Playing Stardew Valley. It's an effort not to make it too long, but a bit of playing actually makes me feel better. There is this sweet spot where I feel replenished afterwards, but it always has the danger of me playing too long and then becoming even more sluggish.
I also try to accept that this days will come and that they are a natural part of me having had a good time. I am AuDHD, so they often come from overstimulation or too intense hyperfocus. It's hard to accept, and I still trying to figure out what I need and how I can rest "productively". I absolutely love your painting ideas, because I know that at days like this painting or drawing would be really good for me, but coming up with ideas is such an effort or the things I see in my flat just flatly bore me out XD but yeah, taking the pressure out of it sounds like a good idea.
Thank you for sharing! Finding that balance is so freaking hard. I have that with reality TV. Binging on some of it makes me feel good because it helps me zone out a bit. However, there is a limit to it.
Oh, I hear you on the rest "productively". I am pulled to complain about our culture of toxic productivity, but maybe that's for another day :). I am glad to hear that making art resonated with you. I like Lacey's prompts on Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@rebelunicorncrafts) for painting without pressure. She walks you through the process of working on her sketchbook in an easy-to-follow way. I can share more resources if that is helpful.
Actually, you may have just motivated me to share some of my recent artwork and the thoughts behind it. It could be something that makes you feel less alone in your struggles to embrace your imperfections and enjoy pressure-free art sessions, because it's definitely not easy!
Thank you. I will look into the prompte. Hope I can access it because I dont have tiktok. Youtube shorts are enough of a distraction :D I would be interested in seeing you artwork :) I especially enjoy when the thougts behindert the pieces are shared. A talk I enjoyed recently was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZU5gCsV7L8
I love the thoughts, humor and depth of her work :)
hmm unfortunately, Lacey's biosite(https://bio.site/rebelunicorncrafts) doesn't have the prompts. Let me see if I can find a way to capture them. Oh, and I hear you on the distraction! You made a smart choice, my friend.
Okay, adding that YouTube to my watch list; thank you for sharing that.
Additionally, I will ensure I capture the thoughts and all the chatter in my brain when I paint. I did something like this before (https://adhdmademedoit.substack.com/p/picasso-who) but then gave into my inner critic and didn't do it as often as I would like to. I am going to do it this week! :) Again, thank you for the inspiration!
Dang. I needed this yesterday. Thank you for linking it in your most recent post.
I have been working tirelessly to optimize my ADHD brain to work for me and not against me for a few years now. However yesterday (for the first time in a long time) I had a bad adhd day.. on the day of my final anatomy and physiology exam.
I started my day for success (with what works for me) I ate a high protein breakfast with no sugar, only one coffee, cold shower, and took my supplements. I even left with enough time to not be anxious.
As soon as I sat down I felt off. I was struggling with the scantron, the answers were hard to find, my mind was racing on irrelevant thoughts, I couldn’t wrangle it. It was infuriating
I tried to do a little mountain biking, it wasn’t enough to turn my day around. I ended up on the couch with a carton of what I thought was ice cream, but found out is just a “frozen dairy dessert” ew.
I am going to come back to this article next time this happens hopefully not on the day of a final exam.
OMG! Tyler! I am so sorry to hear a bad ADHD day coincided with your final anatomy and physiology exam! That sounds really tough, my friend. It seems like you did everything to set yourself up for success, yet :(. Sometimes, our brain feels like our own goddamn enemy. I wish there were a way around it, but I sure don't have one. I hear you, though, and understand your frustration; it really, really sucks, and I am genuinely sorry that you had to deal with that!
However, I am glad to hear that this essay resonated with you and that you found something that might help you if you have another bad ADHD day. I hope that won't happen during any future finals. I wish our brains could just check our schedule and plan accordingly, you know? If only it had the executive function to do that, LOL.
Also, sorry for the delay in responding. I'm happy you found this space, and thank you for sharing. :)
Playing Stardew Valley. It's an effort not to make it too long, but a bit of playing actually makes me feel better. There is this sweet spot where I feel replenished afterwards, but it always has the danger of me playing too long and then becoming even more sluggish.
I also try to accept that this days will come and that they are a natural part of me having had a good time. I am AuDHD, so they often come from overstimulation or too intense hyperfocus. It's hard to accept, and I still trying to figure out what I need and how I can rest "productively". I absolutely love your painting ideas, because I know that at days like this painting or drawing would be really good for me, but coming up with ideas is such an effort or the things I see in my flat just flatly bore me out XD but yeah, taking the pressure out of it sounds like a good idea.
Mark making over art making :)
Thank you for sharing! Finding that balance is so freaking hard. I have that with reality TV. Binging on some of it makes me feel good because it helps me zone out a bit. However, there is a limit to it.
Oh, I hear you on the rest "productively". I am pulled to complain about our culture of toxic productivity, but maybe that's for another day :). I am glad to hear that making art resonated with you. I like Lacey's prompts on Tiktok (https://www.tiktok.com/@rebelunicorncrafts) for painting without pressure. She walks you through the process of working on her sketchbook in an easy-to-follow way. I can share more resources if that is helpful.
Actually, you may have just motivated me to share some of my recent artwork and the thoughts behind it. It could be something that makes you feel less alone in your struggles to embrace your imperfections and enjoy pressure-free art sessions, because it's definitely not easy!
Thank you. I will look into the prompte. Hope I can access it because I dont have tiktok. Youtube shorts are enough of a distraction :D I would be interested in seeing you artwork :) I especially enjoy when the thougts behindert the pieces are shared. A talk I enjoyed recently was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZU5gCsV7L8
I love the thoughts, humor and depth of her work :)
hmm unfortunately, Lacey's biosite(https://bio.site/rebelunicorncrafts) doesn't have the prompts. Let me see if I can find a way to capture them. Oh, and I hear you on the distraction! You made a smart choice, my friend.
Okay, adding that YouTube to my watch list; thank you for sharing that.
Additionally, I will ensure I capture the thoughts and all the chatter in my brain when I paint. I did something like this before (https://adhdmademedoit.substack.com/p/picasso-who) but then gave into my inner critic and didn't do it as often as I would like to. I am going to do it this week! :) Again, thank you for the inspiration!
You are very welcome, thank you for the post about Picasso. I can relate so much :D
Dang. I needed this yesterday. Thank you for linking it in your most recent post.
I have been working tirelessly to optimize my ADHD brain to work for me and not against me for a few years now. However yesterday (for the first time in a long time) I had a bad adhd day.. on the day of my final anatomy and physiology exam.
I started my day for success (with what works for me) I ate a high protein breakfast with no sugar, only one coffee, cold shower, and took my supplements. I even left with enough time to not be anxious.
As soon as I sat down I felt off. I was struggling with the scantron, the answers were hard to find, my mind was racing on irrelevant thoughts, I couldn’t wrangle it. It was infuriating
I tried to do a little mountain biking, it wasn’t enough to turn my day around. I ended up on the couch with a carton of what I thought was ice cream, but found out is just a “frozen dairy dessert” ew.
I am going to come back to this article next time this happens hopefully not on the day of a final exam.
Thank you
OMG! Tyler! I am so sorry to hear a bad ADHD day coincided with your final anatomy and physiology exam! That sounds really tough, my friend. It seems like you did everything to set yourself up for success, yet :(. Sometimes, our brain feels like our own goddamn enemy. I wish there were a way around it, but I sure don't have one. I hear you, though, and understand your frustration; it really, really sucks, and I am genuinely sorry that you had to deal with that!
However, I am glad to hear that this essay resonated with you and that you found something that might help you if you have another bad ADHD day. I hope that won't happen during any future finals. I wish our brains could just check our schedule and plan accordingly, you know? If only it had the executive function to do that, LOL.
Also, sorry for the delay in responding. I'm happy you found this space, and thank you for sharing. :)
Yup. Good to see that dialogues about ADD/ADHD are starting to appear. Thanks.
It’s definitely important!