What are some silly things your ADHD makes you do?

Hi /u/aureaIity and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD!

• If you are posting about the US Medication Shortage, please see this post .

^{This message is not a removal notification. It's just our way to keep everyone updated on r/adhd happenings.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

When my toaster popped this morning I was surprised to find I hadn't actually put any bread in it. I even looked around to see if the toast had shot out and landed somewhere

sometimes i will have 2 sources of sound playing, and i won't actually be listening to any of it. while that's going on, i just walk around in circles in my room. i think about it sometimes when I catch myself doing it, i must look like an absolute fool right now

also when i'm on the phone with somebody, if i'm in the kitchen i'll talk while power walking around the island. they always ask me why are you out of breath lol

I’m reading this half-dressed after just having a shower.

My obituary may someday say "she starved to death because all the dishes were dirty".

I will stand in front of the sink for tens of minutes trying to force myself to do the dishes (the task itself usually just takes 15 minutes!). I buy fancy rubber gloves and all the possible accoutrements to do the job while being as removed from it as possible (the longer the brush the better). Sometimes a lot of other stuff around the house gets done BECAUSE I am procrastinating doing the dishes.

(I do have a dishwasher but I hate the feeling of plates and glasses after being washed in it, another sensory thing!!)

if something falls to the ground, it can stay there for months without being picked up

Start to put on socks or shoes and think of something that I know I must do immediately before I forget and have to go around with 1 sock or shoe until I've accomplished what I needed to do. This can happen with various other states of clothing/disrobing as well.

I have to have background noise/ tv shows to do any sort of work

I can sit with 1% battery on my phone, next to my charger and not put it on charge. I have no idea why I do this…

My favorite is when I park somewhere and get out of my car without turning the car off. It's a good thing my car has a feature that doesn't let me lock the doors with my keys in the ignition otherwise I would be locking myself out constantly

My flat mate laughs about me doing "the kitchen dance" all the time. 

We have a long and somewhat narrow kitchen with a big window on one end, the door on the other, pantries and cooking areas and sink on either side. Let's say I want to make tea. I go and get the kettle from one side, turn around, out in water from the other side, turn around, put kettle one. Turn around again to get the tea bags. So far, so normal. Except on that last step, I probably forgot what I was doing. So as I open the pantry door, I'll stand there, wondering what I was doing. Maybe do a few tippy taps as I try to remember. Turn around again, notice the water, "Tea!" Turn around to get tea bags, open pantry door. Uhm... What was I doing? Close the door, go to the fridge. Hear the water boiling. "Tea!" Go grab cup, open pantry door, grab coffee, make coffee.

Meanwhile, my flat mate is sitting at the table, watching, having a grand old time.

Procastination and then rushing to do a 6 hours worth of cleaning & self-grooming activity in 2 hours, because I have to, otherwise I'll make my guest(s) disappointed and disturbed.

I can tell anyone exactly what they need to do to succeed at any task. Yet my tasks continue to pile up until the stress reaches record levels then half get dumped and a few get done and the guilt sets in. Why can't I follow my own advice?

I'll do anything that I can to help somebody else but my life goes unfulfilled and undone.

Forget where I hid the bodies...

I can lose things while they are in my hand

"Hmm, this notification about post/story/video seems interesting. I'll look at it later"

37 notifications in notification bar later

"Hmm, this notification about post/story/video seems interesting. I'll look at it later"

Also works for Chrome tabs.

I’ll listen to a song a like 100 times in a row until I have to memorized, including the harmony. Then I’ll listen to it one more time and never want to hear it again. Used to drive my brother crazy

Making stupid mistakes because "I don't really care" about the thing, so I go stupid and fuck up stuff in really avoidable ways. Like I will need to boil an egg. But then I don't want to set my alarm for the egg because I can't be bothered to do it after already putting it on the stove. Then egg burns. And I still don't care. And take it off. 

if you're open to suggestions read ahead otherwise ignore lol: i'd suggest leaving your phone outside. as much as it's adhd it's also apps designed to suck you into a scrolling pit and the reason you're stuck is you opened it in that space

When I’m really hyperfocused on something, I’ll just walk in circles for sometimes hours, thinking about what I’ve learned, categorizing and organizing the information in my mind as I just walk around the room. It scares my parents sometimes lol.

Hinders me having an actual hobby(s) because I either forget about it, don't have motivation or am in the middle of completing 2 or 3 others chores when I randomly think of said hobby and tell myself I'll make time for it later......🥸

I ordered new socks from Amazon because almost all of my socks dirty and I couldn’t bring myself to do laundry.

Always always always underestimating the amount of time it takes to do something. Lol

I waste entire weekends running through everything I "should" do, creating lists and thinking about it while in the meantime I'm playing games on my phone or scrolling through apps, watching TV and then drifting off to sleep until it's midnight Sunday and I realize the weekend is over with nothing actually accomplished. I swear to myself I will do better next weekend but that rarely happens

I have semi long, fine, wavy hair. This means it’s very high maintenance. It basically forces me to shower every morning if i want to go out no matter what. It also means I can’t leave conditioner in it too long or things go wrong.

This basically forces me to get out of the shower pretty fast as leaving it to air dry on its own is not a good idea and also getting it wet too much makes things go wrong.

It basically motivates me with the threat of looking completely homeless if i don’t keep on top of being fast.

It’s annoying but I kind of appreciate it.

I’m also late for everything if I have to physically be there. Even when I try to leave early, I will forget something and have to turn around and come home.
I love virtual appointments and meetings because I don’t stress all day about making sure I’m on time.

Before I was diagnosed I just sat on the couch all day looking at my phone. I am a stay at home dad and felt like such a fucking loser that I could hardly do any house work even though I tried my best. Some days just tidying the living room felt like a huge accomplishment and honestly it was pathetic that I thought that way.

My kids would want to play with me and I just kept on saying in a minute for hours on end. I’d drink 3 cups of coffee and 3 energy drinks and still be stuck on the couch. It was horrible because I didn’t want to be like that, but couldn’t change.

I am on vyvanse and can almost have the whole upstairs tidy in a day and play with my 2 kids and then the third when he’s home from school. I also do a deep clean every week wiping things down and clean the bathroom once a week now.

I talk to myself A LOT lol. Sometimes I direct it to the cats so it doesn’t feel quite so ?? but I’ve found verbalizing helps a ton with context switching, or talking myself into something I really don’t want to do, or out of something I really do but know I shouldn’t haha

At the moment I am on a month long road trip. And currently it’s opening the back of my car, and just staring, idling, fumbling a blank glance at my luggage/utnesils/etc for a FULL minute before closing it and retreating to my picnic I’ve set up. I will literally sit back down before SuDdEnLy realising I wanted a fork from my utensil drawer for the dinner I am about to eat. (It’s everyday for me… I’ve had enough honestly hahaha)

I think I use about 15 min in total getting my shoes and socks on. And I have to do it 20 min before I leave- to be somewhat on time ish.

Leave the faucet on and walk away. That’s a new one for me!

I inadvertently wore my husband's glasses while helping him look for his "lost" glasses.

I agree with you. The shower is a warm, safe place. Outside the shower is cold and sad. I will stay in the shower until my skin gets pruny and red.

Also I routinely get home and continue sitting in my car. I’ve done it since I started driving in high school. Just sit, listen to music, scroll on my phone, think about life, etc. Getting out and carrying my stuff inside is too hard. My bf will finally have to text me to tell me to get inside because my dog has been watching me sit out there for 40 minutes and has been whining. He expects it from me now and knows it’s just me sitting in the driveway.

Also can rarely finish drinks. Glasses of water, juice, or coffee strewn about the house.

Oh and finally, rebuying things I already have because I forgot I already have it or I’ve lost it to the void. They call it the ADHD tax and it’s so true. I’ve bought so many containers of cottage cheese without even opening the last one I bought that’s still good.

I can't do laundry until every item of underwear has been worn and my laundry hamper is overflowing. Then I can finally put a load of washing on.

Rub off the bad textures. I have to wipe my hand after I’ve touched a bad texture. Also, I bite. I’m a biter. I usually do just one big bite on people I love, but I nibble on my bf.

Same here. Transitions are super hard for me. I take an Epsom salt bath after work nearly every day, and there are times I'll be in there for ~2hours. Similar to you, I'll drain the tub, ofc we have an old one you have to hold the drain down, so ill just chill and scroll while it empties.

i constantly draw patterns in the air with my foot. I like to reflect on witty things I say to myself and repeat it outloud. Sometimes several times in a row. I sing to myself all the time just to deal with the constant music in my head. Funny enough, I have zero issue singing around people, but the second someone asks me to perform, I get paralyzed in fear and can't even imagine it. I've now just started telling people, "you'll hear me sooner or later, I'm always singing."

I cannot wait to dry off after showering and start walking around dripping water everywhere as soon as I’m done. I’ve been told not to do this since I was a kid by parents. I know I shouldn’t but I have always have this urge to walk around as soon as I’m done..

i'll impulsively take a bus that doesn't exactly lead to where i need to go or it's going the wrong way. it just sounded like a great idea in my head... but then when i actually try to pull it off i realize im in the middle of nowhere. haha.

there was also this one time, where a few days ago i was leaving a public bathroom and went to the wrong door... i saw the door for janitors and thought "that must be the exit!" and i tried to open the door a few times, wondered why it wasn't working and realized this door is for the janitors. i proceeded to turn around sheepishly and found the actual exit for the general public (by the way i had just entered that way a few minutes ago...) the person in front of me was DEFINITELY confused. (bad memory moment i guess??)

Walking around my house in a circle thinking about multiple things I want to do before actually doing them

Very silly, also mostly neutral but HUMMING. God damn, I realized I hum a bit when I’m happy or bored, but my partner has opened my eyes that it is so so constant. Luckily he thinks it’s cute but I even annoy myself sometimes with it. It’s usually made up tunes or something from tiktok I’m stuck on. Humming all the timeeeeeeee

Making abrupt and loud noises through out the day. It feels like some kind of release some how, haha.

Oh my goodness, I hate say a classic ‘me too’ line but I do almost the exact same thing!! I have no problem getting in and I am very precise about cleaning myself, then I get out and decide to sit in my towel on the edge of the tub to ‘dry off’ when I could just be doing what people usual do by rubbing the towel to get dry. When I don’t have my phone I read a bunch of labels on the backs of shampoo bottles and stuff. I never thought that was my adhd but seeing your post I suppose it is. I’ll take at the least 20-30 mins.

I hate opening mail.

I never knew i get bored aswell but i play YouTube video while getting out and doing stuff

i use the haird dryer mostly during winter season and I fucking love it :)

Randomly deciding to walk like a crab around my house when the moment strikes me (well, the zoomies strike me)

Pre shower sitting (I am in the bathroom but I am putting off getting into the shower, sometimes I fully turn the water on and then realize I’m not ready and turn it back off), getting out of the shower and realizing I forgot to bring a towel and having to do a naked sprint dripping water everywhere to find one, being tired but getting stuck and not going to bed. Being super organized and disciplined (for me) for a week and then just going off the rails and not doing anything I need to do/having no self control left. The time I drove around with a microwave in my trunk for like 6 months because I meant to bring it to work in case someone wanted it but then bringing it inside work was too much when I was already rushing in every day to not be late

i used to do this but before showering and when i had a big bathroom with a chair. the chair was a trap

I will leave the save Tik tok replaying in the background for a very long time

my jaw actually dropped. i also do this. literally never in my life have i heard of someone else doing this. the transition feels damn near impossible. i'll literally sit there for an hour

While carrying about (medicated and at my well-into-adult years as a poised, reliable, serious but appropriately good-natured professional during a workday, suddenly finding myself near the late afternoon either crashing or “rebounding” to point where I do something or say something either completely childish or clumsy, and am left feeling that, once again, my “credibility” needs yet another “start from scratch” overhaul. Interrupting during conference calls bc of poor sense of audio and verbal cues (pauses, attention to phrases, etc) is one silly and very annoying thing I do. I have a good “masking” phrase for that but still it’s not ideal, and can be a tad embarrassing to me and off-putting to some others. And…Sharing TMI with the wrong people every now and then.

Send emails and text messages to the incorrect recipient.

Edit: Frequently 🤦

I eat certain foods for sensory satisfaction, not because I’m hungry or I want to eat. My recent fascination has been semi frozen grapes. It’s kind of a slushie/icee texture

I will enter a room to do something or get something, but then forget why I just walked into that room. Then I become a detective and retrace my steps to jog my memory of what I was doing in the first place.

I am often “in my own world” and zone out a lot, and as a result I startle RIDICULOUSLY easily. I’ll jumpscare at someone passing me on the sidewalk, standing near me at the grocery store, existing in a very public area… I’ve grown to think it’s kind of endearing, especially because I usually get a giggle out of the culprit.

Prepare microwave cheesy Mac, microwave said cheesy Mac, play video games while said cheesy Mac is cooking...

6-10 hours later...

"I'm kind of hungry"

Prepare microwave cheesy Mac, open microwave door to find previous microwave cheesy Mac sitting there cold.

Buy more microwave cheesy mac....

I sometimes just spin around or walk in circles for a while. I’m not sure why lol

I recently got a new fit bit to help keep track of my dieting and exercising and I'll take it off for showers. I will put it right on the counter next to the sink and stare at it. I will say to myself "don't forget your fit bit. don't forget your fit bit"

I will finish my shower and get ready for work and half way to work realize I don't have my fit bit.

Nothing. It makes me do loads of nothing.

Folding laundry as soon as i get them out of dryer so they are not wrinkled a lot. i hate ironing, gives me anxiety, if not ironed to perfection.

When my brain errors, i just do a slight ‘aaaah’ and it resets

Idk if that helps, but there's robes made from towel material (like hotel robes), you could try to put one on after the shower like a towel-clothing hybrid and keep going about your day while you dry, at least at home.

Quit my jobs because I’m not longer fixated on it 😔

I have the opposite shower problem where if I know the shower needs to involve anything more than the basics, I absolutely procrastinate getting in.

This can be something as simple as shaving, exfoliating, or washing my hair (the biggest one).

I've had this elaborate hair washing routine where I do an oil mask a few hours before, double wash, and apply conditioner. I absolutely detest the feeling of having to do this once a week, but I also love the results, and it keeps my long head of hair healthy. So I end up painstakingly doing it at some point over the weekend (usually at the end of Sundays, lol).

edit - forgot to add the silly part, but sometimes you'll just see me standing at the sink, staring at my oil, waiting to "start this process". Or you'll hear me use this as a reason to not be able to make it to a social engagement

Laundry takes ages to do. Idk why. Easy as fuck. Just getting in and doing that initial part in my apt throws me. Maybe I'm scared I'll leave my stuff accidentally and sometime will steal it. (Happened before)

Instead of doing chores i walk up and down in the house thinking that i have to do it.

I would shave one armpit or one leg and forget to shave the other. I wouldn't realize it until I'm out the shower. 😅

I have to have the bathroom warm when I shower or its struggles to get in and out. I bought a mini heater for the bathroom which I turn on with my phone (bluetooth plug) before I go in the bathroom. My husband makes fun of me for it, but its nice cause when I get out the shower the temp is the same and there is no dreading leaveing the tub lol.

I spent the entire day making enchiladas yesterday. At the end i pulled them out of the oven and then forgot i made them lol

Found my deodorant in the fridge more than once.

Use my car key fob to ‘unlock’ my front door and be confused when nothing happens.

I find my ADHD so confusing, what works one week does not work the next. It's so frustrating.

Reported an item stolen at the gym because i thought i put it in a different locker

Sometimes I microwave a plate because I forgot to put my food on it.

There were a few times that I forgot the things I JUST bought in self checkout smh

I wait until the elevator closes at my job when no one is in it and I start acting super goofy and silly, making weird noises and dancing around all hyper. Then, once I arrive at my floor, I stop motionless pretending like I never did it and the door opens and people get on never knowing that I was acting super odd and goofy and would think something was very wrong with me.

I can’t make sentences. Sometimes what I say/write makes sense in my brain and after some time I realize I just mixed everything. I sound like a foreigner even tho it’s my mother language

One day, I said such a contradictory thing to a friend about watching shows/series/animes. I told her, "I get really bored when they are being too slow, so I watch them in 1.5 speed. I only do it when it's slow or when they start talking a lot or saying a lot." After just a few sentences into the topic, I said something like, "I get really bored when they aren't saying much or talking much." And she said, "So... you find it boring when they are saying much and you find it boring when they aren't saying much?" I guess the summary would be: "My adhd brain gets bored in all situations."

I have a hard time getting to the shower but once I'm in I don't want to get out.

Shower tip I learnt recently, use a hairdryer to dry your body. Makes getting ready after showering so much easier and helps to motivate me to not sit around for 7 years.

Talk and not be able to shut up. Even when i want to. And it's not just random chatter, it's a desire to problem solve and trouble shoot my life and relationships.

I tend to count anything I do that is repetitious. Like using a grease gun or a hand pump for oil transfer. 🔧

My time blindness is utterly insane. Any good tips welcome. And then just sheer overwhelm of Organizing.

I get so bored waiting to fill up my water bottle, I'd rather be productive and try to get some things in the kitchen done while waiting for it to finish filling up so I start "organizing", or putting things away.

EVERY TIME, without fail, I'll manage to forget about it until I start hearing it spilling over onto the counter/into the sink and have to clean up the mess... Yet I still continue to do it, not learning from my mistakes, because I hate just standing there waiting. If I just try to be patient and wait, I usually get annoyed at the speed and grab the bottle out early when it's only half full or just past half.

I just want to try and maintain my water intake! 🤣 I do best when I have a large bottle with visible water line because it makes me drink more throughout the day to keep up a steady pace. Otherwise it's out of sight out of mind, unless I get thirsty.

Honestly for me it was one of those things I just had to get over and power through. I used to sit with my towel hat on my phone for ages after a shower, avoiding finishing getting ready. I hated how much time I wasted doing that so I just started forcing myself to just continually move from one “task” of getting ready to the next. Put on towel hat, put on underwear/pants because they’re easier while wearing towel hat, put deodorant on, brush teeth, take off towel hat, finish getting dressed. I felt better when I was able to just get everything done and I could go spend time on other things. Even if I still spend an hour on my phone after that, at least one task in my day is finished and I don’t feel quite as bad about wasting time. I’m sorry I don’t have better advice aside from force yourself to keep moving until it’s done.

I make hot tea, and let it cool a little before drinking. Except I forget I made tea and now it's cold. I put said tea in microwave just to get it warm again, then I forget the tea in the microwave for the rest of the day until I have to open the microwave again. 😂

Forgetting where my wallet is. I have a spot in my house where I always put it, but sometimes it's not there....

“I’ll get something to eat after I finish this task”

Forgets that I don’t have any food prepared because I’ve recently become overwhelmed by the process of cooking, even though I had zero problem doing so before becoming medicated.