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Comment by _hn_throw_away | Hacker News Reader

Fuck everything about 5 day work weeks.

I'll gladly switch to any job that offers a 4 day work week. It's one of the best perks.

As someone with ADHD, work days are entirely spent getting work done. There isn't any extra slack or allotment for personal tasks. They're 100% owned by the employer.

Weekends offer barely enough time to catch up with chores. There isn't enough time both to catch up and still have fun. I use vacation time to catch up on chores, so that's spent too.

I don't want to spend most of my life working. I feel like a slave, and now my youth is almost gone.

I don't care if it's a 10hr/4day schedule or a 9hr/4day 8hr/4day with less pay, I want an extra day for myself. I'm an excellent engineer aside from my ADHD quirks, and I'll go anywhere that offers this where I live.

My own startup (I almost have the capital for a long runway) will be 9hr/4day.

Fuck everything about 5 day work weeks.

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As someone with ADD (essentially ADHD with only the "attention deficit" bit, no hyperactivity) I recognise the feeling. I'm lucky to be in a position where I can work 4 days a week, but I'd still barely have energy left for fun activities.

I've now been on methylphenidate (also known as ritalin) for about a month and good god that has made a difference for me. When I get home I can get right into hobby projects or chores instead of just deflating on the couch until bedtime.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, have you tried looking into medication? I know a lot of people are vehemently against medicating ADHD issues, I was pretty much one of them. The thing is you can totally try it out and if it doesn't work for you or has side-effects you'd rather not deal with you can stop easily enough.

I've heard plenty of ritalin horror stories, but a lot of those start making sense once you read the list of side effects. You need to be somewhat lucky to not be too affected by them. If you are there's other medication that can be tried.

I guess my point in a nutshell is don't suffer if you don't have to. I've spent 25 years suffering with my inability to choose what to focus on, and a simple pill has let me trade that for cold hands and a restless leg. I'd take that deal any day. Speak to your GP and ask what your options are. Worst case you're no worse off than you are now.

Is it a long-acting medication? Doctors seem to diagnose me with anxiety/depression or ADD/ADHD. The antidepressants don't help. Does the ritalin "work" all day, or do you have to redose it?

I'm currently on 15mg in the morning and then 15mg after lunch. It doesn't quite last all the way to lunch or all the way to the end of the day but it's already such a massive improvement that I really don't mind too much. I'm lucky to not get much if any "rebound" when it stops working, so I can just keep going at my old pace even when it does wear off.

There do exist long-acting versions and I might try those in the future, but for now this is already pretty damn amazing.

> anxiety/depression

As far as I know those are commonly comorbid with ADD/ADHD. I'd get pretty anxious and stressed by having the feeling of not working hard enough while simultaneously being unable to work harder in any case. You'll definitely want to talk to your doctor. Mention that you might like to see if medicating the ADD/ADHD helps with your symptoms.

You make it sound like you can just go get ritalin to try whenever you want. That's... not accurate in my experience.

Well, in my experience once you get the ADD/ADHD diagnosis it's not exactly hard either. Clearly if you walk into the doctors office and demand a prescription it's not going to end well, but you can definitely ask to be tested for ADD/ADHD, and assuming that goes well asking about medication options should get the ball rolling.

Of course this is going to differ by country. In my case I had to try therapy first before medicating was an option they would consider, but that's hardly a show stopper in most cases. and who knows, maybe therapy is the perfect solution in your individual case.

How do they test for ADHD?

You can't exactly get a blood test for it for sure, it's pretty much diagnosed based on the symptoms at the moment.

I really relate to this comment - at some point when I have a family I really doesn't rest on the weekend at all - catching up chores and spending minimal time with kids takes all the energy left - any tips to successfully recharge batteries each week?

I've left a comment to the comment you're replying to[0]. I'll briefly restate it here: seriously look into medication, it has been a life changer for me so far.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21441054

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