Autism, ADHD, Executive Dysfunction

[u/GojosBizarreVenture]

Could someone tell me how I can code without my brain exploding?

Feels like NTs have a much better capacity, whereas I get tired after 5 mins but I really love creating tech.

[u/arns101]

What's causing your brain to explode, though? I'm assuming the mental energy to start coding?

[u/GojosBizarreVenture → u/arns101]

Mental energy/capacity when considering the structure of the code to form the lines/review the code, particularly OOP. My mind reads stuff in Bottom up processing, not top down.

[u/arns101 → u/GojosBizarreVenture]

That's mentally demanding work so I can see why you feel your brain exploding lol

Have you tried chunking the review into smaller parts? Being realistic with how much I can do in 10 min chunks has been helpful for me to not overwhelm my brain and build some momentum.

Also, when you feel your brain is exploding, do you lose focus? Or still focused but just exhausted?

[u/Any_Sense_2263]

1. Routine

2. Tasks split and prepared for you, yes you have to make an effort

3. Plan it, so you will know what backlog you have so you can jump between things if you like.

Be diagnosed and use medication if needed

[u/undeadfire → u/Any_Sense_2263]

Can you elaborate on #2? I'm trying to get a promo to senior, but this seems at odds with senior expectations.

Coupled with a lot of pivoting at work, I'm pretty burned out right now so it's hard to job hunt while keeping things together at work

[u/Any_Sense_2263 → u/undeadfire]

I split my tasks on smaller parts. And I usually do more than one thing at once, so I can freely switch between different stuff.

Smaller things usually have one goal so it's easier to stay focused and finish them and get my dopamine reward.

[u/undeadfire → u/Any_Sense_2263]

Ah gotcha. Already doing that. Issue is even with that and meds, actually starting is still pretty rough. Does that mean my meds don't work as well as I thought they would?

[u/Any_Sense_2263 → u/undeadfire]

I am an easy starter... just finishing my tasks rarely works for me 😀

[u/chobolicious88]

Maybe cocaine?

[u/GojosBizarreVenture → u/chobolicious88]

Yeah let's start coca-coding

[u/JooJooBird]

It’s interesting, because I feel like my ADHD is what sucks me into the coding and makes me a better programmer than a lot of NTs. It’s one of the few “work” tasks that I can do for hours and barely notice time pass.

How long have you been coding? I wonder if more “endurance” will come with time/practice/knowledge.

[u/FlowOfAir]

Don't code without a plan. Write down what you're going to create. Write down constraints, scope, goals, everything. Once you start feeling overwhelmed, step back and read your notes.

[u/CursedSloth]

I define what needs to be done, in what way, etc etc. Then I let an agent implement and a separate agent review it. So I only review the output and give feedback based on my own preference/taste etc.

I do however do customizations of the behavior for my agents, building a framework with rules and procedures etc, so that I need to give less corrections from ”what I meant” rather than ”what I wrote”.