This is episode five. And today I'm talking with Marie Ng. Marie is the founder of Llama Life, a desktop productivity app, which helps you work through your to-do list, not just making never-ending ones. When she couldn't find a tool that worked with her brain, she decided to teach herself to code by watching YouTube videos and Llama Life is the result.
Show Notes
Creators & Guests
What is ADHD Nerds?
ADHD Nerds is the podcast for Adults with ADHD to learn more about their unique brain through the stories of others. Learn tips and strategies for managing or hacking your ADHD brain and have some fun along the way.
ADHD Nerds is hosted by Jesse J. Anderson, an ADHD Creative with a passion for writing, teaching, and raising awareness about ADHD. In 2017, he was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 36, and has made it his mission to help others better understand what ADHD really is.
This podcast is a great place to learn more about Adult ADHD, whether you're officially diagnosed, self-diagnosed, stuck on a waiting list, or just want to know more about how your loved one's brain works.
Marie Ng: It's very hard to describe
for people who don't have ADHD, right?
Like you just sit there and
you go, I just can't do this.
And it's not because I don't want to.
I just, I just can't and it
seems so weird to say that,
but it's just this big blocker.
Jesse: Hey, my name is Jesse J.
Anderson, host of the ADHD Nerds podcast.
The show where we talk about living with
ADHD, and have some fun along the way.
This is episode five.
And today I'm talking with Marie Ng.
Marie is the founder of Llama Life, a
desktop productivity app, which helps
you work through your to-do list,
not just making never-ending ones.
When she couldn't find a tool that worked
with her brain, she decided to teach
herself to code by watching YouTube
videos and Llama Life is the result.
And speaking of...
I'd love to thank our
first sponsor, Llama Life.
Say goodbye to never-ending
lists and hello to daily bliss.
Llama Life is a perfect tool for
managing time-boxed working sessions.
You can whiz through your monstrous
to do list, finish your work on
time, and get the things done
that you said you would do.
They just announced a free version,
so you can go to adhdnerds.com/llama
that's L L A M A and get started
today for free with no credit card.
And if you want to upgrade your
plan, you can use the coupon
code JESSELLAMA20 to save 20%.
That's J E S S E L L A M A 2 0.
Now let's get to the show.
Welcome Marie.
It is great to have you,
how is it going today?
Marie Ng: Thank you.
Um, it's going good.
It's going good.
It's um, eight 15 in
Australia in the morning.
And I'm guessing it's
the opposite for you?
Jesse: It's a little bit late
afternoon for me here in the U.
S.
Marie Ng: Yeah, that's the good
thing about online stuff, right?
Anyone can connect with anyone.
Jesse: Right, exactly.
So it's great to have you here.
Uh, we've been friends like on
Twitter, just kind of messaging back
and forth over the last year or so
watching, you know, I've been watching
the app that you created Llama Life
and sort of, as you've been building
that in public and at some point
learning that you had ADHD like I do.
And we've you know, connected through
Twitter DMs and stuff, talking about that.
And I'd love to hear just sort of,
what your history is like with ADHD?
Marie Ng: Yeah.
Um, yeah, it's kind of,
it's an interesting story.
I guess everyone has their own story.
Uh, for me, I was diagnosed quite
late in life, so, it was in my
thirties when I got diagnosed and.
You know, it's one of those things
where when you get the diagnosis,
you kind of look back and you go, oh
my God, everything just makes sense.
There's kind of a relief in the fact
that, you know, um, what might be causing
certain things or certain behaviors
or certain struggles that you have.
But then there's also this moment of like,
well, what am I going to do about that?
So it's kind of a very, um,
conflicting, contrasting moment when
you, when you get the diagnosis and.
You know, because I was
diagnosed as an adult.
you know, like a lot of it was
kind of in my own hands, like,
what am I going to do about that?
Am I going to get medication?
Um, are there different tools
I can use to support myself?
Like what kind of structures
can I put around myself?
Because I think it's quite
different when you're an adult
versus a child getting diagnosed.
Like when you're a child, like you
almost rely a lot on your parents to
put that structure around you and those,
you know, bumper guardrails around you.
But as an adult was quite different.
So, the way it happened for me was,
you know, I was in a, before I was
working on Llama Life, uh, I was
in a corporate, corporate job, um,
which was a really great experience.
I used to work in advertising
and branding and, um, I used to
work in New York City as well.
So I'm based in Melbourne, Australia
now, but I've, I've worked in
London and I've worked in New York.
And I think I picked those cities
because, you know, there's just
a lot of stuff happening there.
There's a, there's a very high
energy in both those cities and
I'm really attracted to that.
And what happened was I was working
in, in New York and I'd worked
for about you know, 10 years
in, in advertising and branding.
And as I kind of got further along in
my career, I feel like my learning.
Uh, my learning kind of my learning
curve kind of flattened out.
You know, I, my, my rate of
learning was, was flattening out.
And for me, I always kind
of need that challenge.
I need something new, exciting,
and hard do something that's hard.
Right.
If it's not hard, it's not interesting.
And, I kind of got to a point
where, yeah, I just did not feel
as engaged in what I was doing.
And I was really struggling to
do some very, very basic tasks.
I think the biggest one that stood out for
me was, and I think a lot of organizations
do this, but they have time sheets.
Right?
So you need to, if you, especially,
if you work with clients, you
have to record how much time you
spend on different activities.
So you can so you can bill
the client at the end.
And I always remember, like I
was, I feel like I was good at
all the other things I had to do.
But when it came to these small
tasks, like time sheets or anything
sort of admin related or anything
I didn't feel was interesting.
I just couldn't do it.
Like I'd constantly get emails from my
manager saying, hey, you're like six
months behind on your time sheets and,
you know, it, everything else is good,
but like, why can't you get this done?
Like you keep coming up on my list
of people who haven't completed it.
And I just got to a point where I was
struggling so badly just sitting at my
desk thinking like, I just can't do this.
Like, there's something, ah,
it's very hard to describe for
people who don't have ADHD, right?
Like you just sit there and
you go, I just can't do this.
And it's not because I don't want to.
I just, I just can't and it
seems so weird to say that,
but it's just this big blocker.
And
Jesse: Yeah, for sure.
Marie Ng: I was lucky in that.
one of my colleagues who were
sitting next to me or sitting,
sitting behind me actually.
I was kind of just describing this
to him, and he actually has ADHD.
And he's like, I think you've got ADHD.
And I'm like, oh, you know, I, I never
really thought about it and I never
really Googled it or researched it.
But he's like, mmm I reckon you've
got ADHD, um, inattentive type.
And so I started researching it,
and it's one of those things, right.
I'm reading through all these, uh,
websites on google and I'm just nodding
my head going, oh my god, oh my god.
Like this, this is every
single thing I read.
I'm like, oh my god, I'm going this is me.
This is me.
Like it started to get really clear.
And, I ended up seeing his, uh,
psychiatrist, that was actually
not too hard a process for me, just
because he referred me, like he
said, I'm already seeing this guy.
This is the process.
Like he told me this is the process.
And I, I think a lot of other people
are not that lucky because, if
you're starting from scratch and
you don't know anyone, it's like,
well, where do you even get started?
How do I go about getting a diagnosis?
Do I need to get a diagnosis?
Like, how is it going to help me?
Uh, how do I get medication?
I think a lot of it is, it's so
unknown for a lot of people, but
because I had my friend he's, he
was like, just go and see this guy.
He's just around the corner.
This is his address.
He kind of gave me all the steps.
Jesse: Yeah, that's great.
Marie Ng: Took away the friction.
And he's just like, just make
an appointment, go see him.
It costs this much.
So he kind of filled in
all the blanks for me.
And I'm super grateful for that.
And yeah.
So I went to see this guy and
we had a chat and yeah, he
asked me a ton of questions.
Uh, we ended up trying a
couple of different meds.
Meds, I don't, I don't do well with them.
Like I kind of, I was on them for a few
years and they, they help definitely
help, but the longterm effect for me,
it just, I, my body doesn't like them.
So after a while, so after a
couple of years, I could just
feel they weren't as effective.
And they, um, they actually
made me feel quite moody.
So, um, and also very emotionless.
I just got stone cold and I
just, that's not really who I am.
And, um, so I kind of balance it.
Sometimes it take them sometimes I
don't, it depends I'm trying to do.
Jesse: Yeah, I find that meds, like
for some people it's just like magic
and really hits just right for them and
really helps them out where they need it.
And I know others, yeah,
that have struggled.
And for me, I, I saw a doctor for
a while and, or a psychiatrist and
we were trying out a whole bunch
of different kinds of medication,
trying to find the right fit for me.
And I took Adderall and
that it just made me mad.
I was just like angry at
everything all the time.
And I had this really short fuse and I,
only took that for like maybe three days.
And I told, and that I told my
wife and I was like, I don't
think, this one is working for me.
I think I'm going to stop.
And she's like, yes, please
stop taking the Adderall.
It just makes you just,
I was just miserable.
I just made everyone miserable.
Cause I was just mad and short and like
have like I wasn't exploding, I was
just like, I kind of felt like I was
like moody and fuming all the time.
It was no good.
Yeah.
Marie Ng: I think, I mean, everyone's
different, but, I had a similar
experience with Adderall too.
I took it for, yeah, same sort of
about three days, four days, but it
was within the first week for sure,
but I, I took it and, um, I remember.
I had, yeah, very short fuse that the
tipping point for me was I was, I was
away on a work trip and I was coming
back from JFK airport in a taxi.
And there was a lot of
traffic and the taxi driver.
I mean, I feel so bad now, but it
was not his fault, but there was a
lot of traffic and he took the wrong
turn, which meant like we're on the,
on the highway and he didn't exit.
Jesse: Mmhmm.
Marie Ng: He didn't exit.
And so we were stuck for, I
don't know how much longer, but
basically till the next exit.
And I lost it.
Like, I was very tired.
I was coming back from a trip.
I would not normally lose it.
And I started yelling at him and I
felt, I mean, I was just after that,
I was like, what just happened?
Like, it was very, it
was almost out of body.
Right.
It was almost like, that's not me.
Like what what's going, like, as I'm sort
of yelling, I'm thinking, almost like,
that's not me, like what's going on.
And straightaway, like the next
day I called the psychiatrist
back and I said, I don't think
this is really working with me.
And so we switched to, um, Dexatrine.
Jesse: Okay.
Marie Ng: And that worked a bit
better for me, but like you said,
everyone's, everyone's different.
Jesse: Yeah.
It's so different for everyone.
There's no like, oh, you
need to try this one.
This is the one that works.
Like, no, like I know people that
Adderall is perfect for them and they
love being able to like concentrate.
Cause Adderall really helps them to focus.
And it's totally different for
every person, which is why.
Like find a good psychiatrist
that can help you through like
that plan to try and find it.
Uh, if you find one, I never
actually found one that did work.
I'm planning to kind of give it
another, try with a new psychiatrist
soon, but I, I basically just like
self medicate with lots of coffee, uh.
Marie Ng: That's what I do do.
partly why my, uh, my Twitter handle, it's
so my Twitter handle's threehourcoffee.
I've basically, yeah.
I self medicate with coffee too.
I kind of sip it throughout the day.
I feel I'm very sensitive to coffee
too, so I can kind of feel where I am.
If I, if I have too much, I'll just
get really jittery and I'll feel
sick, but it definitely helps me.
A little bit, I mean, not as much
as medication, but definitely helps.
Definitely helps me.
Jesse: Right.
Yeah.
Same.
So, yeah.
So after you kind of went through that
process, you tried meds and maybe they
didn't work long-term or whatever.
Like what, how do you think that, like,
how did that affect your life after that?
What was your, how did it change your
job and what, what did you, Yeah.
What did you do kind of going
forward from that process?
Marie Ng: Yeah.
So I took the meds for a while.
I continued with my advertising
branding gig for a while.
I don't regret any of that experience.
It was such a good experience.
I made a lot of friends.
I learned a lot of things, learned
how to deal with politics and dealing
with people in corporate, because it's
a very different kind of environment.
But ultimately what happened was I
left there to start my own business
and kind of work for myself because,
a couple of reasons, one, because
I've always wanted to do a startup.
I've always wanted to try and
build something by myself.
Um, have an idea, bring it to life.
So I've always wanted to do that.
I just never had the opportunity or was
never the right sort of time to do it,
but I kind of got to that point where I
was like, you know, what, if there's any
time to do it, it's probably, now you've
got some experience under your belt.
You've got a bit of savings.
You're not supporting a family or
kids, so there's, that's definitely
like a whole different ball
game, different responsibilities.
So it was just myself.
I'm like, you know what?
I can take the risk because of
where I am in life right now.
And so I decided to leave,
um, to explore that.
But the, the, the other reason is,
you know, so the first reason is I've
always wanted to do that kind of thing.
The second reason is, you know, I
was thinking really hard about what
I can do to help manage the ADHD.
And one of the biggest things
for me is that you need to almost
create your own environment.
So it's very hard to fit into
somebody else's environment.
And that's what, to me, that's what
corporate is, it's like somebody else's
company, somebody else's structure.
If you don't fit within that, it's going
to be very, very hard to do your day job
to progress, to keep your mental health
in check, because you're constantly
struggling to fit into something
else that is not natural for you.
And so one of the things for me
was like, okay well, if that's
going to be a challenge and maybe I
could do that with medication, but
it wouldn't be fulfilling for me.
Uh, if I uh, do not have medication
or I'm trying to cut down on that or
tweak that maybe the best thing for
me is just to create an environment
that I naturally thrive in.
And that is pretty much what I have now.
I'm doing something that I really love.
I'm super interested in it.
So, you know, I get those moments
of hyper-focus because I love it.
Like I love what I'm doing.
And, it's challenging, every day
is different, which perfect for me.
And I have my own time schedule.
So sometimes I might be working late
at night just cause I'm in the flow.
And then I'm like, you know what,
I'm just going to keep going, cuz, I
dunno how long this is going to last.
And then there's other moments where
I'm just struggling to get started.
And if you run your own
business, that's okay.
Like maybe you just take a walk or
maybe I just won't start till a bit
later in the day, but you don't have to
force yourself to fit in with, you have
to be in this 9:00 AM meeting and you
have to stay in his 9:00 AM meeting for
two hours you can't go anywhere else.
You know, I used to be in corporate
meetings and I was always the who was
getting up and having to move around
and, probably disrupting everyone else.
Jesse: But taking care of yourself,
what you needed in that moment.
Marie Ng: I needed it.
You know, I, I got one of the first bits
of feedback I got from, uh, one of my
managers was you you're doing a good job,
but you get out of your seat way too much.
And I don't like, I can't help it.
kind of have to, or
otherwise I'll go crazy.
Um, but that was like a very
distinct piece of feedback I'll
always remember was, you know, you
really get out of the seat too much.
Like you kind of disrupting other people.
Cause you're just always getting up,
going to to the bathroom, go and get,
make a coffee and going to the kitchen.
Like you need to kind of just sit.
And this is not, you know, this
is not when you're a kid, right.
This is when I was corporate
and, and I think she got affected
because she was sitting right.
Opposite me, open plan environment.
So obviously she's, every time I get
up, it's very obvious to her and, yeah.
Jesse: Wow.
Yeah, that's wild.
I, so I similar to you.
Like I w- I worked in advertising
before I was as a designer and then.
Uh, now I work as a software developer.
I'm technically in corporate,
but I, the company I work at is
like, it's a, it's a startup.
It was when I joined the company
about seven years ago, there was
like 30 people and they've grown now
they're over a hundred employees.
So there's a little bit of kind of
that, you know, corporate policy kind
of stuff necessarily kind of starts
to creep in, but I definitely feel
lucky and that they give me a lot
of freedom to sort of craft things
that work with my brain a little bit.
Like I don't have full freedom
of the schedule, but I have a
lot of flexibility with that.
And, um, and I work from home.
So I get my environment, I can
get up as much as I want and walk
around my little home studio.
So, um, yeah.
I wanted to ask what you thought about.
It seems, that more and more I'm running
into more developers that have ADHD.
Maybe they don't even know it, but
it feels like something about like
the environment of doing software
development attracts that ADHD
brain and why, I'm just curious.
Why do you think that is?
What have you noticed in that?
Marie Ng: Yes, I'm quite, I'm
still quite a new developer.
So, um, that was an attraction in itself.
I kind I taught myself to code
a couple of years ago, like two
years ago watching YouTube videos.
And that was amazing in itself
because I just like, I love it.
I just there's something
about it that just.
Works with my brain.
And I guess that's the question, right?
Like why do we think that is?
And I suspect, well, at least for me,
I can only really talk about my
own experience, but for me, the
attraction is, I, I write some
code and then I see a result.
And it's instant, right?
So I get instant gratification in the
sense that it either works or it doesn't,
but I know straight away, sometimes it's
actually quite a contrast to see marketing
and advertising as a career, because if
you're doing something like marketing,
Um, I know a lot of the indie developers
struggle with this because they're great
developers, but to build a business,
you need sort of developing the product,
but you also need to market the product.
And it's, I feel like it's almost
like two different skills and
that's why there's this struggle.
because when you think about marketing,
there's, it's not instant gratification.
Uh, there might be some growth
hacking in it that people do that.
You kind of see a result for a little bit.
You might get a spike in traffic,
but in your, to your website,
but it'll probably come down.
If you want to do marketing seriously
and brand building and advertising, then
you usually have to put in some work
up front and you need to do a little
research to figure out what might work.
But you might not actually see the
result for a month or two months
because it takes time to actually work.
It takes time for people to see an ad.
A lot of people don't convert to
buying a product after just one time.
Like you might have to
see an ad multiple times.
You might have to see your
friends start using the product.
So you might need social proof
around the product before you take
the plunge and and buy it or use it.
So there is a time delay.
Whereas when I'm doing coding, it's
instant, like you hit deploy or you
build it or you just, you know, receive
something in the browser and then
bang, it's there, it's working or it's
not working and it's very, binary.
So it's like, the computer is never wrong.
Right?
If there's an error, it's
because you wrote something
wrong, it's black and white.
It's kind of like, all right, well,
it's doing exactly what I told it to do.
And I just told it wrong.
I just told it to do
something that wasn't right.
But it actually did exactly what I said.
And when I'm coding, it's almost like
my brain slows down, but in a good
way, um, I'm don't know if that makes
sense, but it's kinda of, sometimes,
if I'm doing other tasks, like inside
my head, it might be quite hectic.
There's a lot of thoughts going on.
But it's, it's hard to describe because
it's not like, like, you know, sometimes
you see in the movies, the way ADHD is
portrayed and they kind of portray people
as being super hyperactive and almost like
squirrel mentality, where you going, oh,
look at that, look at that, look at that.
That's definitely not
how it is in my head.
It's almost like, and everyone, again,
everyone is a little different and
manifests slightly different in everybody.
But for me, it it's kind of like
that, but the way it presents
in my head, I just get fuzzy.
Like I just get foggy because I know,
I know it's because there's too many
things going on, but it's not like
I'm darting from one thing to another.
It just all becomes foggy.
And I'm like, oh, whereas when I'm
coding, it doesn't do that because.
It almost slows down, but it slows
down to the point where it's like super
efficient, which is contradictory,
but it's yeah, you slow down to
become more efficient and everything.
Step-by-step line by line.
I can see all the code and I don't know,
it's almost calming in a weird way.
Jesse: Yeah.
Yeah.
I find that uh, well first, like
what you say, ADHD in the media.
Yeah.
So often is portrayed as that like
squirrel, you know like, Hammy
from Over the Hedge or like that
kind of a character, that's just
like, can't retain any memory.
And it's just like jumping
from this thing to that.
And that, I mean, that's the reason
when I first someone first suggested
to me, like, I might have ADHD.
I was like, no, cause I, I have
no problem focusing on like the
things I'm interested in, you know?
Cause I hadn't heard
of hyper-focus before.
And then once I learned about
that, I was like, oh, oh, I do
need to look into this more.
And then that's when I did all the
websites, like you said earlier, and
like, oh, all these symptoms are really
crying out to me and like lining up with
these things that I thought were private.
Like these are my own little weird quirks.
And here website has a giant list
of all of them in a, in a row,
which is, uh, yeah, it definitely
an interesting experience to go
through and like realizing, oh,
there's a reason behind all this.
Um, as far as like the
development, I totally agree.
There's something about where it
just sort of like my brain sort
of locks in and really like it's.
It's like this, uh, it reminds me
of in school for the most part.
I hated like math classes, but sometimes
there would be some sort of math puzzle.
And then I was like, locked in.
I'm like, I'm going to solve this problem.
Like I love problem solving.
And I think the world of like,
software development is just
tons of fun problems to solve.
And some of them, you like, you get
to create your own problems to solve.
And so there's like this creativity and
figuring out like, how can I manipulate?
Like you're saying like this, like
static, this, this code that doesn't have
any opinions, like how can I manipulate
that to solve this creative problem.
And I know there's, uh, Dr.
William Dodson, uh, calls this thing
called leaping where like, you will
have a problem and you just sort of
like, your brain is just sorta like
jumping kind of everywhere at once.
And then you're like, ah, I got it.
Like I leapt to the problem.
And then I don't always know how
I got there, but I know like that
solution is, I know it's the solution.
And then I kind of have to figure out.
I don't know how my brain got there, but
I know that that's the right solution.
I just have to kind of like figure
out why it's the right solution.
Marie Ng: Yeah, that's so funny
that you say that I didn't,
Yeah, I didn't really know.
There was a sort of term for
it called leaping but that is
kind of how my brain works too.
And I, and I've re- I started to
realize that a few years ago, I used
to just think, oh, maybe my clarity of
thinking wasn't wasn't there because
it wasn't a step-by-step thing.
It wasn't a, uh, I'll think
through this problem, this,
this, and then I get an answer.
For me, it kind of has to sit in my
head for a while, and it's almost like
there's all these disparate parts.
But then suddenly it
just all comes together.
And now I feel more confident in
myself that it will come together,
but it just takes, it won't be
as linear as maybe somebody else.
But it definitely, even if I'm
not consciously thinking about
it, like it's probably, probably
working its way together slowly.
And, um, then, then there's this
leap and then all of a sudden it's
like, oh yeah, that's the solution.
One thing I've been doing
lately is using mind maps.
Have you ever used a mindmap?
Jesse: Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Marie Ng: They're so good because
I, I feel like it's how my it's a
little bit like how my brain works.
You almost do like a brain dump on paper.
It's really good when you're
brainstorming ideas, like you say,
you're building a product and you're
trying to figure out what feature
to build based on customer feedback.
And you can kind of just put
everything on the mind map.
And, I guess for those who don't
know what the, the mind map is, it's
got a lot of different nodes and a
node could just be like a thought.
And what you do is you actually
try and connect all of the
different nodes with, with lines.
And then you start to see
a pattern being formed.
Like you might get a cluster of
nodes together and you can also
connect that to another cluster.
It's very fluid in the way you
can just move it around the page.
It's, it's almost the opposite
of doing, say a bulleted list
on a, on a word document.
That's got a lot of structure.
It's harder to move things around.
Whereas the mind map is just, you
put it wherever you want on the page.
You can move and group things
together and you can draw lines
to connect different things.
And for me, that really works because
I can start to see what is related,
what things are related with other
things and patterns, patterns emerge.
And, um, um, I'm not sure if this is
an ADHD thing or not, but I'm pretty
good at seeing patterns in anything,
Jesse: Right, yeah.
I, don't know if there's science
behind that, but that's definitely
been my experience as well.
It seems like we like that ADHD brain for
whatever reason really seems to be able to
see patterns Like particular patterns that
neuro-typical people don't see at all.
Like we now now, as I'm saying it, I'm
remembering now I have seen studies
that have shown that, uh, the ADHD
brain is more likely to connect things
that aren't obviously connected.
And so there's been like, studies.
I don't remember the exact thing,
but it was something like here's,
you know, here's a fork and a sponge
and a, an apple, and then try to
solve a problem with these things.
And a neuro-typical brain is often more
set of like, okay, well, an apple is food
and a fork is something you use in food.
Whereas the ADHD brain is like,
okay, here are three objects.
And how can I recombine them to
solve the solution or whatever.
So there have actually been studies
showing that that recognition that
particularly the unique pattern
recognition is something that
our ADHD brains are great at.
Uh, speaking of solving problems,
um, I'm assuming the genesis of
your app Llama life was trying
to solve your own problems.
So how did that come about?
Marie Ng: Yeah, it is.
Um, yeah, that's pretty,
pretty much what happened.
So it there's two reasons
why I started Llama Life.
The first was I was l earning how to code.
And you know, one of the first
things you do when you're learning
how to code is you build a to-do
list because it's, it's a very good
way to practice, dealing with data.
So you are creating a to-do so
you're writing data to the database.
Then you might want to retrieve
that you might want to delete that.
It's just a very good way to
learn how things work when.
Teaching yourself to code.
So that was one of the first
projects I built by myself.
Um, obviously it wasn't as
complicated as it is today.
Like it wasn't sort of the fully,
the full product that you see today.
It was a very minimal version of
that, but I I've also built it because
I have been trying to find tools
to work with how my brain works.
I had a number of different tools that I
was kind of trying to mash together and
sort of hack together to work with me.
And I just wanted, um, I guess I just
wanted something that like just fits.
So I ended up putting the
basic version of Lama life.
And I build very publicly on Twitter.
I share what I'm doing and
the thought process behind it.
And when I put it up there,
uh, immediately people started
saying, oh, you know, I want
this, like, where, what is this?
And I had to say, well,
it's actually not a product.
It's just something I'm playing with.
I'm building, cause I'm
teaching myself to code and.
But it was a nice signal for me that maybe
someone else might want this as well.
And over time I was kind of
very, a very natural progression.
So over time I just kept sharing what
I was adding to it like different
features and it started getting
a small following on Twitter.
And then, yeah.
And then, and then, um, so Jason
Calacanis, who was an angel investor
in the us, somebody from his team.
And they encouraged me to apply
for an accelerator program.
And that really helped me kind
of get my thinking around, like
as a product, what is this?
Uh, where could it go?
Like, what is the overall mission
that you're trying to solve with this?
Like, what are you trying
to do with this business?
And, you know, for me, it, it
and Llama life, it's all about
calm, focused productivity.
Because I think, you know,
especially nowadays, and this
is not necessarily just ADHD.
There are a lot of distractions
nowadays in the workplace.
We, a lot of us are working from
home or we're working remotely.
And, um, there's just a lot of things
to balance like home life and work.
And two people can have exactly the same
to do list and they both might complete
that to do list at the end of the day.
But emotionally and mentally, they
might be in a different state.
So you might finish everything on your
list and you might feel really calm,
accomplished, and, yeah, just, just,
just happy with how your day went.
I might have exactly the same list
and I might get through that, but
maybe I'm feeling kind of stressed
and drained at the end of the day.
And what Llama Life is trying
to do through the design of the
product is, you know, how can we
design something to help you get
through your day feeling like good.
Feeling not worn out, feeling, not
tired, of feeling not stressed.
Because a lot of, a lot of
productivity is a mental game.
And I think I feel that really acutely
because of ADHD, I know a lot of it is
about trying to manage my own mental
state as I progress throughout the day.
And that takes a lot of energy to do.
Medication helps with that.
But if you're just trying to
manage it yourself, like it, it,
it can take a lot of energy and,
you know, having a tool like Llama
Life will not solve all of that.
Right.
I think a lot of people expect
to use a tool and that's it.
Like, it will be great, but you, you
still have to meet a tool halfway.
A tool is just a tool.
But I can try and design it in such
a way that will help get you there.
But you still have to put the work in.
And if you have ADHD, then
there will be more work to put
in then a neuro-typical person.
That's just how it is.
But at least a tool that is designed
for increasing focus, uh, helping you
look at one thing at a time and being
disciplined about that and making
it really fun and rewarding to use.
So it's very lighthearted.
It's when you complete a
task, you get confetti.
Um, it's designed to kind of trigger some
dopamine, uh, in, in your, in your brain.
That could at least help
get you part of the way.
So, so the mission is really to
help people increase their focus,
achieve that calm, uh, productivity,
and hopefully have fun doing it.
You know, there's a lot of serious.
Productivity apps out there where
they focus a lot on statistics.
Like how efficient were you today?
You were 5% more efficient than yesterday
and you completed like a hundred tasks
and here's where all your time was spent.
There's definitely a
time and place for that.
Like, there's definitely, uh, there
are definitely some people who
like doing that and seeing that,
but Llama life isn't like that.
It is more about trying to manage your
feelings, your emotion, your mental state.
And you do get some basic
stats, but it's not about that.
It is really about, trying to
be in the moment and try and
work on one thing at a time.
And when you finish that one
thing, feel good about it and
then move to the next thing.
That's kind of what I'm trying to design.
And, um, it uses a lot of timers.
So these are not, it's not a
stopwatch, so it doesn't count up.
It counts down.
I'm a huge fan of countdown timers.
I use them for everything.
I have a, I use it on my watch.
I use it with Llama Life.
So Llama Life, you set a countdown
timer for every single task and
it can be whatever time you want.
There is a similar
technique called Pomodoro.
I think a lot of people
will be familiar with this.
A Pomodoro is where you
set a 25 minute timer.
You try and focus during that time.
Then you take a five minute break.
That definitely works for some people,
but for me, I can't do 25 minutes.
So I, um, I like setting, you
know, five or 10 minute task.
You can still have your big tasks to
accomplish, but I break them, break
that big task down into all these small
tasks, are like five or 10 minute blocks.
And then all I have to do, um, is try
and focus for that five minute block
or 10 minute block and try and not
do anything else during that time.
And then if I can achieve that small chunk
of focus, then I can move to the next one.
So it's trying to do things in
micro steps and, um, I just couldn't
find that flexibility with some
of the other tools I was using.
Like, they all were
saying, just do 25 minutes.
And I was oh, I can't, I can't do it.
but yeah, so that's kinda
how Llama Life came about.
Jesse: Yeah, that is awesome.
Uh, one of the things I love about
your style is it is kind of what
you said, but it's full of whimsy.
It just, it's very delightful,
your, your design kind of language
that you use and everything.
Um, and I love that.
So I now is a great time to
switch over to shiny objects.
And I think you, uh, I know
you create some shiny objects.
It feels like every few months
you're releasing like just some
little toy that you created online.
So there's like your fidgetpage.com,
which is just a little fidget spinner.
Um, and then you created a
background noise generator, which
is S H H H noise or shhhnoise.com.
Um, and so I think those are a
couple of cool, shiny objects.
You were just talking about.
timers.
So I do want to mention
my shiny object today.
I have a Google Nest Hub, which is
basically, it's just like a little,
uh, digital screen with sort of
like it's the Google version, but
kind of like an Alexa built into it.
And I use it all the time for my timers.
So I'm always telling Google, like
set a 20 minute timer, set a 10 minute
timer, instead of a 30 minute timer.
And similar to you, like I, the strict
Pomodoro, like twenty-five, five.
I don't do that at all.
I'm kind of all over the map.
A lot of the time I will set longer timers
where I just like, I want to be in the
zone for awhile, but I don't want to
lose, you know, four hours in the zone.
Like so I'll set like a 40 minute
timer or a 30 minutes just sort of
like, just sort of pop in and, like
you know, break my concentration
for a second and be like, oh, okay.
Time has passed.
Take a moment to decide, do
I want to keep doing this?
Or do I want to like, take a break?
And then I'll set like another long timer.
So, but the Google Nest, I use
it for timers all the time.
It's just, or the Google Nest Hub.
So what it's called, but yeah, it's great.
So Yeah.
What, what shiny object or objects,
uh, would you like to share?
Marie Ng: Yeah, so I'm actually
playing with one right now.
So I know this is audio.
So a lot of people won't be able to
see it, but it's, it's essentially
a, um, it's called a Simple Dimple
Jesse: Okay.
Marie Ng: What it is for people who can't
see it is like three, um, it's like three
little, like, it's almost like a pop-it.
Jesse: Yeah.
Marie Ng: But there's three little
rubber things and you can just push, you
can just push them and play with them.
And for me, and this was like, I
dunno, three bucks or something.
It's very, very cheap, but I always
have these on hand because I think,
I'm not so, I'm not so hyperactive
physically, like I was never the kid
that was running around in a classroom.
But I think I'm kind of hyperactive
on the inside and I tend to fidget a
lot because of that, because I feel
like the energy has to go somewhere.
And if I'm not fidgeting with
something, then, then maybe I might
be tapping my leg or something.
And that could be
distracting for other people.
So I've actually, I mean, on this
whole call I've been just playing
with this camera, just like, but,
but it really helps me in a way.
I'm not sure.
I think it's just because the energy
is going somewhere and if that energy
doesn't go somewhere, then, then it
might be distracting in some ways.
So that's my first shiny object.
And then the second shiny object,
it's not so much a toy, but
I'm standing on it right now.
So I recently got a standing desk.
And the standing desk is amazing, for
posture and just, yeah, especially sort of
your neck area, like when you're coding,
like you tend to lean forward a bit,
Jesse: It's like the de-evolution
chart where you just start,
back and really, yeah.
Marie Ng: So I got the
standing desk amazing.
Uh, but I could only stand for about an
hour on, you know, the hard, hard floor.
And then I was having
to revert to sitting.
But I got this thing.
It's like, uh, I, I, so I put
my standing desk on Twitter and
everyone was saying to me, Hey, did
you get the standing mat as well?
And I'm like, what are you talking about?
What is a standing mat?
And it's essentially like
this foam rubbery foam mat.
And it's got the one, I got's
got some curvature on it.
It's got, um, Yeah,
it's got contours on it.
So it serves two purposes for me.
So since I got the standing mat, I
can actually stand the whole day.
Eight hours, no problem whatsoever.
It was night and day.
So that in itself was worth it for me.
But it's also got these contours.
So you can kind of fidget with your feet.
Almost like feet are moving all the
time, like playing with these contours.
And I guess that's the point.
That's probably what helps you
stand the whole day, because
you're not standing in one spot.
You're actually moving
yourself a little bit.
But yeah, I can't recommend
the standing mat enough.
I was shocked.
I was so skeptical.
I thought, what is this?
Just a rubber mat?
Like, surely it won't make
that much difference, but it's
really, really helped my workday.
And my posture, because I'm
not sitting all the time.
Jesse: That is awesome.
I need to get one of those.
I have a desk that's like, you know, it
has motors in it, so it can go to standing
and then go to sitting, which is great.
Um, but Yeah.
I find, I don't do the standing long
enough because again, just just standing
flat for a while, just doesn't work.
Um, and I've had like coworkers
that have recommended, um, is,
is yours, is it the Topo or.
Marie Ng: Yeah.
Yeah.
So that, yeah, I'm not sure how you
say it, but yeah, the top-o T O P
O and, um, the two types as well.
There's the normal size
and there's a mini size.
So I've got the mini size, but it's
the mini size is still really big.
I, yeah, it's huge.
It's still huge.
So, um, I guess go online and have a
look if there's a lot of photos online.
So you can, you can get a sense, someone's
foot size, like where it would be.
It's still the mini still huge.
That's all I would say, like.
Jesse: I, I think I just need to bite
the bullet and do it cause I hear
nothing but positive recommendations for.
Marie Ng: Seriously, it's the
best investment I've made.
I'm not in, I don't have
any affiliate with them.
I just really, really
like what they've done.
And I just like good products.
You know, I appreciate good products.
It's not, obviously
it's not a tech product.
It's just, it's a rubbery foam mat, but I
kind of look at it and go, oh, there was
some, there was definitely some thought
put into this, how they've molded it.
And I don't, I just really appreciate
that kind of design, like they've
thought about it and what works best.
And as I'm standing on it and
using it throughout the day, I
just, I just really appreciate it.
Jesse: That's awesome.
Uh, we'll have links to all
of that in the show notes.
I want to thank you for being here.
Uh, where can people go to follow
the things you're building and
what you're doing and everything?
Marie Ng: Yeah, thank you for having me.
Um, so I'm on Twitter.
I'm quite active.
I post what I'm doing.
It's at threehourcoffee.
That's spelled out the words, three
hour coffee and uh Llama Life.
So it's llamalife.co
that's llama life dot C O.
Jesse: Thank you again so much for being
here and, uh, yeah, have a great day.
Marie Ng: Yeah, you too.
Awesome.
Thanks Jesse.
Jesse: That's our show, thank
you so much for listening.
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