So many project ideas yet so little energy
So many project ideas yet so little energy
God I wanna make so much art (drawing/painting/wood carving/crochet/build things/etc), make comics, learn languages, learn how to deep clean and power wash, garden, make clothes, make fursuits, travel, hike, forage, make youtube videos, go urban exploring, go ghost hunting, animate, preserve animal skeletons and insects, etc etc.
But I'm so perpetually exhausted that even just planning out an idea takes a lot out of me, and it feels so unfair.
Thankfully medication has helped out a looot (I mean the difference between taking genuinely months to do anything vs being able to do so within a week or even a day if lucky is quite an improvement) but it's not gonna make me superhuman any time soon ^^;
People used to call me little Einstein, next Bill Gates and next Elon Musk (eww lmao) many times because of my ideas. Many of them may be revolutionary, but I can't even start working on them because I feel like my day is 5 minutes long... I feel severely disabled by ADHD
Oh I know this struggle! I constantly have a magnitude of hobbies, projects and tasks that I wish to complete.
It helps when you learn that you cannot do everything all at once. While I still naiively think I will accomplish all the things, I sorted all the things I want to do in a priority list; from most important to least important.
"If I die tomorrow, what would I be most upset about for not having done while living?"
Once you have a list (or even a rough list) then start at the top. Do a little each day. You can bounce around the list. You can re-prioritize items. Remember: It's your list.
The key thing I found is that no matter which of the 1000s of things you want to accomplish, you're usually happy in the process, so you really can't go wrong. While working on a thing, just lose yourself in the process until you move onto the next thing.
Good luck, friend!
Embrace side quests. If your stuck on motivation, do an easy part first, or work on a related project for a bit to build up momentums. Once you start working on something it becomes much easier to continue, but you won't get anywere by staring at the hard part.
Dude. Same. So many abandoned projects
I have a pretty varied skillset. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, I’m a programmer, and a designer. But once the work part of the day is over, I couldn’t carry out a single creative thing if you paid me. It’s crazy how debilitating ADHD can be and it’s been that way since I was a kid (I was officially diagnosed in the early 90s).
I find that meds can help but sometimes the side effects suck. If you can get your hands on a prescription, it helps a ton. It doesn’t have to be a stimulant either. There’s a lot of non-stimulant ones that do wonders. Just make sure you take it consistently. The one I was prescribed gives me hyper focus.
I'm hoping some more non-stimulant meds have been approved; because after 2 years of Atomoxetine, my motivation has come to a screeching halt. My productive hobbies have been dead for a few months, and I'm back to feeling like I have no time or energy to get anything done. This past week has been the worst in a long time with just feeling tired and moody constantly.
I know them feels. I think what I take is a variant of Atomexetine. But then you get laid off for 3 months and it’s hard to justify paying for it out of pocket lol. So now I need to get a new prescription.
It’s crazy how much it helps, but it really sucks when that baseline is pulled out from under you. I hit the bottom hard and I find it more difficult to deal with than when I was consistently unmedicated for years. I have a project this week that is mentally taxing and it was dropped in my lap. Trying to trudge through it the week after taking my very last capsule was not good timing.
Can you share some ideas for programming projects? I have time but no ideas.
How about a cross-platform yt-dlp GUI made in the Qt framework?
Very specific but I'm sure people would appreciate a GUI for it.
I’ve been wanting to make an app or web service that lets people see which companies in their local supermarkets are up to shady and oppressive activities elsewhere. It would recommend an alternative that’s lower down the list of creepiness. That way, we can stop funding them to hurt our fellow humans, wildlife and planet.
The first data set (brands for sale in a country) are easy to establish for a person but I’m not sure how you would do that programmatically.
For the second data set (relative evilness), I’ve seen ranked lists online of how ethical certain brands are but I’m not sure how comprehensive and up-to-date they are or how you tap into those programmatically.
I’m happy to partner with someone on a project like this, although without coding skills my contribution wouldn’t be equal.
I don't have the time for that either. I'm working full time and that kind of project is better suited for a student with lots of free time. :)
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You could try contributing to an existing open-source project.
A year ago, I discovered I have ADHD. Suddenly, everything fell into place. I've had many hobbies, projects, and ideas throughout my life, but I've rarely completed or stuck with them for long. I'm still working to develop a system that allows me to explore while helping me complete tasks over time.
I've thought about using medication but I don't want to depend on it for productivity. I'm curious, has it significantly changed things for any of you?
If you know you have ADHD, give the meds a go and then decide.
Imagine if in 30 years you finally try them and see what life could have been like. If they are not for you, no problem.
It's funny as the other commenter said about the dependence thing - most other drugs make you unproductive, and so they are harmful to you fulfilling your life goals. This is kinda different, and there are many days where I just go without because I feel like being lazy or just kicking around doing whatever.
It absolutely has for me, prior it would take me genuinely months to even do a single thing (including really important shit) but with medication it's significantly helped my executive dysfunction, made me able to get things done within the week or even a day if lucky, I can actually focus (sometimes on the wrong things lol), and since removing the executive dysfunction it's allowed me to have more motivation. (Of course still not perfect hence my post)
The effectiveness of meds vary for everyone esp on the specific kinds of meds (I take ritalin), but I'd say go for it (also the dependence thing isn't as scary as you'd think, I mean with meds you'll more than likely improve on productivity, and if you ever run out it'll just go back to how it was before (in my experience at least) I'd say it's def worth asking a doc about it)
I feel this in my soul. I have all these hobbies I want to do, and I keep finding more and I keep buying stuff for said hobbies but barely actually manage to do any of them. Same reason I have never been able to decide on a career...to many things I want to do. I genuinely want to do these things, I have officially overwhelmed myself I think. So instead I sit here and waste time on my phone.