much easier to accomplish tasks. Being someone with ADHD means I have to premeditate everything I do. Any serious deviation from the routine or other disruption can cause frustration, which leads to disharmonious functioning. If I am seriously disrupted during my reward seeking activities, I can be prone to fits of anger or a tantrum, if you will.
I have had numerous panic attacks in the past, but I've managed to get them under control. What I do is a form of redirection my therapist taught me. Try rhythmically tapping your legs, alternating left and right while tapping the right side somewhat more firmly than the left. This is supposed to wake up the left side of the brain and help restore rational thinking. While doing that, take long deep breaths and hold it for ten seconds, then exhale slowly (in ten, hold ten, out ten). This makes your heart rate slow down so it can't escalate a panic attack. It took me about a year of doing this, plus challenging automatic thoughts (I'm ok, I'm safe, I'm not going to die, etc.), before I was able to stop a panic attack before it starts. I still have minor attacks occasionally, but I can take control of them much faster before they are severe.
Anxiety tends to be a side product of people's behavior towards those with ADHD. They react negatively and that eventually causes anxiety in the ADHD child, which can form into a anxiety disorder in adulthood.
I also have panic attacks, had one last week in the dentist office. DO NOT TRY TO COMFORT THEM, be quiet and wait until it goes away, if he is having muscle spasms, best thing is to put some air in the neck or refresh with cold water. The person that has panic attacks it knows it will go away and he knows he will be fine in 10mins (usually for me it's like that). It is something very embarrassing if you are in public tho.
Since I started taking Alprazolam my panic attacks have become more manageable.
Is a great way to put it. Thats pretty much why I don't finish everything.
They need structure more than most. Do X at such and such a time, Y at other. Comments like yours are useless and counter productive. More show an easy ignorance about the whole shebang.
Its easier to be ignorant and judge from afar about others shortcomings.
Also counter productive. Doing such can burn one out more, because one gets in a strict mindset that one MUST do this. They inevitable push themselves too hard.
In other words, ADHD specifically Autism spectrum. "Pushing" yourself to such extremes is part of the syndrome. Black and white. Fail or success. No greys or stepping stones. You have to do it right the first time. Period.
The best suggestion I can give is socially connect yourself with people doing the same thing. You can work of their productivity and vice versa. NOT FORUMS. I mean in person. Classes, renting office space, whatever it takes.
http://gizmodo.com/5917517/3030-an-app-that-wont-let-your-add-get-the-best-of-you
If only it was that easy.
Half part of a diagnosis is finding a medicine that hopefully works for you, the other half is getting help with organizing your life in a way that works for you. The worst part for any kid with this diagnosis is hearing he is just lazy, or that he should just try harder, and that he has so much spoiled potential.
I have ADD in the family and I've seen happy people with perfectly normal upbringings suddenly get a real big boost in their education when having been diagnosed and getting medicines that work for them, so ADD is (however little we know about it) still pretty much real.
I could've easily done perfect in every class I had and my teachers knew it, yet they couldn't understand why I wasn't interested in all, and as a result I barely made it out of school, they tried every possible way of telling me to work harder, as if it was just something in my personality.
Exactly! Learning this now and getting more of a confirmation and having asked questions to my doctor while I was in high school I am pretty upset with my parents for not really pushing the issue. I excelled at many things but struggled with so many others. I just couldn't do anything to hold my interest long enough to get through a lot of the things I should have.
I was just told I didn't have a good work ethic or just wasn't good at something because I didn't study enough. Math, science and physics really grabbed me though and I did well at those. Just like I did with athletics. But so many other things that I had more then a hard time with. Still as an adult in the Navy I had a hard time with so many things. A lot of the structure really did help me but it got worse after I got out and really hurt my studies when I was in college and even while freelancing and on personal projects.
Knowing what I do now has helped me to be more "aware" of the issues and I try to catch myself when drifting away. It is a lot harder to do then said but even just realizing hey I have this problem and I need to work on it has helped tremendously.
And not paying attention to things that aren't interesting is just...normal? Why blame the person when the subject matter is to blame? What next? medication so we make it through boring movies? or meetings?
Or maybe there's just no motivation to pay attention. Or maybe it's just not your thing. Not everyone is good at math / physics / writing / drawing / sculpting. But that's normal too. And if you're not good at something, then it's not fun. If it's not fun you probably won't put your mind to it... but is that ADD? I'd say it's just normal. Most people have these issues. I never met anyone who could be interested in everything and pay attention to everything. People just wander off... just gotta watch the folks in my meetings. After a while they just quit paying attention.
I had problems at school paying attention. Chemistry? *yawn*. But if something really interested me I could focus and get the job done. People with real ADD usually keep having issues even when distractions are removed and stuff interests them. Some of them describe it like "a storm in their heads" that keep them from focusing and getting clear thoughts.
But if you just get distracted easily, try getting into a routine and remove distractors.
E.g. turning off my phone and e-mail while I works wonders...now it's only polycount left wanting my attention haha. or turn off mail, SMS, messenger, start a timer (e.g. 1 hour) and only work on one task. Then break. Then continue.
Maybe back in the 80's there was just less ADD because there were less distractors. No mobiles, no internet, no SMS, no messengers. Just a phone on your desk and your work.
:thumbdown:
Just... no. You clearly don't get it.
Know what happened? Our society knows more now. We also pollute our planet more than any other time in history, where dozens of prescription drugs can be found in city tap water!
Then there's the mercury that used to be in vaccines (might still be in them, up for debate). Ever seen what mercury does to a brain cell under a microscope? It literally makes it shrivel up and die the instant it comes in contact with mercury.
You just answered some of Kwramms minor faults with even more weird facts.
Mental disorders and imbalances has been around for as long as we can remember, with writings and famous people through the history having suffered from this or that, It's mainly the dice roll of genetics, or what some suspect to be some left over traits of being human.
The rise in autism even during the last two decades is scary.
Clear descriptions of ADD / ADHD symptoms go back to the writings of Hippocrates.
It isn't a "new" thing. Genetic and epigenetic expression is well established, and paternal inheritance is showing stronger evidence.
It's also a BITCH to fight with when you're working from home. Studios? Easy. At home in your own office on your own workstation? Oh man, I just have to about chain myself to my desk to get shit done. Not because I don't WANT to get stuff done, but because the sheer volume and magnitude of distractions are through the goddamn roof. It's like asking a cat to stay calm in a store that sells nothing but feather poofballs and laser pointers.
The rise of diagnoses.
For example, there weren't any diagnosed ADD cases in the 80's because ADD didn't exist as a diagnosis, it was long thought that adults couldn't have ADHD, or that ADHD required hyperactivity.
I won't disagree with that pollution and hormones in foods do bad things to people though, just not enough to drastically account for a big part of new cases, we're just becoming better at diagnosing people, (or in many cases overdiagnosing).
Very true, and that's what I meant, inheritance especially. Like with many diagnostics, it's the diagnosis that is new, not the disorder itself.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-10-drugs-tap-water_N.htm
Genetics is part of it, but it is much more than that. Eating those poisons during pregnancy for example, with the mother being none the wiser.... while being told that what she consumes is 'safe.' Poisons being introduced to a child while its brain develops in the womb, and even still as a child grows to adult hood. You can be damn sure that the poisons we consume are directly affecting brain development among new generations.
Yes, some of it can be attributed to more diagnoses, but it isn't that simple either. The numbers are simply rising too much to be able to attribute it solely to that.