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Comment by thomastjeffery | Hacker News Reader

The frustration with interruptions is that they introduce a sudden increase in required working memory.

It's the same frustration that people with ADHD experience regularly, because they have less available working memory in the first place.

Managing an inadequate amount of short term memory - whether caused by a deficiency in memory or overload of stimulus - is done mainly by restructuring your surroundings so they don't interrupt you.

Software development tends to be very appealing to neurodivergent people (including those with ADHD), so a strong distaste for interruption at work is to be expected.

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> The frustration with interruptions is that they introduce a sudden increase in required working memory

I've wondered the same - though never been able to put it into such concise words. I formerly worked as a Mechanical/Controls engineer and did not feel the same frustration with interruptions at the time despite being an equally challenging industry (as far as my experience went). My conclusion is that the hard constraints of a physical system keep the problem space (and thus the required working memory) relatively small in the physical world. When you're writing software that has no physical manifestation, the problem space is typically massive since the constraints are fewer.

> because they have less available working memory

Tangential, but you contextualization ADHD as the lack of working memory is a light bulb moment for me.

I was diagnosed with ADHD this year out of other suspicions. (I've always suspected it, but avoided getting diagnosed because I thought I would use it as an excuse for being lazy).

My working memory also happens to be incredibly low, to the point that some of my friends call me a goldfish. (My long term memory is excellent in comparison)

I never put two and two together, but it makes so much sense.

I really should go for the long-overdue- prescription meeting I keep avoiding. :\

> Tangential, but you contextualization ADHD as the lack of working memory is a light bulb moment for me.

It was for me, too. I've recently been reading about ADHD and people's experience with it. I've always had my suspicions, but never in a serious enough context to make any decisions about it. Reading people's experiences feels like talking to a long lost friend from a parallel universe.

I certainly have had opportunities to get an actual diagnosis, especially during my childhood, but the onus was always placed on me or my parents to take action. My parents were unmotivated by stigma and I was unmotivated by my ADHD symptoms.

So here I am, 28 and trying to motivate my ADHD brain to navigate America's absurd - and unnecessarily confrontational - healthcare system so I can get a diagnosis and medication/therapy.

> I really should go for the long-overdue- prescription meeting I keep avoiding. :\

I can't speak for the experience of people who have been using medication, but as someone who has spent decades without it, I would strongly encourage you to do that.

Good luck getting your ADHD brain to do the follow through!

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