Baseball, playing the game and collecting cardsĮach of these fixations lasted a minimum of several weeks.Despite typically having a terrible short term memory, when it comes to fixations, I can remember a high degree of detail, short or long term. I’ll engage in frequent periods of hyperfocus around the fixation. I will learn all I can about the subject through research and study. I like to make spreadsheets to track and plan. I have great collections of items stored in my house related to many past fixations.Īttention: Usually the fixation will be on my mind all day whether I’m actively participating or not. Anything related to furthering the fixation is considered a necessary purchase regardless of how much money is in my bank account. Money: These high-interest fixations, combined with low impulse control, lead to me buying many things to “set up” or continue a new fixation. It will encroach into work and family time. The fixation often takes precedence over family, work, church, values, and goals. It will also occupy a lot of time throughout the day, typically 4-5 hours, but stretching to 10 or more on the most intense days. Time: My fixation will be the first thing I attend to when I wake up and the last thing I look at/think of before I go to sleep. When I do have a fixation, I can tell it’s more than “just another interest” by looking at the time, money and attention I give it. Sometimes they will last weeks, months, and even years. Look at my internet history, my social media, ask me what’s new…you’ll hear about it. It’s pretty much on my mind all the time and all I want to talk about. I can’t necessarily control when hyperfocus will engage, but I can try to make it happen it by setting up a scenario where I have a chunk of time set aside for a project I’m excited about. But if it’s recreational, well, you’ve seen I can easily waste a day or more.

If it’s a work project I’m excited about, I can research and plan and create for hours. I’d developed a blister from playing on those unforgiving boxy controllers all day, but hadn’t realized the pain until I was called away. When I was called to dinner I found that my thumb hurt. When the hyperfocus is broken, typically by my partner returning home, I will often find myself very hungry and needing to use “the facilities.” As a kid I played The Legend of Zelda on NES all day long. I may play a video game for 6-8 hours straight, not eating or taking care of any other needs. While I’m in hyperfocus I will completely lose track of time. So while a screen doesn’t have to be present for me to hyperfocus, it’s very common that there is one. One of the reasons that screens are so common to my hyperfocus ability is that whether a work project or entertainment at home, I’m most likely using a screen of some kind. Without a screen I can’t stop fidgeting to save my life. When asked if I could sit still for prolonged periods, my automatic answer was, yes! But as I considered it, I had to add…if there’s a screen. This was actually one of my “ah-ha” moments in analyzing my ADHD. Frequently there is a screen involved, whether it’s a computer, television, e-reader, or smartphone. You will notice an intense level of focus and stillness. And while I may have a fixation that occupies much of my time and thought during a day, I may not actually be engaging in hyperfocus. While I can hyperfocus on just about anything if my interest level is high enough in the moment, I’m most likely to be found hyperfocusing on my current fixation. So, why the confusion about the words? I believe it’s because they often show up together. I don’t claim to be in charge of these terms, but while I use them in this post I want you to understand how I’m using them so that I can speak clearly about them. Hyperfocus: the ability or act of intensely focusing on an activity or task to the exclusion of awareness of time and surroundings.įixation: a topic, person, object, or activity that becomes the primary focus of an individual for days, weeks, or more. Don’t worry, they’ve been vetted by Twitter – haha! Here are the working definitions I’ve come up with. So this week I dove in once again to really try to get a handle on these two terms so that I could write somewhat intelligently about them. It seems everywhere I look there’s a different take on what they mean and how they’re related. I’ve seen them used both distinctly and interchangeably. Hyperfocus and fixation were two of the first words I heard associated with ADHD when I started learning about it.

Learning to hyperfocus on cue