Can you become a software developer with ADHD?
By: Soham Dutta
Tags: Adhd, Bootcamp, Software Development, Coding, Adhd Treatment

My rules for success

- Change your sleep schedule completely

I found that I was not able to focus after a long day of learning new concepts and technologies. Instead, I allowed myself to relax and have fun after class and went to bed as early as possible. My brain is a stubborn one, and forcing it do things It doesn’t want to do is close to impossible. Instead plan your day around how your brain feels. I would sleep around 7–8pm when I started to feel mentally exhausted and wake up around 4am everyday.

- Use up the beginning of your day to get as much work done as possible

Use that fresh brain power and the early morning to your advantage; When you wake up before everyone else, You take away the choice to interact with others through social media or in person. This will allow someone with the ADHD brain to eliminate a large number of distractions that can completely derail them. It will also get most of the hard stuff out of the way early, so that you can look forward to relaxing later on.

- Use the Pomodoro technique

Study or code for a 25 minute interval, then take a 5 minute break to let your mind do its thing, rinse, repeat.

- Create a checklist

Prioritize the most important topics and tasks in the beginning of the day with the least important in the end. Check off each task and reward yourself when each one is completed.

- Change your diet

Eat less carbs or even fast upon waking up. If you have never tried intermittent fasting; This is a tool that can seriously double your focus. Simply put, your brain will be more alert when you have less processes going on in the body. Cut out sugary foods and beverages and any other stimulants that can affect your already scattered brain. Instead try to use these stimulants as a reward for when you get a task completed.

- Create a sense of urgency

Create an alarm clock for each project or task you want to start and hold yourself accountable to that alarm. The ADHD brain loves to put important tasks in the back in exchange for tasks that will grant immediate satisfaction. Get rid of this habit completely by creating a sense of urgency. Don’t let your brain talk you into going on a YouTube binge, or scrolling through Instagram rather than facing the hard stuff. Put yourself in positions where you don’t have a choice.

- Change your mindset

Start fearing failure. A lot of individuals with ADHD might experience this already, but use that fear to keep pushing ahead, don’t just move on to the next shiny thing. Although it has its pros, ADHD is a real challenge when it comes to academics and you need to accept that and move on. Give yourself more time to complete tasks. Stay in your own lane and do not get disheartened by the challenges or compare yourself to others.

- Come prepared

Those with ADHD find it very difficult to keep up in lectures and class settings; Instead create a slot of time to review topics before they are taught. This will allow you to let those wandering thoughts be less damaging when you already have a general idea of whats going on.

-Train your brain

Create punishments. Practice depriving yourself of something you love when you do not achieve a goal. This might sound a bit harsh, but think of your brain as a pet. You don’t want to reinforce bad behaviors with things you enjoy, the ADHD brain lacks that reward system, so create your own reward system.

- Have someone hold you accountable

I have noticed that those with ADHD are great at carrying out tasks when being watched, being alone is where the issues lie. If you have a family member or friend available to you, have them hold your list of tasks and report back to them when each task is finished.

- Identify your motivation

Always keep your end goal in mind. You might lose sight of this multiple times through whatever journey you embark on, but this should be where your obsession lies. Don’t look at all the hard things you must do to get there, this will only cause you to lose focus and want to switch to something more fun; Instead think about how amazing you will feel when you land that job, buy that house or create that thing that you so badly want.