AuDHD & Hacking my Brain by Streaming

I've been preparing to stream for quite some time, not to build a following or get famous, but to get stuff done.

Let me explain. I'm both autistic and ADHD, or AuDHD as the cool kids are saying these days, although I'm not sure how to pronounce that version. As A. K. Mulford noted in her recent YouTube video that seems targeted exactly at my demographics, this can often lead to conflicting needs: ADHD wants novelty and stimulation, while the autistic 'side' can resist demands or changes.

When I must write or only have one thing I really ought to do, I feel a lot of defiance against it. But I'm a writer, so this situation comes up a lot. The only things that have worked for me in this case are extremely social solutions: Either signing up, usually last minute, for a session of Shut Up & Write! or using the Sprinto Discord bot to do the same, usually with my camera on in a voice channel as well.

I got to thinking about my brief stints streaming in the past. At the time, I was working a very physical job that triggered my chronic illness nearly every day. So while I did a lot of things right, I didn't keep up my schedule long enough to see if it helped improve my consistency.

However, now that I'm being treated for that chronic illness and ADHD, I felt the call to return to coworking-style streams. After a lot of reflecting, it's the ultimate body-doubling experience I've been looking for in my work. I spent about a week and a half setting up my OBS*¹, which I'm very happy with. It became its own hyperfocus, in a way.

My first stream, unlisted of course, was Friday.

I'm not setting a consistent schedule for now, though that may develop. So, for now, I'm experimenting with casual cozy coworking and playing cozy games with an eye for design. If that sounds like your jam, check out The Cozy Questlog on YouTube.

And, for those of you with ADHD or AuDHD, what strategies do you use to get things done?