#brain hacking

I’m still adjusting to my brain being actually treated for ADHD, and one of my most frustrating sort of obstacles (still) is that if something is not in front of me, it isn’t a thing I need to address, even if it very much does need to be.

My dear wife will be up visiting family next week, and I have a significant and not-unreasonable fear that I’ll use exactly none of the time she’s gone to progress on various life things - dissertation, impending move, writing and editing - so I am doing some proactive work today to offset that. Brain hacking isn’t just for bad sci-fi. :)

Step 1: write a list of tasks I forget are a thing until I am reminded by person/blog post/moon phase in alignment. Includes range from “put dishes away” to “Marie Kondo crafting supplies that are gathering dust.”

Step 2: write a list of rewards that are minor but offer a beautiful hit of serotonin. Includes range from “play one day cycle of Stardew Valley” to “order takeout from that really nice Cambodian restaurant you never go to.”

Step 3: write tasks on one side of a popsicle stick. Then mix them up, and blindly, write a random reward on the other side.

Step 4: Every hour (on the hour and I will set an alarm), pull a stick and assess the task. If it feels impossible, put ‘er back and dig for a different one that is more “possible” in that moment/headspace.

Step 5: When task is complete, get reward, or alternately, hold reward for after the awake window (for instance, don’t really want a glass of wine at 9am, but I’ll want it at 9pm.)

Step 6: complete as many tasks as reasonable in awake window (7am to 9pm), with breaks for food, water, and prescheduled meetings/obligations.

Ideally, this’ll give me a schedule/set of tasks that seem random (therefore interesting) and have a guaranteed reward at the end, however small/silly it may be.

Idk if anyone else will benefit from it, but it’s nice to feel like I have a plan for this week instead of a yawning sense of dread, and if I don’t document my successes, I don’t remember them.