An open source Stack Overflow-style Q&A engine

:help usr_12.txt

There's one aspect of ADHD that appears to be being neglected here: hyperfocus. It's a common misconception that ADHD means that you can't pay attention to things. In reality, people with ADHD have trouble regulating what they pay attention to. This can play in your favor though. People with ADHD can be totally oblivious to things that would totally destroy a "normal" developer's ability to pay attention to things.

I find that it's more difficult for me to get into the "zone" than other developers, but once I'm there, it's diffuclt to get me out. I've been known to start coding and then look down at my watch and realize that I just spent hours hammering out code without ever thinking about doing anything else.

In fact, I would say that a bigger issue for me is that I tend to go for long periods of time coding and neglect to take care of basic necessities. So make sure that you take a break every once in a while, don't skip meals, and drink plenty of water! (the last two are even more important if you're taking medication)

---
The ADHD --aka ADD-- brain (specifically the prefrontal cortex portion) craves stimulation, be it through stimulant medication or through a very stimulating piece of code that you're programming -- heck even the endorphins generated by exercise can do the trick! If you find something interesting enough to concentrate on, you can hyperfocus on it for hours and hours. However, if you are forced to complete a task that is uninteresting, it can be very difficult to focus without the aid of additional stimulation.

I've had similar problems as you do. The two main strategies that have helped me are

Only one project at any time: I've suffered from following more projects than I can count on my fingers, each "clamouring" for attention. Now I've radically cut down on projects either by finishing them "once and for all" or by simply dropping them altogether. Earlier this year I've founded a company and now I'm down to three projects: Health, Family and Company.

Separation of concerns: When doing everything on one desk, the risk is high to "drift" from one thing to another. I've removed all procrastination stuff from my work PC and use my Laptop only for "play" and other private internet usage (mails, userfriendly, slashdot). The PC is on my desk, the Laptop in the Living Room. This keeps a healthy distance between Company and private stuff.

Of course these two things are quite general stuff. Some of the smaller, but also helpful things:

No Lurking on IRC/other chat channels. Either I need or give support/community in the project I'm working on or I'm not in that channel.
Close The Mailer. Checking mails because the project just compiles is just stupid, since waiting for a compile is just enough time to see whether or not there is mail. If there wasn't any mail, I've interrupted my flow for nothing and if there was mail, I'd either have to interrupt my flow even more to handle it or punt it anyways. So now, I'm checking my mails three times a day and have reduced my interruption count significantly.
Exercise. Often while programming I feel the urge to jump up and run around in my room. Especially when sitting before the tougher design decisions. Going biking every other day has significantly improved my ability to concentrate on stuff as well as the added benefit of improving overall stamina and well being.
Spent Time Bookkeeping. I've got a simple spreadsheet where I enter my Company time and some private stuff. I keep it to 15 minute chunks, which makes data entry much easier and any smaller units just cause more overhead. If I'm not doing something I can "bill" on the Company and it's between 8:00 and 18:00 I know I'm doing something wrong.
Also, at the end of the week I get a nice report how I spent my time. One big caveat here though. When I started this after finishing university it was a hard blow for me how little time I was spending "productively." It took me quite a while to recognize, that I need to record everything I don't do for Family. Specifically:
I need to record times spent exercising as productive. See above.
I need to record times lost due to external factors: I'm travelling a lot lately and when I've only recorded 25 hours of work in a week, I suck. But if I add the two days I spent on the road that week, I see that I did more than 40 hours. Suddenly "I suck" changes into "the external-factors-that-cause-my-travels suck," which is a much healthier thing to say.
Eat and Sleep Regularly. Stand up at 07:00, Breakfast, Lunch at 12:00, Dinner at 18:00, Sleep from between 22:00 and 23:00.
Appreciate the Small Successes. Even if I'm not yet there, today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.
Adjust you Environment. That's quite a broad topic. As a home worker, I got myself a nice new desk and chair which I now use exclusively for work.
Also I really like listening to music, but vocals -- especially in my mother tongue -- distract me incredibly. I've tried instrumental music, which worked for a while until the trance beats got to my nerves. Now I'm going for the complete silence. It might be different for you, but there's only one way to find out for real: experiment and watch yourself while working.
Become Accountable. Get a Conscience. I founded my Company together with an old friend, whom I deeply respect. By his presence and by knowing that our success is now is interlocked, I feel compelled to give my best.

And finally Constant Vigilance! Distractions tend to creep up from every nook and cranny of your life (stackoverflow anybody? ;). Keeping them at bay and managing them will stay a constant struggle. Having said this, I have to close my stackoverflow tabs and get back to programming!

Qhub is a free, easy way for anyone to build a fully featured question and answers community.