I am a (42f) who recently was diagnosed with ADHD and told I have had it since childhood. I was tested, but they didn't know much about it yet, especially in females. As expected, I have a really hard time with prioritizing tasks and staying on task. I am on medication, they recently increased the dosage. Any suggestions? I make lists and try to follow them, but I still end up scrolling on my phone, or doing some task that doesn't matter compared to what I need to accomplish. TIA
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I also have adhd, but am not on medication. One thing that helps me to accomplish tasks I don’t want to do to is to create an even worse alternative. For example, if I need to complete a homework assignment, but just want to scroll Insta, I tell myself I can either do the homework assignment or I can clean the house which also needs done. For me, the homework sounds much better, and I’ll do that.
You could also, if you have iPhone not sure if android has this, set up screen time limits where it blocks you from accessing certain apps after so much time spent on them. This didn’t work well for me because I would just shut them off, but I know it’s helped others who have a bit more self control.
Another thing I do is to tell myself I’ll do the task for 10 minutes only, then continue scrolling social media afterwards. Most of the time, I end up doing the task for longer than I said I would; I just had to convince myself to start it.
Another thing you could try is to do something you want to do while doing something you don’t. Listen to music that you enjoy while doing the task and it should help you stay focused on the task, while not seeming like such a daunting thing.
Rewards might sound like something for children, but they can definitely help as well. Tell yourself if you complete this task, then you get to do/have *insert something you like*.
Last piece of advice: meditate. After a few weeks of daily meditation, you can learn to move your thoughts. This won’t help doing tasks directly like the others, but if you are having too many thoughts and your own mind rather than outside sources are distracting you, you’ll be able to clear your mind enough to focus on what you’re doing.
If the increased dosage doesn’t do anything at all for you, I’d also talk to your doctor about switching to a different medication. My brother who was medicated for adhd had to switch medications multiple times before finding one that actually worked, and had to again when his body got used to that medication.
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