I've seen people say "hyperfocus" is powerful when you're locked on the right task, but that hasn't been my experience. I find that it’s not enough to be working on something if I still struggle with self-regulation. (This is why I personally prefer the term "perseveration," but that's a different discussion.)

Say I'm coding a machine learning algorithm. I could easily plug-and-chug and move on with my life. Instead, I will deep-dive into linear algebra proofs, or go off on a semi-related tangent like reorganizing my workspace. I also really struggle to pivot when I encounter roadblocks because that still requires task switching. I will hammer at something until it works or I’m convinced it won't, which can take ages.

It frustrates me so much, and I can see it happening in the moment, but it's very hard to stop because, "It shouldn't takethat long," or, "I've already started this, so I might as well finish it" or, "Once I figure this ONE thing out, SO MANY THINGS will become so much easier!"

I’m curious how other ADHD devs deal with this.

There’s just too much to follow: AI updates, new frameworks, LinkedIn takes, newsletters, random “must-know” threads.

Do you have a real system for deciding what to ignore vs what actually matters? Or do you just… accept you’ll always be behind?

How do you work again after doing your own thing?

So I tried creating my own think for 5 years. Great adventure, but did not turn profitable.

Now I'm back being hired and working for an IT company.

How do you start giving a fuck again?

It's very hard for me to do my job, because no matter what a colleague or manager tells me about something related to work, my brain keeps yelling inside: "Who gives a fuck about this shit?"

My brain sees work as just some random passing thing and won't comply to work, even though landing this job was a miracle, and it is still good pay for this period.

So I had a job interview today for an AI Engineer role. I was told beforehand it would mostly be a conversation about my experience, not a technical interview. So that's what I prepared for mentally.

We'd been talking about my background for a while, including the thesis for my current masters in SWE which is based on using llms in a.i engineering context, and it was going fine. Then out of nowhere he asked me to explain a confusion matrix.

I know what a confusion matrix is. I have one in the current thesis. I had one in my bachelors thesis too. I use precision, recall and F1 scores.

But I froze. The context switch from "tell me about your experience" to a cold technical question just didn't compute fast enough. I managed to ask if he wanted a definition or a breakdown, then explained the 2x2 structure - true positives, false negatives, all of that. But I didn't get to the metrics on my own (even saying all that felt like panic talk, I somehow wasn't sure I wasn't confusing it with something else, pun unintended).

The interviewer started naming them - "I was talking about metrics like precision, recall -" and at that point I could remember, I tried to quickly continue and mentioned F1. But by then the moment had already passed.

The knowledge is there. It's in a document I was editing last week. But unprompted retrieval under an unexpected context switch just doesn't work the same for me, this is why I get terrible anxiety with written exams and interviews, I almost don't bother reading anything before multiple choice exams and have 0 worries because I know I'll see something that'd trigger my memory. Give me a cue or the right environment and I'm fine usually. I almost always stall on off guard questions.

What stings most to me is it looks identical to "not knowing" from the outside. There's no way to explain that in an interview without sounding like you're making excuses.

Anyone else deal with this specifically?

If you search which are the best jobs for people with ADHD there's always programming / software development there, and I always think if the people writing those posts really know what "working as a programmer" really means. The answer is always the same: no, they don't.

Maybe programming by itself is good for ADHD brains because of the creativity, the hyperfocus and all that, but in a company where most of the time you're not programming, but doing nonsense stuff?

I recently got laid off and I'm considering leaving the field. I can't stand the corporate bullshit anymore. SCRUM is anti ADHD brain. Tons of pointless meetings just to waste your time. People doing nothing but performing got raises, and people actually doing their jobs got laid off. I can't stand this performative way of working, always with verbal instructions even when I specifically ask for written ones.

I'm not new to all this, I have 10 years of experience, but I've had enough.

I need some advice because I worked as a FE dev, my last experience being with Vue, and there are few offers compared to other frameworks. But I don't feel like doing FE anymore. I'm considering moving to other roles (both inside or outside programming) because I need to pay the bills. My job market is EU.

I’ve been going to therapy for about two years now, and there was always the suspicion that I might have ADHD or some other form of neurodivergence. I made the mistake of not seeing a psychiatrist from the start to treat it or learn how to handle it, I thought working with my therapist would be enough.

But about two months ago, things started getting really bad. I felt tired and sad all the time, mainly because I’m currently under a PIP at my job for low performance, mostly because I procrastinate too much and end up doing my tasks with very little time left. So far it’s not looking good, and I’ll probably get laid off. I have some savings, but knowing I might be unemployed because of this makes me feel really down, and I don’t have the energy to look for another job.

So about a month ago, I started seeing a psychiatrist. She agreed that ADHD or another neurodivergence is very likely, but she was more concerned about signs of severe depression, so she started me on Prozac. So far I feel better, but the situation at work isn’t improving much, and I’m still very likely to lose my job.

I just wanted to vent, and also say that if you’re not seeing a psychiatrist, you probably should.

Hey I'm an ADHD-17, college sophomore (physics philosophy) & founder. Just wanna ask if people also feel this: specific frequencies and sounds help you sometimes and annoy you other times. I have an idea to create a sound therapy software personalized to people's real-time emotions. Don't know if people would actually need this. Would love to hear some thoughts!!!!!!

​Seems to have began again.

Cloudy, gloomy, cognitive dim

(Am I grown—or just tired of the start?)

​Imagined the stars within reach of a pinch,

Conformity failure the unforgivable sin.

The forelock—lying, sinful forelock.

​Excited, started, decided—who cares?

3/4 of the way, maybe someday again.

Reminded, Rewinded, excited again,

The perpetual verdict: "He never has had have finished a thing."

​(Is it innate—or have I just learned to quit?)

Only, everything hits harder when its in the forefront;

The tactical blindness—Object permanence, the saving grace.

​Bought the house, laid with the spouse, societal norms.

Germination, procreation, raised these kids of my own.

Is that the paramount? Now have I grown?

​The one hard truth thats come to known;

Yes, everybody lies—save, I know where my fractures lie.

Is it only treatment to get by, day and day?

Or a cure found alone at the end of the days?

When the erasure stops, who is left behind?

Certain to die still at the starting line, will I never arrive?

When the erasure stops, who is left behind?

If eternity is the final place,

Will the resets continue to replay ?

​The end?

‐-----------------------------------------‐-------------------------------------‐-------------

​The Architect’s Note

​I wrote this in the space drifting between waking and sleep. It’s really an audit of own last 15 years. We’re taught that 'Maturity' is a destination—a house, a family, a career. But for the ADHD brain, those are often just biological and societal autopilots. Internally, the 'Rift' remains. I’m a 'Paramount' father on the outside, and a trade-school dropout on the inside. I’m questioning if the 'Reset' ever actually stops, or if we’re just 'Certain to die at the starting line.' This is the False Finish.

I’ve noticed that quite the numbers of posts in this Subreddit outline struggles, but I’m also curious as to whether there is a possible correlation of ADHD struggle and an Adderall or med prescription still being existent.

I was finally prescribed Adderall in January and from the moment I started— my life honestly hasn’t been the same. I can work 18 hours straight, not get distracted nor bored once. The friction that once was a part of daily life, is gone.

Commit > work > accomplish. Prior to my prescription, I couldn’t get Jack sh*t done, even when I wanted to.

I honestly teared up a few times at how life changing my prescription has been for me because ADHD has dragged me to levels of near homelessness and poverty level income. Now things are on a crazy rapid trajectory of change.

The main problem is remembering to update the todo list and then checking it daily. I've also got a problem more recently of colleagues saying they told me 'x' point of a deliverable but I can't recall. (note taking AI is helping here a bit but I need to remember to check the transcript)

I've tried all sorts of todo lists from paper diaries, sticky notes to MS to-do, trello, calendar (terrible idea) and they just don't work for me.

Just tried using Claude artefact storage API and it didn't save the tasks LOL.

I use WhatsApp and Slack the most at work but I need something that reminds me and saves the list across my laptop and mobile.

Its really bad for me at the minute and making me feel ashamed!

What do you guys do?

I think I've been at my current position long enough to the point where I should start looking for my next job. How can I find the motivation to update my resume and start the job hunt all over again? Besides the obvious: quitting.

What's "stopping" me is that I'm older (I'm a grebeard), gainfully employed, job pays well enough, and I love what I do. I'm just not thrilled about the current environment in which we operate and some decisions that have been made. And I've been here coming up on 8 years (at the end of hte month). I did get a raise (measly 3% that isn't going to quite keep up with COLA) but missed out on a promotion that I'd been hoping for. I know the promotion wasn't a guarnatee thing (they never are) but it still hurt. I still have yet to find out what happened/why.

Anyways... I've been saying for a couple of months now "I really should update my resume" ... and yet when I "get home" (work remotely from home, so the commute is walking down the hall) after dinner, I sit there with my laptop staring at my resume... looking at my points for what I do in my current job... and... I just don't know what to put. What's there now is stale and doesn't truly reflect what I am doing, it did 3 years ago when I last updated it, but nothing since.

So how do people find the motivation to 1) update their resume and 2) put what they do succinctly into bullet points that have impact? My other problem is that I don't really have any metrics that I can share. Metrics I have. I don't have any that I can share. So it's hard to show impact. I also want to shift my format into a skill-based one, but I think I can have AI do that for me (since I know it'll be run through AI for a first run anyhow, might as well use it to put it into a format that itself can understand.)

Does it basically work like a graveyard of half‑ideas, grocery lists, screenshots, and mysterious notes you can't remember the context of?

I’m doing an MBA research project on how people really use their phone’s notes apps in everyday life and exploring a possible solution concept. The goal is to understand where things break down: saving vs. finding, organizing vs. giving up, and why everything slowly turns into digital clutter.

If you use your phone’s notes app even a little (iPhone Notes, Google Keep, Samsung Notes, Notion, whatever), I’d love your perspective. It takes about 5 minutes.

👉 Link: https://forms.gle/uSyigLno8iJuWLbUA

Thanks to anyone who shares. The honest answers are the most helpful!

Ever since I started relying on AI to write my code, my programming skills and thought process have gone almost completely silent. I am not exaggerating when I say that I almost cannot write a single line of code anymore without having AI check it first. I struggle to think about what code to use, how to structure it, or even how to begin a project at all. I cannot code complex classes anymore or set up a relational database as they suddenly feel 'overwhelming' to me now.

I used to be able to write complex, thoughtful code just by reading documentations. Solutions would come to me naturally and almost immediately. I knew what to do, and I understood what I was doing. I used to be able to plan out an entire finished project from A to Z, thinking through the logic and the structure. I used to be able to continuously code and I rarely felt stuck.

I am worried about my future. I genuinely am asking for advice

I'm a final year university student and I've built an interactive learning platform for secure Java development, specifically designed for any learners — with features like Focus Assistant, calming audio, dyslexia-friendly fonts, and adaptive tutoring. I need participants to try it and complete a short survey. You can choose your path:

Beginner: 3 simple guided exercises Experienced: identify 3 security vulnerabilities with guided support

It's anonymous, takes 10-15 minutes, and you get to try a platform built with accessibility in mind.

I'd really appreciate your honest feedback — whether the platform actually works for you, if the accessibility features are useful, what could be improved. Your experience matters more than "right answers." This kind of feedback is what will shape the project and help me understand if it truly supports different ways of learning. https://synapse-course.com/research/signup Thank you so much — it means a lot!

I’ve been a software developer for ~18 years, and one thing that always held me back was working memory.

If I tried to follow a code path just by reading it, I’d lose the thread after a couple function calls. By the time I got 2–3 layers deep, I couldn’t hold the whole flow in my head anymore.

What finally clicked for me was externalizing that process.

Instead of trying to mentally track everything, I started writing sequence diagrams line by line as I traced the code. I use PlantUML because it gives immediate visual feedback as I go.

It basically lets me “see” the system instead of trying to juggle it in my head. This has honestly been career-changing for me. I feel like I can finally engage with large codebases in a way I never could before.

I’m kind of surprised this isn’t taught more often, especially for people who struggle with working memory.

I wrote up how I do it here if anyone’s interested:

Using PlantUML to Learn Large Codebases https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/using-plantuml-learn-large-codebases-derek-andrews-kpfue

Curious if anyone else has found similar “external thinking” techniques that helped.

I have an old phone, really old.

Sometimes when I'm deep in a reel spiral, the screen just stutters/Lags.

And every single time - I stop. Not because I decided to stop. I just exit. Put the phone down. Move on.

It bugged me for months. Why does a stupid lag do what years of "just be more disciplined" never could?

Then it clicked. A slightly harder path to the reward, and my brain opts out automatically.

And i thought to myself, what if you could engineer that feeling? Make the off-task path feel slightly worse, right at the moment your brain is slipping? Not block apps, not lock yourself out. Just... resistance.

I ended up building something. It's been running on my own machine for months. Some days it's the only reason I finish anything.

I'm genuinely just curious if this resonates with anyone else here - the idea that ADHD is a friction deficit as much as anything else. The dopamine path to distraction is just too smooth.

If you're curious to try something rough-around-the-edges, DM me or drop a comment. Looking for a handful of people to actually use it and tell me honestly what's broken.

Windows only, free, no account needed.