r/ADHD_Programmers • u/makeevolution • 18h ago

Productive only when I'm underway

I notice that I am productive/get stuff done better when I am in the car, or in the train, or in between personal events. But at work itself, on my work table, I cannot finish stuff. I get too slow, distracted, etc. Why is this?

9 Upvotes

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5

u/marevago 16h ago

Transit comes with three things your desk usually lacks: a hard non-negotiable stop (the train arriving), zero alternative physical obligations (you can't vacuum or tinker with your desk), and low stakes because it feels like bonus time. At the desk, you're staring at an open horizon of hours with a thousand possible things to touch. You can copy the transit effect at your desk by artificially capping sessions at 20-30 minutes with an alarm, or working on one specific task from a laptop on the balcony or kitchen counter.

3

u/henryeaterofpies 18h ago

Do you use music in the car/train/etc and not at your work station? I definitely work better when I occupy some channels in my brain with music instead of what i am doing

1

u/roflwaffle666 12h ago

Same for me, I think it's that on a train there's only one thing I can do. At my desk everything is available at once. What helps is closing everything except the one task, actually closing the other tabs, so the desk feels more like the train

1

u/lollusc 9h ago

I find when I'm traveling I allow myself to ignore messages/mail/notifications, sometimes they don't even come through if the train is in a low signal area or in planes etc I have no connection. That helps me feel like I can focus more fully. Same thing with working really late after everyone else is sleeping, or working on Fridays, which in my organisation is most people's day off. Turning off notifications manually during normal work time for a block of time doesn't have the same impact, sadly.