Personal experiences of slow processing speed?

[Boeufsurletoit]

Does anyone have personal experience of being diagnosed with or realising that they have slow processing speed, or sluggish cognitive tempo? I'm diagnosed with inattentive adhd. All my school reports mentioned how slow I was to complete work. For various other reasons I think I experience slow processing. At school I used to get that thing where you're so understimulated it feels like time has slowed down and everything is happening on a delay. I used to daydream a lot. I often don't understand what to do when I'm in a group doing a task together. I have a lot of education so people think I'm just being lazy or uncooperative, but I just don't know how they see what needs doing so quickly! If there's anyone else out there I'd love to know how it feels for you.

Yes same. Groups are especially hard for me. I especially hate having to decide how to do something in a group.

When I do things I often create a list of how I did it for next time. Chat GPT and using templates can be helpful.

A big one for me was accepting 'good enough'. I think a high degree of perfectionism comes with my adhd / neurodiversity, but lower that standard to 'is this 80% okay'. Schools actively discourage this way of thinking with the emphasis on grades and marks.

Using chat GPT is a great suggestion - I'm going to try that out! The other thing is that people seem to be too subtle with their instructions and I don't realise what they mean until after they wanted me to do the thing. Example: Colleague looks at messy table, says "I'll come back in 5 mins". I get on with what I'm doing. Colleague comes back in 5 mins and looks annoyed and starts clearing things. I feel like I've done something wrong but not sure what. Later that evening the penny drops

Very relatable, are you me?

I've been doing coaching through Access to Work for ADHD, it's been extremely helpful.

My coach has given me a few things - firstly no question is a stupid question, also that often with ADHD the problem is lack of clarity (rather than me which is what I often assume!), so it's okay to ask for clarity.

In regards to subtlety I completely get this, many times I will translate or infer what they meant (which is quite a lot of mental work and also can be wrong as I've had a negative mindset on my ADHD- I catastrophise!) but it's better to take feedback neutrally. Later on you may reflect what could I have done differently or how could that have gone better.

Other times I'm so busy and absorbed in detail I will miss the nuance- I've started to tell people that I prefer them to be direct with me, please don't assume that I will know what you want or mean if you have not explicitly said it.

A really helpful thing for me I have also found is to try and maintain an awareness of my body - if I'm starting to feel a high level of anxiety or brain fog (aka increasing cortisol levels) there is usually a reason or something on the radar that I need to pay attention to.

Part of it can often be underestimating how long a task takes. I find I am most effective when I write down how I am going to do a task first and roughly allocate how long each step will be. That Is also helpful if I have to stop and come back to it as I know where I am.

I rely very heavily on note taking, everything gets written down in a way that I will hopefully understand later.

The other thing is sleep, this can hugely affect my brain. I think I self abuse with sleep because if I have lots of sleep my brain is too whizzy sometimes and I cannot sit still so I maybe subconsciously deprive myself! I find a standing desk very helpful for general alertness too. I also gain a lot from exercise / hydration / lifting weights but like everything consistency is key!

It's nice to hear someone else with the same issue as me.

Also many people use statements where a question would be more helpful to the other person (but they feel is too direct or obvious).

For example, I'm leaving in five minutes. Whereas what they mean is are you going to be ready in five minutes 😂

I also learn better when more context is given, how does this relate to other priorities, what's the bigger picture. That's quite common with neurodivergence.

Smart But Scattered Guide to Success for Adults was a really helpful book for me.

I've wondered about trying to get some support through access to work - I think coaching would really help. It's great to hear I'm not the only one who has these experiences! There's not much about slow processing online.