> my problem is concretely that anytime I work on something, I can't work on it for long amounts of time
If this is always true, even when you're working on something that interests you, maybe consider getting that ADHD diagnosis? If it's just something you struggle with occasionally or when you're slogging through boring tasks that's something you should be able to improve.
It really depends on the type of work you're doing though. I doubt there'll be any one trick that works for everybody in every situation. Sometimes having music or a podcast or a TV show in the background keeps my mind engaged while I'm working on something that isn't exciting enough to keep it quiet. Sometimes I just need lots of breaks to keep my sanity. For work that requires a ton of focus I tend to work best in quiet dark places where there isn't much to pull my attention off of what I'm doing. Caffeine never hurts no matter what I'm working on.
An indication that it might be ADHD is if you struggle to focus on the things you genuinely want to be focusing on. Not like “I should be studying” but like “I want to play this new game I bought.”
Really? I don't think ADHD is a thing in Europe; I know plenty of people (including) myself that would struggle to focus on things their genuinely want to be focusing on. I myself bought a videogame last week... and I haven't yet played it. I don't think I have ADHD, I mean, I think this kind of stuff is normal to some extent. If I have to "wash the dishes" I will. I have to work, I'll work. Sometimes, though, I won't wash the dishes because I just don't feel like it. Sometimes I'll procrastinate at work, but I'll catch up eventually. I think it's just life, some times you struggle with stuff, but that's alright.
> Really? I don't think ADHD is a thing in Europe;
ADHD is a thing in humans, not countries or cultures.
It’s honestly still very early days in terms of research and understanding, as for the longest time they thought people grew out of it. You don’t grow out of it, you just get taught by society how to hide it—unless you’re lucky enough to put the piece’s together and get diagnosed.
> I know plenty of people (including) myself that would struggle to focus on things their genuinely want to be focusing on.
ADHD isn’t really an issue with focus. We can spend a day wanting to focus on something, but not. And we can spend a day fully focussing on one thing and forgetting to eat. It’s an executive function disorder. Deploying focus is hard. Switching focus is hard.
Everyone struggles with focus from time to time, especially when the world or life gets stressful.
We’re currently in (hopefully) the tail end of a global pandemic, watching what may be later referred to as WWIII, going through the second major economic downturn in as many decades, and watching some western countries’ democracies under threat.
I know there’s always a lot on in the world, but recent times do seem more stressful than the years before. So it’s reasonable for everyone to have issues with focus, and yep I agree with you that’s not reason enough to suspect ADHD.
> Sometimes, though, I won't wash the dishes because I just don't feel like it.
I just want to point out, as someone with ADHD when I don’t wash the dishes it’s almost never because I don’t feel like it.
Rather, I might be doing one task when I notice the dishes need to be done but doing them at that moment would involve an expensive and painful task switch.
Then when I’ve finished the task, I have a good chance of forgetting the dishes, and might only catch them again in the middle of another task.
I always watch something (often a tech talk from a conference on YouTube), because even with meds dishes a woefully under stimulating.
I wanted to add this context because those with ADHD are often blamed as being lazy, but that not the case. It’s more like you and your mate are going for a run, and you’ve got an invisible 100lb rucksack on and you just can’t keep up. Meds is like someone removing most of the weight from that rucksack.
It sounds like you don't have ADHD, so you experience normal things like procrastination. That's fine, but ADHD is something else entirely. It's a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in executive dysfunction. A lot of ADHD symptoms are things people without ADHD do encounter occasionally, just less often and to a lesser extent.
If this is always true, even when you're working on something that interests you, maybe consider getting that ADHD diagnosis? If it's just something you struggle with occasionally or when you're slogging through boring tasks that's something you should be able to improve.
It really depends on the type of work you're doing though. I doubt there'll be any one trick that works for everybody in every situation. Sometimes having music or a podcast or a TV show in the background keeps my mind engaged while I'm working on something that isn't exciting enough to keep it quiet. Sometimes I just need lots of breaks to keep my sanity. For work that requires a ton of focus I tend to work best in quiet dark places where there isn't much to pull my attention off of what I'm doing. Caffeine never hurts no matter what I'm working on.