This is essay is part 2 of a 3 part examination of my personal struggles with ADHD and how I overcame them. As stated in previous essay’s, this is not a one size fits all solution. However the principles are deeply powerful and if applied will result in exponential gains in productivity and general happiness.
Below you will find the Second 5 principles I created for my framework to manage my ADHD, there 15 in total, but I will be publishing them 5 at a time because these posts are meant for people with ADHD. As someone with ADHD I know how hard it can be to get through a 4000 word essay, so I’ll publish these articles over 3 weeks and then move onto something else.
5 Principles Discussed
1. Go to bed early
2. Do not compare yourselves to others
3. Structure is your best friend
4. Identify the enemies to your goals and eliminate them
5. Dopamine Dopamine Dopamine
Principle 6: Go to bed Early
Waking up early is a complete waste of time if you do not learn to love going to bed early. I love going to bed early. No one is trying to hit up my DM’s, no one is trying to ask me to go out for drinks, no one is asking how I am at 21:00. Going to bed early makes your life easier as you can’t get distracted by nighttime temptations and you can focus all your energy on what is most important to you.
Once you’re in bed early, it’s super easy to wake up early and use this time to do what you really want to.
Principle 7: Do not compare yourselves to others
You are an actual superhero with real superpowers. Do not compare yourselves to others, ever. If your friends say they can go to bed at 1 AM, don’t listen to them. If people say you’re weird for practicing how to get out of the house quickly, smile and say you are weird. If you see your friends getting wasted and still getting things done. Ignore that. My Ninja you are a fucking superhero, don’t forget that. Ignore people saying you’re taking this too seriously or that ADHD isn’t that big a deal. When you hear this remember that Clark Kent had to practice flying or he would have burst out laughing in high school and blown a whole through his high school gymnasium.
You are not normal, do not try to be.
Principle 8: Structure is your best friend
You may be a creative type or believe in the magic of spontaneity for inspiration. I also used to believe this, but it’s bullshit. I agree that you cannot schedule creativity or inspiration. But what you can do is create a schedule that helps you harness the creativity once you find it. Without structure in your day and life it will be almost impossible to get anything done. The level of structure will be determined by your desires, extreme desires require extreme structure, moderate desires require moderate structure. But structure, nonetheless. Structure above all else when enacted should allow you blocked out times in the day to do what you want to do. The more often you get to these sessions the sooner you will achieve your goals and learn to control your superpower. Every time you’re tempted to reject structure, remember what Superman would be like if he didn’t have the discipline to learn how to not run through people.
Principle 9: Identify the enemies to your goals and eliminate them
This is probably the most important step in the whole process. The Post-Modern world we live in is literally designed to steal your attention and activate your ADHD. This game is rigged and is designed to keep you spinning and not achieving your goals. Now that you know this, it’s critical that you acknowledge this and design defenses. An example of this is a rule I have: No phone in bed. Regardless of what day or hour it is, my cellphone is not allowed into my bedroom. Another version of this is that I’m only allowed to use TikTok on Saturdays and only allowed to view it with a timer. You know your triggers and you know what distracts you. Name them and eliminate them.
Some of the most dangerous modern tools for people with ADHD include but are not limited to:
- Pornography — avoid this at all costs, nothing is worse.
- Instagram
- TikTok
- Youtube
If it’s easy to get distracted by it, delete it from your life. Your goals will thank you later. Lastly, whatever you do, do not try to control these distractions. One of the subjects of our group tried to mediate his pornography consumption but would consistently lapse back into toxic feedback loops and ended up dropping out of the program to attend a treatment center.
Principle 10: Dopamine Dopamine Dopamine Contrary to what most people say about Dopamine and ADHD, I find dopamine chasing to be an incredible way to focus me and stay focused. Dopamine hits are incredibly easy to get distracted by. “I’m going to the bathroom, I may as well look at my phone” etc. This is a terrible idea. Taking your phone out in the bathroom is the equivalent of a handjob. It’s okay, but what you really want is a threesome. You cannot have a threesome if you’re constantly blowing them off for mediocre hand jobs. You need to reject small dopamine hits for the really big hits. Avoid checking your phone so you can build up a big enough deficit to go for a massage. Avoid sugar in your coffee so you can go to dinner at a Michelin rated restaurant. The goal here is not to avoid dopamine but rather avoid cheap dopamine. Choose not to watch any Netflix or Disney+ during the week, so you can watch a truly phenomenal film on the weekend. With dopamine less is more and the more you deny yourself, the more you will appreciate the hits of dopamine you get when you do get them. Don’t avoid dopamine hits, but rather chase the enormous dopamine hits. Thank you for reading this and please leave a comment or mail me if you have any further questions.
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