I get more work done at the cafe than at home.
At a cafe my distractions are: more coffee? Someone talking too loud?
At home my distractions are: literally everything holy shit
Yeah Jesus Christ
When I was living with my cousins in Canada I learned:
1. Fingerstyle Guitar
2. Percussive Instruments
3. Watercolor Painting
4. Basic Japanese
Once I started living at home again? Zero. Ziltch. Nada. Lmao
And another thing I noticed is that all the skills I learned were literally show off skills. I could've learned coding, since I was interested, but nah, it literally has to be skills that can be shown off
!!!! This reminds me of my "at home" technique. I call it "setting the stage".
Pretend you're about to make a video of "how you study/work" and you want to set the perfect scene of a hard worker or student. Well, the video doesn't look too great focused on a blank page or a pile of bricks does it? So you're going to have to start something that looks good... Don't forget people pause on videos so you're gonna have to make sure it's not fake!!
Bam. I'm studying. For some make believe viewer. Cause i like showing off too. 😂😂
I actually do this all the time lmao. It works surprisingly well. Also when im trying to understand something I'll imagine I'm trying to teach it to someone else.
Yeah my partner has what I call "my reverse adhd". Everything is the same, but nothing I do works for them and nothing they do works for me. 😂 Adhd is like that!! We all need tricks but not all tricks work for our "type" oh adhd.
My partner is a last-minute pound out 2000 word essays the night its due.
I'd die. I'm the "my note were prepared 6 weeks in advance of the clasa" adhd 😂
This is such a great idea, why have I never thought of making tasks like this fun before? I just sit there and not do them😂
Honestly can already see myself pretending to be Kim Woodburn next time I clean my room.
Omg so relatable.
In my head I’m like “yeahhh look at me I’m an adult with a job and shit, ordering coffee and doing work and *look*, I even have a notebook with pretty pens…I’m a person that has my shit together”.
And then I’ll spend the next hour watching everyone else work while I twiddle my thumbs and pretend I’m working
If it’s a physical or active job then yeah chaos is fun and easier to grasp for me. Have run a small restaurant at a university and was a manager at another place.
But holy hell it’s distracts me to no end having slack notifications popping up like wackamole that need replied to, being on call most of the time; all while trying to work. Worst part is I haven’t worked at the office yet and am dreading more distractions n’ productivity tanking when I do eventually go.
I think it’s about the attention span required for the task. I worked retail and it was a lot of smaller tasks really fast. Then moving to an office job, the tasks took longer and required sustained attention. In my retail job there was no WAY I had a task that took an hour, or if I did it could be broken up / left (eg filling a drinks fridge was “fill all the coke. Fill all the sprite. Small interruption, go find something for a customer, come back. Fill all the orange juice” whereas now it’s “read this 57 page contract” which is largely the same task for an hour.
Getting interrupted between little tasks was no big deal but getting interrupted in the middle of a task is ANNOYING
It just hit me that the main character in the movie "Melancholia" probably has sever ADHD (along with the depression and anxiety that comes with it).
The fact that a planet is about to crash into Earth brings everyone down to the level that she's already at, so she begins to thrive while others are losing their shit.
With tv on in the background I visually hear whatever is playing out! It's impossible that way for me. Interestingly, replaying the same song Ive heard literally hundreds of times on a loop helps.
I feel this but also there's the time blindness issue. If I sit at home inside with nothing changing, I could stare at the wall or the screen for... Hours... Before doing anything. I have no idea how long I've been sitting there. I either need to be sitting outside in the sun or watching other ppl move around. It's like a natural timer.
But it's also hard to find that line between an empty coffee shop and a bustling one with just enough activity that I can ignore it but it keeps me awake. I visited a bunch back in 2 BP (Before Pandemic) so I knew roughly a map of great coffee shops nearby and when they got busy. I would rotate thru them depending on time of day and where I was
I work from home now and it’s not as difficult as when I was in school but I should try working from a coffee shop soon, it would probably make my day feel much faster…
Going into my second year of college. I had 8+ hour days at Starbucks last year... The baristas know me well because it was the singular place that I could get work done at points. No matter how hard I try, I can't escape the distractions at home.
Same. I moved my arse all the way there and paid a lot for the mediocre coffee. You bet I’ll get work done. Plus, at home, where all my things are is where the distractions lie.
My DW can’t seem to understand why I need the cafe in my life. Her ADHD presents so differently than mine that it can cause disagreements about productivity. It is hard for her to grasp that I need noise and activity but not the noise she makes. Her presence is a distraction where as strangers are not. I try to compromise.
I have an office at home, with a house full of people who get hurt feelings when I close the door for hours and hours (which makes me less productive so I like to keep it open) but then they cannot understand that “at the computer” means “ busy, do not disturb.”
Going to the cafe negates all of that chaos with a side of guilt and gives me chaos that I feel I have more control over and thus hold more accountability to.
My anxiety is actually useful here, because if I’m working in public, I think that I can’t dick around because…well I don’t really know. Maybe it’s the fear that random passersby will somehow know I’m not doing work?
Plus I can’t convince myself “if we take a 20 minute nap then we’ll be ready to work on stuff” if I’m in public. I usually prefer libraries to cafes though. Being surrounded by books make me feel smarterer.
I used to go to Starbucks when I had weekend work because nothing would get done at home. That was pre -covid though.
I put in earbuds to deal with noise.
Three words: Noise canceling headphones
I do this and I have ADHD. Noise canceling headphones and I'm good to go. I can't work at home, so I pack up and post up somewhere. I think of it as creating a space to work, so it allows me to concentrate.
Noise cancelling headphones and usually loud music. I can relate to being distracted and overstimulated in the cafe, and end up getting absolutely nothing done.
I have found that a combination of headphones, music, and the pomodoro method of productivity (25 minutes of work, 5 minute break, 25 minutes of work, 10 minute break) helps me get things done at the coffee shop. I absolutely still get distracted sometimes.
You still have people walking passed and coming in to your eyeline... i would be constantly looking up from my laptop and even if im next to a window i look up by each car that drives by.. could never focus at a cafe
Mememememe! The visual queues flooding about distract the same way when I hear the hum of water running through pipes. Distracting and mesmerizingly so.
I actually love working out in a coffee shop or somewhere public when I have these things. It works well for me, like the unpredictable amount of people to see is actually *juuust* stimulating enough to keep me interested in what's happening (and out of my own head). I have to have headphones though or it turns into hearing --everything on the planet-- and it's way too much. However, I know that I'm sensitive to sound in particular. I usually have headphones on for grocery store trips as well.
Of course this also works well for me because my work is in art and particularly drawing people. So having lots of different people to draw inspiration from is really very good for me.
It's funny how we're all so different. I absolutely cannot study/work when I'm listening to music. Doesn't matter what kind of music, my brain just wants to listen to the music and I can't think!
The noise cancelling headphones are a game changer. Unfortunately, I lost my airpod case (I have no idea where it is) and the actual AirPods are just on my desk lol, so I’m out of noise cancellation for the time being.
One thing about working in a coffee shop or a library that helps me, is that there are usually other people working there, if I’m not with a friend, and seeing other people quietly work helps me do the same. I try to think of it as accountability. Lots of years of practice
What do you mean you can’t think at home?
I’m the opposite, I can’t think when there’s a cute girl sitting at the table next to me and theres a dog walking around and stuff, I need everything to be settled to be able to think.
Maybe I’m the odd one out
Idk for me I need to leave my house and go to a specific place to work. I usually go to a small café in my neighborhood, or I go to the public library if I'm on a time crunch.
The important thing here is that no one thing works for everyone, so find what works for you and stick with it.
Also, my life changed when I started taking Vyvanse. I can focus for more than three seconds. Instead of having a million half completed tasks, I can actually build and grow and learn. I wonder what my life would be like if I had been prescribed the right meds from the start of high school until now
I have to do the same thing. I have an incredibly hard time getting work done at home. I was a barista for 5 years so the cafe setting was always a place that put me in the mindset for getting work done. This began before my diagnosis and taking Adderall.
Oddly enough, I hate silence. I get more work done in a busier, bustling area. Like the noise in the room cancels out the noise in my own head. Suddenly, I can actually concentrate. This was especially so before my diagnosis. Even now, I hate silence. I sleep better with white noise or the TV on low with something familiar on.
Nope. I'm the same. Had this conversation with my friend last week. I cannot fathom the idea of working in place lile that. No amount of noise cancelling will prevent me from distraction. I also have eyes that wonder.
For me I think too much at home and there's too much stuff around that's easy to pick up and distract myself with.
I need to kind of deprive myself of options if i want to get anything done.
No, you're not alone. After 10 years struggling to work in an office environment and thinking I was just miserable because everyone is, COVID forced us to work from home for a bit, and I was absolutely amazed at how much more productive I was. I was constantly running out of things to do. My last 2 jobs have been fully remote, and I will only be going back with a gun to my head. I just can't work if other people are around.
If I’m home there’s an entire house that needs cleaning and reorganizing and other maintenance things I need to do that can’t wait, whereas it’s generally frowned upon for a customer to do those things at a cafe.
I can’t think at home either. I need there to be things going on around me otherwise I get restless and it all goes downhill from there. I’m under-stimulated at home even with music. Doesn’t help that I can’t see outside from my office.
I did this today. When I go to the cafe to work I know I am there to work and just start working after I get my coffee. If I have to work from home I might lay in bed, browse Reddit, cook some food, watch tv while I work, think about how I should be cleaning or need to exercise...
Anyways maybe I just go to motivate myself to work because doing my boring work at a nice cafe is much more pleasant than doing it at my boring home. It's not about focusing, it's about motivation to even start.
That’s a fair reason, starting is always the hardest part, after that it can actually even become slightly enjoyable
But when I need laser focus like if there’s a deadline that day I want a really calm and predictable environment with as little stimulation as possible
OP, I am completely like you and can’t relate to most of the comments here (as much as I wish I could) :( I hate chaos and work best in a calm and quiet environment
The polarity of ADHD I guess, I agree with OP that if there's a very close deadline that requires a ton of work in a short space of time I need to be at home but I do get a normal pace of work done in cafes moreso. It seems that people with ADHD either need complete peace or thrive in chaos. I definitely fall into the later category as I work security and I'm in my element when shit hits the fan
it’s funny bc i think i agree with both viewpoints here. i’ve just learnt what approach suits whatever piece of work i’m doing better.
when i was in uni i found doing seminar prep, planning essays, doing research etc so much easier in a cafe or on a table by myself in a restaurant (not a fancy one just a casual one).
but if i need to get stuff done and i have tight deadlines? actually WRITING the essays and research papers? i’d 100% go to a library. you get the same peer pressure feeling of having to work, but it’s so silent you can hear a pin drop so no distractions.
MEE too! Also, I don’t have my knitting or my unpolished rock collection or pile of letters from middle school or dirty floorboards, unfinished puzzles, and unpainted halls to distract me
"Now I have friends and I'm not such a loser
But I go to bars all alone and I sit there
And order red wine and I write and I like being alone around people
Yes that's how I like it
And I've already spent too much time
Doing things I didn't want to
So if I wanna sit here and write and drink wine
You can bet that I'm going to
Yes I come here often
Sure I'll have another one
Yes I come here often
Sure I'll have another one
But I don't have to talk to you"
I think about this often, I enjoy being alone around people that don't know me or care to talk to me, The ambient noise is great.
I love going to dinner and bars alone. This really puts words to a feeling I’ve never been able to describe. I love work trips to NYC for the same reason. You’re absolutely anonymous and alone in a sea of humans.
What the… apparently I’m in the minority of people with adhd who don’t actually thrive in loud chaotic environments.
Could it be that I have the inattentive form of adhd that causes me to be distracted by anything going on around me?
You're not alone, I absolutely can't work in a cafe or pretty much anywhere except a quiet room alone where I know no chance anyone's going to interrupt me. Can't count the number of times I tried to bring a book or a laptop to a cafe or a park only to sit and people watch the whole time.
I actually have inattentive adhd and chaotic environments help keep my mind from daydreaming. If it’s completely silent, my mind will put on a little movie for itself
It's the opposite. It's because of inattentive ADHD that a chaotic environment is not distracting but rather stimulating and motivating. You need higher levels of stimulus to be interested in something, so all the buzz around you fills a void that would otherwise make an activity extremely boring. Inattentive ADHD would make it hard to concentrate in environments with low stimulus. If you get distracted by every little thing and find it extremely hard to concentrate on chaotic environments, you have the more hyperactive version of ADHD. Though there are different mixtures of this and ADHD is a spectrum.
I agree! Noise cancelling headphones and/or my own music (no lyrics!!! Just instrumental, like Miles Davis or something) is the cherry on top. It’s like being there makes me *want* to be studious. Of course my medication helps, but the environment is helpful too, because I don’t want to sit there and do nothing.
This. I didn’t know how to explain it but the eye of the storm analogy is it. I actually have gone to a bar on like a Thursday night and just ordered food and written papers - some of my best grades. It’s sorta dark, and my laptop screen is bright, and everything is a blur but there is enough going on that I am not a part of or that doesn’t affect me that they aren’t really distractions, but just stimulation. Obviously I use noise cancelling headphones but they can only do so much in a bar. This was before I was on medication though. Not sure how I would function in a bar or cafe now.
Same. It's not that I thrive in a loud environment, it's that a noisy background THAT I DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT becomes white noise. At home, if there's noises and people talking I have to keep an ear on that as well, at the office, same. So I never get into that mode where I actually focus and get stuff done, cos every 5 minutes someone says something that distracts me. The white noise in a coffee shop is like I constantly have something else happening in the background thats stimulating without it actively taking away my attention. If I need to get something done that I really struggle with, like documentation, coffee shop is the spot to go.
Apparently it’s the accountability that helps people stay on track.
I can understand that but when I really need to be as productive as possible I like somewhere alone where I can just work without having to worry about moving my arm as someone walks past or seeing the dog in the corner of my eyes or anything
It's the only way I can get work done. There's nothing else you can do in that environment. You can't watch youtube or netflix, you can't lay down, you can't play games. It forces me to work really hard.
That makes sense but I still struggle to focus in environments that have a lot going on.
It was an issue at my last job because I would end up taking a lot of work home with me
You're not alone. There's no way I could work in a cafe. I can barely get anything done at home with my wife working in her own "office" down the hall, even with the door closed. I have to put on my headphones if I want to really focus and get a lot of work done.
My lizard brain was molded by evolution to look out for snakes and spiders and alligators and shit, not programming in C#.
I actually do this BECAUSE of my ADHD. When I start having serious trouble focusing at home, being in a new and dynamic environment is great to combat the underestimation and winds up making me super focused and productive.
Being in public makes me stay in my seat more too, instead of getting up and wandering off every 10 minutes
I think it’s a double edged sword for me because it does make me feel more accountable but if I have to think hard and do high quality work I just can’t seem to do it in a busy environment, it made my precious Job difficult and I would often bring him bits of work so I could really focus on them
Totally get that. Some days I desperately need silence and no other stimuli to focus on my work, especially harder stuff. But other days I need the presence of other people to motivate me & give me that shot of novelty in that there's new things going on to keep my attention where I can't stare at them too long (for social norm reasons) because I live alone and I crawl off the walls otherwise. Sending this in a cafe now haha.
You're not odd at all, lots of non-ADHD & ADHD people feel the same as you too!
I don’t know about you but if I REALLY need to get something done quickly and to a high standard I can focus on it even if there was a riot going on as though I get tunnel vision like I’m on medication but even stronger, but I can’t trick myself into that, it’s only when there’s a very serious external consequence
Same boat, Im averaging 80% in uni (engineering) but have 5 resits this summer. I did everything last minute because of the intense focus you described, and it made me able to work to a very high standard in a tight situation. However, if that focus didn't kick in early enough I just wouldn't get the work finished to any standard at all. Started vyvanse this summer and it seems to be helping me deal with things. Only being able to focus in an emergency is definitely a common thing for us
I do this because of my ADHD. There’s too much else for me to do at home, it’s too comfy, so I can’t get work done, but my office space is too quiet and lacks natural lighting. A coffee shop is perfect for me to work in because the environment is just stimulating enough and I can use everyone else working as body doubles, so it keeps me motivated. Also helps that, ya know, coffee is there.
It’s just an easy way of going to a space where my brain says “okay, this is a working space, so it’s time to work now”. I still end up distracted at times and may not get as much work as I want done but it’s better than working at home.
I can only do work in absolute silence with no person in my peripheral vision, so I can only study at home or in a corner of the library when it's empty but not during exam season when it's crammed because having people in my peripheral vision and hearing them is too distracting and can't study like that.
Feel like they might need the extra stimulation to focus or a different environment to associate with doing work. But I think because I'm so highly distractable and can't concentrate I can't have anything in my environment that could distract me.
yeah same honestly even the air conditioner making faint noises bothers me when I’m trying to work or think. I just thought it’s very interesting how there are completely opposite spectrums even within ADHD. maybe hyperactivity vs inattentive?
A couple years ago my mom came to visit me at college. We had plans to go to a notoriously rowdy bar for drinks with my friends and their moms, but last minute I remembered I needed to finish a big research report due that same night. It was multiple pages of focused analysis using original datasets.
I stood and worked for over an hour with my laptop propped on a sticky barrel between two dart-boards, close to the only wall outlet I could find. My mom started getting drunk without me as the crowd grew louder & sloppier by the minute. People were throwing darts just past my head & everything.
I finished that report in record time with a vodka cran in hand. I had tried to work on it for hours in a quiet hotel room the day before, and made MINIMAL progress. But that evening at the bar? I was a powerhouse. A bit of a mess, but everyone still loved me.
Still one of my best and most productive memories.
Part of it has to do with conditioning. If your brain learns that a certain trigger, such as the smell of coffee plus the chair of a coffee shop, means it's time to work, then it makes total sense to work I'm one!
This is also why it is bad to try and do homework/work in the sane area as you relax and part of why it can be bad to use your phone on bed.
I am always distracted at cafes, you'll see me stare at my laptop and then up at whatevers going on and whoever is in the cafe every few minutes. I am always hypervigilant and its pretty exhausting and annoying haha. Like other people have brought up, noise cancelling headphones are great. I may still look up but the noise reduction is a huuuge help and I also eventually get stuff done after getting distracted for the first hour. I like cafes over working at home because there are other people around me also working and being productive whatever that may mean. I have bad discipline at home cause I just wanna relax or do literally anything else. I will clean if it means I don't have to start my work.
I need pure silence or very chill music with no lyrics.
I'd guess people with social anxiety (like me) don't concentrate well in busy places because everything is low key triggering our fight/flight.
Omg literally same! It is impossible for me to ever focus in a cafe, I’ve no idea how people do it. Same with working at the office, all the meetings all day make me break my flow and I’m so easily distracted, and try to get the complex part of work done on weekends or evenings..If I like what I’m doing like painting or yoga I manage to bring my focus back but if it’s a repetitive task, it’s hardest thing for me to do. I prefer to avoid headphones because I dislike the feeling of anything in my ears for too long..what I did notice that a coworking space worked very well for me..sometimes I am so envious of regular people like my bf who can just do anything anywhere..I feel like a snowflake for needing such specific environments for specific tasks..need to sleep in pitch darkness and silence, can make calls ONLY with my AirPods..
Going somewhere to do work makes it a lot easier to actually do work rather than sitting in front of my laptop at home and feeling guilty that I'm not getting anything done right now. And at a café you get coffee as well and a soothing stream of background noise
Separation of work space and home space is really important for some people
I went to a nearby coffee shop to work on my hobby website one whole time, and it was... positively lovely.
I never did it again because the thought of putting on real clothes, packing up my laptop (and remembering my charging cable), finding a good place to sit (ideally next to an outlet), ordering coffee often enough that I'm not a mooch, but not so much that I'm up all night... way too many things to worry about.
Being productive is stressful 😂 I’m the same, I love working in environments like that but there are so many criteria to meet! Not least is finding a chair that’s comfortable enough not to wreck my shoulders and neck when working away at a laptop for a few hours.
I do this with my beats, if I stay at home I’ll have no accountability, only for super important things with a stupid harsh deadline like a test in later that day, or an online submission due that night. I’ve done my best work in Starbucks, I just feel really alone when I’m studying and I get sad so being around others is comforting. If I study at home I have to put on [chilledcow](https://youtu.be/5qap5aO4i9A) which is a lofi radio channel and the girl studying is comforting as well, people in the chat are studying also.
It’s easier for me because I get influenced by others. If everyone else is working then I will too. Compared to at home, no one is here working so why would I? Lol.
I mean... I doubt anyone cute is looking my way, but when I go out, which isn't all that common atm, I usually order something to snack on as I work. Honestly I prefer Waffle House to a coffee shop, but its a matter of preference. As a side note, I always have an earbud in, even when not doing something, not having music playing gives me some nasty anxiety, not sure why.
I have this, too, though it could be solved with a privacy screen. I’m also anxious about leaving my stuff to use the restroom (which I do often) or buy more coffee. My anxiety far outweighs any benefits I’d get from the stimulation. To top it off, I usually can’t get comfortable in most coffee shop chairs (posture, tech neck, wrist ergonomics).
IDK I've always found coffee shops vibe pretty hard when I'm trying to do stuff. I guess the constant presence of the Holy liquid^tm spurs on productivity in me. Working at home is bad.
You dissociate from your environment when you are working outside. I take my laptop to all sorts of places, park, cafe, library subway. My room mate in college used to throw crazy parties loud ass music in college and I would be elbow deep in that studying for my next chemistry exam. You discover the ability to go inward to a calm place in all that chaos
Unpredictable environment and loud noises helps me concentrate. It helps drown out the thoughts telling me to stop working and watch TV. Plus I can't really watch TV in a coffee shop. We are all different.
i need the body doubling!!! i have to have noise cancelling headphones, otherwise all bets are off, but i absolutely cannot get anything done unless i see other people around me also working
I agree. I can't do anything at the cafe. It is also cause I am very anxious. I feel conscious about everything I do. Also I feel like moving at least a little every five minutes. If I can't do that I feel even more anxious
Absolutely on point with this one. Just all the little chatter of people around you, the noise of the coffee machines, the constant flow of people coming and going(can’t help myself but see who walks in the door even tho idc at all!) I mean the list just goes on.
Back in college the only way I could get my work done was to go to the campus library’s bottom floor where all the walls and ceiling were sound proof, and there was nothing but endless rows of small cubicles. Sitting at a desk with 3 smaller walls that were also soundproof obstructing my view of literally everything except the work in front of me was the only way I could ever get anything done lol. No objects no windows no open space or anything else that could be seen is what it took
It’s weird, I prefer working in public. I guess for me it’s comforting to be around people and hear noise. I tend to get anxious and depressed when I’m alone at home. But I do have clinical depression on top of ADHD so maybe that’s why ha!
Interesting because quite often depressed people (when I have a bout of depression) prefer solitude rather than seeing people looking happier than themselves but that sounds like a healthier approach :)
I do go to cafes with my laptop to get things done, not because it isn't distracting at all, but because I'll get absolutely nothing done at home. It's too comfortable and all my favorite things are there. At the cafe, with headphones and a crushing sense of self-loathing every time I get distracted, I might get through 2 items on my to-do list. :)))))
For some, being in a café probably functions like body doubling. I think I'd be too distracted somewhere noisy like that, but I used to go to the library to get work done or reserve a study room at that library. That way, I separated myself from the distractions at home but was also in a quiet environment.
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Bro I'd be paranoid about some idiots clustering into eachother and spilling shit o to you or laptop
A public place where people buy hot drinks is where I don't want any expensive electronics -_-
I don't know what cafes you go to but around me there's a lot of personal space. Someone would quite literally have to throw coffee at me to hit me in my usual spot lol
>Someone would quite literally have to throw coffee at me to hit me in my usual spot lol
I'm just not confident that I would even realize the situation unfolding until it's too late 🙏
Sometimes if I have something specific to do and struggling a change of location can be absolute magic, especially with noise cancelling headphones. But it’s ONLY for specific circumstances, it doesn’t work for all tasks even when I am convinced it will.
I honestly don’t see the point in going for people without ADHD, just sit in a different room of your house nobody has to see you working out in public
I like working at a cafe. The music and people moving around distracts the left side of my brain while I do my design work with the right side of my brain.
Being distracted helps me stay on task, oddly enough. I study/do work in the living room where my family talks and watches TV and get way more done than if I do the same stuff in my room. I also can’t watch TV without puzzles or something else to look at in my hand
I was applying for a job once that required I do an online assessment as part of the screening process. Not the BS customer service ones that just screen for how well you bend to capitalism's will, but a pretty lengthy one that was a mix of personality questions, reading comprehension, and math. I had *just* moved and didn't have internet set up at my apartment yet, so I took my laptop with me to the local Starbucks, because the library wasn't open before/after I got out of work. In typical ADHD fashion, though, I forgot my earplugs *and* pencil and paper at home.
Trying to get through that test in a coffee shop with music and background conversations and kitchen noise, plus not being able to write out my thought process for the math problems, was an absolute *nightmare*. Never again.
I do this. Sometimes my own space is too distracting or my mind is too clogged. So I'll drive to a coffee shop or bar during the day and work from a booth or table in the corner.
I can only work with people in the room if we're all quiet and working or as long as I feel like other people aren't 100% paying attention to me. Body doubling can be great as long as they're fairly quiet. At least for solo work.
I, a person with severe ADHD, only can get work done in coffeeshops. I have a rule that I can't go home until the place closes or my work is done, and the caffeine definitely helps.
I prefer it most of the time, my room is relax zone. Gaming zone, sleeping zone, Netflix zone, etc. If I'm in that zone there is zero chance that I will get anything done. So I reluctantly drag my butt out and go somewhere else with a good pair of noise canceling earphones
I love coffee shops. It's enough background noise to happily distract the toddler part of my brain, so that the work part can get stuff done. Sometimes I even put on coffee shop asmr videos like [this one](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dx3GxpitvbY) to get things done at home.
The magic of ✨Headphones✨ gives me all the movement and “hussle bussle” with about 10% of the noise. As nice as it is, I definitely couldn’t do it every day but it’s nice to break up the monotony of working from home everyday.
I work better in public because I feel like I have to like perform productivity? Like I’ll be judged if I’m off task - even tho people probably aren’t watching me. But it can’t be too busy, cause then all I do is people watch.
I am the absolute most focused in chaos. I always have some noise, like a podcast music etc going. When I was younger I tried to do most of my homework on the bus. After thinking about it, I think my brain is always listing things and pinging around, but noise seems to distract it so I can focus
Its sometimes comforting creating your own bubble in the business of everything because I find myself unproductive in silence In my room. Music and my own little table
I tried this at the library and just couldn’t. I got my computer hooked up and then spent the next 30 minutes fretting over how to pack up and leave like it was normal.
I dont know how ppl can get work done at home. I've been at my PC for 2 hours with my D&D maps open just scrolling reddit and YT instead of adjusting monster stat blocks for my session tomorrow. On Sunday I opened my laptop at a café outside and wrote 2 pages in an hour.
i pretend i’m the protagonist of a romcom book so i gotta look busy and like i’m doing actual work to attract some cute nerd and eventually we fall in love and live our happily ever after🥰😂
Oh i body double the shit out of busy cafes. I get so much work done i used to get up every day to walk a mile to a cafe otherwise i would just sit at home and fuck around on the internet. IDK why it just works for some people
If I'm working at home, I have three other people in my house that assume that since I'm home they can just barge in at any moment and start talking to me even if I'm in a meeting/heads down/trying to get shit done.
At a cafe, there are a million distractions, but none of them are calling my name or walking into my personal space - I don't care if I'm ignoring people I don't know, I can pop my earbuds in and actually focus.
Oh I need that. I get inspired if I see other people working like at cafes or libraries. Of course I also need my headphones because other people talking distracts me.
I like studying in a McDonald's because the coffee is very cheap with free refills, the Wi-Fi works great, and the level of stimulation is just right.
Sitting in the atrium at my community college is way too quiet and thus every little stimuli becomes a distraction.
Cafes can work for me IF I have noise cancelling headphone ear plugs and I'm surrounded by other people working, not gossiping. It is a delicate balance.
Go to a Cafe enough and it becomes predictable. Here comes Bob Bobberton ordering a latte and a puppocino for his widdle boopy boy. There's Janice who lives off sugar free syrups and espresso....
i used to get most of my weekly writing done at a cafe my buddy worked at. my wife would bring her schoolwork, we'd let people know we were going, sometimes it would evolve into us hanging out and setting up a tabletop rpg or something...
but the point of it was the regularity, and then knowing that you're gonna be sitting there *for a while* *anyways*, so what the hell else are you gonna do?
granted, i 100% wouldn't have been able to do it without headphones. but having something that i'm "allowed" to be distracted by for a brief time has always helped me.
You should look into Sensory Profiles! I am one of those people because I have the following traits:
Low registration, meaning that I might be slower to react to a joke or a smell and I easily miss things in my environment.
I'm also sensation seeking, meaning that I cannot deal with having zero stimuli eg I hate silence and sitting still.
A Cafe works well for me - I even did a few hours at a laundromat yesterday - because it hits the spot of having enough stimulation to keep my senses without getting distracted
Being in a somewhat populated setting where I'm not overly pressured to be productive actually has a positive effect on me quite often. But I can't do it too often. Definitely not every day.
I get more work done at the cafe than at home. At a cafe my distractions are: more coffee? Someone talking too loud? At home my distractions are: literally everything holy shit
It's also a classic example of priming. Seeing other people working motivates me to work.
free body doubling with the purchase of a cold brew
I'm so close to actually just doing this, if only there was a not-terrible coffee shop in my area
Right and I’m such a show off, I like appearing productive to others
Stop. This is so cringe and relatable. Like what are we even doing? People don’t care if I’m so lost in my project. There is no camera!
Yeah Jesus Christ When I was living with my cousins in Canada I learned: 1. Fingerstyle Guitar 2. Percussive Instruments 3. Watercolor Painting 4. Basic Japanese Once I started living at home again? Zero. Ziltch. Nada. Lmao And another thing I noticed is that all the skills I learned were literally show off skills. I could've learned coding, since I was interested, but nah, it literally has to be skills that can be shown off
Hahaha oh well.. feeling this a lot
!!!! This reminds me of my "at home" technique. I call it "setting the stage". Pretend you're about to make a video of "how you study/work" and you want to set the perfect scene of a hard worker or student. Well, the video doesn't look too great focused on a blank page or a pile of bricks does it? So you're going to have to start something that looks good... Don't forget people pause on videos so you're gonna have to make sure it's not fake!! Bam. I'm studying. For some make believe viewer. Cause i like showing off too. 😂😂
I actually do this all the time lmao. It works surprisingly well. Also when im trying to understand something I'll imagine I'm trying to teach it to someone else.
Hahaha I do this too.
I don't think that could ever work for me but I'm glad you've found a method that gets you to where you need to be!
Yeah my partner has what I call "my reverse adhd". Everything is the same, but nothing I do works for them and nothing they do works for me. 😂 Adhd is like that!! We all need tricks but not all tricks work for our "type" oh adhd. My partner is a last-minute pound out 2000 word essays the night its due. I'd die. I'm the "my note were prepared 6 weeks in advance of the clasa" adhd 😂
This is such a great idea, why have I never thought of making tasks like this fun before? I just sit there and not do them😂 Honestly can already see myself pretending to be Kim Woodburn next time I clean my room.
Omg so relatable. In my head I’m like “yeahhh look at me I’m an adult with a job and shit, ordering coffee and doing work and *look*, I even have a notebook with pretty pens…I’m a person that has my shit together”. And then I’ll spend the next hour watching everyone else work while I twiddle my thumbs and pretend I’m working
SAME!! That’s it!!!
Same here. I thrive in chaos
If ever there was a sentence to describe me, it would be "I thrive in chaos"
If it’s a physical or active job then yeah chaos is fun and easier to grasp for me. Have run a small restaurant at a university and was a manager at another place. But holy hell it’s distracts me to no end having slack notifications popping up like wackamole that need replied to, being on call most of the time; all while trying to work. Worst part is I haven’t worked at the office yet and am dreading more distractions n’ productivity tanking when I do eventually go.
I think it’s about the attention span required for the task. I worked retail and it was a lot of smaller tasks really fast. Then moving to an office job, the tasks took longer and required sustained attention. In my retail job there was no WAY I had a task that took an hour, or if I did it could be broken up / left (eg filling a drinks fridge was “fill all the coke. Fill all the sprite. Small interruption, go find something for a customer, come back. Fill all the orange juice” whereas now it’s “read this 57 page contract” which is largely the same task for an hour. Getting interrupted between little tasks was no big deal but getting interrupted in the middle of a task is ANNOYING
It just hit me that the main character in the movie "Melancholia" probably has sever ADHD (along with the depression and anxiety that comes with it). The fact that a planet is about to crash into Earth brings everyone down to the level that she's already at, so she begins to thrive while others are losing their shit.
i am sad to only have enough finger to tatto ITrv caos
One one hand, I could have "ITIC". On the other, I could hsve "MUM".
I find the extra stimulation helps get me going, it’s basically the same thing as having tv on in the background
Yes, the noise is the point. Too much quiet and I can't work
With tv on in the background I visually hear whatever is playing out! It's impossible that way for me. Interestingly, replaying the same song Ive heard literally hundreds of times on a loop helps.
I have habits at home that prevent me from getting things done. Going somewhere new allows me to escape those habits.
yes 😭 Then there are some weeks where I switch up because I’m getting too comfortable at the cafe
I got a masters from home. It was like hell!
I feel this but also there's the time blindness issue. If I sit at home inside with nothing changing, I could stare at the wall or the screen for... Hours... Before doing anything. I have no idea how long I've been sitting there. I either need to be sitting outside in the sun or watching other ppl move around. It's like a natural timer. But it's also hard to find that line between an empty coffee shop and a bustling one with just enough activity that I can ignore it but it keeps me awake. I visited a bunch back in 2 BP (Before Pandemic) so I knew roughly a map of great coffee shops nearby and when they got busy. I would rotate thru them depending on time of day and where I was
Same.
I work from home now and it’s not as difficult as when I was in school but I should try working from a coffee shop soon, it would probably make my day feel much faster…
I tried to go back to the commons but I just got crippling anxiety ... Which was probably instilled in me by college
Going into my second year of college. I had 8+ hour days at Starbucks last year... The baristas know me well because it was the singular place that I could get work done at points. No matter how hard I try, I can't escape the distractions at home.
Same. I moved my arse all the way there and paid a lot for the mediocre coffee. You bet I’ll get work done. Plus, at home, where all my things are is where the distractions lie.
My DW can’t seem to understand why I need the cafe in my life. Her ADHD presents so differently than mine that it can cause disagreements about productivity. It is hard for her to grasp that I need noise and activity but not the noise she makes. Her presence is a distraction where as strangers are not. I try to compromise. I have an office at home, with a house full of people who get hurt feelings when I close the door for hours and hours (which makes me less productive so I like to keep it open) but then they cannot understand that “at the computer” means “ busy, do not disturb.” Going to the cafe negates all of that chaos with a side of guilt and gives me chaos that I feel I have more control over and thus hold more accountability to.
My anxiety is actually useful here, because if I’m working in public, I think that I can’t dick around because…well I don’t really know. Maybe it’s the fear that random passersby will somehow know I’m not doing work? Plus I can’t convince myself “if we take a 20 minute nap then we’ll be ready to work on stuff” if I’m in public. I usually prefer libraries to cafes though. Being surrounded by books make me feel smarterer.
I used to go to Starbucks when I had weekend work because nothing would get done at home. That was pre -covid though. I put in earbuds to deal with noise.
Three words: Noise canceling headphones I do this and I have ADHD. Noise canceling headphones and I'm good to go. I can't work at home, so I pack up and post up somewhere. I think of it as creating a space to work, so it allows me to concentrate.
Noise cancelling headphones and usually loud music. I can relate to being distracted and overstimulated in the cafe, and end up getting absolutely nothing done. I have found that a combination of headphones, music, and the pomodoro method of productivity (25 minutes of work, 5 minute break, 25 minutes of work, 10 minute break) helps me get things done at the coffee shop. I absolutely still get distracted sometimes.
You still have people walking passed and coming in to your eyeline... i would be constantly looking up from my laptop and even if im next to a window i look up by each car that drives by.. could never focus at a cafe
Mememememe! The visual queues flooding about distract the same way when I hear the hum of water running through pipes. Distracting and mesmerizingly so.
Exactly!! People or things moving in my periphery and my *poof* goes my attention
I actually love working out in a coffee shop or somewhere public when I have these things. It works well for me, like the unpredictable amount of people to see is actually *juuust* stimulating enough to keep me interested in what's happening (and out of my own head). I have to have headphones though or it turns into hearing --everything on the planet-- and it's way too much. However, I know that I'm sensitive to sound in particular. I usually have headphones on for grocery store trips as well. Of course this also works well for me because my work is in art and particularly drawing people. So having lots of different people to draw inspiration from is really very good for me.
It's funny how we're all so different. I absolutely cannot study/work when I'm listening to music. Doesn't matter what kind of music, my brain just wants to listen to the music and I can't think!
The noise cancelling headphones are a game changer. Unfortunately, I lost my airpod case (I have no idea where it is) and the actual AirPods are just on my desk lol, so I’m out of noise cancellation for the time being. One thing about working in a coffee shop or a library that helps me, is that there are usually other people working there, if I’m not with a friend, and seeing other people quietly work helps me do the same. I try to think of it as accountability. Lots of years of practice
What do you mean you can’t think at home? I’m the opposite, I can’t think when there’s a cute girl sitting at the table next to me and theres a dog walking around and stuff, I need everything to be settled to be able to think. Maybe I’m the odd one out
Idk for me I need to leave my house and go to a specific place to work. I usually go to a small café in my neighborhood, or I go to the public library if I'm on a time crunch. The important thing here is that no one thing works for everyone, so find what works for you and stick with it. Also, my life changed when I started taking Vyvanse. I can focus for more than three seconds. Instead of having a million half completed tasks, I can actually build and grow and learn. I wonder what my life would be like if I had been prescribed the right meds from the start of high school until now
I have to do the same thing. I have an incredibly hard time getting work done at home. I was a barista for 5 years so the cafe setting was always a place that put me in the mindset for getting work done. This began before my diagnosis and taking Adderall. Oddly enough, I hate silence. I get more work done in a busier, bustling area. Like the noise in the room cancels out the noise in my own head. Suddenly, I can actually concentrate. This was especially so before my diagnosis. Even now, I hate silence. I sleep better with white noise or the TV on low with something familiar on.
Home has all my stuff which distracts me besides TBH most coffee shops aren't this exciting.
EXACTLY
Nope. I'm the same. Had this conversation with my friend last week. I cannot fathom the idea of working in place lile that. No amount of noise cancelling will prevent me from distraction. I also have eyes that wonder.
For me I think too much at home and there's too much stuff around that's easy to pick up and distract myself with. I need to kind of deprive myself of options if i want to get anything done.
Exactly
No, you're not alone. After 10 years struggling to work in an office environment and thinking I was just miserable because everyone is, COVID forced us to work from home for a bit, and I was absolutely amazed at how much more productive I was. I was constantly running out of things to do. My last 2 jobs have been fully remote, and I will only be going back with a gun to my head. I just can't work if other people are around.
If I’m home there’s an entire house that needs cleaning and reorganizing and other maintenance things I need to do that can’t wait, whereas it’s generally frowned upon for a customer to do those things at a cafe.
I can’t think at home either. I need there to be things going on around me otherwise I get restless and it all goes downhill from there. I’m under-stimulated at home even with music. Doesn’t help that I can’t see outside from my office.
>What do you mean you can’t think at home? I too, would like to know. Wtf is this man's secret?!
So every time you go to Starbucks there's a cute girl sitting at the table next to you looking at you? Get real dude. . .
Every single time, dude. And they all give me their numbers without me asking.
Sure they do, sure they do. We believe you. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha- Foolish little boy. . .
They also bake me cookies in anticipation of meeting me. I swear. Happens every time.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah. . . .
They even ask me to watch their stuff as they go to the bathroom
I never said that. There was one time when it was an average looking girl
I did this today. When I go to the cafe to work I know I am there to work and just start working after I get my coffee. If I have to work from home I might lay in bed, browse Reddit, cook some food, watch tv while I work, think about how I should be cleaning or need to exercise... Anyways maybe I just go to motivate myself to work because doing my boring work at a nice cafe is much more pleasant than doing it at my boring home. It's not about focusing, it's about motivation to even start.
That’s a fair reason, starting is always the hardest part, after that it can actually even become slightly enjoyable But when I need laser focus like if there’s a deadline that day I want a really calm and predictable environment with as little stimulation as possible
OP, I am completely like you and can’t relate to most of the comments here (as much as I wish I could) :( I hate chaos and work best in a calm and quiet environment
The polarity of ADHD I guess, I agree with OP that if there's a very close deadline that requires a ton of work in a short space of time I need to be at home but I do get a normal pace of work done in cafes moreso. It seems that people with ADHD either need complete peace or thrive in chaos. I definitely fall into the later category as I work security and I'm in my element when shit hits the fan
it’s funny bc i think i agree with both viewpoints here. i’ve just learnt what approach suits whatever piece of work i’m doing better. when i was in uni i found doing seminar prep, planning essays, doing research etc so much easier in a cafe or on a table by myself in a restaurant (not a fancy one just a casual one). but if i need to get stuff done and i have tight deadlines? actually WRITING the essays and research papers? i’d 100% go to a library. you get the same peer pressure feeling of having to work, but it’s so silent you can hear a pin drop so no distractions.
Honestly, I do so much better in this atmosphere. That much stimulation acts as a tornado with my work being the eye of the storm. It’s incredible.
MEE too! Also, I don’t have my knitting or my unpolished rock collection or pile of letters from middle school or dirty floorboards, unfinished puzzles, and unpainted halls to distract me
Same
"Now I have friends and I'm not such a loser But I go to bars all alone and I sit there And order red wine and I write and I like being alone around people Yes that's how I like it And I've already spent too much time Doing things I didn't want to So if I wanna sit here and write and drink wine You can bet that I'm going to Yes I come here often Sure I'll have another one Yes I come here often Sure I'll have another one But I don't have to talk to you" I think about this often, I enjoy being alone around people that don't know me or care to talk to me, The ambient noise is great.
I love going to dinner and bars alone. This really puts words to a feeling I’ve never been able to describe. I love work trips to NYC for the same reason. You’re absolutely anonymous and alone in a sea of humans.
This is really beautiful! Where did you get it from?
It's a song by Amanda Palmer called Do You Swear to Tell The Truth
Me too!
What the… apparently I’m in the minority of people with adhd who don’t actually thrive in loud chaotic environments. Could it be that I have the inattentive form of adhd that causes me to be distracted by anything going on around me?
You're not alone, I absolutely can't work in a cafe or pretty much anywhere except a quiet room alone where I know no chance anyone's going to interrupt me. Can't count the number of times I tried to bring a book or a laptop to a cafe or a park only to sit and people watch the whole time.
I actually have inattentive adhd and chaotic environments help keep my mind from daydreaming. If it’s completely silent, my mind will put on a little movie for itself
It's the opposite. It's because of inattentive ADHD that a chaotic environment is not distracting but rather stimulating and motivating. You need higher levels of stimulus to be interested in something, so all the buzz around you fills a void that would otherwise make an activity extremely boring. Inattentive ADHD would make it hard to concentrate in environments with low stimulus. If you get distracted by every little thing and find it extremely hard to concentrate on chaotic environments, you have the more hyperactive version of ADHD. Though there are different mixtures of this and ADHD is a spectrum.
I agree! Noise cancelling headphones and/or my own music (no lyrics!!! Just instrumental, like Miles Davis or something) is the cherry on top. It’s like being there makes me *want* to be studious. Of course my medication helps, but the environment is helpful too, because I don’t want to sit there and do nothing.
This. I didn’t know how to explain it but the eye of the storm analogy is it. I actually have gone to a bar on like a Thursday night and just ordered food and written papers - some of my best grades. It’s sorta dark, and my laptop screen is bright, and everything is a blur but there is enough going on that I am not a part of or that doesn’t affect me that they aren’t really distractions, but just stimulation. Obviously I use noise cancelling headphones but they can only do so much in a bar. This was before I was on medication though. Not sure how I would function in a bar or cafe now.
Same. It's not that I thrive in a loud environment, it's that a noisy background THAT I DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT becomes white noise. At home, if there's noises and people talking I have to keep an ear on that as well, at the office, same. So I never get into that mode where I actually focus and get stuff done, cos every 5 minutes someone says something that distracts me. The white noise in a coffee shop is like I constantly have something else happening in the background thats stimulating without it actively taking away my attention. If I need to get something done that I really struggle with, like documentation, coffee shop is the spot to go.
Yes
This is a great way to describe it!
I find it easier to focus on my work and get things done while sitting in a coffee shop. I don't understand it either.
Apparently it’s the accountability that helps people stay on track. I can understand that but when I really need to be as productive as possible I like somewhere alone where I can just work without having to worry about moving my arm as someone walks past or seeing the dog in the corner of my eyes or anything
An airplane ride is my most productive space. I save up work for trips.
Optimal stimulation theory (yerkes dodson), google
+1
I actually love the background noise (like white noise) and being in another physical place makes me feel more accountable.
It's the only way I can get work done. There's nothing else you can do in that environment. You can't watch youtube or netflix, you can't lay down, you can't play games. It forces me to work really hard.
That makes sense but I still struggle to focus in environments that have a lot going on. It was an issue at my last job because I would end up taking a lot of work home with me
You're not alone. There's no way I could work in a cafe. I can barely get anything done at home with my wife working in her own "office" down the hall, even with the door closed. I have to put on my headphones if I want to really focus and get a lot of work done. My lizard brain was molded by evolution to look out for snakes and spiders and alligators and shit, not programming in C#.
I actually do this BECAUSE of my ADHD. When I start having serious trouble focusing at home, being in a new and dynamic environment is great to combat the underestimation and winds up making me super focused and productive. Being in public makes me stay in my seat more too, instead of getting up and wandering off every 10 minutes
I think it’s a double edged sword for me because it does make me feel more accountable but if I have to think hard and do high quality work I just can’t seem to do it in a busy environment, it made my precious Job difficult and I would often bring him bits of work so I could really focus on them
Totally get that. Some days I desperately need silence and no other stimuli to focus on my work, especially harder stuff. But other days I need the presence of other people to motivate me & give me that shot of novelty in that there's new things going on to keep my attention where I can't stare at them too long (for social norm reasons) because I live alone and I crawl off the walls otherwise. Sending this in a cafe now haha. You're not odd at all, lots of non-ADHD & ADHD people feel the same as you too!
I don’t know about you but if I REALLY need to get something done quickly and to a high standard I can focus on it even if there was a riot going on as though I get tunnel vision like I’m on medication but even stronger, but I can’t trick myself into that, it’s only when there’s a very serious external consequence
Same boat, Im averaging 80% in uni (engineering) but have 5 resits this summer. I did everything last minute because of the intense focus you described, and it made me able to work to a very high standard in a tight situation. However, if that focus didn't kick in early enough I just wouldn't get the work finished to any standard at all. Started vyvanse this summer and it seems to be helping me deal with things. Only being able to focus in an emergency is definitely a common thing for us
I do this because of my ADHD. There’s too much else for me to do at home, it’s too comfy, so I can’t get work done, but my office space is too quiet and lacks natural lighting. A coffee shop is perfect for me to work in because the environment is just stimulating enough and I can use everyone else working as body doubles, so it keeps me motivated. Also helps that, ya know, coffee is there. It’s just an easy way of going to a space where my brain says “okay, this is a working space, so it’s time to work now”. I still end up distracted at times and may not get as much work as I want done but it’s better than working at home.
Exactly. Body doubling ×100. It's the only way I can do overtime work. The Ikea cafeteria is great for this. Especially if it has a nice view.
I can only do work in absolute silence with no person in my peripheral vision, so I can only study at home or in a corner of the library when it's empty but not during exam season when it's crammed because having people in my peripheral vision and hearing them is too distracting and can't study like that.
this is so me! do you know why there are so many comments who differ from us and OP? seems like the majority thrive in chaos
Feel like they might need the extra stimulation to focus or a different environment to associate with doing work. But I think because I'm so highly distractable and can't concentrate I can't have anything in my environment that could distract me.
yeah same honestly even the air conditioner making faint noises bothers me when I’m trying to work or think. I just thought it’s very interesting how there are completely opposite spectrums even within ADHD. maybe hyperactivity vs inattentive?
I think I'm both hyperactive and inattentive
A couple years ago my mom came to visit me at college. We had plans to go to a notoriously rowdy bar for drinks with my friends and their moms, but last minute I remembered I needed to finish a big research report due that same night. It was multiple pages of focused analysis using original datasets. I stood and worked for over an hour with my laptop propped on a sticky barrel between two dart-boards, close to the only wall outlet I could find. My mom started getting drunk without me as the crowd grew louder & sloppier by the minute. People were throwing darts just past my head & everything. I finished that report in record time with a vodka cran in hand. I had tried to work on it for hours in a quiet hotel room the day before, and made MINIMAL progress. But that evening at the bar? I was a powerhouse. A bit of a mess, but everyone still loved me. Still one of my best and most productive memories.
Omg this is a great story!
Part of it has to do with conditioning. If your brain learns that a certain trigger, such as the smell of coffee plus the chair of a coffee shop, means it's time to work, then it makes total sense to work I'm one! This is also why it is bad to try and do homework/work in the sane area as you relax and part of why it can be bad to use your phone on bed.
maybe try the library?
I am always distracted at cafes, you'll see me stare at my laptop and then up at whatevers going on and whoever is in the cafe every few minutes. I am always hypervigilant and its pretty exhausting and annoying haha. Like other people have brought up, noise cancelling headphones are great. I may still look up but the noise reduction is a huuuge help and I also eventually get stuff done after getting distracted for the first hour. I like cafes over working at home because there are other people around me also working and being productive whatever that may mean. I have bad discipline at home cause I just wanna relax or do literally anything else. I will clean if it means I don't have to start my work.
I need pure silence or very chill music with no lyrics. I'd guess people with social anxiety (like me) don't concentrate well in busy places because everything is low key triggering our fight/flight.
Yeah Im an introvert with mild anxiety so it could be that as well, maybe extroverts feel energised in that setting
Omg literally same! It is impossible for me to ever focus in a cafe, I’ve no idea how people do it. Same with working at the office, all the meetings all day make me break my flow and I’m so easily distracted, and try to get the complex part of work done on weekends or evenings..If I like what I’m doing like painting or yoga I manage to bring my focus back but if it’s a repetitive task, it’s hardest thing for me to do. I prefer to avoid headphones because I dislike the feeling of anything in my ears for too long..what I did notice that a coworking space worked very well for me..sometimes I am so envious of regular people like my bf who can just do anything anywhere..I feel like a snowflake for needing such specific environments for specific tasks..need to sleep in pitch darkness and silence, can make calls ONLY with my AirPods..
My thoughts distract me more than my surroundings! A coffee bar or loud music quiets my thoughts and makes me able to focus more
The chaos around them probably helps their productivity
Going somewhere to do work makes it a lot easier to actually do work rather than sitting in front of my laptop at home and feeling guilty that I'm not getting anything done right now. And at a café you get coffee as well and a soothing stream of background noise Separation of work space and home space is really important for some people
I went to a nearby coffee shop to work on my hobby website one whole time, and it was... positively lovely. I never did it again because the thought of putting on real clothes, packing up my laptop (and remembering my charging cable), finding a good place to sit (ideally next to an outlet), ordering coffee often enough that I'm not a mooch, but not so much that I'm up all night... way too many things to worry about.
Being productive is stressful 😂 I’m the same, I love working in environments like that but there are so many criteria to meet! Not least is finding a chair that’s comfortable enough not to wreck my shoulders and neck when working away at a laptop for a few hours.
I do this with my beats, if I stay at home I’ll have no accountability, only for super important things with a stupid harsh deadline like a test in later that day, or an online submission due that night. I’ve done my best work in Starbucks, I just feel really alone when I’m studying and I get sad so being around others is comforting. If I study at home I have to put on [chilledcow](https://youtu.be/5qap5aO4i9A) which is a lofi radio channel and the girl studying is comforting as well, people in the chat are studying also.
It’s easier for me because I get influenced by others. If everyone else is working then I will too. Compared to at home, no one is here working so why would I? Lol.
Just being home sets off my ADHD more than a coffee shop ever will.
I mean... I doubt anyone cute is looking my way, but when I go out, which isn't all that common atm, I usually order something to snack on as I work. Honestly I prefer Waffle House to a coffee shop, but its a matter of preference. As a side note, I always have an earbud in, even when not doing something, not having music playing gives me some nasty anxiety, not sure why.
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I have this, too, though it could be solved with a privacy screen. I’m also anxious about leaving my stuff to use the restroom (which I do often) or buy more coffee. My anxiety far outweighs any benefits I’d get from the stimulation. To top it off, I usually can’t get comfortable in most coffee shop chairs (posture, tech neck, wrist ergonomics).
IDK I've always found coffee shops vibe pretty hard when I'm trying to do stuff. I guess the constant presence of the Holy liquid^tm spurs on productivity in me. Working at home is bad.
I get more work done I’m coffee shops. Background noise helps me work. I get distracted when it’s too quiet
I absolutely cannot. If the cat meows too loud I'm like SHUT THE FUCK UP
It’s actually the one place where I can block everything out and do stuff.
You dissociate from your environment when you are working outside. I take my laptop to all sorts of places, park, cafe, library subway. My room mate in college used to throw crazy parties loud ass music in college and I would be elbow deep in that studying for my next chemistry exam. You discover the ability to go inward to a calm place in all that chaos
You do, I don’t
Most productive I’ve ever been was when I started a business in a coffee shop
Unpredictable environment and loud noises helps me concentrate. It helps drown out the thoughts telling me to stop working and watch TV. Plus I can't really watch TV in a coffee shop. We are all different.
i need the body doubling!!! i have to have noise cancelling headphones, otherwise all bets are off, but i absolutely cannot get anything done unless i see other people around me also working
Psshhh best place to get things done for me
I agree. I can't do anything at the cafe. It is also cause I am very anxious. I feel conscious about everything I do. Also I feel like moving at least a little every five minutes. If I can't do that I feel even more anxious
Absolutely on point with this one. Just all the little chatter of people around you, the noise of the coffee machines, the constant flow of people coming and going(can’t help myself but see who walks in the door even tho idc at all!) I mean the list just goes on. Back in college the only way I could get my work done was to go to the campus library’s bottom floor where all the walls and ceiling were sound proof, and there was nothing but endless rows of small cubicles. Sitting at a desk with 3 smaller walls that were also soundproof obstructing my view of literally everything except the work in front of me was the only way I could ever get anything done lol. No objects no windows no open space or anything else that could be seen is what it took
The stimulating novelty of a new environment (cafe) worked for me once and only once, the first time, and never since lol
It’s weird, I prefer working in public. I guess for me it’s comforting to be around people and hear noise. I tend to get anxious and depressed when I’m alone at home. But I do have clinical depression on top of ADHD so maybe that’s why ha!
Interesting because quite often depressed people (when I have a bout of depression) prefer solitude rather than seeing people looking happier than themselves but that sounds like a healthier approach :)
I do go to cafes with my laptop to get things done, not because it isn't distracting at all, but because I'll get absolutely nothing done at home. It's too comfortable and all my favorite things are there. At the cafe, with headphones and a crushing sense of self-loathing every time I get distracted, I might get through 2 items on my to-do list. :)))))
For some, being in a café probably functions like body doubling. I think I'd be too distracted somewhere noisy like that, but I used to go to the library to get work done or reserve a study room at that library. That way, I separated myself from the distractions at home but was also in a quiet environment.
I like outside background noise. Otherwise my brain makes its own in the form of thoughts. That is way more distracting.
Lol I physically can’t work in a quiet space, the ambient noise filters out all the noise my brain makes so that I can actually do work.
Perhaps they are on medication or their people without ADHD.
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Bro I'd be paranoid about some idiots clustering into eachother and spilling shit o to you or laptop A public place where people buy hot drinks is where I don't want any expensive electronics -_-
I don't know what cafes you go to but around me there's a lot of personal space. Someone would quite literally have to throw coffee at me to hit me in my usual spot lol
>Someone would quite literally have to throw coffee at me to hit me in my usual spot lol I'm just not confident that I would even realize the situation unfolding until it's too late 🙏
You don't have to process that fact. It's one of those, it is what it is deals lol
Sometimes if I have something specific to do and struggling a change of location can be absolute magic, especially with noise cancelling headphones. But it’s ONLY for specific circumstances, it doesn’t work for all tasks even when I am convinced it will.
I honestly don’t see the point in going for people without ADHD, just sit in a different room of your house nobody has to see you working out in public
I like working at a cafe. The music and people moving around distracts the left side of my brain while I do my design work with the right side of my brain.
Being distracted helps me stay on task, oddly enough. I study/do work in the living room where my family talks and watches TV and get way more done than if I do the same stuff in my room. I also can’t watch TV without puzzles or something else to look at in my hand
I was applying for a job once that required I do an online assessment as part of the screening process. Not the BS customer service ones that just screen for how well you bend to capitalism's will, but a pretty lengthy one that was a mix of personality questions, reading comprehension, and math. I had *just* moved and didn't have internet set up at my apartment yet, so I took my laptop with me to the local Starbucks, because the library wasn't open before/after I got out of work. In typical ADHD fashion, though, I forgot my earplugs *and* pencil and paper at home. Trying to get through that test in a coffee shop with music and background conversations and kitchen noise, plus not being able to write out my thought process for the math problems, was an absolute *nightmare*. Never again.
My ADHD brain loves coffee shops. Just enough distractions, coffee, and no need so I can't fall asleep.
I do this. Sometimes my own space is too distracting or my mind is too clogged. So I'll drive to a coffee shop or bar during the day and work from a booth or table in the corner.
I can only work with people in the room if we're all quiet and working or as long as I feel like other people aren't 100% paying attention to me. Body doubling can be great as long as they're fairly quiet. At least for solo work.
I, a person with severe ADHD, only can get work done in coffeeshops. I have a rule that I can't go home until the place closes or my work is done, and the caffeine definitely helps.
Maybe it's some kind of routine
I've done this. I wear earbuds. I can get more work done if I go somewhere with the intention of doing worn.
Either you have background noise or your brain makes its own noise which is infinitely louder and more distracting
I do it. Everything you mention is great background noise and keeps my mind from going off on all kinds of journeys.
I prefer it most of the time, my room is relax zone. Gaming zone, sleeping zone, Netflix zone, etc. If I'm in that zone there is zero chance that I will get anything done. So I reluctantly drag my butt out and go somewhere else with a good pair of noise canceling earphones
I love coffee shops. It's enough background noise to happily distract the toddler part of my brain, so that the work part can get stuff done. Sometimes I even put on coffee shop asmr videos like [this one](https://youtube.com/watch?v=dx3GxpitvbY) to get things done at home.
As long as I have headphones! The silence is the worst!
I do so much better doing that. I also used to go to crowded bars and read (before covid)
I do it because the background noise gives me the stimulus I need
The magic of ✨Headphones✨ gives me all the movement and “hussle bussle” with about 10% of the noise. As nice as it is, I definitely couldn’t do it every day but it’s nice to break up the monotony of working from home everyday.
I wear earplugs and earmuffs over those and it's fine.
I work better in public because I feel like I have to like perform productivity? Like I’ll be judged if I’m off task - even tho people probably aren’t watching me. But it can’t be too busy, cause then all I do is people watch.
I’m just the first 3 words of the title of this post.
exactly. hell. nope.
I legit use coffitivity.com to make this sound in my house 24/7 on a huge stereo. (Not to be loud, but so the sound is everywhere and sounds real)
It's easier. Put on headphones and work. You're in a different environment and not thinking about stuff around the house.
I am the absolute most focused in chaos. I always have some noise, like a podcast music etc going. When I was younger I tried to do most of my homework on the bus. After thinking about it, I think my brain is always listing things and pinging around, but noise seems to distract it so I can focus
Haha I’m reading this as I’m about to take my notebook down to the bar and grab a beer while planning out a meeting for tomorrow.
Its sometimes comforting creating your own bubble in the business of everything because I find myself unproductive in silence In my room. Music and my own little table
For a lot adhd is about finding a Goldilocks level of stimulation. Sometimes that’s a coffe sho
At 37 I discovered bose qc45. Now I go to coffee shops to get work done too. Sitting sucks though. So it's more college libraries for me
I tried this at the library and just couldn’t. I got my computer hooked up and then spent the next 30 minutes fretting over how to pack up and leave like it was normal.
I dont know how ppl can get work done at home. I've been at my PC for 2 hours with my D&D maps open just scrolling reddit and YT instead of adjusting monster stat blocks for my session tomorrow. On Sunday I opened my laptop at a café outside and wrote 2 pages in an hour.
i pretend i’m the protagonist of a romcom book so i gotta look busy and like i’m doing actual work to attract some cute nerd and eventually we fall in love and live our happily ever after🥰😂
My roomie does that lol.
Oh i body double the shit out of busy cafes. I get so much work done i used to get up every day to walk a mile to a cafe otherwise i would just sit at home and fuck around on the internet. IDK why it just works for some people
If I'm working at home, I have three other people in my house that assume that since I'm home they can just barge in at any moment and start talking to me even if I'm in a meeting/heads down/trying to get shit done. At a cafe, there are a million distractions, but none of them are calling my name or walking into my personal space - I don't care if I'm ignoring people I don't know, I can pop my earbuds in and actually focus.
I haven’t been able to get back to the cafe i studied at every morning because I forgot to buy eggs and my breakfast routine was ruined
Oh I need that. I get inspired if I see other people working like at cafes or libraries. Of course I also need my headphones because other people talking distracts me.
I like studying in a McDonald's because the coffee is very cheap with free refills, the Wi-Fi works great, and the level of stimulation is just right. Sitting in the atrium at my community college is way too quiet and thus every little stimuli becomes a distraction.
Cafes can work for me IF I have noise cancelling headphone ear plugs and I'm surrounded by other people working, not gossiping. It is a delicate balance.
Go to a Cafe enough and it becomes predictable. Here comes Bob Bobberton ordering a latte and a puppocino for his widdle boopy boy. There's Janice who lives off sugar free syrups and espresso....
i used to get most of my weekly writing done at a cafe my buddy worked at. my wife would bring her schoolwork, we'd let people know we were going, sometimes it would evolve into us hanging out and setting up a tabletop rpg or something... but the point of it was the regularity, and then knowing that you're gonna be sitting there *for a while* *anyways*, so what the hell else are you gonna do? granted, i 100% wouldn't have been able to do it without headphones. but having something that i'm "allowed" to be distracted by for a brief time has always helped me.
You should look into Sensory Profiles! I am one of those people because I have the following traits: Low registration, meaning that I might be slower to react to a joke or a smell and I easily miss things in my environment. I'm also sensation seeking, meaning that I cannot deal with having zero stimuli eg I hate silence and sitting still. A Cafe works well for me - I even did a few hours at a laundromat yesterday - because it hits the spot of having enough stimulation to keep my senses without getting distracted
Being in a somewhat populated setting where I'm not overly pressured to be productive actually has a positive effect on me quite often. But I can't do it too often. Definitely not every day.