@kellyalsaleh3032
Having poor working memory is frustrating, exhausting and demoralising. Everyone around you gets exasperated but it doesn't compare to the level of anger you feel towards yourself. Finding tools to help it is tricky. Technology has lots of wonderful tools and there are many apps out there marketed at those with ADHD. After spending money on these apps and devices, I forget to use them or get bored and frustrated trying to learn to use them. It's almost like they're not real to me. I'm gradually learning that I need physical things and environment to direct my behaviour. I also struggle with online/distance learning. I need to be in an appropriate location and with direct contact/feedback from a person.
@chadhouvouras3463
I am a teacher in the virtual world and we found that students having low tech support like dry erase boards can be helpful in supporting working memory during instruction on the computer.
@film_magician
You DESTROYED Peterson's super antiquated "theory", and it was amazing. Thank you for speaking up and getting more up to date data and taking him to school. Good job. Please keep it up.
@sanz7820
Hello Russell. I'm yet another one of the many people that have finally gotten the ADHD diagnosis after being guided in the right direction by your content. I don't know if I am right, but I am getting the sense that you are a bit frustrated with how people are commenting now that you have made your own YouTube channel. Ignore them. That's what happens online - you have so many people who can now access your videos and comment directly to you, and many don't think before commenting or have alternate biases guiding their behaviour. I imagine that you rarely encountered these kinds of comments when you were going around doing lectures, as anyone in attendance there of course came because they wanted to hear what you had to say. But, now that you have your own YT channel and you are choosing to cover things that other well-known people have said, you will be hearing from those that are not here to listen and learn. You can't educate those that are not open to learning, no matter how many times you go back an address the things they point out. It's a loosing battle to try to convince those that have already made up their mind. But your content now, and all the video from all your previous lectures, have helped so many people in so many ways. I don't know anyone who is so well-versed in everything ADHD and able to explain it in ways that make it all easy to understand. You're doing fantastic work! Don't let a few negative comments here and there get to you. That's the internet for ya.
@joannestaples6929
A tip that works for me is taking pictures with my phone to show me how a room looks when it’s clean. What cupboards look like when things are put away correctly. Where I parked my car. Things I have to purchase etc…
@jeffery19677
I worked at a metal fabrication shop. I am a decent fabricator if I have drawings to work from, but I found my spot OPERATING THE SAW. They laughed at me, but I would write a list of every piece I needed to cut on my steel desk with soapstone and I would check them off the list as I made cuts.. (To the 1/16th inch and to 1 degree angles). The chief fabricator told the owner that I was to be the only one who cut his jobs because I was more accurate.
@MB-wz3xk
Well, now, Dr. Barkley is officially one of my favorite people.
@AnnaReed42
I'm a very tech-oriented person and will always use a computer if I have a lot to write down very quickly, but for keeping track of my work tasks I use a physical bullet journal. My team uses Asana for collaboration and task tracking, but I find it too easy to lose my tasks on there. I've mentioned the journal to my boss and at one point he asked if it wouldn't be better to just put all of my tasks in Asana rather than on paper. I couldn't explain why, but I could express that the physical media was absolutely vital to my work process. He's super supportive of me doing what works for me. My journals are my memory.
@shawnrisley2404
Trying to explain to a psychiatrist that although I was skilled at my job working with brain injury patients, knew compensatory strategies and taught them to others, I had had no inkling that I had ADHD. I had a vague awareness it took me more effort to learn information, but no awareness that others had easier access to facts in real time. Self-awareness is not a skill unless we are aware of our specific challenges and train ourselves to stop and take note of our quality of attention and performance. Because working memory isn't good, we lose track of things we should be tracking, so need to actively practice using compensatory techniques. Forgiving ourselves when we need to take mini-breaks due to cognitive fatigue, and learning to alternate tasks that use different cognitive skills: we must learn to switch our approach in real time. Being less efficient is frustrating, but we need to note it and then move on. Awareness is everything. This video showed up on Youtube feed, and reminds me to subscribe. Again. We are always learning.
@whetlarper
I have pretty crippling ADHD and have my entire life, I am currently in my 30s. "When then" and to-do lists have been a game changer for me, and I originally came across it outside the context of ADHD resources. It's used a lot in the book called "Tiny Habits" which has a ton of resources for doing this in successful ways.
@littleflower23
Watching these videos by Dr. Barkley is like a Masters class in ADHD. I'm so appreciative of your videos.
@madgepickles
Not sure this is exactly working memory, but a technique I use in my house is to keep things visible as much as possible. I've actually removed the doors to my cleaning supplies cabinets because seeing the cleaning supplies helps me to remember to clean. It's pretty unusual and not everyone can deal with that but I don't care what it looks like if it works for me. I also keep certain tools and supplies that are frequently used in certain places in those locations in a dedicated spot, hung on the wall if possible so that I'm lubricating the executive function skills needed to do the thing like a broom and dustpan in every room
@AskStevenBlack
1) learning to “sketch-note” has helped in a huge way bc I get visual triggers for “chunking” recall. 2) Getting a physical project management board for the wall, like an offline Gantt chart, gives me the ability to “touch time” and better account for my workload before committing to new projects or deadlines. 3) I physically track every 15 minutes of my day for a weekly time and energy audit. This helps me become aware of how I’m enabling myself to get off task or when I haven’t engineered my environment to help me act in alignment with my intentions.
@Sdesser
To not lose things, what I do is to have dedicated places for things and put them in those places as soon as I'm done using them. For example: When I get home, the first thing I do is put my phone on my desk next to my mouse, my keys and wallet on a plate on the other side of the desk. When I leave home, I check my pocket for my phone, keys and wallet before I step out and after I step out the door (but before I close the door). This way, even if I forget one of the checks, I should still remember to do one of them. Though this has become second nature and I very rarely forget them anymore.
@askirin
I got my diagnosis at the age of 38 ( 3 months ago) and have just started medication. I was one of the specially gifted kids and have always been told I cannot have ADHD simply because I excelled in school (until the age of 17 when I was destroyed by the IB-programme). These lectures might sometimes be hard to accept as something that applies to me, but I am still grateful. They have given me more insight into why I am the person I am and the difficulties I have. I still have recived nothing but starterdose of the medications but my journey has finally started in the right way. Thank you for doing these videos. They are a tremendous help for someone like me.
@jophillipsillustration
Ive come to realise that having a yearly wall chart with just fun colourful stickers marking fun events, cinema, theatre , a meal out, a birthday, a trip to the zoo etc helps me not to get depressed! I used to get extremely depressed, being medically retired and not remembering what I did yesterday or a few days ago, or what is coming up. Seeing this on a wall chart as a whole, at a glance keeps me happy. Later diagnosed Autistic (43) and ADHD (47) I can definitely say that when I remember something and I have to physically move to another room to do said thing, if I say the thing out loud a few times, even if I forget, I go back to where I said it out loud and I think some state dependant memory kicks in somehow!? Especially if I say it in a funny voice or a strange way! I ve made a picture list that I laminated and put on the back of my front door, items for leaving the house, not generic pics, my stuff! That works 85% of the time. I sometimes forget to look! The medication has helped enormously with focus, concentrating, impulsiveness, reduction in BFRB’s and binging and massive reduction in migraines but I don’t feel like it’s touched the holding stuff in mind working memory but sadly. Alarms work well, but I have to turn them off if I’m in a webinar etc, and then I forget to turn them back on. Great talk thanks 🙏🏻
@JohnnyPDisco
Sticky notes all over the house. Not posted everywhere, but available everywhere. They also save me at work all the time as reminders even as simple as having someone's name when I'm on the phone.
@DeirdreSM
I find that haptic alarms on my Apple Watch are good for keeping me on track time-wise. For repeating alarms, I'll name them, but I usually keep a list of tasks (and the specific times I need to hit those tasks) in front of me. As a software engineer, I find a small text file on my desktop is the best way to keep track of tasks, but I'm literally in front of my computer all day, which is not typical for many. Also, the hardest task every day is remembering to take meds before I zoom off to do things. I've tied my med taking to putting on my underwear: if the undies are on, my morning meds are taken, and reverse that at the end of the day. (There are people this wouldn't work for, but tying it to some step you always take is a good idea.)
@dylangianino7616
One trick I’ve found that helps quite a bit is keeping myself aimed not the current task, but the task 3 steps from now. This headspace makes it so the current task falls into the mental category of a “cold executive task” and it feels like it’s simply a preparatory action. Something that gets done in the background on the way to the task 3 steps from now. And just keep your focus on whatever task is 3 steps away, even as you complete tasks, keep scooting your focus down so it stays a little further away than where you are.
@Alex-js5lg