Hi everyone! It’s my first post here in an attempt to make this community a bit more active.
I’ve been recently diagnosed at 26 so it’s all pretty new to me. However, I really appreciate the fact that now I have a new vocabulary to talk about the stuff I experience and communities like this which might be helpful in understanding myself better.
I’m a Software Engineer and I love everything related to programming / Linux / Computer Science. It’s been quite literally the most important part of my life since I was like 15. Usually it’s great but sometimes when I get a new idea I tend to hyperfixate pretty hard on it to the point where it becomes quite tiring. It could be an idea for a new project, a new technology to learn or to configure something in my Linux setup. Right now it’s moving my entire computer setup to NixOS.
When I fixate on something like this I usually spend pretty much all of my free time on it. Moreover, my sleep usually is hurt as well because I often can’t fall asleep thinking about the stuff I’m currently working on. I will literally lie in bed trying to fall asleep and my brain tries to solve problems or plans and designs stuff. I will spend most of my weekends in front of the computer, even though I love spending time outside, especially in the nice summer weather. But I just can’t seem to stop. I force myself to go for walks and runs but it’s not really relaxing because, you guessed it, I’m thinking about my project all the time. If I try to distract myself with a podcast I will often notice 15 minutes in that I stopped listening after the first minute or so.
I need some way to balance this computer stuff with other things in my life. I just need to chill out sometimes. To play some games, watch some youtube or read a book lying in a hammock without thinking about programming literally every minute I’m awake.
The best solution I found so far is weed. It’s not 100% effective but in general getting high and going outside tends to help me relax at least a bit. Well, travelling or meeting with people is usually effective in breaking my train of thoughts too. But obviously it comes with its own set of challenges and it’s not something I’m willing to do often.
So, fellow autists, do you experience something similar? How do you deal with it? Please share advice, experience, or anything related.
I’ve got ADHD/OCD so I don’t know if this changes things a bit, but I tend to rotate my hyperfixations and a lot of them involve things like going outside and riding a bike, skating, hiking, etc. so I’ve found it to be a good way to break things up. I also keep a bedtime mode set up on my phone where everything turns greyscale and the phone tells me to go to bed. It’s not perfect, but it definitely helps!
Same. Mostly just ADHD, but rotating helps a lot, with some that I force myself to do, like exercising (but rotate programs too). Sometimes I even come back to old ones!
Thanks for answering!
Sport activities are a non-optional part of my routine. Calisthenics, walking, running, biking. I do those no matter what so at least my physical health is taken care of. The sad part is that during a fixation period I do them as a chore without really enjoying it.