#but GODS executive dysfunction and burnout SUCK.. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

concerningwolves · 9 months

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Hey! Do you have any tips for breaking writers block when you're adhd and/or autistic? Be it your own tips or a link to another post? My friend and I need help haha

Ahh sorry you got buried under spam and old ask game asks. (I... really need to sort my ask box >.<' ). But here we go, a month late, and hopefully better late than never:

Quick ideas for beating writer's block when autistic and/or ADHD

I've got this old post I wrote on writer's block and focus troubles. Ironically, this was before my autism diagnosis but the tips still happen to be things I, an autistic person, did to manage writing when faced with executive dysfunction (except I didn't know what executive dysfunction was at that point lol). I'm linking this with one important caveat, though: if you have ADHD, "stepping away" might do more harm than good; struggling to start tasks is a Big Thing with ADHD, so not starting the task at all is entirely counterproductive. (Unless you're in burnout! Here's a post about the differences between block and burnout with some ideas on what to do for each, in case that's at all helpful to you).

And here's something yoinked from another old ask-answer:

sometimes a break from more “serious” writing is what you need. Maybe try and take the characters from your main project and drop them somewhere else for the hell of it. I like to throw my characters into the MCU without warning like “lmao have fun in a strange modern world where there are gods and a guy in an iron flying suit bye.” Or, if fandom cross-overs aren’t your thing, find a writing prompt or take an idea you like and use it to form a short story with your characters instead.

Some other ideas I've seen around for writer's block with ADHD/Autism are:

Try voice recording or text to speech (i.e., absolute stream-of-consciousness unfiltered brain-to-mouth, giving yourself permission to 100% bullshit if you like, and see what rattles loose in the brain box)

Stream of consciousness writing in general, not even necessarily about a particular prompt or particular project. This one can be done in combination with:

Writing sprints! One minute timers, two minute timers, five minutes – set it for as long as you want, but when you're fighting executive dysfunction and/or difficulty focusing, the burst of urgency that comes from a shorter timer is very helpful.

And speaking of the sense of urgency: gamify your writing! There are different ways to do this, with varying elements of risk. I'll link some ways to do this at the end under "resources".

Exercise. I don't necessarily mean hitting the gym, but a quick burst of exercise prior to writing to get the heart rate up can help wake your brain up a bit. (Or, if you find repetitive exercise mind-numbingly boring like I do, the writing sure does start to look appealing lol).

Meditation. Okay, this one is sort of 🤔 for me, because I do often hear from fellow autistics and our ADHD cousins that meditation is literally impossible for us. It is for me. But! Like with exercise above, if meditation bores you instead of helping relax and ""clear your mind"", you can probably use that boredom to your advantage. Or, it might work as intended.

Change your workspace/situation/routine. Sometimes the problem is that you need new sensory input, or that your brain has gotten thoroughly bored and decided not to tell you. Use a different chair. Move to the kitchen table. Write at a different time of day. Have a different snack (or try having a snack while writing...). Basically, look at what you're currently trying, and see how you can do it differently.

It's also really good practise to get comfortable with Being Bad At Writing. Perfectionism and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria are the biggest, meanest brain weasels with the sharpest teeth. Don't let them bully you. It sucks. It takes a lot of time and effort and internal work, which is why I was loathe to include this on a post of quick solutions, but. It is important.

And getting comfortable with this doesn't necessarily mean learning how to accept critique, or accepting that sometimes you'll write things that suck. It means accepting that sometimes you won't handle critique or feedback well, and also accepting that you won't always manage to beat the writer's block or be productive. Sometimes you have to make peace with the fact that you're going to feel horrible, feel your feelings, and try to remind yourself on the other side that none of it means you're a talentless hack.

Resources

Anything with a 🪙 next to it is paid only (I've tried to limit these and find alternatives).

The resources are split into things that "gameify" writing (i.e., hack your dopamine/serotonin in ways that reaaaaallly help autistic and ADHD folks), writing programs that are designed to help you focus, writing programs that track your habits and appeal to the "ohhhh numbers going up" brain, focus-aiding apps, and some miscellaneous stuff. Under the cut to save your dashes.

"Gamifying" your writing:

The Most Dangerous Writing App – You can't stop typing before your set timer runs out, or you risk losing your work. Excellent for warming up, stream-of-consciousness, or if you're feeling reckless, working on your actual project. I did a lot of the second draft of When Dealing with Wolves on this thing (it was terrifying yet highly effective).

Written? Kitten! – Get rewarded for meeting your set writing wordcount with kitten pictures. Haven't used this one personally, but heard wonderful things about it.

4TheWords 🪙 – This one gamifies writing in the most literal sense. As in, it's an online game where you defeat monsters, explore and level up by writing words. I did the free trial a couple years back, and I've heard there are a lot of different ways you can lower the subscription cost. The only reason I haven't gone back to it is because I feel like I can't justify spending money on it when I'm doing fine with Scrivener and free resources, but maybe one day I will purely for the fun factor...

StimuWrite – similar idea to Written Kitten; the app provides visual/audio stimulation while you write, which is great for many ADHD-ers and autistics. There's a progress bar, soundscape options, typing effects and emoji reactions as rewards, among other features.

Write or Die – This is The Most Dangerous Writing App meets Written Kitten. As far as I can figure out, the basic web version is free to use; you can set the parameters like how how long you want to write for, how many words to reach, and whether you want rewards for meeting goals or punishments for failing to meet them. There's also a stimulus mode, where the nice auditory stimulus goes away if you stop writing.

Minimalist/Focus writing programs:

Focus Writer [Windows] – thoroughly stripped-down minimalist word processor. As far as I know, it has basic functions like find-replace, but mostly it's designed only for writing. Not for formatting, spellchecking or editing.

iA Writer 🪙 [iOS] – Similar to Focus Writer, it's designed to fill your screen with a simple workspace. Allows you to use markdown formatting, and has a feature called Focus Mode that blurs out everything except the sentence you're typing. (If I could find a Windows-friendly alternative to this with that same feature I would be so happy). A cheaper alternative is 1Writer, but that doesn't have the focus mode.

Typewrite Something – Absolutely bare minimum web-based typewriter simulator. Basically just a blank screen that you start typing on, and the words appear in a typewriter font. Great for stream-of-consciousness without the risk level of TMDWA because you can't backspace. If you don't like the clacky sound, turn off your volume.

Focus Apps

Cold Turkey – Block applications and websites on your laptop/computer for a specified period of time. You can even block the entire internet.

Forest – Similar to Cold Turkey in that it stops you from seeking distractions or getting distracted. Set a timer and the app starts growing a tree. If you leave the app, the tree dies. Once you have a tree, you add it to your forest.

Habit-building writing programs:

Novlr – Simple, minimal layout, and tracks your writing goals per month and day, and your daily streak. There are more features in the plus and pro versions, and you can only have five projects in the free version, but otherwise it looks like a good free alternative to the next two programs:

750 Words 🪙 – Made for free writing, but also very useful for drafting. I had it for a month or so a while back on the free trial. It tracks writing streaks and gives you fun graphs and statistics at the end of each session, including number of distractions, actual typing time vs total time and average words per minute. Also, it analyses the mood of what you wrote, which I always found delightful.

Writing Analytics 🪙 – If writing streaks, badges and analytical graphs get your dopamine going, then I really recommend this one. The writing screen itself is very minimalistic, but it still shows your writing speed (I loved watching that go up) and your goal progress. In terms of analytics, it tracks a LOT of different things, including time spent writing vs revising, average wordcounts per day/month/year, and words written vs words deleted. I used this for about a year before I switched to Scrivener, and the switch was purely because I needed something that wasn't subscription-based. (Apparently since I stopped using it there's also a new feature that lets you create private writing rooms and see other writer's progress).

Misc.

WriteTrack – Not a word processor, but it has very good tools for tracking and planning your writing. Again, if graphs going up helps your brain, this is excellent, but you can't see it in real time.

10 ADHD-friendly brain tricks for writers – what it says on the tin: ten tips for writers with ADHD; I'm particularly fond of "Put away one knife", which breaks the nebulous task of "start writing" into something really simple like just... pull out your desk chair.

#autism stuff #adhd #writer's block #writing advice #writing resources

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cuddly-vamp · 13 days

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Tbh I don't care about the dropping out. Legit do not give a fuck /gen

And yeah, I'll try not to burn myself out, but currently everything doing it rn, so we'll see. Spring burnout has hit and I hate it. I knew it was going to happen though.

I always get really bad burnout in the last quarter/semester of the school year, but I manage to end up with good grades in the end. I actually just got my report card for quarter three!! I got two b's and everything else was an a. I don't know how I manage to get good grades, I'm so bad about completing things on time because of executive dysfunction and procrastination, ahhhhhhhhh /lh

I feel the burnout part. School was like.. Really fucking bad for my health both mentally and physically and I'd get burnt out often. It sucks because school used to be an escape for me, family issues, but then all the shit started happening so there wasn't an escape. Nowdays I bury myself in tumblr and nostalgia and sleep and whatnot.

Excecutive dysfunction is also a pain in the ass, makes me unable to do a lot of things I actually want to do hh. Like eat. It often gets in the way of me getting a proper meal but I've had to start teaching myself that just saying whatever the fuck I can manage is better than not having dinner. I really suck at taking care of myself. /lh

Speaking of tumblr mention I hope my mutuals know I appreciate them (this includes you /gen) and that oh my god I really wish some would chat in my inbox more. I may act like I bite but I don't

This is me /hj, I promise I don't bite

#txt #askbox

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daily-callie-appreciation · 3 years

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Hey There!

The name's Cayde and my pronouns list can be found here! (I use a lot of neopronouns, and the linked site has examples of how all of them are used!! Neat, huh! :-]) I'm 18 years old, and I tend to change hyperfixations at the speed of light, but I'll Always love this funky squid idol. <3

My "main"/art blog is @evening-art (though you may occasionally see replies and likes from anayadusksong, which is my real main that's very much dead).

NOTE: If there are any topics/triggers you'd like me to tag in future posts, please lmk in an ask! Also, I have no problem with my Callie posts being tagged as kin -- I'm a Callie kinnie myself, and if you resonate with any of my posts or headcannons, that's wonderful! :-D

DNI if:

You ship the Squid Sisters.

You ship or support any sort of incest/pedophilia/zoophilia etc. (This includes being "pro-ship" I am VERY much an "anti" and you need to get out, please and thanks.)

You're homophobic, transphobic, racist, ableist, and/or fetishize trans and gay people. (You've REALLY come to the wrong place if you are or do any of those.)

It's been awhile since I was active here, and I've tried to revive it multiple times, but there's not much to be done about burnout or loss of interest in a topic. However! I still care deeply about Splatoon and especially Callie, and this blog has always been a source of positivity for me and made me happy, and it's hopefully made some of you guys happy too!! So while updates and posts may not be "daily" anymore, I still hope you'll enjoy them! <3

#txt post #not a callie #important #hopefully this will be the final revival. i absolutely ADORE Callie and I wanna post here again #but GODS executive dysfunction and burnout SUCK..#idk how many of you are still here from the beginning #but i appreciate you all nonetheless!!! <333 #and i'm excited to start callieposting again!!!#modspeaks

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vlueyellow · 3 years

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ADHD Bitty headcanons

Now, i might be projecting but I've always seen a lot of myself in Eric, which is why one of my favorite omgcp headcanons is ADHD!Bitty.

So, here they are

Please add to them if you have some as well!

Eric got diagnosed fairly early, but still late enough that his early school years sucked

And even when he did get diagnosed his teachers either didn't care or had no idea of how to help him

And trying meds only led to really bad side effects so he quickly stopped

Safe to say he struggled a bit (and the bullying didn't help that issue either, together with the whole internalized homophobia thing and good lord, someone get this boy to therapy-)

However, as he got older he kept researching and eventually figured out where he struggled and how he could help himself deal

This is also how he got into vlogging because he saw this one youtuber with ADHD who helped him a bunch but that's a different story

Now to his ADHD

Eric has the more discreet kind of ADHD which means he's constantly in fear of people think he's faking it and doing things for attention because he passes as neurotypical most of the time

This also results in a lot of masking, to the point of where he doesn't even know he's doing it or how to stop it.

(Shitty helps him a lot with this by studying with him in either of their rooms and letting him experiment with unmasking and what unmasking actually looks like for Eric.)

(its a fun journey and he discovers that he actually stims quite a lot)

Eric is also one of those nd people who actually thrive listening to loud music

It helps him focus and he can't study without it

It also allows him to take a break from stimming which helps with doing assignment because more often than not his stims involve his hands (and you can't really write an assignment when you keep snapping your fingers and rotating your wrists in all possible directions)

Speaking of assignments

Executive dysfunction

There it is

The Big Bad gateway to self hatred and bad work ethics

Finishing assignments actually became such a struggle after his freshmen year that Eric decided to try meds again

Luckily for him, this time the side effects were much milder and they actually worked quite well for him

(The first day he took Adderal Ransom and Holster walked in on him crying while cleaning his room. It wasn't sad crying. It was oh-my-god-I-finished-my-assignment-baked-three-pies-AND-I-am-now-cleaning-my-room-I-have-never-been-this-productive-in-my-life-someone-hug-me type of crying)

Of course, the meds don't solve his problems, but they do help his overall regulation of his emotions and, for the most part, helps him keep deadlines

Now, he's still a very emotional person but at least now he doesn't have a burnout once every week

And his Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is still thriving as always

(his first year was really tough because of this. Jack meant well but it was a lot for Eric)

His hyperfixations include baking (obviously), Beyonce (also obviously), figure skating (he still keeps up with his favorites) and, funnily enough, history (His thesis was picked very carefully)

As mentioned before, Eric enjoys loud music and he's fairly okay with sounds (he thrives in the locker room and on the ice, as well as in the Haus where its never quiet), but textures both in food and fabrics are a Big Deal to him

Velvet blankets? Get that cursed witchcraft away from him

Mushrooms? He can and will spit them out

Chalk? Absolutely the fuck not

However, he's weirdly okay with touching styrofoam? And doesn't hate the sound of it rubbing together?

He likes it a lot when Chowder comes around

Chowder, his sweet handsome son, has absolutely raging ADHD, to the point where taking his daily meds is absolutely essential

Eric doesn't really have that problem, he can skip a day or two and still be fairly functioning

Chowder however-

Lets just say that him moving into the Haus was a very good thing because of supervision and people reminding him to take his meds

They bond a lot over their shared struggles, and Eric helps Chowder navigate school and hockey at the same time

This is getting off track, I can talk about ADHD!Chowder all day long

anyway

Shitty was the first person Eric told

The next day Shitty got him a stim toy and a t-shirt that had a picture of Raven from that's so Raven and text at the bottom that said "that's so ADHD"

Eric still wears it to sleep

The rest of the team reacted exactly the way Shitty told him they would, totally accepting

A few days after he told them Shitty came into his room with Jack in tow and smiled so wide while Jack said he was autistic himself so if Eric needed it he could borrow Jack's weighted blanket

After that day their relationship started to look like a friendship

And later when they finally began dating Eric got really good at revising his recipes while lying on top of Jack when he was having sensory overload, and Jack got really good at letting Eric stim with his fingers when he forgot his fidget cube

Okay I'm gonna stop

But I might add to it later

Please add something yourself if you want to!

Thanks for reading!

#omgcp #omgcp au #omgcp headcanon #check please headcanon #check please au #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #shitty knight #chowder #zimbits #adhd headcanon #adhd bitty #check please #headcanon #omgcp fic #check please fanfiction #my posts #my writing

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carpe-history · 2 years

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So yesterday I was at the ER from 1400 to 2200. that's like eight hours in an ER wheelchair. I wasn't a priority (thank god) so I didn't mind waiting as much. but it st but yesterday sucked and I'm not going into work today.

read more if you wanna know? (but its kinda graphic because I'm mostly writing it so i can understand and accept what happened)

So I've been doing keto for about 3 weeks. It's been bad. For more than one reason.

I don't have the mindset for it, and it's hard for me to not feel guilty over wanting/craving other things, and I resent other things for existing. So it's harder for me to make things. I'm recovering from burnout so bad that I managed to force it into cooking rather than, you know, my job. So making food is hard for me. And my husband is dealing with depression and executive dysfunction. We hadn't gone to the store in a few days; there was a little food in the house.

LTDR: if I don't have everything in front of me, sometimes I don't eat or eat enough. burn out with a new diet is a bitch.

So all of that means that yesterday I did not eat breakfast. two days ago, I ate dinner Really Early. So it was about seventeen or eighteen hours before I ate again. When I did eat, it was some cheese and a hard-boiled egg, and I drank some tea.

About five minutes after sitting down to do some paperwork for the move, I noticed I felt weird. So I looked at my Fitbit and saw my heart rate was jacked the fuck up to 120 beats. So I told my husband my heart rate was up.

I ended up fainting less than a minute after that. I threw up on myself, and when my husband got to me, he turned me over to make sure I was on my side. I was choking on what I was throwing up, what I had eaten that morning.

He says I fainted with my eyes open, and I got into the recovery position on my own. I believe him on the first bit, but I think he forgets how much he did.

He's the real MVP. I don't know what I would have done without him.

This was when I woke up. I don't remember what happened after telling him I felt weird, So my husband is terrified, I'm still not feeling anything (the panic and mild pain would come later), and there is blood on the carpet. I hit my face on a marble plaque on the rug because of the move I'm doing soon. So I'm bleeding from that cut. It's small, but face wounds bleed a fuckton

husband feeds me a banana and some goldfish crackers.

So my husband takes me to the nearest ER. It's not military, but hey, Tricare. Unfortunately, he's not allowed in because of covid reasons. So he waits in the parking lot the whole time. I do not like this and do NOT want to repeat this experience EVER. I have anxiety, and not having him with me was terrible.

There I wait. and wait. they take my blood. Leave the tubes in my harm in case I need them later. Thank god for Tricare because I won't have to pay for any of it.

Blood work comes back that my sugar is low, just barely in normal ranges. But everything else looks good.

after eight hours of waiting, seeing many more in-danger patients go in (\there was a baby with a high fever and an awake car crash victim! see them first, please!) I finally get seen.

The ER doc says my cut to my face is small and won't need stitches (woot! - it was on my nose). And that my labs were good.

The ER doc gives me an EKG and tells me my heart looks fine. He's glad that I saw what my Fitbit said for my heart rate; it rules out one of the possible issues. The EKG is good, my blood looks good now, so it was probably a sudden change in blood pressure and low blood sugar combination. They aren't afraid of a concussion, seizure, or any other issues. They think it was a one-off, and I just need to watch myself for a few days.

So I'm not going to work today. My husband is understandably terrified for me and is watching me like a hawk, and I'm just tired.

#personal

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guqin-and-flute · 3 years

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🍄 cus I could use the good damn help

🌏

🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write?

GOD I WISH I KNEW. Okay, well, barring that super helpful answer

Usually, there are 3 major reasons I can't write; Executive Dysfunction, burnout, or I'm stuck and I don't know it. This is what I do for these occasions!

Executive Dysfunction

Make sure I've taken the proper meds/supplements (I'm trying out rhodiola rosea and DHA currently and they seem to be helping!)

Get cozy--go to the bathroom first, set up a nice environment where you have a drink, a little snack and are the proper temperature so you don't get distracted

CHANGE LOCATION. If there is somewhere that I usually write but I'm just sitting there feeling awful, I go to a different room, sit outside (weather permitting), and when things are all safe, I might go to a coffeeshop or bookstore and try there

Try to be patient with myself--beating your brain isn't gonna make it work

Stretch! Time to think or space out, I feel better afterward, and I have better blood flow

Try to do something adjacent that might help me slip sideways into the mood; fill prompts, reread finished bits of WIPs, answer Ao3 comments, rewatch/reread source material (if it's a fanfic), watch/read something in the same genre that might spark an idea

If I'm getting too frustrated, go for a walk for roughly half an hour--I either listen to music or just vibe and let my mind wander and sometimes, the mood will hit me and I'll turn around and go straight home and write--really can't overstress how many times this has happened to me. I just needed to get out of the house!

Put on music the same mood/vibe of the scene/fic I'm working on and listen to it while I'm driving, walking, or sitting and trying to write

Figure out if I'm over or understimulated and fix it (Under--usually with background music or ASMR, over--go somewhere quieter or put on comfier clothes so I can ignore them better [are you wearing a hat? I can't deal with hats sometimes])

Take deep breaths and remember that there is always time to try again tomorrow

Burnout

This one can be so tricky to identify and frustrating to deal with because I WANT to write but I just can't--chances are, I've been thinking about what I want to write nonstop. I give myself permission to take a break, mentally and physically, from the narratives I'm thinking about. Just totally unhitch myself from it for the rest of the day and go do something else. The promise that I won't be frustrated at myself again for the rest of the day makes it more restful

NAP

Make sure you have the basics done--enough food that makes you feel good, water, shower, clean environment

Seriously, making a promise to not worry about it for the rest of today can feel so good because you're not cycling those feelings of shame and frustration constantly. Acknowledge you're not even going to try for the rest of the day and let yourself rest

Stuck

Okay, not everyone works like this, but I do--when I know what needs to happen but I just can't get myself to write, I reread what I've written and consider the turning points of the scenes; would [x] really say that? What if [y] did this instead? Would they really react like that if they were (happy, sad, angry)? What would be said into a silence instead of this reaction?

Make sure the dialogue really does sound like the character--did I just make him say that because it needed to happen? If that's so, does it need to happen, or would it happen a different way?

Be flexible to the idea that you won't be able to fit in everything that you wanted. It sucks, but it happens

Be aware that sometimes, characters do whatever the fuck they want and it can really screw up your plans, but chances are, there's a reason they feel strongly enough to hijack--it's you noticing something without noticing it

Try to write something else. A short something, a something you don't care that much about. See what happens and see if you gain any insights while you were away from the WIP you really wanted to write

For fanfic--read other fanfic! See what characterizations you agree with, see what you don't. Make a list of character traits that you want to remember for your fic and check it over occasionally to make sure you a) still agree with it and b) are adhering to it in the part you're having trouble

Find someone to talk it out with--sometimes explaining it out loud will help you realize things you didn't inside your head. You get outside insights, someone to be accountable to, and someone who can motivate you!

#THIS GOT REALLY LONG SORRY #ask #ask spam #my stuff #food mention #eating mention #GOOD LUCK I BELIEVE IN YOUUUU

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