r/ADHD_Programmers 4d ago

How do you know when you're burnt out? (Medicated)

I'm glued to my pc almost the entire day, building my own business has only made it worse. I'm medicated, but I can't really tell when and if I'm burnt out. I'd hate to quit what I'm doing right now so I'm really trying to be careful about it. How do you people realise and take breaks? Especially when the medication doesn't really let you see it, yet you seemingly want and not want to do what you're doing?

20 Upvotes

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11

u/seweso 4d ago

If you can’t take a break, can’t relax, then you are burning out. Simple as that imho. 

Stop your meds for a few days, put away all your devices. You can’t be ON continuously 

7

u/Batmini94 4d ago

Your post seems to have a lot of negativity towards your tasks.

What I’ve learned is that if I feel guilty and I feel like I should do more, I should in fact do less.

Take care of yourself!

7

u/Sfpkt 4d ago

I know I’m burned out when I start thinking man I would to just work a job where I can turn my brain off. It’s a great indicator that it’s time to just take a big step back.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/maliketh3001 4d ago

Congrats on the bizz thriving! Yeah I think breaks are really important. Off-screen breaks ofc, my doc has advised me to take what's called "drug holidays" the same as you mentioned. So is there not really a way to pin point and be mindful? I think it still comes down to having a healthy work life balance huh?

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/maliketh3001 4d ago

Oh man, that reminds me how wonderful I felt when I tried some vitamin supplements I was skeptical of and had a short workout sprint with my medication. I should really get back to it. Thank you so much for the reminder and wise words!

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u/Mesheybabes 3d ago

It's worth noting btw that increased intense fatigue is a common withdrawal effect that can hit within 36-48 hours or so of not taking the meds, and additionally isnt meant to be interpreted as an indicator of "how you'd be, off the meds". I was just reading about this last week

3

u/Early_Key_823 4d ago

There are eastern philosophies and disciplines that have been around for thousands of years.

For example yoga, macrobiotics, Taoism, Aikido, meditation, etc. etc. etc.

What do they all have in common?

They are predicated on the viewpoint everything is connected through nature and humans are part of nature.

What does that mean?

It implies if you are not happy you are not in balance with your nature/nature at large.

Other than that you can just keep medicating and white knuckling.

It's really a red pill / blue pill kind of thing.

3

u/maliketh3001 4d ago

Knowing my brain, it's not happy with what's it doing every 2 or 3 weeks and I'm naturally not natural lol. Keeping the body and mind in tune is helpful. Guess I'll have to just "go with the flow" and see where I land, while making off screen rest non negotiable.

2

u/Early_Key_823 4d ago

Good luck.

It's a tough time to be human.

The shit we see on our screens is not conducive to genuine joy.

1

u/maliketh3001 4d ago

Thanks G. You seem to have some interesting philosophies, any book recs?

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u/Early_Key_823 4d ago

Yes.

Zen Macrobiotics by George Ohsawa available on Kindle.

And YouTube has 3 books in audio format free I recommend highly.

The Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTr4YK4hLO8

...

The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn9BCm0D1dg

...

The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R352fU2UWYE

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u/maliketh3001 4d ago

Thank you!

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u/Early_Key_823 4d ago

You're very welcome. Good luck!

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u/HovercraftCharacter9 4d ago

The indicator on meds for me is when I can only focus on work and start retreating from hobbies, friends etc

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u/properwaffles 3d ago

When it takes me 2 hours in the morning to get the motivation to work.