@AllGoodPoints
It has been interesting to see that some people want to know how you’ve done it, but others have asked questions about how you spend your time, how it feels to not work etc. May I ask if managing your ADHD is easier now you don’t have to fit within a rigid daily structure? I’m worried that without a routine I’ll be distracted and unfocused all the time.
It’s less than a year since my ADHD was formally diagnosed, although I had been suspecting it for a couple of years before that and trying to use strategies based on the assumption I had it. They helped somewhat…. when I could remember/be bothered to use them.
What didn’t help was that my work was the very opposite of rigid daily structure. I was wfh before it was a thing, but going out most days for meetings and events. I had to organise my own time and priorities and was basically perpetually on call. My desk was overflowing with papers, my email inbox was groaning and I was overwhelmed.
So retirement is much better for me, because although there are commitments, I can control to a large degree how many there are. I mean, I still have to make sure my tax return is in on time (it was!) and that the bills are paid, but everything else is optional. So I can make sure there is enough space for pottering, musing, fiddling about, going off on tangents…..and still come back and do the thing I first thought of.
One risk is that, because of my boundless enthusiasm, I will take on too many activities and have an overly full timetable. But that’s OK, because I can always give things up if I find it gets too much.