ADHDTechies

Last summer I was super excited to give a talk at QCon New York, a fantastic international software conference. At QCon they give some great in-depth talks about everything tech related, ranging from web development to programming architecture, scaling, management and so on.

Last summer they were trying out something new, a presentation track on “optimization;” that is, personal improvement.

It was a huge success; an exit survey of participants showed it as the most popular track at the conference. Awesome!

I was proud to have given this talk, in which I discuss a number things about the brain including:

• The difference between “real” and “perceived” ADHD;
• The difference between a brain “hack” (compensation strategy) and an “upgrade” (way to change the brain). I’ve also talked about this distinction in this article.
• The different types of distraction (visual, auditory, social, internal) and how to combat them
• Actual brain improvement methodologies I’ve tried, including Integrated Listening Systems to Neurofeedback to Vipassana meditation and more (in the last 10 minutes of the talk – I was running behind!).

Overall it was a great experience. I hope you check out the video and slides below, and give me your feedback. Enjoy!

Before I knew I had ADHD, there were a great many things that frustrated me, and I had no idea why. Things that would happen again and again – like making someone mad at me, and not knowing why.

Or walking into the kitchen and forgetting why I went there. Then walking back to the bedroom, and remembering why I went into the kitchen. Back to the kitchen. Forgot again. Repeat. Continue Reading