Like a budget hard drive after 6 months use, my memory is shot. I feel like I can barely remember anything.
I’ve been learning to code for the past 6 months and I have to periodically relearn all the concepts I had already learnt to implement them. I must mention that I am also trying to learn another language as well as do my full-time day job at the same time.
It feels like I am barely making any progress and that has been a shot in the arm to my confidence.
I don’t want to feel like I suck at everything, the only thing I think I have going for myself is that I think I can improve myself.
Any tips to help with memory retention?
Something that I haven’t seen in the comment section yet is having a diet that supports your brain functions.
(I want to preface that in no way do you have to start a new diet for you to feel improvements. But it sure helps to build it out fully. Also, I’m using the word diet as in what you eat to sustain and improve your body, brain, and the systems within. And not one of those strict, fad-like things.)
Starting my day with something high in protein, healthy fats, omega-3s, minerals, fiber, and if I can, antioxidants, is a must. I personally love eating a yogurt bowl for breakfast every day, as it provides all of the above. Mine consists of 4 Tps of plain yogurt (meaning no flavor, added sugar, or additives), 2 Tps of low sugar count flavored yogurt such as peach, vanilla or strawberry yogurt, 3/4ths of a cup of rolled oats, 1/2 - 3/4ths of a cup of low overall sugar and high protein trail mix, 1-1 1/2 Tps of chia seed and 3/4ths to 1 cup of no added sugar almond milk. And if in season, I absolutely add washed blueberries to my bowl. The trail mixes I use all have deshelled sunflower seeds as their mix. With peanuts, almonds (whole, halved or slivered), cashews, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and sometimes semi-sweet chocolate chips as well.
Where’s what we should be focusing on with our diets as people with ADHD:
Protein for Neurotransmitters
A consistent recommendation is to start the day with a protein-rich breakfast and include protein in snacks throughout the day, because protein supports the production of brain neurotransmitters essential for focus and attention.
Healthy Fats and Omega-3s
Regular intake of omega-3 fatty acids (from sources such as eggs, salmon, almonds, walnuts, avocados, flaxseed, etc.) as they may improve focus and support overall brain function for those with ADHD. Fish oil supplements are sometimes suggested.
Reduce Sugar and Additives
Dr. Hallowell routinely warns against diets high in sugar and artificial ingredients, as these can cause blood sugar spikes and worsen symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. “A diet high in carbohydrates, sugar, trans-fatty acids (and all those other ingredients contained in the many processed foods we Americans love to consume) is not beneficial for anyone, least of all people coping with ADHD.” - Feeding Your ADHD Brain… Literally
Hydration and Micronutrients
Proper hydration and intake of key micronutrients are vital for brain health, especially for individuals with ADHD. Staying hydrated helps regulate neurotransmitter production, particularly dopamine, which supports focus, mood stability, and impulse control. Mild dehydration can impair attention, memory, and executive functioning, leading to brain fog, irritability, and fatigue—issues commonly experienced with ADHD. - Hydration and ADHD - Nutrition in the Management of ADHD: A Review of Recent Research
A reminder that I’m not perfect in achieving these things and still struggle in my life, regardless of whether I eat healthy consistently or not. But I can tell you that it has greatly helped me not feel as out of it every day, low energy, in a brain fog, lack of ‘average’ focus, etc. One other thing to add to this is either taking a multivitamin (that you’ve researched) or, for me, drinking a Vitamin Water daily. From that, I’m getting vitamin B12, which helps support your energy production. And while it’s not definitive in research, higher or normal amounts of zinc (8-10mgs /d) have been shown to suggest that it can help reduce symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity. Some studies have shown that having a regular amount of zinc in your body may enhance the effectiveness of stimulant medications. - Finally Focused: Mineral Imbalances & ADHD (Part 1: Zinc Deficiency & Copper Excess)
Hope this helped.
My diet aligns mostly with what you have described, but not perfectly.
Takeaway would be to add more proteins and to be more serious about regular hydration. Even though I have a to do daily for drinking water, I miss it.
Thank you for the detailed comment.
God tier comment, saving it to forget about it later. Thx man
i write millions of notes for everything.
to that i add a similar amount of reminders.
not just for learning etc.
also for things like the first todos of the next day: shower, prepare food, pack this, …
for remembering for short-medium timeranges very simple notes suffice.
i know lots of stuff. i just can’t access it without a trigger.
i know lots of stuff. i just can’t access it without a trigger.
I have this exact same problem, I suppose a lot of us do. I don’t know how to access a lot of the stuff I have already learnt! Even after making countless notes.
One method that works is making analogies, but how do you do that for new words you learn or even older words! I like to write as well and I hate that my word recall works like a 100 year old librarian.
Triggers. Absolutely. If I have something to do, I write a reminder. If something important happens, I make a note. If I have an appointment, it goes in the calendar. Everything else just becomes dust in the wind.
When I was first diagnosed, it was my daily to-do list that kept me sane: breakfast, shower, walk, exercise… etc. Not so much that these were requirements as such, but as a reminder that these were worthwhile activities.
i know lots of stuff. i just can’t access it without a trigger.
Yes! This is exactly how I work. I’ve said before that my brain works like the Google home page: Completely blank until it gets input, then, it spews out everything it knows related to that input.
6 months is barely any time if you’re just starting out learning to code. Give yourself a year or two before you should expect to really understand a lot of the core concepts and know them by heart. Right now I’d say you should be able to read and understand basic code, you should know how to write code with references available, and you should be familiar with things like data types, classes, and functions, but not necessarily on a deep level.
I do feel a little better knowing this.
How long do you suppose it takes to learn a framework?
I am learning flutter, because I want to make apps for myself, but I find myself quickly turning to the web or AI for help.
It depends on your previous skill level. Since you’re just starting out, it’ll probably take you a year or more to become proficient at Flutter, but then the next framework you learn will take less time, and the next one even less, and so on.
I’ve gone through a lot of languages and frameworks in my career, and every time it gets easier. All of that previous knowledge helps a lot. So think of right now as you building a good solid foundation. What you’re learning right now will be valuable to you for the rest of your career, and maybe longer. (You never really get to the point that you’re not doing searches and asking for help, though. Don’t look at that as a bad thing. It’s completely normal for even experts to look up references and documentation and ask for help.)
I don’t use Visual Basic 6 (oh man, I’m really dating myself here) anymore, but I’m incredibly happy that I learned it when I was starting. It was easy enough to get into and start building things at that skill level, but advanced enough that I could make some really cool things before moving on.
Flutter is an excellent choice to start with, because it’s got that in common. I bet you’ll be able to build things within 6 more months, then you’ll be able to really push the framework and make really amazing things before you decide, if and when you want to, to try something else.
Programming is such an amazing skill, because you can build whatever you want given enough time and dedication. :)
Thanks for the confidence booster. I appreciate it.
A doggo for you
Aw! She’s adorable! Thank you. :)
How much of a brain break are you giving yourself?
If you’re spending a large amount of time on learning each day, you might look into structuring your learning so you’re doing it in small segments each day. Learn for 30 minutes, then go do something mindless for an hour.
Since short term memory is largely written to long term memory while you sleep, maybe try working on it an hour or so before you go to sleep.
Also, how are you learning? Are you doing exercises as you learn each concept, or are you reading a bunch then trying to throw everything together after?
For me, the only way I retain information like that is to actually work with the knowledge. Taking notes, like many have suggested, doesn’t work for me. I learn best when I have a task I want to accomplish, and I have to go research what I need to complete it.
Guided learning (school, training courses, books) really doesn’t transfer to long term knowledge for me, so I structure my learning differently. I feel like this is a pretty common thing with ADHD.
How much of a brain break are you giving yourself?
Not much, I am afraid. But it is something much more difficult to tackle.
Since short term memory is largely written to long term memory while you sleep, maybe try working on it an hour or so before you go to sleep.
This is actionable, thanks.
Also, how are you learning? Are you doing exercises as you learn each concept, or are you reading a bunch then trying to throw everything together after?
I have been learning by working on the theory as problem first and then learning theory proper. I also learn better by working on the problem and researching about it when I need to finish it, but I still forget stuff. Hence the frustration.
Take notes. It’s the only way I’m able to hang onto specific information and concepts ( ie code syntax, structures, processes ) in any reliable way. Your own notes are infinitely more valuable than any textbook(or blog or forum or whatever). Your own notes will be in your thought patterns, meaning when you read them later the information is ‘ready-to-eat’. Textbooks written by someone else provide information which first needs to be wrestled into shape before you can use it.
I have a self-hosted nextcloud server. I spent weeks learning how to set up apache, SSL certificiates etc. Then when 3 months later something broke, I had to learn it again from scratch - which led to me writing ‘guides’ for myself for all the stages of the process so the next failure would be easier to recover.
If it’s worth remembering, it’s worth writing down.
All the best! New languages (human or machine) are always difficult, but incredibly rewarding.
If it’s worth remembering, it’s worth writing down.
Quote of the day there.
Merci
Second the taking notes idea.
Can say in my case, a txt file for useful commands I’ve been feeding since I started using Linux 4 years ago has been invaluable.
Thank you.
What do you suggest hand written notes or digital ones?
I have also found myself in this situation and try to keep obsidian notes. But sometimes it feels counterintuitive, because there is so much to write. I fixed a bug, should I write it down? But I also fixed three to two bugs, should I write them all down?
Personal choice. When I was first diagnosed, part of the ‘adult diagnosis program’ was looking at how to use a journal as ADHDer, rather than as a NT. As a result I spent a year or so with a handwritten journal, keeping notes on anything and everything I had the focus to write down. As I transitioned back into full time work, this quickly fell by the wayside as my free time reduced.
Now I mostly take notes digitally - at work using a variety of tools at my disposal, privately with obsidion for quick notes on my phone, or more complex topics on my nextcloud.
What to write down remains a struggle - as you say, the first bugfix gets a detailed description, then suddenly I realise I’ve fixed a half dozen points and written nothing…
I try to imagine future me looking at this issue, and how frustrated I would be without decent notes to describe it. That helps me to focus on what is valuable and what is not. Subjective and not perfect, but so is life.
I try to remember, to write anything is better than nothing, and only the act of trying allows any potential for improvement.
handwritten
the physical act of writing helps me remember, I often don’t even look at them again
Keep a journal.
I have a single journal for daily events, in excel of all things.
I have a title column, date, related to (Linux, Tailscale, Health, etc) then a Notes column. This way I can filter on the related to column and search it.
I have links to OneNote pages (or just titles), and could easily do the same with Obsidian or anything else. There are years of notes in it now. Anything I’ve fixed is in there, so easy to find again with my own wording (which is how it started, then I realized keeping a separate personal journal made it harder to see things in general, or connections specifically) .
On my phone I use an app called… Memento. It’s like excel, but designed for a simpler UI. Easy for me to create new databases on a whim, or simply add info to one.
I believe many people witg ADHD have a working memory deficit too, so getting new info into long term memory is more crucial for them.
I also agree that handwritten is generally best for journals/notes like this, I just needed it to be searchable.
I don’t know. I have a similar journal, but I find myself dreading entering info in it because there’s too much to do and the ADHD makes it even more difficult to process and commit to.
There’s also just too much to do and too little time. There’s just too many things to cope with.
Unsure if it’d be your case, but maybe you’re too tired? Tiredness can mess memory afaik. Or maybe you’re not using the ideal learning methods? In my case for language learning, for example, repetition is a guaranteed way for me to lose focus, instead with cinversations being ideal for learning.
For language, I was using a textbook but currently I am just doing Duolingo to keep myself acquainted while I pick up my textbook learning habit again. Also subscribing to relevant subs and communities to stay fresh and immersed.
My issue is mostly with coding and retaining concepts I learnt for that.
