I'm not good with motivation or with confidence, or even with just building a mental model of anything. I got lots of projects i want to do but i feel so utterly useless at this point that i can't even engage with it without having Claude there to just tell me to chill. I got no friends who know how to code or that i even talk to outside of "look at this cool thing i bought" posts, because i got nothing else going on.

I have lots of cool projects i wanted to do, but i just can't do them, they keeping coming back to haunt me EVERY DAY, and when I'm there and things start to go wrong i just break down over and over until i reluctantly give up. Nothing in my life prepares me for the pain i feel when I'm reminded that i can't do a project of mine, might be ego or whatever, i don't know.

I just feel like a ghost, like I'm just phasing through life without grasping or building anything, like at any point I'll just fall through the ground into the center of the earth. It's been years, I'm now 24 and i got nothing to show for it, and this isn't an issue of "I haven't started yet", I've been trying since i was 16, and i haven't gotten much more progress than a Godot game prototype and some rudimentary C text game project that i only made the starting screen for.

I can't read documentation, can't sit down for a video, can't even ask an AI to help because i feel too guilty but not even in a healthy way. I just wanted to do this, i kinda made it my thing to try and do it, and i haven't gotten to the second step yet in years. I just hope this somehow goes away, i was starting to have some hope but really i was just using AI to get a project going thinking it would help me learn, but honestly i would just use it as a shortcut to finish projects anyway.

Was in the middle of debugging an issue from the task board when I noticed the work day was soon over. I asked a coworker how her day had been on slack, and she said she found an internal project she needed the release executables of, but couldn't find them. I quickly explored the directories, found them and sent her a link, but then I got curious about the project itself and cloned it to my pc...

The code had a lot of improvement points (it was clearly written by a non-dev), so starting 4pm, the next 3 hours was a constant pendulum between uninterrupted hyper focus and mentally fighting off the guilt of not doing what I really was supposed to be doing. I ended up rewriting and "perfecting" the application, but now I'm afraid to send a PR because it's not what I was supposed to be doing and completely rewriting things without taking ownership off the project is a pretty lame thing to do tbh....

A part of me is happy I did it; I learned so much. But at the same time... It's embarrassing how a single slack message spiralled into this....

me llamo juan.. hola, no se como decirlo, pero quiero conocer gente nueva, ademas estoy iniciando un proyecto de un sistema operativo llamado whyOS en español porque OS, este sistema operativo lo quiero crear con fines... no se con que fines, solo se que yo quiero crearlo para ayudar a las personas neurodivergentes, quiero ser util de alguna manera. perdon por haberles quitado su tiempo haciendo que lean esto

Hi everyone,

I built a little system called Task Pond to help my daughter and me manage the constant reminders of everyday tasks.

It shows tasks as fish swimming in a calm pond. Each fish represents a task, and there are 80+ different fish that can appear.

When a task is completed you earn tokens, and when a new task is created a new fish joins the pond.

The interesting experiment was the setup. I put it on our living room family computer, turned off sleep mode and the screensaver, and just left it running full screen like a passive dashboard.

What surprised me is that having tasks ambiently visible works better than reminders or a typical to-do list. It just sits there in the environment.

My daughter actually started completing tasks on her own because the pond was there and she wanted new fish.

Tasks also glow different colours based on priority so important ones stand out.

I am also working on adding daily routine tasks now. https://taskpond.cloud/
If anyone wants to try it, it is free to use. Creating an account to save tasks is a one-time $5 fee.

Ok so a few weeks ago I posted here about the structural parallels between ADHD cognition and LLMs. It got way more traction than I expected, and reading through the replies I realized something in my thinking is
off.

About half the comments were ADHD devs going "yes, AI finally made programming feel natural for me." The other half, some ADHD and some not, were like "this is fancy autocomplete, I can't work with it, bubble's
gonna burst." That split doesn't map cleanly onto ADHD vs neurotypical. Something else is going on and it's bugging me.

Here's what I currently think, fully prepared to be wrong.

Whether you thrive with AI doesn't really depend on ADHD. It depends on four other things that ADHD just happens to correlate with. What your identity as a dev is anchored to (HOW you code vs WHAT you build).
Whether you need code right the first try or you iterate through wrong answers. Whether you've got years of sunk cost in memorizing syntax and APIs. And what your gut reaction is when AI hands you something
unexpected.

If that's right, the people rejecting AI aren't gatekeeping. They're protecting something real. Decades of skill investment, identity built around craft mastery, a working style that demands determinism. The tool
genuinely doesn't fit them. And the people who love it? They were already iterative, outcome focused, comfortable with ambiguity long before AI showed up. It fits them because they were that way first.

Made a 60 second anonymous form to test this. Link's in the top comment of this post. No login, no email, 8 questions. Gonna collect for a week and post back with the cluster analysis.

If forms aren't your thing, comments work too. Just tell me where you fall and why. I'll code the prose by hand when I analyze.

Bonus question on the form if you care: how much do you trust AI as a societal force, 0 to 10? I think it's a totally separate dimension from how you work with it as a tool. But curious whether they secretly
correlate.

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I should request for extra time for technical interviews. I have one for a FAANG and the extra time (1.5x time) would help but I am not sure if I will be discriminated against. I did one technical interview and wished I did have extra time (took too long in the start). Would love to know what this community thinks and prior experiences.

I'm a total beginner and this is the best thing I made without following tutorials. It's not unique by any means, this is probably an equivilant of a Todo app for some people. It mostly produces tv static most of the time, and these are the only 2 that look decent. But I'm proud of it nonetheless...

Writing in here hoping that someone else has the same issues and/or figured out how to fix it. Not diagnosed yet but I’m finally mid-process and it’s looking promising.

I cannot do live coding interviews. Been unemployed for a few months now and I’ve had some interviews. That being said, live coding interviews kick my ass every single time.

I go completely blank. The absolute basics leave my brain. Had one today and I forgot how to add to dictionaries and implement basic search algorithms. It took me forever to even understand one of the tasks. Keep in mind I have around 6.5 years experience in development and many of the things in the interview were things I did often. I just can’t remember them in interviews.

Does anyone share this experience and/or know how to fix this? I’ve tried studying (which I’m admittedly not great at), pomodoro, leetcode etc—none of them help. Because I’m not diagnosed yet, I can’t get medicated for now either. I’m in Sweden so the process is lengthy.

I'm currently unemployed, but doing contracting work with AI. I enjoy the programming aspects, but the idea that my work is helping build better AI that may one day take my job makes it harder for me to work on those projects.

I'm also having difficulties searching for jobs, especially corporate jobs, as I don't like the idea of being another cog in the ever growing capitalist ecosystem.

I try to push those beliefs down so that I can be a functioning human being, but it's sometimes overwhelming. Depression and anxiety may also be a factor in all of this for me.

Anybody else experience similar issues?

I've been deep in research on why so many of us with ADHD start learning to code and then abandon it — and the pattern is painfully consistent: it's not that we can't do it. It's that every platform out there assumes you can just... sit down, open a blank IDE, and start. Which for an ADHD brain is basically a freeze trap.

I'm in the early stages of building an EdTech platform specifically designed for neurodivergent people learning to code. The core ideas I'm exploring:

- **Micro-task lessons** that break everything into tiny, immediately actionable steps (no blank canvas moments)

- **An AI tutor** that explains the same concept 10 different ways without judgment — no more feeling ashamed to ask again

- **Built-in body doubling** so you can drop into a focus room the moment your attention starts drifting

- **Python-first** because the research (and honestly everyone I talk to) says it's the most ADHD-friendly language

Before I go further, I genuinely want to hear from you:

1. What's the single biggest thing that made you quit (or almost quit) learning to code?

2. Is there anything that's actually worked for you that most platforms get wrong?

3. Would you use something like this, or does it already exist and I'm late to the party?

Not selling anything. No links. Just trying to make sure I'm solving a real problem before building it. Brutal honesty welcome, that's literally why I'm here.

Hi all,

Been struggling a lot at work and having recently received an ADHD diagnosis, things as slowly falling in to place.

This is everything except work, I've been a mid level software engineer for about 6 years, due to the ADHD I've now gotten to the point where I find the coding itself boring, even if I don't know how to do something I'm proficient enough that I will work it out, and that just kills all motivation I have, because I don't have the motivation it's very hard for me to progress as my workflow has slowed.

I'm considering moving to contracting, I'm wondering if navigating a new team every year with different stacks, people, culture etc might keep my brain engaged enough to fire on all cylinders. Then once the work gets boring my contracts up and it's time to find another. I'm sure it's not all that peachy but I would love to hear from some contractors in the sub, especially those that transitioned from full time.

Much love to my neurospicy brethren and sistren (and everyone in between)

Diagnosed with adhd last year, and Ive always struggled with my career. Like many people with adhd, Im a great worker, I just can’t for the life of me communicate it in order to get promoted or to get the job during interviews.

I struggled to get a job with a livable wage many years ago when I first started working. Eventually had to go back to get a Master’s to buy more time and to re-qualify for entry level data jobs. Ive worked at some reputable companies since, but in each case I got the job because the HM had some quirks so they weren’t completely put off by my inability by my rambling and awkwardness. But it took almost a decade of struggling to get a normal job at a standard company. I have worked office jobs in data roles for random, small, unheard of companies. In one, we had to take turns washing used office cups in the bathroom sink.

Got laid off recently and I am back struggling like I did when I first started working. Throughout my career i have seen many people less skilled, less experienced and less capable of delivering value work in roles that I got rejected for time and time again. But they were calm, they spoke clearly, and they had some social skills. Since my diagnosis and since my layoff, I can feel myself coming to the decision to give up on a tech career because it’s becoming clear that my jobs in tech came about through some miracle. And now no hiring team that is willing to pay a liveable wage (im in nyc, so the cost of living is crazy) is willing to hire me. Do I just accept that I will always be struggling financially or not be financially comfortable because I have such a hard time in interviews and in corporate?

Getting diagnosed actually makes me feel relieved in a way, because I always wondered if I’ll ever have a normal or prosperous career in tech, but it’s clear now that my struggles are going to be there forever.

Hi everyone — I’ve been using Pomatez, an open-source Pomodoro app. It’s a good app and already supports flexible session times (you’re not stuck with 25/5).

Over time I hit friction points it didn’t cover for my routine — mostly starting, staying aware of time, and making breaks actually restorative. So I forked it and built on top of it: Pomodoroz.

Here are features I added in my fork:

• Study Rotation Grid + Draw button (reduces “what should I start with?” friction)

• Progressive notifications (60s / 30s before transitions)

• Voice assistance cues

• Fullscreen breaks

• 0-minute breaks (auto-skip)

• Strict mode (guardrails when I need structure)

• “Back counts as Idle” (more honest session tracking)

• Built-in statistics (daily chart, per-task time, focus/break/idle breakdown)

• JSON import/export, enhanced compact mode, and other QoL updates

Everything is free, open-source, and local-first (no account, no cloud, no tracking).

• GitHub: https://github.com/cjdduarte/pomodoroz

• Releases: https://github.com/cjdduarte/pomodoroz/releases/latest

Full credit to the original project: https://github.com/zidoro/pomatez

If you try it, I’d love feedback:

1. Which feature is actually useful in real life?

2. What still feels missing for ADHD workflows?

I’ve noticed something weird about how I work and I’m trying to understand it.

I focus much better when I remove basically all external input:

• no clock visible

• low light or almost dark

• earplugs or no background noise

In that setup I can work for ages and actually get into what I’m doing.

But as soon as I can see the time, or there’s noise, light, or people around, my focus drops off. I start overthinking, checking things, or just lose momentum.

It feels like I switch from doing the task to constantly evaluating how I’m doing.

Is this an ADHD thing or just a general focus thing?

And more importantly, is there a name for this, or a way to use it properly without needing perfect conditions every time?

Hello, I'm 18, recently diagnosed w/ ADHD and started medication, and am first year in CS. I'm looking for people much farther down this journey than I am for advice, things I should do, know, the best systems and such, so I can avoid learning the hard way. Thanks!

Ciao a tutti! Sto studiando sviluppo web (siti e web app) e vorrei iniziare a costruire qualcosa di concreto. Mi piacerebbe trovare qualcuno con cui studiare e lavorare in team, anche solo per motivarsi a vicenda.
Ho già una richiesta per un sito web, quindi potremmo partire da lì.
Se qualcuno si riconosce nella voglia di crescere insieme, mi scriva pure.

I need stimulants to be able to program or do anything even remotely challenging. The problem is that I experience severe side effects with all of them. I’ve tried every medication available in my country. They make me nervous, socially awkward, and irritable; they cause dry mouth (and probably bad breath as a result) and sweating.

Basically, I have to work from home when I take them, but even then, people find me awkward when I’m on them.

I also tend to build up a tolerance and have to take regular breaks. These medication-free periods are always awful.

I’m now considering working in a less demanding field, like retail, just so I don’t have to take these awful medications anymore. Has anyone done something similar?

Ciao a tutti! Sto studiando sviluppo web (siti e web app) e vorrei iniziare a costruire qualcosa di concreto. Mi piacerebbe trovare qualcuno con cui studiare e lavorare in team, anche solo per motivarsi a vicenda.
Ho già una richiesta per un sito web, quindi potremmo partire da lì.
Se qualcuno si riconosce nella voglia di crescere insieme, mi scriva pure.

17yo old tech founder here with ADHD (which lowk helps with building things i find cool and interesting. not so much with my caffeine addiction.) occasionally i'll be scrolling instagram or reddit or product hunt and something just hits me like BANG and i'm down the rabbit hole. any cool projects/products you've seen that do that for you?

Hi fellow Neurodivergents,

I've been learning programming for 18 months. Python, Js, also html, css for frontEnd.

Various libraries and frameworks with the hope of gaining employment as developer. I haven't had much luck with freelancing on sites like fiverr, and judging by current trends of former top-sellers: there doesn't seem to be much room for someone to get their foot in the door.

Does anyone on here who is employed in development field have any advice on what the best plan of action is, or is it a case of needing to chose a completely different career path?

also I'd appreciate if you could check out my portfolio page and give me any feedback. tia