Tricia M Foster

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I lived most of my life with undiagnosed Bipolar II. However, when I was finally diagnosed at 40, I became more aware of the patterns that I had been dealing with since I was a teen. Although I was always high functioning, I did struggle with regulating emotions, especially stress, anxiety, and depression.

Now, with low doses of medication, life seems relatively easy. There are still normal challenges, but I no longer feel triggered by emotions that push me into taking immediate action. Even though stress, anxiety, and depression are not the devastating issues they used to be, my brain is still neurodivergent. Understanding how my brain has helped me unlock an even greater level of success, productivity, and quality of life.

How does this impact my life as a writer? Well, I need to take what I have learned about Bipolar disorder and note my own patterns to determine what works best for me. Here is my best advice for writers who also have neurodivergent brains.

1. Let Go of Neurotypical Patterns

Most aspiring writers look for advice on how to become successful, productive writers, and there is a lot of advice out there. However, you might find that when you try to that advice that is winds up being counter productive and leaves you feeling like a failure. Your not. It’s a pattern of behavior that simply doesn’t work for you. Punishing yourself for not being able to follow someone else’s prescription is never helpful. There is no “one way” to be successful and if a pattern does not help you achieve the results you want, let go of it without guilt.

2. Pay Attention to Your Own Patterns

Rather than following someone else’s pattern for success, start analyzing the pattern that already brings you the most success. When are you most happy and productive? Are you a morning person or a night person? Can you focus for long periods of time, or do you need to work in sprints? Do you need silence or background noise? Can you sit at a desk or do you need a standing desk with a treadmill? Do you need structured ritual or flexibility? Discovering what works best for you will take some experimentation. Track your typical behavior for a few weeks. Note when you have felt the most relaxed while being productive. Keeping a journal during this period might help you become more concious of these patterns and results. Once you under stand what works for you, you can create your own system.

3. Build Your Own System

Once you know what works for you, you can build a system that will help achieve the desired results. My brian craves both structure and novelty. Without structure, I can feel lost or overwhelmed. However, with too much structure I can feel oppressed and resentful. If my work is too repetitious it feels monotonous, and I lose interest. I need just enough novelty to maintain my curiousity without triggering my anxiety of the unknown. If those prerequisites for success sound conflicting and confusing, I completely understand. Trying to stuff myself into nuerotypical patterns that did not address these issues led to a lot of burnout and self-sabbotage before I understood how my brain works. I now know that I need loose structure.

With a loose structure, there are repeated elements that give me a sense of security, but enough flexibility in the structure to create novelty. This means, I probably won’t get up at 5:00 am every morning and write for exactly an hour. However, I do use the free app MindPad, to create a list of daily habits that I would like to integrate into my life. I then check them off as I go. It not only helps me prioritize, it also gamifies my life. And my brian loves games. Write 500 words a day? Check! Brainstorm five ideas? Check! The app even tracks streaks to help keep momentum going. But that is how my brain works. It’s up to you to discover what works for you.

Although I am not able to provide the failsafe system that will work for you, I hope I have encouraged you to find your own system for success. If you have started to figure some of this out, leave a comment below and let us know what works for you. It might inspire others.