I used to think it was too. I’d been leveraging hyperfocus my whole life. But I would still fall short of what I could’ve achieved if I had started what I was doing earlier. And it started getting real tiring that whenever this would happen if forget to drink, eat, go to the toilet etc. everything would become a “once I’m done with this bit, then I’ll…” But it just does not end because the task is too big but it needs to be done by tomorrow so I can’t have a break.
Which is why I got an actual medical diagnosis recently. (I had a diagnosis from college, but because of when it happened it was more of a “you had adhd as a kid, but you’re an adult now so you learned to cope” kind of diagnosis). And now I’m on a titration period to find out what works for me. So far elvanse 30mg seems to only work for a few hours for me and it’s been making me hyperfocus (with more of the bad stuff, because there isn’t an impending deadline) right at the very end of the work day, where it’s no longer working fully. I’m hoping my higher dosage next week sorts that.
Sorry for this wall. Don’t think your comment warranted even half of this, but I’ve wrote it down now.
I’m either invested in the project, or my unhealthy fear of failure fuels the anxiety that forces hyperfocus. I don’t recommend the latter if you can avoid it. It’s exhausting.
I leverage hyperfixation at work. To me, it feels like a superpower. To everyone else, it’s just really hard to get my attention.
I used to think it was too. I’d been leveraging hyperfocus my whole life. But I would still fall short of what I could’ve achieved if I had started what I was doing earlier. And it started getting real tiring that whenever this would happen if forget to drink, eat, go to the toilet etc. everything would become a “once I’m done with this bit, then I’ll…” But it just does not end because the task is too big but it needs to be done by tomorrow so I can’t have a break.
Which is why I got an actual medical diagnosis recently. (I had a diagnosis from college, but because of when it happened it was more of a “you had adhd as a kid, but you’re an adult now so you learned to cope” kind of diagnosis). And now I’m on a titration period to find out what works for me. So far elvanse 30mg seems to only work for a few hours for me and it’s been making me hyperfocus (with more of the bad stuff, because there isn’t an impending deadline) right at the very end of the work day, where it’s no longer working fully. I’m hoping my higher dosage next week sorts that.
Sorry for this wall. Don’t think your comment warranted even half of this, but I’ve wrote it down now.
It helps my wife get super pissed off at me when I break her hyperfocus. Yay!
It’s pretty rare to be able to decide what to hyperfocus on. Without meds, work puts me to sleep.
I’m either invested in the project, or my unhealthy fear of failure fuels the anxiety that forces hyperfocus. I don’t recommend the latter if you can avoid it. It’s exhausting.
Yeah, kind of like how adrenaline can let a person ignore a serious injury for a little while, there’s always a brick wall on that road.
Great analogy.
That wall hits like sleep deprivation or dehydration, just a clueless and careless fog that falls over me after running for too long on anxiety.