I have taken a properly administered IQ test. I scored 135 in one area and 89 in another. My main issue is I have very poor working memory. Luckily, we have technology to compensate for our deficiencies.
* I write everything down on calendars, to do lists, planners etc.
* I have a smart speaker in every room so I can capture pieces of information as soon as I know about them.
* I use many different kinds of timers to remind me of tasks, or to switch tasks from one to another.
* I use checklists to help complete daily processes.
The best thing you can do is acknowledge your weaknesses, reflect on situations where you struggle and find specific techniques or processes that improve the outcome for you. It won't happen overnight. Good luck!
I recently shifted my opinion on IQ tests a bit after watching a recent Veritasium video. He goes into the background/history/controversy of the test as well as some of the concrete impacts of the test and places where it's used. For example did you know the US military has an IQ minimum cutoff? And furthermore they have a second 'soft' cutoff, where only 20% of the military can have an IQ under a certain value. In the past they tried removing this second restriction, but had to reinstate it after seeing increases in casualties/indicators of reduced efficiency! So are IQ tests everything? No. But do they have no merit? Also no. It's somewhere in between.
IQ tests being invalid is more politics than science. Among other things, rejecting the existence of cognitive inequality is necessary to justify systemic racism via the continued existence of Asian quotas (Affirmative Action). Since lots of people benefit from this racism, there’s a huge interest in denial. In western countries, when there’s a few billion people in Asia, and you let a tiny amount in gatekeeping them on the basis of education/wealth/skills, it isn’t really all that much of a shock that they and their children are smarter then average. The only way this could NOT happen is if Asians were LESS intelligent than other groups on average.
IQ tests are hilariously predictive of success if you’re doing a task which is similar to taking an IQ test like academics. They strongly indicate certain mental disorders. Low IQ is more predictive of success than High IQ. Maybe people take the difference between scoring a FSIQ of 110 vs 140 entirely too seriously, but the difference between somebody with 60 vs 90 is staggering.
IQ tests are weakly predictive of academic success, especially on the high end (1SD+). In general, it only predicts 8-25% of variance, even when looking in both directions. That's pretty bad, an average exam does a far better job.
Additionally, the IQ of second generation Asian immigrants will revert to the mean. Not only that, but the advtange decreases rapidly as they age, while the academic advantage grows. And the advantage to begin with is very small - average Asian IQ is only about 2.5 points higher than for Whites, even looking at all generations together.
Given the impact of early childhood environment on IQ, and the huge disparity in academic effort across cultures, esp. those that constitute Asian immigrants, it's pretty clear that the idea that the disparity in Asian achievement cannot be explained by an inherited intelligence advantage. All the data is much more consistent with a culture that just drives students to study far harder.
This does make the argument that affirmative action is harmful even stronger, actually. There is no need to fall back to terrible science to do it. The idea that IQ isn't terribly useful is because it isn't terribly useful, except in very rare cases for diagnosis. The current scientific consensus is consistent with an even stronger argument that AA unfairly discriminates against Asian students.
Not OP, but I understood that to mean any difference in IQ below average (100) has a high impact on success, but differences above 100 have relatively less impact
This is quite a dismissive stance, and I understand the context behind it: IQ was devised to measure broad population academic performance for schoolkids and has big flaws in how it measures that.
But it still has merit as another psychological test battery you can do to determine areas in which you may struggle to process information.
My working memory sucks [compared to the standard for my age range and demographic]. I've had access to stuff like RBANS (Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status), through psychologist friends working in memory clinics. IQ tests correlate that finding, and are much more readily available (ie. free and not locked behind institutional firewalls).
Sure, the most thorough IQ tests are paywalled, but as a concept it's readily available online, though tests will yield you huge variation in scores.
We can choose not to treat IQ as a tool to compare ourselves to other people, but rather as a tool to identify our own strengths and weaknesses within different areas of the test. Ignore the single score at end of test, think on what felt hard, and performance in the score breakdown.
I would love to see more (better designed, statically rigorous) neuropsychological assessments become open and free to access. It would definitely have helped me growing up as an unknown AuDHD kid, to understand I really wasn't "a bright kid just making excuses for things I don't want to do".
That's the only insight IQ scores can give you. But each IQ test tests for something, and IQ being a bunk concept doesn't invalidate that.
Reading comprehension tests test end-to-end ability to process that test and those questions in this circumstance. What comes next? tests test your ability to understand and solve a particular set of puzzles: they're a decent proxy for pattern-recognition skills if you share cultural context with the test author and can handle the administrative overhead of that style of examination. And so on. It's nonsense to give yourself some overall score at the end (though this can make sense for populations), but that doesn't mean the tests are worthless.
If IQ was a bunk concept then the US military could save tens of billions of dollars a year by admitting people who don't meet the current threshold. Imagine the promotion you'd get for saving tens of billions a year, every year, in perpetuity.
My ADHD meant I couldn't hold down a job or relationship. You lose your job enough times and the depression that follows is inevitable.
That said, I can imagine a Dustin where I had stumbled into a different career, a different family situation. Then my ADHD might not have caused enough problems to be a disorder.
I sometimes wonder if it’s just a sign of being in the wrong career.
A lot of people chase the money in an area of general interest. But the actual tasks they are being paid for might simply not be what they are suited for.
If always think to myself if only brainstorming, ideation and online shopping were a career haha.
There's a lot of good advice about health, bedtime routines and sleep hygiene. Definitely take it on board.
However, I think reverse bedtime procrastination is mostly tied to emotions. It's easy to feel like you have no time to yourself when you have a busy job, busy commute etc. Or you feel like you "have to" put time into "worthwhile" activities like studying. Then it gets to bedtime and you finally give yourself permission to relax, and you end up scrolling on your phone for a few hours.
Here's a few things you could try:
Try scheduling fun and relaxation throughout your day. Give yourself permission to enjoy yourself at these times. Now, when you go to sleep you can remember that you had time to yourself already, and you have time to yourself scheduled for tomorrow.
I often struggled with negative emotions and looked at my phone to distract myself. Even noticing that you are doing this can be tricky. Try to name the emotions you are having throughout the day (literally saying them out loud can help). Over time this will lead you to realizing how your habits form. "Oh, I'm feeling disappointed with how work went so I want to distract myself and look at my phone".
This sounds very simple but it is surprisingly difficult. Good luck!
> I often struggled with negative emotions and looked at my phone to distract myself. Even noticing that you are doing this can be tricky. Try to name the emotions you are having throughout the day (literally saying them out loud can help). Over time this will lead you to realizing how your habits form. "Oh, I'm feeling disappointed with how work went so I want to distract myself and look at my phone".
Todo lists can quickly become wishlists. The initial enthusiasm for a hobby turns into extremely unrealistic grand plans which then lead to disappointment when the lofty goals aren't met.
Try to keep your planning focus on now and next. What will you do today and what's the next step. Don't try to make a year step by step plan because the new knowledge you gain will inevitably change your original plan.
For me, ADHD was a huge part of my over planning problem. I knew I had issues finishing things, so I thought time management books and todolists would help. They did not. If you feel inhibited by your lack of focus and ability to do things then don't hesitate to get checked out by a professional.
> I didn't realize these things because I had systems in place to cope.
This really resonates with me.
Before I was diagnosed with ADHD I considered myself a basically functioning adult. I read about symptoms like being overly sensitive and thought "Hah, that's not me, I have a clever system to get around that". Both for small everyday things like wearing clothes ("I'll just wear them inside out/cut out all the labels to avoid the annoying sensation") and bigger things like the inability to keep a job ("I'll pick up some freelance work. It's normal to be in and out of work in the fast paced world of startups").
Looking back, these were all clear signs of my ADHD. I was in my 30s when I was diagnosed. I wish I had noticed sooner, but I was so good at hiding it no one noticed. I didn't even notice myself.
To start with, where do you currently feel limited in your life? What made you seek a diagnosis?
Personally, I couldn't keep a job for years. This led me to realize I had ADHD and get diagnosed. You seem to be successfully running a company, so you might have developed the good coping skills to deal with your limitations already.
I recommend reading Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell Barkley. It's a good first book for people with ADHD and can answer a lot of basic questions about medication, therapy and feelings you might have after being diagnosed.
It's a lifelong issue. You can improve but it will never be easy. You don't go to the gym once and say "Ok, I'm fit now!" and it's the same with ADHD.
Are the distractions internal (thoughts) or external (notifications, other people etc)? Try your best to remove or limit external distractions.
For internal distractions, try to notice what is triggering them. This is much harder than it sounds as internal distractions are often based on patterns of thought that we've had for years. The first step is simply noticing and naming the distraction. Example: "I open up my email client. I see 20 unread emails. I feel overwhelmed. I switch tabs to a news website to take my mind off the feeling of being overwhelmed."
Once you can name these feelings you can practice spending more time with them. Instead of following the distraction, take a few deep breaths. Notice what happens to your aversive feelings. Do they get stronger? Weaker? Stay the same? Just like someone working out, feeling the burn and continuing the exercise, you can have these negative feelings and still do the task.
When you've finally got the hang of noticing the feeling and pausing to acknowledge it you can finally start the task. Focus on starting it not finishing it. Small chunks, acknowledging progress and managing your emotional state are the name of the game.
But the best advice I have for you is to accept that your interests will change, often suddenly. Try to avoid spending a large amount of money to get started in your hobby (don't buy a brand new top of the line camera, borrow an old one). Try to look for small pockets of success inside the bigger hobby so that you can think "I learned a song" instead of "I never learned piano". Try to leave your hobbies in a way that you can pick them back up again. Keep a few notes and information about what you were doing with the hobby so that if the interest strikes you can get going again quickly. If you got some tools/equipment, keep hold of it in a box/container that keeps it all together.
Mild ADHD: You're more distractable and forgetful than most. You have techniques to get around this such as reminders, planners, assistants etc.
Moderate ADHD: You struggle with important task completion all the time. You've experienced consequences from it such as job loss or dropping out of college You may have depression or anxiety related to your ADHD
Severe ADHD: You're in prison because of a violent outburst caused by your emotional disregulation. You're homeless because you can't hold down a job or a relationship. You're dead because you crashed your car while distracted.
First of all, I'm glad people are trying to come up with assistive technologies for ADHD. I applaud anyone who actually makes something and puts it out there.
That said, a lot of "ADHD apps" are todo lists and planning apps. ADHD isn't a disorder of planning, it's a disorder of doing. I can make realistic, specific, achievable plans as well as anyone else, but when it comes to doing the work it often just doesn't happen. Literally yesterday I lost a freelance client purely due to my own procrastination. I had a sensible plan and didn't follow it.
I don't want to just slam this app or other existing apps, so in an effort to be constructive here are some spaces that I think could be explored further to help people with ADHD:
* Smart speakers. I use them heavily and they are a great distraction free computing device. "Fire and forget" reminders are great. I have a smart speaker in every room and can set a reminder to do something in 30 minutes time without having to move, find a pen, pick up a phone or distract myself in any way.
* Emotional regulation. ADHD means you are on a rollercoaster of emotions that you can't regulate well. There are techniques for controlling them but when you are blinded with rage or bursting into tears you don't remember. Perhaps a device could constantly asses your emotional state and remind you of regulation techniques right when you need them.
* Anything centered around positivity and forgiveness. An app that makes past successes visible without minimizing the impact of the disorder would be great.
* I write everything down on calendars, to do lists, planners etc. * I have a smart speaker in every room so I can capture pieces of information as soon as I know about them. * I use many different kinds of timers to remind me of tasks, or to switch tasks from one to another. * I use checklists to help complete daily processes.
The best thing you can do is acknowledge your weaknesses, reflect on situations where you struggle and find specific techniques or processes that improve the outcome for you. It won't happen overnight. Good luck!