Developers with ADHD, how do you cope?

Question

After struggling all through university and my software development job, I was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and put on medication a couple months ago. However there are days where I can't take my meds or my symptoms are stronger than usual which makes it very hard for me to start tasks and stay focused all day. I love programming, but it's very hard to keep up when I can't get into that "flow" and is especially difficult with menial tasks like code refactoring or fixing bugs that don't really challenge me intellectually. Some days, having to sit through meetings or struggling with problems in my code feels like psychological torture.What are some methods you use to "trick" yourself into being productive and keeping up your focus?

ksaj · Accepted Answer

One thing is to find out under what conditions you are most able to absorb yourself in hyperfocus. For me, it's late at night, so I've shifted my day around to take advantage of it. I am way more productive when everything around me is reasonably silent and non-distracting.
If you smoke pot, omit indicas when you need to get stuff done. Microdose some sativa (ie: enough for an effect, not enough for a buzz) and you'll be far more focused and not as likely to doze off or space out in the middle of your best coding runs.
If you drink tonnes of coffee, stop that, too. The problem is coffee tends to give you 10 minutes of fire power, and then a half-hour of brain fog. If you "need" the caffeine, choose black tea since it is milder and doesn't result in that inevitable coffee crash.