Problems with sustaining motivation while solving open-ended problems.

[Anonymous]

Hi, I’m a Software Engineering student currently on a co-op job. I was diagnosed with ADHD-PI 2 years ago but, admittedly, I haven’t done much to solve my problems. I am never able to pay attention in class and I can’t focus when I’m doing work. I have trouble with procrastination and motivating myself to improve. For example, every night I tell myself that I will go to bed earlier and get up at 7:30 in the morning and reach work by 9:00. But Everyday I do EXACTLY the same thing: go to bed at around 1:00AM, wake up at 8:30, snooze for more than 30 minutes, drag myself out of bed, choose between showering and eating breakfast, and then jog half-way to work to be on time for a daily 10:00AM meeting (for which I am more often than not, late by 2 minutes). It’s funny when I think about it, but this is what happens.

However, my biggest problem is with sustaining motivation. When I am facing a well-defined problem, for which I know all of the information I need and I am familiar with all of the tools and techniques I need, I do fine. But when faced with a problem that is open-ended, that requires learning new tools and gathering new information, I just can’t motivate myself to work.

For example, I can motivate myself to think about a move I might make in a chess game, where the rules are well defined and I can simply depend on abstract logic and visualization. But when I am asked to do something that requires that I first gain an understanding of a tool, or search for information, or figure out exactly what I’m doing, or anything that can’t be done using abstract logic based on things I already know for sure, then I have extreme difficulty staying on task. I suspect this is because, when I’m dealing with abstract logic, I get constantly stimulated by deducing something that brings me closer to my goal. But when I’m dealing with something concrete, I have to figure out how it works. There is uncertainty in my set of facts, different possibilities for my premises (predetermined facts that I’m working with). I often have to have someone teach me directly how something is done or used(which I guess is normal). But I don’t seem to ever retain that information or even pay attention to what they are saying. Even in courses, I tend to do well in things requiring logical thinking (like statistics and combinatorics) and horrible in courses where I need to find information or know about certain practices. I hope I’m being clear when I’m explaining my difficulty because I’m unsure of how to describe it. Are there any techniques to combat this? Thank you.

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[trashman]

Are you on any meds ? and if not why not? it should help with your focus and get you started with other ways of getting on a plan to keep thinking about your work.

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[Anonymous]

I have tried Concerta and Adderall but they haven’t worked very well. They helped me focus but not necessarily on what I am supposed to focus on. Plus, I had trouble sleeping when I was on them (even if I took it first thing in the morning).

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[Anonymous]

I understand this problem completely, though I am still trying to figure out what to do about it. I cannot be on any meds due to a heart condition, and technically, the psychologist hasn’t offically diagnosed me yet ( he is trying to decide between ADD. depression, and sleep deprivation) Anywho — of the subject.

But yeah– I am actually really concerned about this, especially since I need to go back to school to finish my BA. I am a very creative person, and I can sew up a dress, or put together the most awesome kids parties, but if you ask me to sit and write a paper for an english class, I really struggle with it and put it off.

I would really appreciate a few more answers to the OP questions, especially for those of us who can’t take medication as an option.

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[Anonymous]

if meds aren’t an option you’ll need to work on CBT stuff or developing coping strategies with a psychologist (things like chopping the task into little bits, getting a list set up that you can tick off, doing 30 mins of that, then 30 of something else, setting timers, etc). it’s worth working on those meds or not- cos pills don’t exactly change habits.

bguntoor, have you tried strattera, effexor, or wellbutrin? different kinds of meds.

having a ‘coach’ (aka: annoyed boyfriend) trained to start asking me at a certain point: ” ok, so bedtime in an hour, so what have you got left to do? have you done that catlitter yet?- you got 20 mins! lets get those jammies on babes! ok, bedtime was 10 minutes ago, come on, why aren’t you in bed yet? you need to go to bed madam- remember how tired you’ll be tomorrow! hup hup hup! get on with it! stop stalling! right. now: BED! bed. beeeeed. bed bed bed.” until i give up and go to bed has helped pretty well for me- it keeps me on track, provided i don’t yell at him to ‘eff- off cos i know what i’m doing’ so much that he refuses to ‘encourage’ me further. fine line, fine line. we’re hoping to get to a point where he just gives me a look and i say ‘yeah, alright, i’m going’, and he doesn’t even get yelled at once- poor boy.

if you’re a bit more aimiable and less hostile than me that sorta thing might help, otherwise you can pay someone to do the same thing on a slightly different level- they’re called a ‘life coach’.

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[Anonymous]

Great advise!

Goals, Goals and more Goals.

Like Kovalev says in his hockey video “From the shots come the goals.”

If you have a hard time with setting goals it takes practice but the benefits are huge.

You mentioned momentum and that it’s hard to get going. That’s the whole thing with momentum, it’s difficult to get something big moving, but once you do it’s also really hard to stop.

Lou Holtz (who ever he is) said:

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you can do,

Attitude determines how well you can do it.”

So think about those 3 factors and how they fit you and what you are doing.

It sounds like you have the Ability and want to get to Motivation, but attitude is in the way.

Very much the case with me, when my attitude is negative.

Sleep and exercise is the best treatment for ADHD, imho. The meds help, but don’t fix the problem.

Good luck all.

Spring is around the corner!

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[ADDled]

Bguntoor

Sounds like what I do in my line of work.

Because of the complexity of the things I deal with, I found it helpful to care with my a small note book. I use this for taking notes when discussing anything with my peers or supervisors, and when being taught new sotfware or application. Ask if you can use a tape recorder or any other audio recording device. I can’t – it’s against company policy.

I think this may have something to do with my lack of “non verbal working memory” where it’s difficult for me to retain anything using the traditional teaching methods (retention by rote). In many cases, it means I can’t remember what I’ve been shown, so I have to “re-learn” it all over. It also means I can’t remember what has failed in the past, so there is a lack of experiential data to guide me.

You see, that’s why I can’t play card games – can’t remember the rules. But I can do crossword and sudoku puzzles forever.

I have been trying to take more frequent breaks, whether it’s getting up to get a tea, or just walk around the office for a few minutes. This helps me “chunk” my work into smaller work packages and prevents me from hyper-focusing. I call that falling into the rabbit hole. When I chunk things they become discreet little tasks that I can see easier, instead of being paralyzed by the whole problem.

If you can get a copy of “Taking Charge of Adult ADHD” by Russell Barkley, it’s has a really good section about executive functioning (time management, working memory, self-motivation, self-regulation, self-activation) impairments and how to work around them. I think it’s the executive functioning thing we both have to work on, Bguntoor.

Hope this helps…and good luck.

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