HyperBored

Where'd everyone go?

[caption id="attachment_402" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Hello?"]

[/caption] It's been kind of quiet around here. Sorry about that. I've been super busy with work, travel and my other blog. Jeremy, as you may recall, just welcomed a new bundle of chaos into his life. TJ who probably has the most time on his hands keeps telling me he's working on these killer posts but I'll just blame it on the fact that he's in trapped in Texas now. I for one will be doing a better job of posting here. Jeremy, I'm sure will be back when his life takes on some semblance of normalcy (so like 2 or 3 years) and I don't know about TJ, maybe we need to all harass him more. In the meantime don't forget about Jeremy's latest contest: What's your super power?

The Importance of Pondering

It's very easy to get caught up in the rush of things.  The fire hose of the real time web never stops. The importance of speed has never been more important. We are always on. And I for one see all of this as a good thing. Knowledge workers with a gift for seeing connections and order in the chaos few in numbers and are in high demand right now. For those of you who filtering and multitasking doesn't come naturally, don't worry you can learn. In order to successfully manage this flood of multitasking data there's an important step that may seem counter-intuitive: Stopping to ponder what you've collected in that brain of yours. Ponder - To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care. I love the word, ponder. To ponder is a powerful skill. It's different than, but related to stepping back to let yourself think. It's not unplugging or recharging. It's very deliberate, active and engaged. It's equal parts conscious thought and equal part subconscious. It's about filling your brain with a very deliberate set of knowledge, sometimes related and sometimes seemingly random. And then you pick it all apart mentally. Like untangling your Christmas lights. Most people skip this process. They often rely on sparks of intuition that come in the shower or in that space between wake and sleep. They seek out council from colleagues and friends. These are important steps too but it's not the same as pondering. Pondering is active not passive. It's also an internal and is not a collaborative process. Pondering is an important step in balancing out group think. Group think happens too much at most companies and we see far too much of it in the echo chamber of social media. I've been doing a lot of pondering lately. When I'm taking in information I'm very active online. I'm a social learner so I learn by interacting with all of you on this blog and Twitter and Facebook. Last week and this week I've been a little more quiet than normal (normal for me that is). That's because I've been pondering many things. I really enjoy pondering but it's a more insular activity. What makes effective pondering:

1. Deep and rich immersion in the information to be pondered.
2. Time away from distractions and the mental state to ponder.

For me walks are a great time to ponder or just sitting in a coffee shop with headphones, a pen and a notebook. But it's probably different for everyone. What works for you?

WordPress Founder at Work

Morning rituals are important to the way we work. I thought this one by WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg was interesting. The Way I Work: Matt Mullenweg, Leading Your Company Article - Inc. Article

In the morning, I have certain aspirations. One of my goals is to avoid looking at the computer or checking e-mail for at least an hour after I wake up. I also try to avoid alarm clocks as much as possible, because it's just nice to wake up without one. I leave my shades up a bit, so I usually wake up about an hour after the sun rises. I usually don't eat breakfast, and I avoid caffeine. I've got enough stimulating things in my life already. I also avoid morning meetings: The earliest meeting I'll do is 11 a.m. I like to read first thing in the morning. I'm addicted to the Kindle. I read a lot of business books, because I feel like I should figure out how to be a real businessman before someone figures out that I'm not one. I really enjoy reading classics as well, which I try to work in once every two months. Reading is my break. Otherwise, I go to sleep and wake up thinking about WordPress.

It's also interesting to note that besides a bad tase in music Matt is not a multi-tasker.

I listen to music every day, a lot of jazz -- Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. I also like Jay-Z and Beyoncé. I have an analog stereo that was hand built in Japan by a guy who makes a few systems a year. The aural experience is mind-blowing. Music helps me when I'm coding, which is still my priority. When you're coding, you really have to be in the zone. I'll listen to a single song, over and over on repeat, like a hundred times. And I turn off instant message and e-mail. If you are taken out of the flow, if that little toaster pops up that says you've got mail -- and you look at it, you've lost it. You're juggling variables and functions and layouts. The moment you look away, it all falls to the ground, and you spend 10 minutes getting it all back in the air again.

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Is ADHD really a disability?

Yes there are things that people with ADHD have a more difficult time doing than others. And no this isn't one of those "don't call me disabled" posts. This is actually a "people with ADHD will rule the World" post. :) Every individual example I use here is applicable to everyone at some level. Everyone reading this will say "I have that" or "I do that." Yet not everything I point out will apply to everyone with ADHD.  Collectively the examples I'll use here, strengths and weaknesses, are most often found among people with ADHD. Why ADHD is seen as a disability. There are times, no matter how hard I try, that I cannot pay attention to a task. This goes beyond the usual *having a hard time paying attention*. I mean physically NO WAY to keep your mind on track. The science behind this (as I understand it) is there is not enough serotonin level to enable the synapses to relay messages to each other. No amount of effort helps. This is especially bad when I don't take my Ritalin. I also notice it when I don't eat enough carbs. I believe carbohydrates aid in the creation of serotonin. Other issues with ADHD. Besides the whole attention thing, people with ADHD are incredibly compulsive. We have a significantly higher propensity towards alcoholism and drug abuse. Actually we have a tendency to get addicted to anything (accept stimulants). Food, hobbies lifestyles, whatever. We are typically risk seekers. It goes beyond having a high level of tolerance to risk. We're not just risk neutral (neither scared nor attracted to risk), we actively seek risk. We seek any kind of risk, physical, mental, professional and emotional. Couple that with the whole compulsive/addictive thing and you're starting to get an idea. There are other general learning problems that typically accompany ADHD. K-12 (and most of college) was much harder for me than it was my friends. I worked my ass off in school to get B's and C's (mostly C's). To this day I still struggle with simple things like spelling. Everytime I spell week/weak, I have to stop and think about which one I mean. I cannot remember facts, like names and dates to save my life. History is lost on me. However, I think the real problem with ADHD is that it's hardest on children and the collateral damage during those formidable years is their self confidence, which results in a vicious cycle of self destruction and negative self fulfilling prophecies.  By the time they make it to adulthood, they're so beat up they don't stand a chance of reaching their potential. Why people with ADHD will rule the World. It's not all as bleak as it sounds though. There are some things that I (and others I know with ADHD) can do better than anyone else. People with ADHD are known for possessing incredible creative problem solving skills. I can track multiple conversation threads in my head at the same time. Once I learn something I retain it and can recall it on a moments notice years after it's served any useful purpose. Just don't ask me where I read it. I think that information is stored where names are stored.  I'm great with theory. Applying principles and philosophy from one area to another is second nature to me. I poses the non-linear/abstract thinking skills of a math theorist. Just don't ask me to apply it to mathematics. I can consume, process, filter and act on a tsunami's worth of information like Bruce Lee fighting an army of evil henchmen. And once my mind gets a hold of a thought or a problem that needs resolved, it doesn't stop thinking about it - ever. Even when I want to sleep. People with ADHD tend to be intuitive and sympathetic. We're usually very charming and personable - as long as you're not trying to get us to do something task oriented. So how does this lead to World domination? As more and more of the world becomes digitized the simple things like spelling and grammar are *mostly* taken care for us. Thank you spell check! Side note: Before all you English teachers, journalism majors and English language purists jump on me here to defend the honor of your grammar skills, I am not advocating that spelling and grammar are not important. I do think that (and I continue to try to) learning the proper use of grammar is vitally important. I just don't let it being a weakness stop me. The amount of information we will have to deal with on a daily basis is not going to go away.  The days of taking a safe job with a company are over. We now have to reinvent ourselves every decade or so. Every career path is risky. Basically all of those things that make those of us with ADHD the way they are, enable us to succeed. If we are able to get in the right fields, something we enjoy, it's the equivalent of the physical abnormalities Michael Phelps had that enabled him to be the greatest Olympian to date (BTW Michael Phelps also has ADHD).

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