#and then Shifu is impatient so he blows them all out at once? it’s like that

[izzet-league-mad-scientist]

I just discovered something that’s been really helpful for my daily life and general level of happiness.

Living with ADHD is hard, and my brain constantly bombards me with the desire for More Stimulation in order to get More Dopamine. I’m medicated now, so it’s less harsh, but my brain’s still entrenched in that behavior from nearly two decades of repetition.

I used to get burned out really really often, to the point of constant headaches, exhaustion, and just generally being both Unable to Get Things Done and Stressed About It. I really needed a solution to this before I properly crashed and burned, as it was really harsh on both my coursework and consequently my mental health.

The answer, as it so happened, was both irritatingly simple and so counterintuitive for my ADHD brain to understand. The thing I needed, was to slow down.

Or more specifically, I needed to stop giving my brain what it was asking for, and give it what it to needed instead.

My brain wanted more stimulation, more activities, more attention, to the point where I’d often find myself doing three or four things at once just to satiate my brain’s demands for Dopamine At All Costs. And because humans really aren’t built to handle that much attention-splitting, it wasn’t working.

Feeding that greedy brain-engine, after a point, gives diminishing returns. You’re overtaxing your attention, and the more shallow stimulation you give your brain, the more it needs to be satisfied.

You have to slow it down. Meditate, take deep breaths, whatever calming technique works best to quiet your mind. Focus on a single task above all else: the one at hand. This may require some shoving down of impulses that tell you do “check your phone” or “play the game, you have the time,” but luckily you can make up for that later.

You don’t have to do that all the time. Once you have the opportunity, you should listen to that voice, all the little whims it has about what you want, and you should follow it, but that’s the key: don’t multitask. One thing at a time. If you, on a whim, want to go outside and feel the texture of the leaves, then pause whatever you’re doing, get up, and go walk outside to crunch some leaves. Every little whim you should take the time and pleasure of exploring to your heart’s content, and I mean that last part literally: do it to the extent that it feels good to do. If it’s stressing you, then stop. If it’s not fun anymore, then stop. Sometimes your brain gets stuck on things that aren’t good for it, and that’s when you gently point it somewhere else instead.

It’s about being kind to yourself. It’s about enjoying every little moment, about the tiny things that you want to do. It’s about not agonizing over where to eat or what to eat, but just letting whatever whim takes you choose for you, and if you change your mind, go right ahead.

I probably didn’t articulate this post perfectly, but I think the message gets across well enough. Life is an adventure, friends, but it’s an adventure made of side quests that you take because you want to, because you’ll enjoy them.