Directed Hyperfocus

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So, I'm ASD with "moderate" but nonclinical ADHD among other things. I've had a lot of trouble accessing my hyperfocus since my burnout became really bad about 6 months ago. Recently diagnosed, I am wondering if my hyperfocus works the same as others, or if its a little bit different. I appreciate insights.

Much of the conversation treats hyperfocus as basically on or off. My hyperfocus seems to have different facets, or types I'll give examples. When I was a kid I loved when we had "achievement tests" because even though I didn't understand about hyperfocus, I knew that when I took those tests, the classroom would fall away and for a while it would just be me and the test, and I would be free to answer every question correctly if I could. This was different from the normal classwork, because part of my masking was limiting my classroom participation, and regular test scores.

When I have a big project I often have a hard time starting, but once I am going on it I can go for hours with very little thought of anything or anyone, I don't get hungry, I do try to make myself drink occasionally but that's about it. I think about these kinds of hyperfocus as native or pure hyperfocus.

I also do something I consider contrived or artificial hyperfocus. The easiest example of this is when you wait until your deadline nears then you "scare" yourself into finally starting. When I get something done this way, the room usually doesn't just fall away, but I can get rid of most distractions and get work done.

Sometimes I can contrive a high level of focus by going over a crowded schedule, or some other device to get me going. I'm not sure when focus becomes hyperfocus, but I know that to focus effectively is more difficult than it used to be.

Hi! I’m ADHD & autistic too, and I do all of the things you mentioned! Like, pretty much word for word lmao!

The procrastination thing is a very ADHD thing. ADHD brains are very reliant on instantaneous dopamine hits for motivation, and so if we have to do a task that gives us little to no dopamine, the only thing that can override our need for it is when we hit last-minute panic and it becomes adrenaline instead.

A nice way of summarizing the ADHD brain is that in order for a task to be appealing to the ADHD brain, the task has to be at least one or more of the following:
- Novel (new & exciting)
- Interesting (appealing to our personal interests [helloooooo autism])
- Challenging (not difficult, but challenging. A chance to “prove” ourselves, to use our skills to the best of their abilities and get quickly rewarded for it. Like the achievement test thing. It’s also why a lot of ADHD people get super into video games)
- Urgent (aka last-minute adrenaline) (and I think that difference in chemical/emotional motivation is probably why it feels different and the room doesn’t totally fall away the way it does for the other stuff. The other kinds are fun in a way that feels, like, safe and comforting. This kind is… not. Akqvwgsbd)

Can I just say I think the way you’ve categorized your different types of hyperfocus is very autistic and I love it akqvqgwhs

But anyway, I think that probably covers everything you mentioned. If there’s any hyperfocus state that you can “contrive” other than the last-minute panic thing, I would wager that any it’s really just you (consciously or subconsciously) paying attention to the things that trigger your “pure” hyperfocus and then doing those things on purpose. Y’know?

Also, it definitely makes sense it would be harder to focus when you’re in a state of burnout. Everything is harder in burnout, lol. And burnout can lead to depression which lessens your enjoyment of things you usually enjoy, and so it might even be harder to enter that hyperfocus state on things that are usually “native” for you.

Out of curiosity, are you medicated for your ADHD? I dunno how I ever got myself to do anything before I started taking my Vyvanse lmfao

I just take everything in (sensory data), all the variables and catalogue them, and depending on the size of the looking glass, determines on how useful or detrimental it is.

I say looking glass as I can't filter anything out. If I'm in a crowded environment, I get overwhelmed very quickly for obvious reasons as there's just too much sensory data, which often leads to a "meltdown" and my functioning drops quickly. This is why I avoid crowded situations as it's just too overwhelming. But, if I'm looking through a pair of binos at the same crowd from a distance and the rest of the world is filtered out, it can be useful because I see all of the details. I don't get overwhelmed with the latter either.

Sensory processing stuff I guess.

I have the opposite reaction to adrenaline. Urgency makes it harder, not easier, for me to focus on a task. Which is really counterproductive a lot of the time.

Hey Turnleft, I appreciate the way you break out the elements needed for hyperfocus. I especially appreciate your use of challenging not difficult. I suppose part of my current difficulties revolve around that difference, as there are tasks that used to be challenging, but now they are mostly just a bunch of time consuming steps, difficult because I don't really want to do them, but not really challenging.
Your comment about urgency and adrenaline seems plausible. Making things more urgent in my head is certainly one of my workarounds.
When my psychologist evaluated me, she said I had ADHD traits with elevated scores on the computer test. But, she said I wasn't at the level to be clinically ADHD. There wasn't any doubt about the autism part. Anyway, since she said I was not clinically ADHD, no Vyvanse or other ADHD drugs for me now. I'm just working on the Autism, for now and will see how that goes although I do wonder about the ADHD meds, cause I know they provide a lot of help for some people. Two of my granddaughters are on ADHD meds and have both been helped a lot.

Here's what I had discussed about "Hyperfocus".