This is a testament to ADHD in the software industry.
The hallmark of ADHD is an "interest based attention system".
If you have ADHD, it may be completely shocking for you to hear that most people prioritize "extrinsically", meaning, whether or not something is "interesting" is *not* primary information in their prioritizations.
I never knew I had ADHD until I had a baby and had to start prioritizing tasks based on time.
And guess what, I can't easily prioritize on time constraints. Which is one of the two fundamental prioritization dimensions, the other being space (eg you only need one auth backend, pick one). I can do space.
Now I have no problem writing hours for each segment of a project and getting it within 100% error bars.
Where my life breaks down is daily tasks. I used to have a 5-7 PM sink. If I had a good day, I wrapped at 5 or just kept momentum to 7 PM. If I had a bad ADHD day, I just worked to 7, manufacturing urgency.
With a child you don't work til 7, so just lop off 10 of your 25-30 core productive hours for the week, unmedicated.
I suspect as I adjust I will come to see 2-3 PM as "ahh this is urgent because at 5 PM, death". But, at least I am medicated now and can work consistently at 9 AM.
Yes, this article is very helpful. The website is very noisy, maybe to keep hyperactive ADHD people around, but it's horrible for me. Try a reader mode:
The hallmark of ADHD is an "interest based attention system".
If you have ADHD, it may be completely shocking for you to hear that most people prioritize "extrinsically", meaning, whether or not something is "interesting" is *not* primary information in their prioritizations.
I never knew I had ADHD until I had a baby and had to start prioritizing tasks based on time.
And guess what, I can't easily prioritize on time constraints. Which is one of the two fundamental prioritization dimensions, the other being space (eg you only need one auth backend, pick one). I can do space.
Now I have no problem writing hours for each segment of a project and getting it within 100% error bars.
Where my life breaks down is daily tasks. I used to have a 5-7 PM sink. If I had a good day, I wrapped at 5 or just kept momentum to 7 PM. If I had a bad ADHD day, I just worked to 7, manufacturing urgency.
With a child you don't work til 7, so just lop off 10 of your 25-30 core productive hours for the week, unmedicated.
I suspect as I adjust I will come to see 2-3 PM as "ahh this is urgent because at 5 PM, death". But, at least I am medicated now and can work consistently at 9 AM.