Anyone working FT with ADHD?

[friendlikeme]

Just reflecting after I made a mistake at work yesterday which my colleague had to fix for me, which I am very grateful for.

I am intelligent, hard-working, good with people, have a good Oxbridge degree, lots of good qualities which make me a good employee, but struggle with the basics like time management, being on time, staying organised and, more recently, paperwork on time. I work really hard to do this because know I must be on time and submit accurate, timely work to keep my job, or any job, but it’s exhausting and overwhelming. I feel like it would reflect on any reference that I might need, after all who would hire someone who can’t keep time accurately every day? I feel like it keeps me stuck where I am.

Is working for yourself the answer? Does anyone have any advice on getting practical support or accommodations from work? Please be kind. I know I sound useless, I feel it!

Firstly, all for a referral to occupational health, then get online and apply for access to work. There's currently a 26 week delay for the latter though!

Speak to your manager about what support would help. They may already have some suggested reasonable adjustments they could put into place.

Mine are:

Active noise cancelling headphones
Extra breaks - these are for when I lose focus, so I take a couple of minutes to do something physical
Regular check in work line manager
Tasks are emailed to me after a conversation in a clear and concise bullet pointed list.

I will be getting some software to help me very soon too.

I use my calendar for absolutely everything, and I mean everything including my breaks, with a reminder to drink water or eat.

I stick to a rigid routine, and my manager knows to give me some notice for everything, even if it's just ten minutes ago I get time to transition.

I'm only half awake, so can't remember everything now, but yes, you can work really well with the right support in place!

I do 4 days a week. I’d love the money for full
time but I just can’t. I need my day off in the week for admin at home, appointments etc.
I did go through Access to work and got some equipment but the invaluable thing was coaching. It’s really helped me to manage my time and put positive changes in place.

Thanks both. I work for a small company, so no occupational health. I actually did apply for access to work earlier this year and have just had a caseworker assigned, so that’s a start. Would you mind sharing what you requested from Access to Work? Or any ideas on approaching my manager, other than just saying ‘help I’m a mess’? I’d like to be a bit more constructive than that bur don’t know where to start!

Have you looked at the Access to Work manual? It's much more detailed about all the different things they will or won't fund and in what circumstances.

It might help you identify things that would be suitable for you?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-work-staff-guide/access-to-work-staff-guide

Re your manager, I think it helps if you come with specific suggestions and also if you can at least partially frame it as "these are the things I am doing to help myself, it would be helpful if you could please support with these one or two other things..."

If it's a small place I'd hazard a guess they have limited to no experience of reasonable adjustments, ADHD, or any idea where to begin supporting you unless you have guide them.

Maybe setting up weekly one-to-ones to help you manage your workload could be a starting point? Would you need your manager's approval to wear noise cancelling headphones? Is there some kind of reminder system that could be implemented that would help you track deadlines but might also help your colleagues?

Yes and it is difficult. I put so much effort into keeping organised.
Try this app if you need to track what you are working on

https://www.getharvest.com/harvest-time-tracking?chan=Google&device=m&kw=harvest&loc=9190152&camp=445038089&adgr=29583869009&type=brand&utmterm=harvest&utmmcampaign=UK+Harvest+-+Brand+-+Core+Keywords+-+Exact+Match&utmsource=adwords&utmmmedium=ppc&hsaacc=4436465424&hsaacam=445038089&hsagrp=29583869009&hsaaad=650071869011&hsasrc=g&hsaatgt=kwd-13160320&hsakw=harvest&hsaamt=e&hsanet=adwords&hsaaver=3&gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmBQNep0Zp0N2WH7EWCplplFFoV4&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIK1BhAuEiwAHQmU3qZtVUKQbBIawrrXkGqwBmMD8dSv97oZFgH-6VN0kYg6BaotPHc6xoCSwQQAvDD_BwE

Sorry about the ginormous link!

Goals for everything and break them down into weekly chunks.
Write EVERYTHING down, I use OneNote so I can search easily. But I still use a paper daily 'what am I doing today' list

It's so difficult isn't it! I found changing my role made a huge difference. Being able to just be focused on me and doing my own little projects helps. I also find noise cancelling headphones, as least days in office as possible, minimal distractions helps.
Colour coded calenders and everything gets written down. Notes for meetings even when no one else takes them.
If possible try to remember that most people aren't working at 100% capacity all the time, we're just so used to expecting absolute perfection from ourselves that it's harder when we take longer to do something or make mistakes.
Despite the negative messages we may have gotten over the years, we are not bad people. Being late now and then or making a mistake is not a moral issue and it doesn't make us bad or not good enough - it just makes us human ❤️❤️

A lovely message. I endorse all of this

Access to work can refer you to someone who will help you work out the adjustments you need. I'm a bit stacked with work today, so will come back to this later!