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.

my dd is adhd - went I went on a course with tips it said emergency services are over represented with people with adhd.

In work in IT and I know that I work better with variety and with deadlines - if I don’t have a deadline for something and it’s not something I am very interested in I find it hard to motivate.

Not officially diagnosed, but on a waiting list (and the multiple tests I’ve taken have all come back strongly suggesting ADHD).

I work in an admin support role for Sales and I LOVE it. I get to work from home pretty much full time, I manage my own workload, no 2 days are the same, but I also know what is expected of me and deadlines to plan my work in. I have a variety of tasks that I do, and get satisfaction from seeing my work in the supermarkets - eg if you go into Tesco and see a promotion on the products our company made, I did that! Or new products listed in Sainsbury’s for our company, again that was ME. It’s pretty cool. I don’t have the customer facing bit or do the negotiations to get it all agreed… but if I don’t do what I do, these things wouldn’t happen.

Corporate communications. I'm very up and down. I excel at the strategy side and crisis management and I can spot a potential problem before most but I struggle with the "showing up" consistently every day and remembering to loop in everyone who needs to know.

A friend’s son (diagnosed ADHD late primary school) is a paramedic. A very good one.

I am in consulting and managed a whole team. All of them told me they had children diagnosed with adhd and autism! In my new job all saying they have children with ADHD. Suspect I do too as getting more anxiety as I get older and not able to focus as well!

I’m also a TA. I love it because it’s busy but not mentally taxing! I find being physically busy much better because my mind is racing at 100mph at all times. The hours and holidays also give me a good work/life balance so I have energy to dedicate to all the other aspects of my life, and kids are much less draining than adults.

Before that I worked for years in a relatively senior corporate role which I excelled in but suffered burnout every 1-2 years because I poured absolutely everything into it and could never switch off. Senior management also became incredibly controlling and stifling. My life was work, sleep and shower. I was a shell of a person by the end knew I needed to make drastic changes.

I’m aiming to be self-employed at some stage though as im finding it harder as I get older to hide my disdain for authority and hierarchies. i have a really deep, aching need for autonomy.

You sound like me. The only two things I struggled with were Land Law and Con and Ad. Both quite slow and dull. I think lots of ADHDers are drawn to law as it's fast-paced and cases/ clients are constantly changing.

I used to work in tv and half the people I know from there have either been diagnosed themselves or have neurodiverse children. No two days are ever the same, the deadlines are intense and there's a fair amount of physically work, so it was perfect. In fact we all thought we were normal until we had families and had to reintegrate into the real world...

Oh I should say, this is a question for the diagnosed and undiagnosed! I was only diagnosed recently, and so many of us won’t ever be because, you know, girls weren’t neurodivergent in the past 😂.

I run a business teaching young people who have been failed by the one size fits all education system!
I left teaching burnt out by the system…and now I love what I do!

@theeveningreportI studied for my degree when daughter was in nursery and then when I started work I used out of school club. By the time I was working in child exploitation she was at high school Covid hit and was wfh a lot! Now she’s 18 and although she needs support I have the autonomy to work around things. Child exploitation is less demanding in terms of court work but I often work outside of my hours when needed. Often this is because a lot of teens are not up until the afternoon!

I think this question genuinely depends on the age you are in your working life, and it would be interesting to know the ages of those that have replied so far.

For me, in my 20's and 30's: Civil Service high flyer. Many management roles. Specialised in Comms, IT, Planning etc. Was also a Special Constable. I could multi task and thrived on pressure.

Mid 30's I couldn't sit at a desk any more and couldn't stand being married. Got divorced and took a career break, travelled the world, left the Civil Service and opened my own café. Still thrived on pressure.

Aged 40 I had my daughter and then studied at night school and became a Sports Massage Therapist. Still had an interest in food so juggled this with being a chef in an award winning fish restaurant.

Age 50+ Totally burned out. I can't even believe I did the things I used to do as it seems like a totally different lifetime ago.

(I have Autism and ADHD and am a single parent to a 13 year old with Autism and ADHD, so perhaps that also has a bearing on my current situation. I'll never have meaningful employment again. I'm partially retired now and make candles for a living)

AuDHD. My job is being a stay at home mum (with other serious lifelong disabilities too). It has allowed me to work out how best to manage the workload of my ND children and household. As well as keep my mental health afloat by not pushing past my ability to cope with things that I can't healthily manage. I felt tremendous guilt about this but I am letting it go. I know us best.

It's allowed me to be present for them when theyve struggled at conventional schools (and believe me we have been through the mill with lots of issues). It's allowed me to be creative and stimulating to them. It's meant I have avoided burnout.

I've worked hard to expose them to challenges and new situations, which I firmly know have directly contributed to them gradually becoming more independent and able to eventually go off and (hopefully!?) live happier ,healthier lives with positive regard for their differences.

This may be controversial, as I know a lot of people (wrongly) do not consider this to be a job. But it is my job, my soul, and I am proud of myself.

@LamonicBibber1 I totally get this and I have other disabilities too x

Finally diagnosed last year in my mid 50's. I went to uni late and law was one of the subjects I was really interested in taking. Now I see there are so many IDs there, it would probably have been a better fit!

Now I work in cyber/information security and mostly love it but the office politics bollocks always catch me out. I'd much prefer a role where I could be more reactive but I'm expected to be proactive a lot in my role.

I'm awaiting assessment for audhd. I'm a job coach at a jobcenter in Denmark. So I have meetings with clients - looking at CVS, applications, strategy etc then I have time to write everything up. My clients are all public sector workers so I find them quite easy to talk to.

@RainbowZebraWarrior What a fascinating person you sound! I am so inspired by your pivoting to so many different things. I intend to read your endeavours to my kids and see how they respond, because I love the idea of such variety.

They are worried by the traditional "decide what you want to be,right now, for ever" aspect that really seems to be pushed on them from year nine onwards, but your life sounds like such a richly full antithesis to that somewhat crushing finality! Love it.

I run a small charity and I love it. No two days are the same and it's a good mix of stuff that needs a lot of focus for short bursts plus stuff that's quite hands on and lots of thinking differently about how to do things. Which suits my brain very well 😃

Really. That's interesting. Why do you think that is?

I’m a housing officer dealing with complex clients. The unpredictability excites me and keeps me going . I like to be needed and feel important.. like to be out and about not just stuck behind a desk (did that for too many years and hated every minute). Love the pressure , work well under it. Some of my clients make me feel ‘normal’ in comparison. It’s a job that can easily be masked though .. almost feels like it’s not who I truly am (incoming imposter syndrome)

Teacher independent school. Very little in the way of Ofsted threats and all the fear that comes with it. Love the freedom and packed days where it’s different every day.
Trying to keep parents happy and swallow many unjust elements niggles my sense of justice sometimes to the point of fleeing but have few options as it suits my ND better than a state school would.

@LamonicBibber1 I told my DC to find out what makes their little hearts sing, and find a way to make someone pay them (at least enough money to live on) to do that, then they’ll be living the dream.

One is Deputy Manager at a cocktail bar and the other builds theatre rigs/runs the sound and lighting for events. Both are very happy. In a few years they’ll find what else brings them joy and do that instead, and be just as happy.

I work in a SEND school. No two days are ever the same. It’s often pretty chaotic and i’m on my feet all day. The behaviours I deal with can be pretty tough and I can occasionally pick up an injury but during those high stress situations is when I thrive.

There are lots of us with ADHD and/or Autism in the job.

I think it's possibly a number of things. Hyper focus being a very useful skill for studying and long drafting sessions.
Your ability being more important than whether the mean girls like you or not.
In some roles a fairly rigid system that means your own admin ability isn't as relevant.
Still having support staff in a lot of roles.
Lots of reactive work in some fields, so no need to self start
Lots of emergencies and deadlines, depending on area.
No-one cares too much if you're slightly different, they just want to know you're good.

I think it was just phased that way not needing any corrections.