If you have ADHD and love your job, what do you do?

[TheEveningReport]

I have recently discovered I have ADHD. After years of not understanding why I found it so hard to motivate myself in jobs, everything has fallen into place. Those of you who have or suspect you have ADHD, and love their jobs, what do you do?

Side note - I’ve noticed quite a bit of backlash against posters who mention neurodiversity lately. Please don’t bring it here.

ADHD since childhood: I'm a self employed massage therapist. I've never been a good team player as I tend to do "my own thing" hence i left a few 9 to 5's and ended up working for myself. So far so good. Love my job.

Not diagnoses, no plans to do so, but I’ve got a childhood of psych reports and school reports to back up ADHD and dyslexia - they didn’t diagnose girls in the 1980s.

I am a type of management consultant, and work in different places most days. I run my own business, and take contract work. I am happy because it is all so varied with new problems to solve all the time. I am very good at it when it’s interesting. My
challenge is to find balance with it.

I spent years in HE, where I was never quite good enough because it is frequently not interesting and only occasionally fantastic. I feel so much happier now.

I work as a fundraiser for a small charity. I have flexible hours and can work from home if I want to which helps. It’s varied so keeps my interest.

Retail manager. I thrive on the chaos when it’s busy and work better under pressure. I don’t do well with it being quiet because I get bored too easily.

I am a child exploitation social worker and most on my caseload have some neurodivergence. My daughter is also autistic. Most of my day is chaotic and everyday different and often responding to one crisis or another and I love it!

Lawyer, in a team where almost everyone has autism and/or ADHD! In our profession I really think that in some ways it can be an advantage (as long as you can manage face to face interactions).

Im a SAHM but my 2 previous careers were
(A) performing arts which i LOVED. Many many adhd artistic types.

(B) worked in an investment bank, I loved the high pressure/do lots of things at once aspect. My brain thrived off the adrenaline.

A mixture of casual and freelance work. In various different types of role. All fairly fast paced.

PM - helps avoid mundane 9-5 repetition as things are so varied, rarely have the same things I work on but follows a structure which I quite like

I’ve been nursing for many years. I moved into a speciality, which is better. Set hours, some control over how my days run. Usual NHS frustrations. The nice thing about nursing has been that when I’ve lost motivation or momentum, I can move to somewhere new without looking like I’ve made loads of changes 😆 It’s only when people ask about my experience they realise how many different kinds of nursing I’ve done.

I’m a lawyer and a couple of my colleagues are diagnosed with and open about having ADHD. As and earlier poster said I also think there is a lot of neurodiversity in the profession.

Was a nurse. Loved it to begin with but couldn't maintain it. For a variety including chronically short staffed, workload, etc but also the shift work. That didn't work well with my ND. Ended up very stressful. I left.

Classroom assistant. Much better fit. Zero stress in comparison. Short shifts. The day is broken into chunks so its always interesting and keeps me busy. And working with young children is fantastic. Doesn't feel like work tbh. My job is Lego.

Lawyer, fast paced litigation. Have tried a few specialisms and am best suited to something really varied.

Agree with the posters who says there’s lots of ND people in law - it can be a real advantage as long as you still have some people skills

Teaching assistant here!

I received a formal diagnosis 2 years ago (& started medication, which has helped more than I was expecting - a total game changer). The diagnosis came as a surprise to me, but apparently not to anyone who knows me well.

I love my field: 20+ years in marketing, commercial, digital (and sometimes quite technical) type roles where every day is different: there’s loads of pressure, I have to make decisions quickly, take lots of information on board fast, work well with lots of people and pivot from one meeting to the next all day. Mostly that’s great, sometimes I hit overload. But I’m learning how to manage my energy and attention so I have less peaks and troughs these days.

Veterinary nurse. Thrive on the chaos, awful if its quiet, thankfully it rarely is. No need to try and sit still. Constantly able to move and people to talk to

Headteacher of a special needs school - love my job. The variety, fast paced environment and hands on element.

Wow thanks for the responses! So many lawyers.

I’ve found I really need chaos/pressure or a strong interest in something to perform. But then I do have a tendency to burnout, which is a hard balance to strike. When I have these, I excel. My grades were either an A* or D at school. Same with work, areas of great strength or abject failure. I’m currently a gardener which I like because I’m my own boss and it’s practical/physically demanding. Need more of a mental challenge though….and a pension 😂. I have a good degree in an unpractical subject though.

I’m so grateful that people like you exist in the world. Often wonder how people whose jobs involve chaos and crises manage. Never occurred to me that for some people it ‘fits’.

I have found that working in the right culture has been the biggest help. It’s really supportive and therefore makes my life easier as a neurodivergent person. There are a lot of neurodiverse people and it makes it an exciting place to work.

I run a central compliance function that sorts out chaos - every day is different so I have a constant injection of “new” every day.

@whatisgoingonandwhy I’ve researched social work on and off for years. How do you manage it alongside home life? My DS6 is autistic with SPD and possible PDA and I worry I’d burnout.

Since childhood? You do know that people don’t ’develop’ ADHD?

I've been a self employed dog walker for 7 years. I also visit cats and other pets in their homes once or twice a day when owners are away.

I love love love my job. Being outside, always moving, being my own boss, spending time in nature, battling the great British weather, hectic schedules, never mind the gorgeous animals I get to spend time with all suits me very very well.

It will never make me rich but luckily I'm now mortgage free and am happy without pots of cash.

I have a degree and initially used that to get myself a corporate role in finance and became a chartered accountant. The money was good but I struggled immensely with bone crushing boredom. I realise some people wouldn't find that type of job boring in the least but every single day was hard for me. I stuck it out for too many years.

Somehow the chaotic, outdoor, physically active aspects of my job suit my busy brain a lot better than previously more academic roles.

I wouldn't go back for all the money in the world.

I have 3 different careers. I won't say what they are as its a very outing combination.
But they are different, interesting, flexible and self employed for two of them