ADHD Time Management | ADHD Nerds Podcast, Ep. 5

This is episode five of the ADHD Nerds Podcast. And today I'm talking with Marie Ng. Marie is the founder of Llama Life, a desktop productivity app, which helps you work through your to-do list, not just making never-ending ones. When she couldn't find a tool that worked with her brain, she decided to teach herself to code by watching YouTube videos and Llama Life is the result.

Original episode released June 11, 2022

GUEST:

Marie Ng

SHOW NOTES:

Fidget Page

Shhhnoise

Google Nest Hub

Simple Dimple fidgets

Topo anti-fatigue mat

SUPPORT:

Patreon

#adhd #podcast

[garyanger]

'leaping'... I didn't know that was a thing, let alone an ADHD thing. I have been known to solve complex troubleshooting problems by just thinking of the problem, and letting the answer come to me by relaxing and just letting my brain do its thing. Hard to put to words. Glad to find out it's actually a thing. Information is so soothing. Thank you.

[TheDanrach]

What she said about time sheets was a true "a-ha" moment. Relieved to learn that I'm not the only one who has that 'inexplicable' mental block.

[tammylombard]

Im 64, I was diagnosed at 50. Happy to put a name on it, but very sad of the lost time not knowing and what I could have done. Still struggling but now I know I'm not alone.

[kathryncainmadsen]

Diagnosed at 65. Intense grief over all the wasted time and unlived dreams in my life because I kept changing or could not do some things. You know. Time cards? Money managment? Ask me to put my hand on a hot stove! But also a relief because of the lifting fog. African proverb: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. Now I know. So getting help now. I feel lucky in my doctor.

[pruthvisairajubalagam]

What you said exactly at this time 23:00 is me. That Apple, fork and sponge thing. I always want to connect things and when I connect (or how to use them perfectly) I feel like I achieved something. I feel like Im more happy coz I succeeded something. But when I get to know that neurotypical people usually do this thing from very longtime, I feel depressed. Oh! What I learned now was already learned by a neurotypical people a long time ago and It's Ok.

[kevinwhite]

In a computer science context, there is a "depth-first search" of a tree of data, and a "breadth-first search" (think going branch to branch vs going down from the trunk to a leaf on one branch), and then there's the ADHD-H "breadth-and-depth-first search" where you get a broad overview of something and then go "I MUST GET TO THE ABSOLUTE BOTTOM OF THIS ONE PARTICULAR THING!" Which, for me as a QA person ("manager"), is really useful. I can't ever do the entire breadth-first search to completion and the depth-first search is too limited.

[marymcclure]

Have you looked into the overlap of ASD and ADHD? A ton of new peer reviewed large research papers (fall 2022) have been published and have shown that each neurotype share genetics (over half genetic overlap) and the patterning in ADHD minds is an ASD characteristic rather than an executive function impairments which is what ADHD affects. I have learned that those with ASD and ADHD are also found to be way more sensitive to medication rather than those with pure ADHD. I am thinking way more of us have both rather than only one of the neurotypes.

[lottek]

I am just learning that I too have ADHD and it explains a lot. So a math example from the 10th years of primary school. The way math was taught made me drift off, and I didn't understand anything I saw on the blackboard. I was so bad at it, that my teacher was tempted to fail me and my economist father gave up teaching me too, but there was a final written exam and I realized I had 3 hours and I might as well give it a try, and before I knew it I was actually having fun. Later, I was called in to the teacher to let me know I was the only one in my class to have solved every problem correctly, but also the only one who didn't use the methods he had taught us the past 3 years.

[Aleatoire]

Super interesting conversation and I will say too that I find ADHD folks the easiest people to listen to in conversation - probably because I can keep up way better! So neat

[cojaturobie]

So thankfull to have found your chanel!

[ronallara]

This talk has talk straights to me. Thank you Jesse for sharing this insight full interview. ADHA is a doble sword..

[sararobinson]

I am only 10 minutes in and already you are talking to me!

Timesheets - always late. Out of sight out of mind and too complex was the problem. So I made a simple version (top 6 things I do) and wrote it on a post it note that was stuck next to my mouse mat. I would tally whole hours. Then at the end of the week I had a calendar hour blocked out to do admin and I would use a combination of the post it and my calendar to 'make up' my timesheet. I figured my best guess was good enough! I could also visually tell if I hadn't done my timesheet by the number of post it notes left on my desk!!

I don't drink coffee but I self medicate using coke zero and occasionally if I need a kicker or I have something I need to get hyper about then I drink a small quality of my supermarkets own brand of energy drink. I use my Fitbit app to track everything I drink so I can tell how much I have drunk each day. I try not to drink any coke after 3pm but definitely none after 6pm. (Hyper now as I need to go out in 5 mins!)

Okay - I haven't gone out because I'm engrossed. Also LEAPING! YES!! I am a data nerd, I see patterns and solutions in data. I draw conclusions that other people can't see then have to go back to compile the evidence for them that is just obvious to me.

[mahaliarose]

Self medicating with coffee team! Its the widely available and highly accepted stimulant. Its also nice for taking small breaks from work to walk and grab one or to change your working environment by working from the coffee shop.

[mohamedibrahim]

She's so beautiful and charismatic, please interview her again jessie

[suburbanhousewife]

This episode was so helpful. I got diagnosed as an adult. I thought I had dyslexia because I read slowly (but test scores were always high). Once I got the Diagnosis of ADD Inattentive type, I tried medication. After a few fails, I got a good Rx. Amazing. A year later I lost my insurance and had to restart everything. It has been five years and different doctors. They try to treat me with mood medications (which do nothing except make me dizzy and nauseous) and they seem to think I am drug seeking. I have lost jobs because of time sheet and late-to-meetings problems. Medical community has not been helpful to this late diagnosed person.

[kevinwhite]

Oh Marie is the developer for Llama Life! I had been meaning to check that out from your newsletter and now I'm actually trying it out :) This makes me think a bit of Owaves, which is a 'break up your day' kind of app and it sounded interesting but didn't jive with my brain at all. I kinda like the pomodoro idea but it's just too freeform - you just 'do what you're doing until it beeps'.

[anamariaclarinet]

This is a great video for people who doesn't know what is ADHD about, and for people that think may have ADHD, it is very natural and it make sense. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. I think I have it and this is very usefull!!

[mojdehs]

So glad to see them hyped! Great episode!

[joshkreiser]

I've been dealing with that kinda fog the last few years it's rough

[Bogdanko]

I'm a software developer with ADHD that learned to program from YouTube videos