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Comment by kbd | Hacker News Reader

I’ve also realized lately that just being able to maintain my focus (and quiet the anxiety that causes context switching) would be a bigger productivity boost than any methodology, tool, or programming language. It’s worth more than 10 years more experience. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD in the past, so it’s always been a struggle. What’s the secret? Meditation? Drugs?

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As someone who has also been diagnosed with ADHD, I'm near useless without Adderall.

ADHD/Bipolar here, I really struggle with this, and using external tools is not an option, for me is just more multitasking risk!,something that works for me, aside from the drugs and good sleep, is a top down approach when programming, I just implement functions in terms of undefined magic functions/objects (all red in the IDE!) and start backwards implementing them, I used this "technique" when I was a Java developer using IntelliJ (CTRL+SPACE over undefined item -> implement). that kept my attention in easy chunks and well defined tasks. Type driven development is another "technique" I discovered, and it worked very well for me lately. Using the compiler as your guide and friend.

Personally I find 8-12 dexamphetamine tablets a day usually does the trick for me.

They're definitely not a magic pill, but I'm not constantly battling with my brain just to stay focussed on the task at hand.

Is that as much as it sounds like?

No, it refers to the effect duration, 8 hours, 12 hours.

That’s not how the sentence reads, even if OP meant it that way.

40-60 mg a day, it's on the higher end of the dosage range.

Please email me! I need people to test a new system I developed and have been using myself for being productive in a world with many distractions.

I haven't been formally diagnosed with ADHD but I do have certain symptoms that align with it. I'd be curious to get your personal experience and feedback with what I've been working on

you are not alone. sleep, daily exercise (like running at least 1 hour) helps quite a bit after few weeks but it's difficult to maintain that pace for me. planning and organizing in advance is also tremendous helpful but even more difficult to maintain. As for meditation it never really worked for me unless I'm already calmed down - so it's only helping after exercise. At the moment green tea seems to have some effects but I gave up on thinking I can fix this myself (trying on/off without much lasting success for more than 10 years..) and now looking into getting a diagnosis and maybe try meds if the doctors they that it might help.

This article might help regarding the impacts multi tasking can have, and how you can stop context switching: https://bit.ly/2yrVV2W

Meditation and pomodoro help me to maintain focus. Also having a clear todo list with concrete small actions to take makes it easier to keep going.

A relentless desire to be better despite all odds

I think the "willpower" argument vs ADHD falls kind of flat, although I have no studies to back that up. But it smacks of the same sort of "victim shaming" that dieters face when told, "just do it" or equivalent.

Drugs help too.

I'm not disputing that. I'm saying it does not work for every single person.

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