How to enjoy my special interest in politics while sustaining focus and not causing myself stress?

nathangeorge99

I have autism, and am waiting on the NHS for an ADHD Assessment. One of my biggest interests is UK Politics, particularly around devolution, federalism, electoral reform and the constitution. I would love to develop and publish my own ideas for what the House of Commons may look like with a PR Voting federal/confederal UK might look like, and create my own constituencies for all countries/regions. 

However, not only is the work intense anyway, I have so many different ideas, I have ended up creating loads of documents and jumping from one to another without ever finishing anything. I think this is partly because there is a lack of clear regional identity in England, so creating something that everyone would be happy with is quite tough. However, I think it’s partly also to do with my autistic/ADHD brain. It’s making the process more stressful than fun.

I wondered if anyone had any tips? Should I create the model I probably believe in most, or just do the simplest/most realistic thing first, or is there anything else I could do focus better and enjoy it all a bit more again?

Albus_Scope

Hiya @nathangeorge99 and a big welcome to the community from me!

It's great to hear about other peoples special interests, especially ones such as politics.

Do you think the issue may be you currently have too much choice with the directions you could go in with your models?  I know as an autistic person I sometimes struggle with too much choice leading to me getting nothing done, even for things I love.  I'd say choose what YOU want to do, which sparks the most joy in your brain and work towards that first. Sometimes just finishing that one thing can really kickstart the brain into doing more. 

Saying that, I'd love to read the finished product when you write about Electoral reform and proportional representation.   

Jimm_Alumni

As someone with ADHD and a strong interest in politics I definitely understand this. While most of my projects tends to be around video games I 100% get the whole "I have 20 different half done ideas". 

It can be difficult finishing projects. I also struggle with my own self-critic telling me the work I've done and will do is awful and a waste of time! If I had any fool-proof method I'd let you know and if I ever discover any I'll post it  

The best thing for me when it comes to productivity has been medication and therapy. Medication to help me control my focus (hyperfocus can be bad!) and the therapy is helping me break habits I've built up over 30 years of not knowing I've had ADHD.

MW123

Hello nathangeorge99

Best of luck with your project, and may your ideas make a positive impact on the discourse surrounding these important issues! 

To effectively manage your numerous ideas and projects regarding these subjects while dealing with autism and ADHD, start by selecting a single project to concentrate on, preferably one that resonates with you or appears feasible. 

Once you've made your choice, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. It's important to set practical objectives that align with your available time and abilities, preventing excessive demands that can lead to stress and hinder your enjoyment of the process. 

Additionally, consider adopting the Pomodoro technique, a method employed by some individuals with ADHD, which involves working in short bursts with brief breaks in between to sustain focus and productivity. 

Remember that it's okay to start with a simpler or more achievable project and gradually work your way towards more complex ideas. The key is to find a balance that allows you to stay focused, enjoy the process, and ultimately achieve your goals. Please do keep us updated on your progress. We're excited to see how your project unfolds.

 

Stellar

honestly British politics in general is a dumpster fire, which is likely contributing to your stress even if you don't realise it. even if you put all these documents together, nobody in power will listen to you.

with regards to this project, it's best to focuson one at time is best. maybe also juggling these projects with other completely unrelated stuff to help you destress may help as well.

Geoark

In the past when I was regularly writing reports, newsletters, preparing training sessions and proposals I used a process which meant around 90% of my time was prep work, around 8% was writing the final document and 2% was editing.

Also having the right tools also helped. I used OneNote as my main note book, sticky notes on my computer for quick random note taking to be looked at later and either incorporate or dispose off later. And the 3rd piece of software I used was Grammarly for editing. All three are free, or have free options. I would then use Word, Excel and/or Power Point depending on what needed to be done, again other software some of which are free are availiable.

The first part was always mind mapping subjects, main subheadings. 
Then set up sections in OneNote, with suitable headings.

In the relevant sections I would use bullet points for my main ideas/thoughts. Nest in further bullet points for paragraph ideas.

And so I keep going on until I have practically written what I want before actually getting down to the nitty gritty of writing and putting it all together.

Once I have gone through these stages I would then write briefly what I want to talk about, a very rough draft version if you like.

Some of the advantages to this approach.
1. you are not at the writing stage, so nothing is set in stone. You are just collecting and organising your thoughts. Sections can be moved around, as can the bullet points. OneNote lets you link to pages in your notes, websites and other information. It is easy to copy and paste things in, like quotes, data etc.
2. by the time you get around to start writing I find I already know what I want to say.
3. this system is very flexible, so on a large project you can have a good draft copy of what you want on one subject while being near the beginning on other parts.
4. Writers block can happen any time, I find dropping one part and picking another by the time I go back the block is gone.

I am a huge fan of Grammarly and use the paid version both at home and in work. A couple of features I like is it will suggest alternative ways of writing some sentences which make sense, but it doesn't always get it right or the suggestion may just be wrong, so judgement is required. Also I find it flags passive sentences a lot. Personally I used to find rewriting a sentence so it was not passive challenging, and as it seems to often be triggered by key words I sometimes don't bother. The other is it will give you an idea of the tone of your writing.

One feature I like in Word is that you can have it read your writing to you. Spell checker is great, but won't catch if you have written the wrong word and spell it correctly. Even reading it yourself you may overlook it. Having it read to you I find is often the best way to catch these mistakes.

Hope this helps.

dkb123

I use the AI function, so when it responds I don't have to use Word or Grammarly, although I do have the free versions, the reports AI come up with are far superior to what I can do on my own