Triggers. Absolutely. If I have something to do, I write a reminder. If something important happens, I make a note. If I have an appointment, it goes in the calendar. Everything else just becomes dust in the wind.
When I was first diagnosed, it was my daily to-do list that kept me sane: breakfast, shower, walk, exercise… etc. Not so much that these were requirements as such, but as a reminder that these were worthwhile activities.
Personal choice. When I was first diagnosed, part of the ‘adult diagnosis program’ was looking at how to use a journal as ADHDer, rather than as a NT. As a result I spent a year or so with a handwritten journal, keeping notes on anything and everything I had the focus to write down. As I transitioned back into full time work, this quickly fell by the wayside as my free time reduced.
Now I mostly take notes digitally - at work using a variety of tools at my disposal, privately with obsidion for quick notes on my phone, or more complex topics on my nextcloud.
What to write down remains a struggle - as you say, the first bugfix gets a detailed description, then suddenly I realise I’ve fixed a half dozen points and written nothing…
I try to imagine future me looking at this issue, and how frustrated I would be without decent notes to describe it. That helps me to focus on what is valuable and what is not. Subjective and not perfect, but so is life.
I try to remember, to write anything is better than nothing, and only the act of trying allows any potential for improvement.
Take notes. It’s the only way I’m able to hang onto specific information and concepts ( ie code syntax, structures, processes ) in any reliable way. Your own notes are infinitely more valuable than any textbook(or blog or forum or whatever). Your own notes will be in your thought patterns, meaning when you read them later the information is ‘ready-to-eat’. Textbooks written by someone else provide information which first needs to be wrestled into shape before you can use it.
I have a self-hosted nextcloud server. I spent weeks learning how to set up apache, SSL certificiates etc. Then when 3 months later something broke, I had to learn it again from scratch - which led to me writing ‘guides’ for myself for all the stages of the process so the next failure would be easier to recover.
If it’s worth remembering, it’s worth writing down.
All the best! New languages (human or machine) are always difficult, but incredibly rewarding.
Merci