Ask HN: Those with ADHD. What's a hobby that never gets boring? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Those with ADHD. What's a hobby that never gets boring?

40 pointsadhdcrazy47 comments

Those who have ADHD, self diagnosed or diagnosed by a psychologist.

1. What is your hobby that never gets boring?

2. Does it help you control your thrill seeking?

Botany. Install iNaturalist and start researching and tagging stuff. It gets you outside more, gets you excited about places you’ve been 1000 times and gets you wondering what new thing you’ll see next. Start with anything that is flowering. Flowers are the best and easiest way to identify most plants. Seed pod and cones are the next easiest. You’ll be familiar with most of the things you’ve wondered about in a couple weeks or months and hungry for more.

Some hobbies I've had in the past:

* Woodworking

* Piano

* Videography/video editing

* Drawing

* Martial arts

* Running

But the best advice I have for you is to accept that your interests will change, often suddenly. Try to avoid spending a large amount of money to get started in your hobby (don't buy a brand new top of the line camera, borrow an old one). Try to look for small pockets of success inside the bigger hobby so that you can think "I learned a song" instead of "I never learned piano". Try to leave your hobbies in a way that you can pick them back up again. Keep a few notes and information about what you were doing with the hobby so that if the interest strikes you can get going again quickly. If you got some tools/equipment, keep hold of it in a box/container that keeps it all together.

Of all things, rowing. It's a way to force myself to keep a consistent exercise routine because others depend on me to show up for each session, and given that my club has active members who are decades older than myself, I expect to continue doing it for as long as I can. It's especially great in a coxed boat with an experienced cox, it feels like the microphone wire is plugged directly into your brainstem so you completely outsource your executive functioning for two hours and respond to every call without even consciously parsing it.

And if you're after an adrenaline rush, a close race can teach you a whole new meaning of maximum heart rate.

For me, playing guitar. When I was grinding through problems sets in undergrad in my room, I’d have my guitar in my hand running scales or whatever to keep my hands busy. Now I do something similar while watching TV. The best teacher I had told me that his teacher told him when he started out that “the best way to get good at guitar is to watch a lot of baseball games”

Studying - because there’s always new interesting things to learn about.

Yes - having a goal/focus helps me control my thrill-seeking (sort of). When I get bored that’s when I indulge in self-destructive sensation seeking behaviour, so having something that I can allow myself to get fixated on really does help.

Not really diagnosed, but there are textbook definition signs there.

1. Coding.

2. I try to have my laptop with me all the time, Internet capabilities, and hopping on so I can code which helps me with my anxiety and autism.

Consuming the most random novel information that exists is I think the only one for me haha

You jest, but there are definite advantages to this. You'll accumulate a broad base of knowledge and see connections between seemingly unrelated concepts which other people don't even think to consider.

Of course, it could also be a fast track to insanity from a fragmented mind. Only one way to find out! Check back in a few decades...

(The caveat is that information should have some quality that makes it worth retaining - e.g. learning about a bunch of trivial technologies or math concepts, no matter how unrelated, would be more useful than reading thousands of news stories that become quickly irrelevant - but the caveat to that is that there is still some value in consuming a sufficiently broad base of news stories for you to develop pattern recognition and an intuition for how to adopt to macro trends.)

Oh no, there definitely are- my intuition is a beast compared to most other people, though I honestly believe that a neurotypical person doing the same would likely still outperform me. I have high hopes that my ADHD is caused by Sleep Disordered Breathing and reversible, because honestly if I don't get rid of ADHD, I'm never making actual use of any of this haha.

Photography.

1. It forces you outside during daylight hours when the light is the best.

2. Taking a great shot will give you a shot of that dopamine you’re gunning for.

This and just walking works for me. I have to get back to it.

Try improv. Everything is new all the time by design, you want to do a good job so everyone has fun, and sometimes you perform in front of an audience.

Since I don't do it as a job anymore definitely coding.

Whenever I have a weird phase, sad, hyper whatever. Coding is my outlet

Walking/hiking/running outdoors. Never ever gets boring for me. After a few hours I feel a good tired.

Finding a new hobby.

Running. It takes a bit to get into it but it makes you tired and is pleasantly distracting, at least for me.

Veggie gardening! Tearing up weeds, pruning, harvesting, potting, etc.

Lots of repetitive 45min-1hr tasks you have to do at specific times on specific days during the specific weather patterns you have to be on the look out for, all depending on what you’re growing specifically… which in any other context is unbearable for me.

Anything that requires that amount of coordination ends in complete and utter disaster normally. I’ve booked many impossible flight connections.

But gardening, I’m not sure, it’s pretty easy. And I think learning everything I can about what I’m growing that season makes it pretty seemless. With a little knowledge and practice you just kind of know what you need to do based on what you’re seeing/feeling.

Bonus points for listening to the Freebird solo on repeat while gardening, but that might be just me.

There's no such thing sadly, at least not for me. Been looking for a hobby for several years no, nothing sticks. The only thing that I actually continuously enjoy throughout the years is helping other people. Guess there's a lot of truth in "There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving".

Rock climbing!

I can't find the study right now, but I remember reading an ADHD treatment efficacy study, and was surprised to see rock climbing being compared to therapy and amphetamines. It works really well!

It's a documented treatment, it's fun, gets you exercise, and allows you to solve difficult and new novel problems every week.

How well does this work for Big Guys ?

Good question, most rock climbing strength is in the legs, so as long as someone can stand up, they should be able to climb, at least on the easier routes.

The equipment is usually rated for 10s of thousands of kN, so I don't think any of that would be a problem.

If you have a belay partner you definitely want to have them be near you in weight. Doesn't need to be exact, but I'd estimate within 30% based on my limited experience.

I looked up auto-belays, and I think most of them should be good easily up to 265 lbs, many that I see online say they can handle 300+ lbs.

Most climbing gear is rated to stop someone falling dozens of feet, and velocity is squared compared to mass. So 15kN is 3372.134 lbs of force during a huge fall.

And 15kN is low for most climbing equipment.

1.) Reading and learning, not always at the same time. I just love to read, I hyperfocus right away and can get lost for pretty much unlimited time. Other hobbies have upsides and downsides, I do love games and swimming, but... there are days I'm not into that. I'm ALWAYS going to read, every single day. Fiction, non-fiction, I just love to read.

2.) If you replace "thrill" with "sensation" then I'd say... sort of? I tend to mix things, I also love music so I'll read while listening to my jazz and classical collection, and that combination really does it for me. The tiny buzzing part of my brain that would still be left when reading focuses on the music, and it's a complete experience.

I used to then combine that with snacking, but that became problematic in a HURRY.

Oh and I was diagnosed many years ago, never had a reason to believe the Rx was wrong, I'm a pretty typical case.

1. Sadly, nothing. I crave one that is a consistent source of interest. However, I find creative writing the closest. Short stories are acheivable and finishable before my passions wane; and a new, different short story feels "fresh" enough that it tricks me into continuing. I also like that it's more possible to pick up stuff after putting it down, in some cases. However, I will still drift from it and do other things from time to time.

2. I realise I enjoy the research part of a new hobby more than the hobby and I set a timer in my calendar so that if I still feel passionate about trying something in a months time I can spend some small amount of money on starting. I have never ended up spending the money :)

I asked my SO but they were unable to think of one with the criteria "never gets boring". Hobbies tend to come and go over the course of a few weeks or months, but SO advised they usually come back to the ones that are most interesting.

I've never been diagnosed with ADHD but I regularly switch hobbies so I felt my comment was relevant.

One thing that stuck with me over the years is cooking.

There's an never ending stream of things to try and explore, many different cultures having a totally different approach to it so it easy to not have it becoming boring. Since you have to eat regularly it's easy to do it regularly, and it somehow helpful in the whole social game

I would second this. Currently I'm off working on my bread making and cheese making skills.

The (obvious) good thing about this hobby is it makes you a great cook! That shouldn't be underestimated as it's a key life skill

1. Browsing hacker news, evidently.

2. You could say it ‘helps’ me ‘control’ my inclination to do anything else whatsoever. Piles of dishes and laundry surround me.

+1 for music production. Endlessly diverting, and not nearly as expensive as it used to be. With a good laptop and a keyboard and a guitar or two you can accomplish stuff that was impossible 20 years ago in the most advanced studio on Earth.

Road cycling. Reasonably safe when you do it properly, but still offers enough thrills to get your juices flowing, and keeps you in great shape.

My metahobby is collecting hobbies.

No really, I realized years ago that I had to embrace the change and I try to dip my toe into any hobby that appeals at the time with as minimal monetary outlay as possible. I find interests tend to resurface after a while, and the skills/tools/materials for one can generally be used somewhere else down the road.

Walking with a objective

For now the app off-grid is my drug

It is hard to get started but ot gets so addictive once you get in the mid game

I now walk like 20km every day

I feel like I'm asking a dumb question here, but is that an actual app that gamifies being active outside away from tech, or are you simply doing that and metaphorically calling it an app? I did a quick search and didn't find it, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

Looks like it might be: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.melkersson....

I got it from here: https://old.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/14m8ode/lpt_re...

Thanks!

It's the one madamelic mentioned

You can even play it without an internet connection and set up base wherever you want

But yeah, the app is small and not really SEO friendly

But the dev is active in the discord!

Magic: the Gathering. I personally know dozens (hundreds, probably) of people who started playing 20+ years ago and are still playing today.

origami. i think it is because i am someone who would fidget by nature but learned to suppress it. when i started origami it seems like that part of me found and outlet and now it is part of me

i have been making the same origami swan for over 8 years and the repetitiveness is very calming. it has also been an amazing experience of figuring out lots of small improvements over time

Music production. There is always something new to learn or play with. It can be expensive but its so rewarding to me.

Running has done great things for my mental health. The physical part almost seems secondary.

chess - no joke, research has shown it is one of the most effective ways to stay focused

Lifting heavy objects and returning them to their original place. (lifting weights!)

Hang out with friends

Programming, anime, reading.

IME, internet addiction.

1. Sailboat racing.

2. Absolutely not.

Role Playing Games

Photography.

Ice Hockey

Reply on news.ycombinator.com