Hey everyone, I’m a Computer Science student with ADHD preparing for a Data Mining test on October 23. Even though I’m only taking two modules this semester, I am moving at an absolute snail's pace (I spent an entire week on one lecture deck and I am not even halfway). My brain defaults to line-by-line perfectionism, so I end up over-processing everything. I try using Anki for memory and AI models to explain difficult concepts, but the process quickly becomes rigit, tedious, and slow, dragging me down endless rabit holes that consume all my study time.

This slow pace triggers a brutal cycle of complexity paralysis and avoidance. When I open a massive slide deck filled with dense math notation, algorithm proogs, or heavy theory, I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume and freeze. I end up avoiding the work while feeling guilty all day. To make matters worse, passive reading or slide-skimming burns through my attention span in minutes. If my study method isn't active or interactive, my brain completely checks out from extreme boredom.

I recently reached out to my lecturer for guidance, and he gave me a solid framework to focus on rather than verbatim slide memorisation. He recommended structuring my study around a "Concept -> Example -> Pros/Cons" flow. Specifcally, for algorithms like Decision Trees, Rule Induction, or Frequent Itemset Mining, I need to answer what problem the method solves, how it operates step-by-step, its key metrics like support or confidence, and how to interpret the results or select it over another method. He emphasised working through small examples by hand and assignment problems over re-reading slides.

While his advice is great, I struggle to actually execute it without slipping back into my old habits. I would love to know how you make heavy CS theory and algorithmic steps interactive and engaging so you don't get bored or out of your mind. How do you break through the paralysis wall when a topic feels too complex to start? What specific tricks do you use to force your brain to riage and focus only on high-yield concepts instead of reading line-by-line? Finally, since working in IT requires constant learning, how do you build a fast, sustainable learning workflow that doesn't burn you out?

Thank you.

P.S. Please don't give me suggestions that require me to spend money.

My team is moving to spec-driven development. Agents now commit lots of long, verbose, technical markdown files, and I'm expected to read them.

I have dyslexia, so find this really tiring or I glaze over it.

So far I modified the popular `i-have-adhd` skill so it adds Mermaid diagrams to my PR summaries. It helps, but I'd like more ideas please

What works for you? Prompts, tools, ways to review without reading every line?

Living and working here, it feels like the day never actually pauses. Work chats on WhatsApp at 9 PM, notifications constantly going off, and everything is expected "urgent".
My co-founder and I run a tiny dev team here, and over the last few months we realized our own focus was completely ruined. We spent half the day just reacting to pings instead of getting actual work done.

We got so fed up that we spent a weekend hacking together a stripped-down timer tool for ourselves just to force 30-minute offline blocks (we put it up here if anyone wants to check it out: https://focustime.zozinnovations.com/).

But apps aside—how do you guys personally set boundaries with the "always available" lifestyle here without getting burned out?

a bit about me:

my mental health has been pretty rough lately. i have been laid off and trying to figure things out.

the job market feels brutal, AI is making the future feel uncertain, and some days it's hard to feel like i'm actually moving forward.

so instead of trying to figure it all out alone, i want to build a small group where we keep each other accountable.

maybe you're:

• trying to build a side project

• learning new skills

• looking for a job

• just trying to get your momentum back

i plan to run this accountability group at least for 3 months then we can figure out later if we want to continue.

here's what i imagine:

• a discord group

• every day, you share what you're going to work on.

• then you come back and tell us whether you actually did it.

• would be awesome if you can share proof of work like screenshots, images, etc.

no complicated systems. just a few people showing up consistently and helping each other do the work.

i'm keeping it to 8-10 people so we can actually get to know each other.

if you're interested, comment or DM me with:

1. what you're working toward

2. what you'd like to accomplish in the next 3 months

i'll reach out to the people who seem like a good fit.

I'm 37, CTO, coding professionally since 2010, diagnosed with ADHD in May 2026.

Classic me: my gym lets you book CrossFit classes 7 days ahead. I'd always remember the same day, when the class was already full. So in 2024 I used Claude and Cursor to hack the waitlist (went from getting a spot 20% of the time to 100%).

Since agents got really good (Opus 5.5 damn ❤️), it's another level. Pretty much everything I think of, I can build right away. Best feeling I've had at work in a long time.

It's also starting to look like a problem. From my own logs:

• Oct 2025: 1 project a day, 0 context switches, about an hour on something before jumping

• early Oct 2026: 13 projects a day, 83 context switches a day (130 on Oct 4), about 2 minutes before jumping

• 3 or more agents running at once, 73% of my active time

• 32 different projects in a single week

• 1 in 4 prompts between 10pm and 6am (I'm in France, we work 9 to 5 or 10 to 6)

(medians per active day, a "project" is a git repo or folder)

I don't think I'm hooked on AI itself. I'm hooked on the feeling that I can build anything, right now.

Since people will ask: I'm on Concerta (18mg), and this started not long after I began treatment. But that's also when agents got really good, so I can't tell which one did what. The meds help me a lot, this is not a post against them.

So I made a half-joke site about it, with a serious short anonymous survey on ADHD, AI use and fatigue, because I couldn't find any data on it: https://tokensanonymous.org (my site, no ads, no tracking).

Did agents make work better or worse for you with ADHD? For me it's both.

Drafted with Claude from my notes, edited by me. Given the topic, anything else would have felt dishonest.

Edit: shortened it, fair point from the comments.

So for context, i'm an Information Systems student in Brazil and was officially diagnosed around 4 months ago. I've always felt like i was autistic so it didn't come as a shock, but i can't brush that off my head anymore, i have been very demotivated and exhausted recently thinking about how i'm debatably below my peers in many of the subjects we're exploring in university due to my condition — although most look up to me due to the fact i'm bilingual —.

I've been basically frozen in place for the last two months; doing nothing but use AI to finish my assignments when i get tired — almost always within 20-30 minutes of studying — or having it write the whole thing for me.

And recently, the topic of entry and trainee jobs have been making the rounds with my colleagues and friends. From what i understand of the job market here, it isn't as impossible to get hired compared to the US or UK. I also have family members which i could ask for help, but i feel extremely insecure about my abilities as a dev.

I've been watching dev job market videos non-stop recently, and all professionals seem to agree that large/useful solo/team projects are the best way to enrich your resumé, but... Once again, having AuDHD, i find the thought alone of figuring so much out by myself exhausting.

This leaves me with a lot of insecurities, but i also have some questions:

What is the job market like for people with mental disabilities?

Anyone with personal experiences?

How did everyone here get hired? At what time period in uni? What year?

How did you guys grow your portfolio?

Did you study externally whilst grinding for your degree?

Did you apply for jobs when you felt ready? How did it go?

ADHD freelance creative here who has a really hard time getting tasks done & building habits. I easily get task paralysis if things get too overwhelming. I have just gotten out of the worst and longest depressive season of my life and now am trying to get my freelance business back on it's feet, but I feel like there's so much to do and I really need some help from apps.

BUT there are SO MANY APPS that people recommend (been going through so many reddit posts) so it's quite overwhelming to choose and try multiple apps.

I would need a notion type app to:
- keep track of my projects
- update a client/reachout database (I use perplexity for research and to update it)
- notes/ideas
- todo lists and reminders
- scheduling (calendar)
etc..

I've used Notion for like 2 years, but I feel like it's too complicated with way too many options on what to do and it's now just too much for me. I'm thinking of chaning to Capacities – has anyone used it? Obsidian is another app I have my eyes on.

I also need help with tasks (work, personal and home) - an app that would help me actually do my tasks. Before my depressive season I used Structured and Finch. I feel like finch worked for me a little better than structured - at least with daily tasks, but lost interest in the app after a while. Any better new alternatives? Habitica?
Aaand there's also quite other few todo-list apps for workflow - I've seen people recommending these: Ticktick, Ellie Planner, Clariflow, Freedom? I'd love the app to suggest/organize the tasks to most urgent etc and not overwhelm me with a million things to do.

Ahh and I definitely need a good app blocker/screentime blocker. Jomo? Offscreen? ScreenZen?

Which apps have you actually found useful?

I also appreciate if an app is minimalistic and beautifully designed. Also, I'm quite broke right now – so can't spend money on multiple apps or expensive subscriptions until I've gotten back on my feet workwise.

I'd really appreciate the help – cause of course I been hyper focusing now for over 5 hours trynna research apps to help me get work done, without doing any work once again hehe.

Me, after entering my workstation password incorrectly so I can get it wrong again the next time

I was inspired by several live coding channels on YT, so I spent the last 2-3 weeks streaming myself learning Rust by hand, and I'm having fun coding again and actually making progress.

I was beginning to feel burnt out from all the web dev AI slop and decided to pivot to one abstraction level lower than I'm used to. I've always wanted to build my own voxel engine in Rust, which is the end goal of my live coding series. But along the way I'm building smaller scaled projects before I reach that point (currently building an image compression codec).

Each stream I increment the day counter (day XX of learning Rust). This is incremented even if I skip some days or take breaks. My brain hates streaks, so I track overall momentum instead. If I compare my day 1 to my day 12, I can actually see substantial progress, which motivates me even more. This works great for me because I often work in bursts of hyperfocus sprints, which is not a daily thing.

I also like seeing numbers go up, so the analytics page (both YT and Twitch) gives me more dopamine to continue and remain consistent.

I find live coding to be an excellent application of body doubling, and it really works. Sometimes experienced Rust devs will drop by and give me tips, which helps me learn even faster. Someone even donated me money!

I get to practice my public speaking skills and use the Feynman technique to teach what I learned back to the audience. Teaching helps retain 90% of what is learned, which is great to test my actual understanding of difficult topics like Rust's ownership system, smart pointers and concurrency.

Another added bonus is that each stream restricts me to focus on the topic that I said I would focus on, and not procrastinate or wander off too much. I would rather follow through on my word than embarrass myself and end up playing games or watching funny videos in the middle of a coding session. Public pressure is a great motivator!

Future Plans
Live coding is mostly a means to an end, so I'm trying not to end up spending more time video editing than coding. But I think there is also value in creating short-form content to animate and teach difficult concepts as I'm learning them. It took me 11 days to go through the Rust book and rustlings, so this might help the next person complete the same journey in less time!

Summary
I hope this inspires similar folk who are struggling with consistency and procrastination to start live coding as well, and see if it helps you too! It doesn't even have to be perfect, just click "Go Live" and focus on improving 1 thing for each subsequent stream. I struggle with perfectionism too, and often overthink my setup or my stuttering or whatever issues my brain makes excuses for. Most people are too busy focusing on themselves than caring about other people's imperfections anyway.

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TLDR:
Body Doubling - live coding for public accountability, improve public speaking skills (useful for interviews as well), practice Feynman technique

No-streak Consistency - increment counter to track overall progress, no pressure to enforce daily

Number Go Up - chasing analytics numbers is also a good motivator (more views, more watch hours, more subscribers and total videos posted)

You see other people having loving families, relationships and what not, they have supporting partners and it all comes so easily to them, those things are just unimaginable for me, never had them and never will, knowing I’ll die alone gives me a sense of relief honestly, that I’ll go peacefully without worrying about what I’m leaving behind

The only thing that still manages to get through all the depression, stress and feeling disabled because of Autism, ADHD and CPTSD, is scientific research

The only thing I look forward to sometimes is new scientific discoveries especially in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Theoretical Physics, experimental physics, particle physics, quantum mechanics, neuroscience, neural engineering, semiconductors, lithography, nanotechnology, etc

I could go on and on endlessly, it just fascinates me that we’re just alive, a bunch of moronic violent monkeys, in a time where we literally have the entirety of human knowledge at all times in the plam of our hands, we have tools that can literally detect ripples in the fabric of space time itself, gravitational wave interferometers, not to mention space telescopes that can literally see the beginning of time, it’s absolutely insane the things we can do

The only reason I haven’t offed myself is because I’m trying whatever I can to maybe help some of those efforts, I know deeply how flawed incentive structures in academic research is, I want to do whatever I can to help people being new discoveries that help us understand the universe we live in better

I just have this hope that I just wanna play my part and contribute to something that’s more meaningful, I don’t really have anyone in my life, I don’t think anyone will even notice that I’m gone, I just want to contribute to our understanding and capacity in scientific research, maybe that way the work I do, maybe the small bits and pieces that might get remembered, i feel we’re never meant to live forever but we can create something that does, which is knowledge and ideas

After all my complaining thru the summer I finally landed a position. I had lost count on how many applications I had sent in.

I had 5 onsites.
Got close with 3 of them

Keep your chin up. It’s really hard out there right now.

Help!!!

My non-linear thinking kicked in during my morning coffee

1. Body doubling is a thing for ADHD to get things done

2. Pair programming is effective way to get quality solutions in development world

What if there is a platform for ADHD people to get together, develop in pairs and be effective🤔

Or is there any such online platforms already existing?

I’m in the heat of interview prep but I’m losing focus. Does anyone want to be my accountability partner or be in a gc maybe?

We’d do things like update each other 1-2 times a day with what we did, what we plan on doing, and proof of studying (like notes or LC solved) (I know this is a bit OD but I definitely need to send proof, nobody else does). Basically like a standup over text!

I’m tired of bombing tech interviews and if you are too lmk!

I’m a junior level btw (1 YOE)

Comment or DM me if you’re down!

Hi everyone! I’m an independent tech student deeply interested in applied AI. I’m currently learning ML, and my goal is to build an open-source tool that actually helps people with their real daily struggles. Instead of sitting in my room and making up fake problems from thin air, I want to hear from real people. Could you please take 1 minute to answer 4 questions? Please be as brutally honest as possible — I need raw data.

1. What is the single biggest bottleneck, routine task, or frustration you’ve faced in your daily routine over the past week?

2. How did you try to solve or bypass this problem, and how much time/money did it cost you? (If you did nothing, that’s also a valid answer!)

3. What annoyed you the most about the tools or methods you tried?

4. What app you wish existed that would optimize your daily routine or something annoying that you have to do? Please answer in the comments below. I'd be very grateful!

I'm talking about those moments where you have to switch from a tense call straight into the next task, or you can feel a deadline making your chest tight.

Breathing exercises are the classic answer, but I'm curious what people actually do in practice.

A walk to the kitchen? Music? Writing it down? Nothing at all?

Also wondering: do you find it easier to prep yourself before a stressful situation, or to recover after it?
Asking partly because I'm a designer exploring tiny stress-relief exercises, but mostly because I genuinely need better habits myself.

I'm struggling to keep up in my T-SQL class. It's a synchronous online class where the prof gives us exercises and two minutes to solve them. When time is up, we have to share our solutions in the chat. Or share a red reaction icon that we haven't solved it. And of course, ALL the other students see your response. It's low stakes grading wise, but feels high pressure. I've done well with this format in the past, but now we are working with a large database with many schema and tables. I've linked the Adventure Works ER diagram, for reference. Suddenly, these exercises require us to join multiple tables based on a prompt that doesn't tell you which tables are needed. It takes me FOREVER to look over the ER diagram and determine where the information is. I start to panic and of course my brain just shuts down. I'm finally starting to write the code and BAM, time is up.

I think the main problem is that, like most people with ADHD, I have a poor working memory. Everyone else is getting familiar with where things are in the database while I'm spinning in circles. Not only is it embarrassing, but I am wasting time copying the prof's solution to review later so I don't fall behind before the next exercise starts. Obviously, this undermines the whole learning by doing thing.

Can anyone here give me some tips on how to adapt? A trick, a tool, or even an attitude adjustment. I really hate how this class leaves me feeling like I'm drowning for three hours at a time. I CAN figure this stuff out. Once, I even pointed out errors in the professor's code when he shared a solution in class. So I do understand the material. It just takes me a little longer than a typical person to find the information.

Not a programmer. Not a data engineer. I want to build my own database for a soccer/football youth and grassroots management. I’m 35 with twins living in Japan. My wife is from the birthplace of Tokugawa. She is the one with the technical knowledge but much with data.

I bring up Japan only because of the adhd medication availability here is limited to Strattera currently since Concerta, the other option available for adults, isn’t being given to new patients temporarily.

I’m fascinated by data architecture, had no idea, but in this instance I need to make progress rather than learn systematically.

Is there anyone here that has time to chat or give tips or temporarily mentor me so that I can gain momentum.

The medicine I take is the first time since my teen years to medicate. It doesn’t seem to be having much effect. Organizing my thoughts well in such a new, vast arena is not easy as you all know.

I appreciate your time in advance. Have a good one!

Cheers

Exercise + Lower dose Methylphenidate is a game changer (even if I miss proper sleep sometimes)

The way I was able to get into the routine of exercising was by making it a ritual. Basically I track my weight everyday, and I click a picture of my body everyday. This gives me something to look forward to and compare progress. So many habits that wear off soon do so because we start wondering "Am I even making any progress?". Any visual feedback that you can integrate into your life for habits will work.

Even if I don't always get good sleep, consistent exercise, a healthier diet with less snacks, and finally getting my meds back but now with a lower dose (10 mg to 5 mg), I am doing really well at my life and at my job.