# ADD Dopers - what tricks have you found to cope?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-dopers-what-tricks-have-you-found-to-cope/573068>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 1, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-dopers-what-tricks-have-you-found-to-cope/573068 "2011-03-01T15:43:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Debon\_Err](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@Debon\_Err](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debon_Err)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-dopers-what-tricks-have-you-found-to-cope/573068/21 "2011-03-05T17:15:36Z")

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Amphetamines and lists. Prioritize tasks on paper. The visual makes it much easier.

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-dopers-what-tricks-have-you-found-to-cope/573068/22 "2011-03-05T18:05:56Z")

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> [@Zyada](#):
>
> **TheoS** - do you find that you can exercise just before bed? This is supposed to make it harder for people to fall asleep, but I find it actually helps me sleep.

Me too. I started a nightly pre-bedtime exercise habit 4.5 years ago, and I sleep much better than I used to. I was surprised to learn that it makes it hard for some to sleep if they do it within a few hours of bed. The problem I run into, though, is other things are more interesting than exercising, so I put it off and off, and end up not going to bed until way later than I should…

I make lots of lists too, ftr.

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**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-dopers-what-tricks-have-you-found-to-cope/573068/23 "2011-03-05T18:54:39Z")

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Lists help, but one has to remember to look at them once and a while. 🙂 I would also echo the comments about stimulants (Adderall for me), exercise, and a chaotic job. Deciding not to beat myself up for being myself has helped me some. A little therapy has helped me as well. Explaining it all to my office manager (once I decided I could) has turned out to be an incredibly wise decision on my part. And I have my wife and occasionally my daughter call me/text me/email me with reminders about various things.

I’m still trying to find a good way to keep myself on track when I’m trying to do things on the computer . . . I find the Internet such a treasure trove of distractions. It seems the only thing that works is a rapidly approaching deadline . . . this isn’t, of course, such a good strategy, and it’s surely just a matter of time before I’m unable to pull it all together in the last hour or two (and I need to remind myself of that more often).

I so wish I could get more Adderall and more therapy, but both of these tool disappeared with my last insurance plan.

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