If you have ADHD and work, what job do you do?

[walkingdisaster23]

I'm really low and struggling. I have a physical disability and diagnosed ADHD and sometimes it all feels too much. Sometimes though I don't believe it's ADHD just me being too stupid and lazy and crazy.

But on the off chance it is actual ADHD with me, and because I know there are tonnes of women with ADHD who do have great careers -

What job do you do if you also have it?

What do you think is key to your success in the workplace?

Has anyone had any sort of ADHD coaching or mentoring or anything extra outside of work that helps?

Has anyone broken out of a toxic rut of feeling utterly convinced you are stupid and genuinely changed their self esteem and now feel like a normal ok person?

Charity fundraising is excellent for ADHD people. We're always firefighting, juggling different events, people. Routine is the enemy.

I know a number of successful ADHD people, they're self employed. They keep strange hours which work for them.

If you have ADHD think of it as an unusual gift and talent. You need to find your niche

Lots of famous folks have

I've just been referred for diagnosis.

I am currently a student advisor, doing my master's, and working towards PhD hoping to be a lecturer.

The best job I had, was my last one. My boss was ace and I had several projects to jump around on, and I was fully in charge.

I plan to lecture and write academically and creatively. But we'll see!

DH is in a high up tech position for a global company. Thrives on the ever changing threat landscape and a constant stream of deadlines. The buzz of presenting is also good for the extra adrenaline rush.
He's come a long way after dropping out of high school, not attending uni, and a few alternative career attempts. His earning well outstrips mine and I graduated from a good uni with a decent career path.
Choosing the right employer has been key to his success.

This thread has been enlightening - I feel like I've found my people!!

I work in advertising as a director of a big client team so it's lots of meetings (6hrs daily), ever-changing projects, people management, creative input, thinking on my feet. So much social contact suits me well as does how quick the pace is, but I have to carefully manage my down times - if I'm not feeling good I'm literally a zombie and am unable to engage or think properly so need to take time to re-set and go back to it.

I'm currently on mat leave and really struggling with the lack of structure, I've taken on a bit of freelance work and the lack of accountability and proper deadlines is torture - it is extremely difficult for me to stick to a deadline I've set myself and I need a team around me to rely on my work otherwise it doesn't get done. I also need to make sure I get my fill of human connections outside of my husband and baby, I'm a chatterbox and need to fill that interaction cup! On the plus side due to my need to always have to be 'doing' our house has never been cleaner 😂

The most tedious aspect for me is all the typing up I do, because it requires me to sit still. Took me a while but I have coping mechanisms now.

Some days I have to get up every 15 mins and do a random Yoga/Pilates pose, other days I can do 2-3 hours at a time with a 30 min walk outside thrown in.

Some days I’ll listen to music whilst doing it, other days I’ll have a TV show/movie on that I’ve watched eleventy billion times already.

Some days I go to Uni and use their fancy standing desks/the library/find a random corridor with a sofa and a power socket to hunker down in.

Following with interest, as no idea what ADHD DS will do!

*Some days I have to get up every 15 mins and do a random Yoga/Pilates pose, other days I can do 2-3 hours at a time with a 30 min walk outside thrown in.

Some days I’ll listen to music whilst doing it, other days I’ll have a TV show/movie on that I’ve watched eleventy billion times already.

Some days I go to Uni and use their fancy standing desks/the library/find a random corridor with a sofa and a power socket to hunker down in.*

Are you spying on me??

I am amazed at your academic route given my current issues with this type of work being unable to motivate and the procrastination around long lead times and planning and implementing assignments.

I have always suspected I had ADHD - recently did the Additude screener got 70/72 when they advise over 30 should seek diagnosis.

Have worked in a high flying corporate issues and crisis management role for 25 years and did really well. Took redundancy 5 years ago to be around for my kids doing GCSES / A levels etc and retraining doing a Masters part time.

But this has been very difficult for me - I cannot manage my home and I have become depressed when at home.

Peri-menopause has hit me hard and although now on HRT the anxiety and cognitive issues have made the ADHD worse.

I love the lectures and being with peers etc keeping up with the course reading is a huge struggle unless it’s something I am hyper focused on.

Assignments - 5000 word essays and 8000 word mini dissertation are just hell - I over read and over research, make too many notes, but don’t file them anywhere - all over the place - don’t balance my time - find it really hard to funnel and filter the info into coherent argument that ticks all the boxes of a mark scheme. Always strung out at the deadline. I could sort of talk / discuss the essay easily I think but can’t get down to referencing, structure, academic style responding to tight rigid mark schemes etc - I would love to know how you do this.

This academic thing has really really rocked my self confidence.

I read that ADHD sees you in two states either turbo charged or couch potato. When I was in my corporate role I was turbo all day long work and home - when I hit my 40s I was turbo at work and couch potato at home - literally couldn’t get out of bed on a Saturday, house went to pot and my teens just saw me as ‘lazy’.

Since peri-meno and being at home studying I am now 100% couch potato it’s shocking and the self loathing is grim.

I do start at new job related to my course in a few weeks which means I will be out of the house busy with variety so I hope that shifts the gloom and reenergises me.

Maybe I would have been better with my course if I was busier rather than having endless days and weeks to ruminate and procrastinate with no structure or sense of urgency.

I run the P&L of a Software company, it’s a huge job as so many moving parts.

I have good and bad days but what helps is.
Deadlines! I need them as I work best under pressure- I use my adhd to my benefit as my focus is awesome when in the zone. I can spot really hard to see formula issues etc

I don’t feel guilty when all my focus is used up and I can only concentrate 10 mins at a time. I use this time for emails and admin and cleaning my house in 10 min blasts.

I am rubbish from 1-4 in the afternoon- so meetings are then.

Not perfect but I am in a job now where my hyper focus is needed to do well.

Not medicated but on days where I can barely focus I wonder if it might help.

I think smart phones are the worst for adhd sufferers- I am addicted and my focus is on my phone a lot to the detriment of work. So having to put it in another room.

Two of mine went into architecture. They're creative and it suits them to juggle projects and firefight with councils, builders and clients. OH went into engineering. He can also fix anything in the house, very useful. I know two project designers.

Smart phones aren't great unless you're retired. Remove them from your sight and don't let them bleep at you.

You are not a failure. Just throwing that out there again.

I was diagnosed 15 months ago. I had a breakdown a few months before that (culmination of parenting/working/lockdowns/stress/burnout) and haven't worked since though ready to start again.

I've always worked with kids and a lot of outside based work too. This seems to be my magic formula tbh, the work constantly changes due to the nature of kids so that helps me not get bored and being outdoors is a huge benefit for me. I'm just starting the process to open an outdoor-heavy childcare setting (part time), and I'm doing a couple of weekend forest school sessions a month as well. Working more than part time isn't workable for me anymore, and working for myself suits me very well.

My 28 years old son has ADHD and dyslexia dyspraxia
He works in the security dept of the NHS
and often does door work a few nights a month
no medication

he likes it as he is walking around a lot
not in one place. Gets on well with his work colleagues
he gets his notes transcribed via a dictaphone
When he was a teenager I had no idea what he would do

I am an AI research scientist. My work has a ND group and offer me loads of support. My last job did too. I think companies are becoming more and more understanding.

Apprentice Solicitor, but I struggled immensely with concentration and motivation until I began medication - now everything is much more manageable and much less overwhelming.

Also my partner, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a child (but is not medicated currently), is the Marketing Manager for an international record label - he has found that the only career he was able to succeed in was one that he was genuinely passionate about. He can hyper-focus for hours on his work because music has always been his passion since he was very young. If he had to get a job in an area that he did not find interesting he has said he would find it impossible to concentrate and be productive, but he says that his current career feels more like a hobby to him as he enjoys it more than most other things.

Another young Richard Branson who my friend worked for back in the 70s. then @OopsAnotherOne 🙂

Damn, this is giving me "In another life..." feelings. Advertising was what I applied to study at uni but my ADHD didn't let me get there.

I'm lucky that my academic work is my hyper focus, however I do struggle with procrastination, motivation and all the rest.

I wrote my dissertation in 6 hours, because of deadline panic and getting my dates wrong!

It's not easy, but being a lecturer will not be a 'job' for me. So I have to do the academics to get there.

Sorry to quote you again, you should get help from uni if you are diagnosed. Feel free to inbox me and I can give you a hand with what you are entitled too.

This thread gives me hope. I thought I was just crap at life.

That sounds amazing!

Charity comms. I feel passionate about the causes I work for and because charities don’t have big budgets, I have to be a jack of all trades so I get to do lots of different things (all related to comms but lots of different aspects of it iyswim). I need to be very busy, boredom is my greatest enemy. I also find most charities tend to be a bit more understanding of people’s needs and a bit more open to mental health issues. Finally, I have established loads of coping mechanisms over the years: to do lists, check lists, written down processes, … and I make sure I have a creative outlet outside of work to cope with stress and overwhelm.

Pharmacy. No five minutes are the same so no chance to get bored. On my feet all day so getting the movement I need. Many small deadlines! I did most of my tech course with what I can only describe as wallpaper TV on headphones and by dividing it into chunks with movement in between. Lots of problem solving and little wins to celebrate. Lots of focus needed to make sure errors are not made, especially as an ACT.

Like many others, I thrive on a busy pressured environment although my previous workplace broke me, I couldn't balance the hours & longer commute with my families needs .

I rely on my phone to tell me when the kids have appointments, every calender entry has a reminder 7 days previously.

I also do a lot of volunteering, combined with my hobbies I'm not often sat still at home.

Ohhh I needed this thread today!

This morning I barely scrapped through my probation review in my new job (senior director in a creative field).

This afternoon I received my ADHD diagnosis.

The elements I love about my job are ideas generation, problem solving, thinking on my feet and deadlines.

Things I hate are planning, keeping many plates spinning and financial admin.

I absolutely need deadlines and structure. Any job that mentions being a self-starter…haha, nope.

If I’m working from home I find booking a focusmate session (accountability buddy / body double app) can help me.

I’ve tried every organisation system but I have never found anything as useful as writing a physical to-do list and crossing things off.

Finding ways to use my team to hold me to account - like I’ll ask them to block time in my diary if they want me to review a document and then chase me up to check I have done it.

But it’s been a tough year - juggling lots more and a bigger team than I have ever previously managed. I was on an NHS waiting list and ended up paying to be seen privately as I felt I really needed to know there’s a reason behind finding things so hard.