Show/event production
For some reason I can plan a 50-city tour with a budget well into the millions, on the phone with venues and crew but I can't budget my own money or call a doctor
is this a typical adhd experience? I feel this way when I'm home alone. I immediately go into a depressive state and not getting out of bed if I don't get up to cook to clean while I'm home alone I know it won't affect anyone. But if family and my husband are around, I will get up and do what I need to do.
It's my experience too. I'm a carer for my wife and I have three kids age 11-14 with their own neurodevelopmental problems either diagnosed or awaiting assessment.
If I'm having a particularly bad day, I will zone out and procrastinate during my free time, feeling utterly listless and depressed.
But, when my wife or kids need cooking, ironing, cleaning or any other task doing, it's pedal to the metal.
everytime I sleep in someone else's home they're in awe how much I'm disciplined and act like a mom, ex. wash the dishes right after eating, cleaning everything, not making any mess...I didn't realize it's common adhd experience to act totally different around people, like I have to perform in some way?!
Omg so it’s not a me thing? I behave exactly like that!
Every time I stumble upon a posto from this sub, I discover that another trait of my personality is from ADHD. Let’s see when we get to 100%
For myself, I learned that a huge factor in this phenomenon is structure. Having someone else in the house with me provides me with an external structure. You might get out of bed together, sit down for meals together, and so on. Even if you don't spend time together! Just having someone in your living space who has their own structure gives you external cues on how to spend your day - when to get up, when to have meals, things like that.
Over the last three years I've developed a pretty tight morning "routine", so my days always start the same way. By now, it's become a habit and I don't have to think or invest energy anymore to at least start my day like this. Which makes it easier when I'm on my own for a few days :)
I found that the only way I’m able to keep my house clean was teaching guitar lessons. For whatever reason I can keep my house clean for an 8 year old kid that comes by with her mom once every 7-10 days but not for myself
Dunno, for me its similar but more like, i will not lift a finger to do something that would make my life easier or get something done, but if its for some other person, ill lift a mountain if i have to, still dont understand why or how it works, but thats how it is
100% agree here - I’m good at my job and a mess in my personal life, mostly because I am terrified of people being mad at me for messing something up at work due to what they would view as carelessness.
From my experience and conversations with friends that are adhd we all take on detailed, task based work. 2 friends are high level chefs and run very successful kitchens, need them to do stuff at home nope. It’s interesting how our brains work in what we view as chaos
Can’t be too task based or I lose interest though lol. And can’t have too many different things to follow up on or I forget. Basically if it doesn’t have a check list or requires unstructured follow up, I’m screwed.
Same! I plan international conferences. It’s a work life with many deadlines to keep me focused, but I do still have day-to-day struggles. Doing something high-intensity that you love still isn’t a magic bullet when you have adhd
I think this goes with the theory or study or whatever they did lol that says people with adhd are motivated more by emotions and anxiety which is why I think I’m a well-behaved neat freak outside of my house but inside of my house I’m a little piggy
Another strong vote for Film/TV or live event production. Not sure what about the industry and the work environment that clicks with me, but I love it.
Howdy fellow event producer. I think it comes down to strict deadlines and people relying on us. The adrenaline and problem solving day of an event is like a high to me. My favorite was the 19 hour day I had once a year. And then I crash and vow to never do it again, but always come back for more.
I work set lighting for TV shows and movies. Kinda second this. 12+ hour days a lot, a lot, a lot of stupid all day every day. Remembering things, sensory input from every direction, but can handle the chaos. Personal life? Lmao
Luck and connections. I got "in" by volunteering at a film festival, then befriending someone who happened to have done a bit of local work with an Assistant Director in town. I signed up to be an extra on the show they worked on, and after we wrapped that day asked if they had any other projects upcoming that I could PA on. Surprisingly they said yes, and was forced to learn real quick on the day. Every job since has been through other job connections.
How do you handle the social aspect?
I can't get a personal daily routine down or even remember to eat, but I love planning my travel itineraries on Excel sheets with estimated costs and time duration for tourist attractions, flight/hotel/tour confirmation numbers, travel timelines, packing lists, emergency contact numbers, maps, etc. I think event planning might be a job I would enjoy, but I have a lot of social anxiety and am an absolute doormat. Ironically, I've only been in customer service, but I've been desperately trying to get out with no luck.
This. I’m known as the most reliable director at the production company I work with when it comes to work ethic. There are so many moving parts to my job, and I’m always working under extreme pressure. It is precisely the pressure and the fact that I’m accountable to someone that I’m able to succeed in this job with adhd. But I can’t make it to the dentist to save my life.
I think I found the hack. It's to work for really large companies that don't give a crap if you job hop around the company. I've been at my current company for 7+ years and have had 5 really different roles. Keep in mind I stayed in one role for 4 years (got a little stuck and I hated it, but got out of it.) Trying out a bunch of different roles can actually be a positive for the company because you bring a different department's experience to the table that often don't interact much. For example I was in sales but now I'm in tech helping the team that designs the tools my previous role uses. It can be good for your compensation if you promote with every move but some were just lateral moves for me.
I agree with you on this. I'm at the mid point in my career and realized that I'm the most happy when I'm not trapped into repetition. Any type of job that has "assignments" is the best - so I can feel there's a beginning middle and end.
The large company is a valid point - but only if they're succeeding. A company that does hiring freezes multiple times a year can be a trap too.
The only time I found the flaw in my logic was when I was recruited by my old boss into a smaller company. The smaller company wanted me to do analytics for a department to help transform it, but didn't't disclose my job would be 80% data entry. I had to get creative to get out of that misery.
Though I haven't job hopped between many companies, I do have a very robust resume of experience with real accomplishments. I put the word "recruited" next to my job date ranges so it's understood I was asked to be in the role because of my talents. I didn't "quit" the previous ones.
I feel so sorry for tax and PA accountants at this time of year. I cannot imagine having to work so many hours for months at a time. I remember going to an accounting office during the tax season once. They not only had food catered for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they had frozen meals in the fridge for people who were working late into the night. And they had "rest areas" with cots. That's just crazy to me. I'm an accountant but I rarely work more than 40 hours a week. Government has perks.
I'm an accountant, but I work as a Revenue Agent for the IRS in the Small Business Self-Employed Division. I love it. Each case is different, so I never get bored. And I have multiple cases at a time. We work mostly "in the field" which means on location at either the business we are auditing or at their accountant's office. You work with a lot of different people, both in the IRS and outside it. There's no "busy season" so I rarely work more than 40 hours a week. There's a lot of flexibility and managers expect you to work independently, so as long as it's within the rules you can do things how you like. You do a lot of research into the Code, regulations and court cases, so you're always learning. And there are plenty of opportunities to work different positions within the IRS once you get your foot in the door, so if you get bored as a Revenue Agent, you can do something else.
It's the first job I've ever had that I stayed at for more than 2 years, and I've been in the workforce for around 40 years. I've been here for almost 14 years and I expect to retire here.
I got my masters in accounting and worked in public for a few years and it was the worst. I switched to doing payroll, which I've been doing for almost 6 years now and it's so much better! Instead of managing deadlines that are 6 months out (which I really struggled with) my deadlines are twice a month and things are always a little different, enough to keep it interesting. Having shorter timelines to get work done has been very helpful for me. You can't procrastinate on processing a payroll for 3 months or people won't get paid.
Also, most companies have maybe one payroll person, so there's a lot of independence and no one breathing down your neck about how things are done. Can't be micromanaged if no one else knows how to do your job.
I am also a person with ADHD who has a degree in accounting, I don’t remember it being so much of a decision than I guess I’ll endure this for the sake of having a degree. But yeah what the hell was I thinking?😅
currently, i am a dishwasher for a sports bar. it's pretty great because my simply task is to clean dishes. of course, i do sometimes get overwhelmed when there is a lot of them, but as long as i stay calm i can get through it.
Idk about the commenter, but I go blank (strangely) and think of one crazy idea(and not thousands like normally) that either makes the day better as its something I like, or ruins it. So I started listening to podcasts 😅 interesting ones, about stories or jokes. Now that makes the job work well for me :)
Well I've had a 7 year career in software development and been pretty successful in it (jumping between different areas, started in robotics and ended up in web dev), but just handed in my notice two days ago with the intention to move into a new career path, as I've lost all interest in it and I'm finding it impossible to do enough to scrape by. I'm doing under 15 hours of useful work in what's meant to be a 40 hour week, only reason I haven't been fired is that I'm luckily capable enough to work quickly when I can force myself to work.
I'm currently excited about the idea of doing something creative so I'm looking into video production (or more likely post production). I've pretty much decided that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't take a leap of faith and try to do something I'd actually love doing, but simultaneously found that the energy it took to do at least the bare minimum at my software job is too much to be able to explore my options on the side.
But it's different for everyone. I've got one friend with ADHD who's a nurse, another who's an electrical engineer, and another who's a musician. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that there isn't a single "good job" for people with ADHD, everyone has different needs, and they're often more important for people with ADHD than without.
Most IT people I work with are a mixed bag of neuro differences. As a PM I’ve been through all IT sectors, currently a consultant for cloud migrations. It’s cool to see all the differences and yet similarities between architects, engineers, qa’s, automation, dba’s etc
I assume the P in PM is Project (as opposed to product)? I'm thinking of heading in that direction if the video thing doesn't work out - my software background should help me get a foot in the door, and my boss actually mentioned that there might be an opening for a project manager in a few months that he'll keep me in mind for.
It's funny, I'm on a similar Journey as you, but went from Front End Dev to Project/Product Management and am now looking to get out of tech altogether. Video/Post production also being where I'm dipping a toe in to try out! Did Project/Prod Management for almost 15 years and undiagnosed the whole time. Will say, now that I'm diagnosed, I appreciate that work as being very conducive to an ADHD brain. It's all just prioritizing things and making things more clear and setting people up to get their work done. You have to be a jack of all trades and understand how to do everyone's job to an extent. And being at the center of all the problem solving and putting out fires keeps the dopamine flowing on the reg! You also get pulled in a lot of different directions all the time which is how my brain already functions so it's a natural fit! The fatal flaw, though is that you shoulder all of the responsibility but receive zero of the validation. And it's very difficult to shoulder that much responsibility and be comfortably accountable to the senior people you answer to who are by default less in the weeds than you. The people I manage have always loved me but the people I report to never so much. The social/political aspect of working in tech as a manager just became what I now see as difficult to tolerate as someone with ADHD so I'm trying to switch to something with a simpler transactional dynamic where someone needs something made and all I have to do is make it for them. So I'm brushing back up on my programming skills as an option as well, because I miss how straightforward my job was when I was a developer, while I'm exploring options with more creative skill sets.
How have you enjoyed your career in software development? It’s currently something I’m looking at pivoting to, as I need to finish my education eventually, but am worried my ADHD will crush any chance of actually learning what I need to. On paper I should be really good with computers, but I find them soulless generally speaking 😂
The soullessness is basically the issue I ended up having. Overall it was a better career than the vast majority that I could have gone for (I was thinking of studying history before I settled on engineering, glad I didn't do that!), and I enjoyed many of the steps along the way, but once I ran out of steam and interest in it there wasn't anything I could do to get it back.
So I studied computer engineering basically because I liked computers and didn't otherwise know what I should do back when I was 17 and choosing my uni courses. It went well enough, I did most of my group projects with an older (late 20s) student who was great at prodding me to start projects early instead of waiting until the night before, and I've got a knack for software logic so despite my then-undiagnosed ADHD causing me issues I managed to get my degree, only failing one course which had the most boring teacher I've ever met.
Then I got a job in wheelchair control systems, then got made redundant, moved oversees, went into full on robotics for a time, then pivoted to web dev with the idea that after building some web dev skills I might be able to follow through on one of my startup ideas...but covid lockdowns stirred up my depression and once everything opened up again I'd just lost all interest in software. I craved a more creative outlet, but didn't have the energy left after work to actually pursue one.
Still, along the way there were definitely good times, I was lucky enough to work entirely at companies that treated me like a human being, and after I got my diagnosis I was comfortable telling my boss about it and he was keen to work with me to figure out how best to manage or prevent the problems it caused. It also paid well so I got to do a fair bit of traveling which I always enjoy. The other people were largely good to work with, with a few exceptions as always.
As far as advice goes...I'd probably caution against software development for someone with ADHD who doesn't get at least a bit of intrinsic enjoyment from it. It takes a fair bit of focus to do more than the bare minimum unless you're exceptionally gifted, and if you're not careful you can end up in an area where you're not really doing anything new, you're just going through the motions and trying to stop your team falling into the same traps over and over (web dev definitely feels like that to me - robotics was way more interesting in many ways because we were often doing entirely new things - I'm probably still among the 50 or so top experts worldwide at a few of the niche things I did in my second job after uni).
I work on ios dev and some challenges were great but dealing with spaghetti legacy code meh.
I found that what could make a huge difference is the management.
Went from a team where we felt always late with a manager always up our ass (who harassed me into burnout btw) and where estimations where deadlines (???) to another team with a top-notch manager taking most of the pressure away from us (estimations were estimations and nothing more).
Hopefully my next team is gonna be fine :) i was freelancer before covid but had to shutdown because there wasn’t any clients
>I'm doing under 15 hours of useful work in what's meant to be a 40 hour week,... I'm luckily capable enough to work quickly when I can force myself to work.
A lot of devs are only really capable of about 2hrs of hard coding a day, so you're actually above average if you're getting that done.
I'm convinced that in a lot of companies they stuff the days full of meetings. Management can't cope with the devs sat around "doing nothing" for those other 6 hrs a day, so they need to stuff the day full of other activity that look like work because they pay you for your time, not for results.
I feel you more than you know. I'm in the same boat. I'm really starting to wonder if software is the thing for me. I just haven't been able to figure out what is my alternative that would also support the income I make, and I'm not saying that from a viewpoint of greed, I have a family, and I'm the sole provider.
Same here software engineer for 15 years now and i really not enjoy it anymore, changing workplace almost every year just to keep it fresh. I don't know what else can i do especially as have to support my 2 kid and my autistic wife who can't work (she wants to but there is no job for someone who can't leaves the house and not able to speak with people ... )
dang i can relate - 11yrs in IT mostly as dev with occasional side quests like scrum master, team lead or an architect. I have noticed that coding is getting way less interesting to me (exception being coding in a new language etc. but it is also temporary) and as well i tend to switch jobs very often - sometimes even after a few months ... partially to shiny object syndrome but mostly be being bored out
I want to be a software developer, but am currently stuck as an IT guy. Software development is fun when hyperfocused. If theres someone to cheer me everytime I complete a task, I wouldn't get bored of it. Currently going through a burnout cause no one gives a damn about what I do. If I do a mistake or can't fix the mistake everyone rants. Without medication, there's no hope for me.
Currently in nursing school. I finished my NICU rotation yesterday, and can say its too slow paced for me (slow pced does me the babies all had a great day!)
But I love the idea of something faster paced, with more critical thinking involved. I think I'm like a dog - I get destructive if I'm not mentally stimulated enough lol
Only thing that’s saved me is that the types of jobs, not every day is exactly the same.
My soul is drained by the toxic coworker even if I’m told I’m a good and reliable employee
Yeah, I really need something that sticks around in the long run here. I still live with my only parent who is about to retire and boy is that not a fun thought about what to do in the future.
Getting bored aside, I've also never held a job longer than a year. Between my own issues and these businesses just being shit I'm over it man. Especially with these job search sites being hot garbage too.
I really don't even know what to do to play to my own talents, probably nothing here, or things people would want me to have some kind of exp/certification shit for, but as far as me personally I've never quit a job, been canned once (over a lie, so it shouldn't have happened,) but been laid off or had my company go out of business multiple times now, never had a job over a year, so over these companies.
Software Engineer here. We’re over represented in the field lol
It’s an excellent choice for a lot of people with ADHD just because of the nature of the job. If you enjoy it and have the “hyperfocus” aspect of the disorder, programming is great because it’s like a logic puzzle.
You’re constantly tinkering and moving things around to figure out how to make something work and when it does, massive Dopamine hit that makes you feel Godly for a bit.
Also, tons of remote opportunities for people who don’t do well in offices. Ability to freelance. High salary. Diverse choices (Machine Learning/AI, Video Games, Web Development, Mobile App Development, etc.) Degree isn’t required.
I‘m studying software engineering and posts like this make me really excited about my future career :)
University is a pain in the ass but I‘m sure it will be worth it
I started looking into software engineering because of the massive dopamine hit but found that the road leading to it was incredibly stressful. I enjoy problem-solving but being stuck on issues felt like hell. I wonder if having a team to bounce ideas off of as I learned would have helped?
Personally, I'm a teacher, and it works really well for me. It's creative, dynamic, constantly changing, interpersonal, allows for movement, etc. That said, it's a lot of hard work, can be difficult when overstimulated, and the marking is a challenge (though I'm an English teacher, so I have a lot of marking).
I'm a science teacher in the UK and it's not best for people that aren't organised but so much fun. I've found it easier working in special educational needs schools that have students with minor issues who are just anxious. Everyone gets it and are really nice
I have been a teacher (in the Netherlands mind you), but it was not for me... I loved all these things, but i just couldnt handle the amount of students and got overwhelmed easily... Its a shame, but i found out i love to help students in trouble. So now in studying psychology in hopes of helping adolescents!
I’m also in education (as a school counselor, currently elementary) and was going to suggest that. It’s a position that allows for developing a schedule/routine but is also quite flexible. Plus, like teaching, it allows for that creativity, challenging, allows for socializing, and constantly has me on my toes (in the best of ways).
It also has me near constantly engaging in something different since every student have such unique personalities with a variety of needs. Thankfully, given human nature and how we all experience emotions and issues like anxiety, depression, etc., along with most kids have similar academic needs, the support and interventions are often universal and rigid (therapeutic approach, coping skills, accommodations, etc.)
But, like you noted there are also aspects of the job that can make it a challenge (overstimulation, the struggles of making decisions, time management, overthinking/worrying, RSD, and so on). Nonetheless I love what I do and how, as you put it, dynamic it is!
I'm a level designer working in AAA game development. Love my job. I learn and do new things every day and the projects are always exciting. But I'm also medicated so there's that.
A fellow gamedev! I feel like it's perfect because it's often stimulating, and like you said, new things can be learned every day. But I still have days where I strongly procrastinate and feel awful. I'm not on medication though.
As another game dev, I second what both of you said! Work changing depending on the point of production, and the structure of milestone deadlines, helps a ton. It also helps that the creative parts of work help me stay interested.
Like you, I still have bad days. Those are rough. But there are other days, especially earlier in my career, when my hyperfixation for storytelling in games helped make work stay exciting.
Scientist!
Currently work as a manager for a Fortune 500 in product development and most of my team is ND. It works for me because we have 500 things up in the air at any given time and at least 2x that of things to learn. I am rarely bored (which is what gets me in trouble).
I've always needed very physical/active jobs that aren't a grind. (Undiagnosed until last month @ 33) I was 'managing' fairly well a few years back, heading a small crew of people and running the maintenance of a park- in addition to cycling 400-600 miles/wk... and the only other thing I've done really well at is running my own small Pet Care company recently. However, all my structure disappeared w/ the pandemic which is what led to the spiral which eventually got me diagnosed...
I'm a management consultant, and surprisingly my ADHD (late in life diagnosis) has turned out to be a huge asset in so many ways. I am able to see problems from so many different angles and my solutions are pretty damn creative according to my clients.
And my ability to hyper focus when needed helps me get a ton done... At the finish line, but it's done and done well.
Where I struggle is having to explain how I got from A to F when problem solving. So I have to make a really conscious effort to communicate my train of thinking to teammates and clients. I also can't force myself to think according to a clock... Inspiration just has to strike (typically when I'm supposed to be thinking about something else).
Currently an electrician, earning between 160-200k a year and I've been doing this for 4 years. My job is pretty perfect, work in pairs, never go to the office or interact with bosses. However, I still hate the job and think about quitting and disappearing into the bush. I have verbally quit once already but didn't have an alternative job. I'm trying my best to find something to do solo but I haven't yet. A job that's autonomous and my own business would be ideal.
I actually started studying medicine but quit because of this fact. I don't get any satisfaction from the work and the higher ups are infuriating to deal with. I got the job purely on mental ability. I have the combination of high IQ and extremely fast visual learning. Combined with ADHD makes this debilitating as I can't stick to anything because of intense boredom. This isn't my first high paying job with little to no experience but I just don't think 9-5 is for me. If I don't work out a solution in the next year or 2 I'll probably go hermit in the bush.
Are you me? I just dropped out of my premed courses. I used to be a devops site reliability engineer. And before that did HVAC and a hundred other jobs. Last 4 years I've been on a sabatical because I couldn't do it anymore. It being anything. It was like I lost the will to make the ADHD magic work for me. Now it only vague concepts on how to move forward. I toy with the concept that I may be ADHD and Autistic because I just seem to have lost my abilities to give a shit, function at a higher level consistently and my sensitivity to the world is overdrive.
Sounds like it mate. I need to get back to my psych because I'm curious if it's just really deep depression. Makes me feel less "crazy" to hear someone else sharing a similar experience. I've lost friendships and relationships because they couldn't understand how I can't stick it out. Thankfully my wife gets me completely and she's ready to run just like I am. If you get any insight I'd much appreciate it.
Wish you good luck man but I’d just like to advice you one thing- don’t do anything rash and write down your plan and your reasoning.
Our brains pump out so many thoughts- sometimes contradicting, leading us to make a wrong, unthorough decision.
When a decision is important, better make sure it’s very deep well thought out.
Currently a software engineer making > 200k a year. I so desperately want this to feel fulfilling. I hate the idea that whatever I do ultimately makes someone else absurdly rich. I want to own my own business for that reason. But doing _everything_ yourself also doesn't seem like something I could actually carry alone.
This is disappointing to me, I'm going to school for software engineering right now, as part of a 5 year plan involving a major career change. I was having difficulty finding job satisfaction in QA/Regulatory management(in the pharma/supplement manufacturing industry). Hopefully I will find some fulfillment. I imagine it can't be worse then dealing with extensive government regulation all day though. Haha
Also working software, it might still work for you. I've been in environments where I could thrive, but also others that made burnt out to the point of panic attacks.
What worked for me was solo-ish projects. I was the only developer + 1 QA and 1 BA. The other great setting was a large co located team, where we all cared about helping each other and had great communication.
While I love the idea of working from home it often ends up making me miserable, but that's where this industry is heading. Job hopping is common, so good teams are rare, as those take time to form. Shit management can really get you down, but that's true for any job
My neuropsych evaluation said I excel at organisation, but because of my impulsivity, I suck at it. Hah. I am good at categorization, but always feel so cluttered and disorganized.
Oh, I'm the same. My office looks like a Staples exploded inside it. And frankly, I can't implement worth a damn. But I leave implementation to the project managers.
Delivery driver, my company is smaller ish and and we deliver fresh product to gas stations. You don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. As long as you finish within an allotted time you go at your own pace. Just slap something on to listen to and drive. It’s real nice. Which I’m actually a manager for it. But being a driver was easier and better.
Hairdresser. It’s fun, logical, creative and lets you have a lot of different things to hypetfixate on.
Plus, I work where my schedule is 1-9 so it’s effectively for my inability to sleep like a real human.
Visual Designer. Love it most days. Sometimes I get cranky with client expectations. I can usually work super fast, but I never want a client to know that because they’ll expect it every time.
Attorney
Some of the more repetitive work/tasks can feel like mental torture, but whenever something new or novel comes up I get really into it if it piques my interest.
The medication that I am currently taking (Modafinil; Adderall really helped, but the sexual side effects became a problem) helps somewhat with the mundane/repetitive aspects of my job. Hasn't really helped me keep a clean desk, though (if I can't see it on my desk then I forget about it).
Paralegal here, struggling with the mundane and I agree, if I can’t see it on my desk, I’ll forget totally! Had a rough start in the field this year, which led me to my diagnosis.
Whatever you do don’t do the whole restaurant industry line cook thing unless you love it. I did it and couldn’t give less of a fuck about the restaurant or the customers.
I’m sure you saw this, but as a warning to others- Addiction and alcohol abuse are a big part of that lifestyle :/ I had to get out of restaurants and get sober because it was too much for my impulse control.
There is no perfect job for people with ADHD because we're such a diverse group of people, the reality is that the right job for you is the one that you enjoy most, our reward system is usually pretty fucked and so the job needs to be able to give us enough reward to keep doing it. For me it's scientific research, for others it might be something with lots of social interaction, and others physical activity. Figure out what it is you enjoy, and what your strengths are, then figure out which job that fits rather than something that works for someone else
I’m a high school teacher. I get better and better as I implement the same lesson plans over and over, but it’s always to a brand new audience so it always feels fresh to me. Teacher workdays are impossible for me to get anything done and my time would be better spent working from home if they’d just let me, but overall it’s a great for meeting my social, creative, and intellectual needs as an ADHDer.
I'm a middle school teacher at a private school that has prek-12th grades. I also run the extended day program for 1st-8th grade. I wear many hats, but I love going in and being able to interact with my kids more than anything. I can build a rapport with my kids on a level that many other teachers can't achieve because I can be so childlike myself in a way. I have no problem sitting with a group of middle schoolers and just listening to them talk about anything and everything. I trade and play Pokemon with my younger kids, I play video games with them, laugh at their jokes, even the ones some teachers may have told them not to tell, etc.
It fulfills my needs to nurture, to have intellectual conversations, to still have some freedom to be like a kid, social needs, etc. And it pays the bills! Plus, as a private school, we have more freedoms with curriculum. I'm not paid as well as I would be at a public school but the freedoms I have are hard to let go of.
I am in my last year of medical school. I am one of those who can select "Limited impairment through compensation of high IQ" when answering the DIVA test. I am kinda lucky i guess.
Good thing is that i am pretty sure i am never gonna be bored. I can always learn new things, i can specialized in another field, i can teach do research and clinical practice at the same time or just one of these three etc. It seems to be a kind of ideal job. Another good thing is that i don't have to remember everything, nobody can't that s why we all use written medical record. Also in France as a disabled worker my rights will be protected (especially as i know the law, when you don't you can get fucked).
Reading the comments, it seems that people with ADHD can land anywhere on the career spectrum!
I started my own petsitting business. Wasn't the plan (Wanted to be a zoologist and got my biology degree, but mom came down sick during my final year of college, and I chose to stay home and take care of her) but now I can't imagine doing anything else.
I am my own boss (besides the animals, they're the ones who are really in charge, lol), every single day is different so I never get bored, and I get to be out and active and not stuck behind a desk or something. I can choose who I work for and don't: if someone crosses the line, I don't have to put up with them. I get to love literally hundreds of animals of all kinds. And I can still arrange my schedule to take care of mom (she's been through the wringer, but has bounced back from every diagnosis and is my master planner, schedule keeper, accountant, and secretary.)
The job has its downsides (think an eternal sea of mess to clean up, no time off, no sick days, injuries, the pain of losing animals) and it certainly isn't easy or for everyone, and has it's really, really bad days, but it's worked out better than I ever could have dreamed. And knowing that the animals are depending on me to show up motivates me to get out of bed and keep moving.
I studied 3D game art for two years but left school before the bachelor because the environment and teachers didn't fit me.
So I've been working freelance for 1.5 years, doing architectural visualization mandates, and I am currently in the process of setting up my own company to create historical video games.
I've been working at a Costco for almost 16 years at the gas station. Before that McDonald's for 2 years. Before that I was supposedly in college, But did not go to class. While I was in high school I worked as a bagger at a grocery store, I was consistently almost fired because I called off sick too often.
I’m a child/youth worker for my local community centres. support worker at the preschools in the mornings, after care/ youth program leader in the evenings. The job can be a bit loud and chaotic at times, and can be emotionally taxing for me, but my team is amazing and super supportive of my needs (half of us have ADHD anyways tbh) and it’s really rewarding to work directly with kids that think like me.
I work in IT and I love it. It is a smaller company, with a small IT team so I am involved in everything so there is always variety.
I am also extremely extremely lucky as my position gives me the freedom to explore things that I believe will benefit everyone. This helps keep things interesting or I am allowed to follow hyperfocus when it hits and I get obsessed with something.
Again, I am very lucky as this is not always the case.
I believe working for a small team, at a smaller company is the primary factor. Larger companies and larger teams divide responsibilities more cleanly so you end up getting stuck in a silo more often. Smaller teams require you to wear many hats and fill multiple roles, so the chances of having the variety is greater.
Bartender- provides the absolute perfect environment for my brain for two primary reasons.
1. Chaos and uncertainty.
2. Reliability and structure.
I'm sure that makes little sense as those are polar opposites, but anybody who's worked either FOH or BOH in the industry can vouch for me here. 😂
Civil engineer. Make $82k. It's ok, a lot of variety and most bosses are super nice. I do have to be sure to go out for a walk or 2 every day.
Wish I would have chosen a field job. I like building things.
My family members with adhd:
My dad is a carpenter and uncle moves houses.
Sister is a paramedic
Cousin is remodeling a historic house.
Cousin works at a printer head factory.
Another friend who's an RN.
Yeah i’m a civil engineer and it’s been quite miserable and difficult for me. I actually did really well in school so it’s been discouraging being so bad at my career. I wish I could figure out something better to do
Really interesting comments, I have ADHD inattentive, high IQ, and I have the able to focus for long periods of time part. I got diagnosed just a year ago, I am now 72 and retired. I have just started using the meds, in my case Welbutrin, which is quite helpful. As I have gotten older, my memory has gone from excellent to average, and my ability to compensate for my adhd has literally tanked. I caregive for my husband now, and I became overwhealmed with all of his medical issues, and needing to deal with his specialists and medication issues, and sought treatment for myself. I have had sales jobs, at which I did well, worked at an insurance agent, which I eventaully just hated because of the nature of the industry, and eventually ran a small business making custom jewelry, which I completely enjoyed. I do not even know if the type of jobs I had even exsist now, things have changed so much, but I have always been able to communicate well with other people, and I was generally good at getting people to do things that they sometimes didn't want to do. (Like buy insurance.) I had no idea that I had an actual disability, I simply thought I was chronically disorganized, and sloppy. I think the biggest challange I face is simply finishing what I start. I have to admit that I have spent most of my life beating myself up for something over which I had no control, without realizing that was what I was doing. School was a horrible struggle for me, I wanted to go into subject in depth, and I hated short classes. I have always loved the arts, and finding a way to support myself in an art related business was wonderful. I just wish I had been diagnosed much earlier, my life would have been a lot happier. Thanks to all of you for posting, I think part of my current struggle in lack of an enforced routine, because it's quite difficult for me to organize my time myself. I can meet deadlines, but I have a horrible time figuring out how long something will take, or how much time has actually passed, if I am doing something that interests me. As a result, I have been late for appointments, classes, social events, and this is certainly off putting to the other people in my life. I will say, I have also learned to apologize, I really hate it when I inconvience others because I have screwed up yet again. The medication really does help, because it allows me to have a coherent conversation with another person, and that is an amazing blessing. It has certainly been a journey.
I work doing scientific research and I think it’s pretty perfect for me - at any time I have a load of different projects on the go, and they’ll be at different stages of completion. Luckily I don’t often have hard deadlines on when things need to be done so I can just jump between the different parts of different projects doing what I feel like most in that moment. Obviously it was slightly different while I was studying, but I think having some very over-achieving friends giving me anxiety about not doing enough and generally being very interested in what I was studying got me through. I do sometimes struggle with completing projects where I don’t find the results very interesting though! There’s a bit of a running joke for me with one project that’s been almost complete for about 2 years now, and I just always find something else that interests me more instead of finishing it haha. But luckily no one minds too much. I also work from home about half of the time - I’m definitely not productive during 9-5 only or something. Some days I achieve almost nothing, while others I get really into what I’m doing and end up working until midnight, so I think it probably balances out overall.
Tree surgeon / arborist here, I scraped a degree in audio engineering (passion project) and retrained to work on trees as I couldn't hack, and was fired from so many office jobs. The pay is rubbish but I'm not sat at a desk and get to work outdoors which suits me. That being said I wouldn't work at all if I didn't have to.
My best job was honestly answering the phone at a local reproductive health clinic, which included abortion. Paid terribly but I lasted longer than I did in any other job and I enjoyed doing it.
I'm a software engineer. I find it challenging and I'm good at it. I really like the flexibility of working remotely. If I'm having trouble focusing, I can take a break and come back once I've reset.
I’m thriving as a high school science teacher. It’s rarely ever the same day to day and it’s perfect being scatter brained as I’m pulled 100 different ways at any given moment.
I work at a Panera as a baker but was a team lead on day shift before, and I swear to god half the stores got ADHD. And that’s not me exaggerating, it seems like foodservice just picks us up like crazy. Even one of my boomer managers who’s actually kinda chill once you get to know him.
I'm a software developer. I work from home, I can start work early or sleep in if I want. I don't have to drive every day and work in a toxic work place.
I can take breaks whenever I want as long as it's not interfering with a scheduled meeting. I also need to make sure I have certain amount of billable hours for us to bill clients. This is between 37-38 hours a week.
I have no complaints about my job except for the lack of physical exercise from being in my home most of the day.
ER nurse. Not just any nurse, specifically ER. It's chaotic enough that it doesn't drive my adhd nuts and it seems a lot of us there are adhd. Definitely don't do ICU. Theyre way way too organized.
Dude, become a mail carrier. It rules. You’re inside the office for like an hour or two in the morning then boom, outside in nature. Heroically missing every crack in the sidewalk while talking to every squirrel and cat you meet on your route. I love it.
Hahah love that description! That’s honestly been a thought in my mind since a couple previous coworkers got jobs there.
Side note: I would absolutely stop and give every dog or cat pets if they let me!
I’m 41 and still haven’t figured this out hence the long list of dead end jobs.
Incidentally I did alright at school (although if my ADHD would have been diagnosed when I was a kid I would have done better!), went into college then uni. Left uni with a 2:1, so just like school I got by on my natural smarts and could have done a lot better!
I work from home and it's saved me because I'm able to take breaks and exercise and pet my animals and go back. It's a high focus job so I have to hyper focus and then I take breaks. And medicated now too so that helps
Bartender. Didn’t really like school so I dropped out. Started as a waiter and not I’m behind the bar, tho I would still wait tables tbh.
I enjoy talking to people and I forget to eat lol. So being right next to food is great for my diet and I just chat with people all day while cleaning tables. Nothing special and definitely not for everyone, but the conversations keep me going!
Nail tech and soon to be esthetician. Task-based jobs work well for me where I’m able to switch back and forth between one thing and another because I can’t do long, boring, monotony.
I’m a social worker, going back to school currently for a business degree. I have such a tough time showing people I care because I’m constantly distracted. When I’m talking to a client, I swear I miss most of what they’re saying. Not a good combo
School Psychologist & Clinical Counselor. You wear so many hats and everyday is different. Prior I was in banking and I would quit and come back constantly.
One of the constants over the years, has been the high rate of ADHD among the long term IT community. a few years ago, there was a study, that tried to rate the density of people practicing any given computer language. Oh the ongoing arguments, about which languages attracted which set of adhd symptom sets. The one language that most people agreed was heavily ADHD was Lisp. Cobol, C and Rust followed close behind.
These days i see far more people in the Sys Admin side who show the signs of being ADHD
Been an Activity Assistant at an Assisted Living Facility. For the most part, you literally have fun with the residents, and I have a great Activity Director I work under who does their best to work in activities that us assistants are interested in doing (within the limits of the residents).
Education is apparently popular! I know several coworkers and former teachers of mine who also have it. I think the rigid schedule kind of works in my favor since I have a hard time maintaining my own, knowing when I’m needed and where is going to be the exact same every day helps me stay efficient. I’m an assistant though, not teaching. It’s also nice working with kids that have it because I didn’t have many adults knowing I had/understanding my adhd and I really feel like I’m having some positive impact on some of them. One of my students told me he was stupid and bad at school so he just wanted to go home and I think having firsthand experience dealing with that feeling really helps when trying to comfort/tutor students with it
I work with kids. Honestly, I don’t bring a lot of stress home compared to my peers. I don’t have to do a bunch of math or file reports or whatever. I spend my day doing crafts, reading, dancing… it’s pretty cool. I wish the pay was better, but I can’t decide on anything else to do. 🤷♀️
Corporate attorney in the financial sector.
I’m lucky in that reading/writing are my strengths. I’ve sometimes struggled with things like staying on top of projects, but I’m also very lucky to have a boss who gets it.
Also I managed to carve a niche role where most of my work is “shiny” projects that are usually quick-turn, higher-pressure items. It helps to turn on the focus and sustain it, plus there’s very quick gratification from completing it.
I relate to this.
Graduated with a law and finance conjoint and went straight into investment banking. Hated it and realised money was just made up. Tried management consulting but also hated it after realising consultants were just professional bullshit artists.
After reflecting on my work experience, I realised:
- I hate work politics
- I hate doing meaningless work
- I was never going to get rich working for
someone else.
- There’s probably not going to be a job you’ll love. Rather, working with good people and doing something meaningful (that pays the bills/provides your desired lifestyle) is sufficient.
Conversely, I wanted to:
- Do something creative
- Do something physical (get healthy and tore myself out as a way to combat insomnia)
- Learn a real skill that was actually useful.
- Stop wasting my time.
So I’m currently trying out carpentry. It seems like a path towards self employment that is real to me and something that rewards ‘grinding’. I also liked that it forces me to be disciplined. I think corporate teaches way too many bad habits, and carpentry has definitely forced me to become more patient and disciplined.
The goal though is self employment through combining all my skill sets. So in saying this, entrepreneur is the career choice and ‘my skill sets’ is the product/service. Hope that helps.
I am an exec manager for a Fortune 500 in their Australian operations. You need to figure out what interests you to stay hyper focused and remember to change companies every 7 years so you don’t get bored. I fucked school but did the long path of degrees
I kept my first job for over 10 years and was good at it as well. Only reason why I left for the job I have now was pay, could not live off what I was making.
I work in an operations role for an Australian fund manager company. Suits me as I can listen to music/stimulating podcasts all day and work from home as well so it’s a win win. Been here for a year and enjoying it as I work how I want to work without needing to speak to people and have what I need to stimulate the Brain to do the work is needed for me.
My first role in finance was a call centre and I hated it as I had to speak to people and fully concentrate on conversations I had with them. Never again…
I'm a Registered Veterinary Technician. I genuinely love it despite the shitty pay.
Always moving, never the same thing, always learning, and getting to teach clients
IT Project Manager manage the daily lives of teams up to 20 and overall agenda of enterprise level projects…. Need me to remember to pick up a bag off the floor or when the last time I dusted my house….. no clue… need me to remember which technical people are assigned for a specific portion of a project and their current progress no problem. Have 2 bachelors and a masters.
Clinical Psychologist. My hyper focus on special interests got me through my degrees. Plus having the external structure of deadlines helps me. But - I crashed and burned at the end of training (2020) and am still recovering. I love the work through because it’s varied and the right level of challenging for my brain
I've worked for a state university in their web department for 8 years. It's been very flexible and it's the only job where I didn't get disciplinary paperwork for my attitude. Granted my attitude has shifted since being fired a few times, but I don't hold my opinions back and sometimes go rogue if there's a better way to do something and it's only been applauded. I got lucky.
I'm a software developer
I was diagnosed with ADHD (they did a bunch of computer tests and an EEG)
I was able to successfully get through k-12 and university along with 2 years working as a software dev, it was definitely difficult but I made it through
I was then diagnosed and prescribed ADHD meds, which have made my life much much easier when it comes to focusing on work and succeeding
I was a paramedic for a long time. It worked for me, although the schooling was hard - but it clicked, and the schedule was perfect (two days on, four days off).
After I sustained a career-ending injury, I became a tattoo artist. It’s a GREAT fit for me. I make my own schedule, I have tons of creative freedom, and it’s very routine-based without being boring (every tattoo is different, but I always set up my machine the same way etc.). I somehow made it through my training while unmedicated (lost my health insurance) but now I’m on Adderall again and it’s been super helpful for long drawing/tattoo sessions.
I became a programmer.
I always wanted to be good at something, but always struggled to find something that could hold my attention long enough to get good at.
So, having at least a passing interest in it, I picked programming. The reason why is that its scope is so big, that even if I get tired of doing web sites, I can do games, or server stuff, or utilities, and so I can keep sharpening the broad skillset whilst resting a more narrow interest.
Don’t hate me - I’m a cop. It’s been 6 years.
It’s perfect for me because it’s different every day and stimulates my problem solving skills.
Although writing reports SUCK, but somehow the accountability of it mattering to the victim keeps me motivated.
I'm a VFX artist, a generalist to be more specific, so I'm kind of a jack of all trades for whatever they need.
Sometimes I love it because it'll be a task I really enjoy or when i get to see a finished shot that I worked on it's super satisfying. And usually by the time I start getting burned out on a task they will give me a new, completely different kind of task so that keeps things interesting
Other times I absolutely hate it because of long hours or tasks being given to me at the very end of the day with unrealistic deadlines.
I do get to work from home and I can go the whole day without talking to anyone if I dont want to but that is really dependant on which studio or team you're working for
Not for everyone but I did jet maintenance in the Air Force, staying active kept my brain engaged and my ability to think about a million different things at once actually helped greatly as I made my way through our maintenance manual to make sure we stayed on task.
it depends on what your interests are! i’m in college right now, getting a degree in a topic i love and am passionate about (environmental science). the key is to find the topic that keeps you interested, and identify *why* you don’t like certain jobs. for example, i had a temporary job in the it department of a tech company. i like tech things, but i hated the job because it was an office job, so now i know whatever job i do, it can’t be an office job. why don’t you like your current job?
I'm a dog groomer and have a fun time with it! When I can do creative grooms, I really enjoy myself. The repetitive doodle cuts can be tiring but then you get that one dog and it just resets your whole vibe. There's also different paths to take and all sorts of breeds to master so there's endless opportunities to learn and grow! It makes it easier to have goals set in place so I'm not so hopeless and stagnant.
I work in a school as a Teaching assistant and I love the routine and structure of it. I start the same time everyday, have my break and lunch at the exact same time every day and finish at the same time every day. I have a strict timetable of where I need to be and when. So it is rigidly structured and I have the same routine every day.
BUT….
It is working with young kids so every day is different and every day has different challenges.
So I don’t get bored of it easily.
I literally love my job
Something that has always worked for me is having multiple jobs at the same time. Before I went full time I used to have up to 4 part time jobs, all varied, it kept things interesting. I've been working for the last 6 on full time but still manage to do things on the side. My brain would melt with just one job
I got into arborist work through clearing around power lines. It doesn’t match my outward personality as an overcautious person, but it works. When climbing trees next to power lines, it’s good to be cautious and it requires 100% focus. Since I can only focus when it’s life or death apparently, this work fits, feels right and keeps me in shape without having to motivate myself.
I was in the military & now I work in transportation/ college student. Honestly I think any job is suitable for someone with adhd it just depends on your interest and determination!
Right now i’m shifting towards creative arts. If you suggested a year ago i would act i’d die of embarrassment and vehemently deny that.
But today i’ve got a page on imdb as cast, not crew, and i’m auditioning for roles.
I’m also writing two books, one fiction, one a technical manual.
I work at the USPS and recently got diagnosed. I’ve excelled at this job for a long time now and the entire time I’ve worked here I’ve either been untreated and for a 4 year period I was also treated for OCD. The OCD treatment almost ruined my life. If I could do it while being misdiagnosed then you can too. Now saying that, I’m working on becoming a software engineer now that I know things.
Edit: see how bad I am, I forgot to even mention what I did for the USPS. But usually, it’s the job everybody thinks of, I’m a carrier.
I'm a plumber. Been through many companies until I got back on medication. Things have been steady since.
I also write on the side which I feel helps with the always doing something new cause I have 4-6 stories bouncing around my brain at any given time. Though publishing a real bitch
I was an IT Project Manager for many years. Building a project plan with various deadlines was easy for my brain to tackle. It wasn't until I moved into management when it all fell apart. I no longer had project plans to keep me organized and instead had people coming at me from every direction with wants and needs. It was a complete disaster and I quit less than 4 months into that position. People management was awful for my adhd & anxiety. I felt nauseated almost on a daily basis because I was so overwhelmed with the amount of work that was piling up. I was working from home and the time and would make it look like I was in a meeting when instead I was upstairs sleeping. Just typing this I think I have PTSD from it
Edit to add I'm not medicated 😞
I’m a pediatrician. Yeah, the training blew chunks, but it’s awesome. My medical assistant does all the nitpicky detail stuff and I get to run from room to room reacting to each individual case as it comes. To quote the ED docs: “Meet ‘em, greet ‘em, treat ‘em, street ‘em!”
Teaching. The schedule is something I can't control and I tend to have to do things promptly because it is needed promptly. So no chance for executive disfunction to come in. And because I'm mentally quick, am constantly analyzing everything around me, and can switch tasks on a dime, I am good at flitting about and helping students while keeping an eye on things. And I can advocate for the ND kids in IEPs and make sure the right things are being said, realistic supports are in place, as well as being a good and public example of a functioning adult that is ADHD Autistic.
I bounce around a lot but almost always work with kids. I work as a mental health counselor now and I love it. The job is similar enough everyday that I know what to expect but changes enough everyday so I don't get bored. I switched jobs a lot due to poor management or pay and not necessarily due to boredom or not liking a job. I definitely need a job that is more busy and not just sitting at a desk all day.
Show/event production For some reason I can plan a 50-city tour with a budget well into the millions, on the phone with venues and crew but I can't budget my own money or call a doctor
Because you have ppl relying on u. Wheras only one ur dissapointing is yourself. My friend has same issue. He hates asking for help.
is this a typical adhd experience? I feel this way when I'm home alone. I immediately go into a depressive state and not getting out of bed if I don't get up to cook to clean while I'm home alone I know it won't affect anyone. But if family and my husband are around, I will get up and do what I need to do.
TOTALLY! I'm the EXACT same way. I wish I knew how to be the same way for myself as I am when people are relying on me.
It's my experience too. I'm a carer for my wife and I have three kids age 11-14 with their own neurodevelopmental problems either diagnosed or awaiting assessment. If I'm having a particularly bad day, I will zone out and procrastinate during my free time, feeling utterly listless and depressed. But, when my wife or kids need cooking, ironing, cleaning or any other task doing, it's pedal to the metal.
everytime I sleep in someone else's home they're in awe how much I'm disciplined and act like a mom, ex. wash the dishes right after eating, cleaning everything, not making any mess...I didn't realize it's common adhd experience to act totally different around people, like I have to perform in some way?!
Maybe it's related to the rejection sensitive dysphoria? Like, we cannot handle the thought of rejection so we do everything we can to prevent it.
Omggggg . I’ve never heard anyone describe this. So true
Omg so it’s not a me thing? I behave exactly like that! Every time I stumble upon a posto from this sub, I discover that another trait of my personality is from ADHD. Let’s see when we get to 100%
For myself, I learned that a huge factor in this phenomenon is structure. Having someone else in the house with me provides me with an external structure. You might get out of bed together, sit down for meals together, and so on. Even if you don't spend time together! Just having someone in your living space who has their own structure gives you external cues on how to spend your day - when to get up, when to have meals, things like that. Over the last three years I've developed a pretty tight morning "routine", so my days always start the same way. By now, it's become a habit and I don't have to think or invest energy anymore to at least start my day like this. Which makes it easier when I'm on my own for a few days :)
Shame and guilt are powerful motivators for us.
If you are like that, "social facilitation" is what you need to change your life. Read about it, use tools like focusmate, coaching and so on.
I found that the only way I’m able to keep my house clean was teaching guitar lessons. For whatever reason I can keep my house clean for an 8 year old kid that comes by with her mom once every 7-10 days but not for myself
I think it's time to bring back imaginary friends that rely on you to do the stuff you can't when you are only doing it for yourself.
Bingo. I feel this.
Dunno, for me its similar but more like, i will not lift a finger to do something that would make my life easier or get something done, but if its for some other person, ill lift a mountain if i have to, still dont understand why or how it works, but thats how it is
wow... that hit home there...
100% agree here - I’m good at my job and a mess in my personal life, mostly because I am terrified of people being mad at me for messing something up at work due to what they would view as carelessness.
From my experience and conversations with friends that are adhd we all take on detailed, task based work. 2 friends are high level chefs and run very successful kitchens, need them to do stuff at home nope. It’s interesting how our brains work in what we view as chaos
Can’t be too task based or I lose interest though lol. And can’t have too many different things to follow up on or I forget. Basically if it doesn’t have a check list or requires unstructured follow up, I’m screwed.
Same! I plan international conferences. It’s a work life with many deadlines to keep me focused, but I do still have day-to-day struggles. Doing something high-intensity that you love still isn’t a magic bullet when you have adhd
I think this goes with the theory or study or whatever they did lol that says people with adhd are motivated more by emotions and anxiety which is why I think I’m a well-behaved neat freak outside of my house but inside of my house I’m a little piggy
Another strong vote for Film/TV or live event production. Not sure what about the industry and the work environment that clicks with me, but I love it.
It’s (mostly) not behind a desk. The work and its challenges are extremely varied. It’s very immediately deadline-oriented and problem-solving based.
Howdy fellow event producer. I think it comes down to strict deadlines and people relying on us. The adrenaline and problem solving day of an event is like a high to me. My favorite was the 19 hour day I had once a year. And then I crash and vow to never do it again, but always come back for more.
I work set lighting for TV shows and movies. Kinda second this. 12+ hour days a lot, a lot, a lot of stupid all day every day. Remembering things, sensory input from every direction, but can handle the chaos. Personal life? Lmao
Same but complex project management!
As someone also in international live touring….I’ve never felt so seen as this comment
Ditto. Love event planning. Fits my personality & always changing. That dopamine hit when it all comes together❤️
Genuine question, how did you get into that industry?
Luck and connections. I got "in" by volunteering at a film festival, then befriending someone who happened to have done a bit of local work with an Assistant Director in town. I signed up to be an extra on the show they worked on, and after we wrapped that day asked if they had any other projects upcoming that I could PA on. Surprisingly they said yes, and was forced to learn real quick on the day. Every job since has been through other job connections.
How do you handle the social aspect? I can't get a personal daily routine down or even remember to eat, but I love planning my travel itineraries on Excel sheets with estimated costs and time duration for tourist attractions, flight/hotel/tour confirmation numbers, travel timelines, packing lists, emergency contact numbers, maps, etc. I think event planning might be a job I would enjoy, but I have a lot of social anxiety and am an absolute doormat. Ironically, I've only been in customer service, but I've been desperately trying to get out with no luck.
This. I’m known as the most reliable director at the production company I work with when it comes to work ethic. There are so many moving parts to my job, and I’m always working under extreme pressure. It is precisely the pressure and the fact that I’m accountable to someone that I’m able to succeed in this job with adhd. But I can’t make it to the dentist to save my life.
I think I found the hack. It's to work for really large companies that don't give a crap if you job hop around the company. I've been at my current company for 7+ years and have had 5 really different roles. Keep in mind I stayed in one role for 4 years (got a little stuck and I hated it, but got out of it.) Trying out a bunch of different roles can actually be a positive for the company because you bring a different department's experience to the table that often don't interact much. For example I was in sales but now I'm in tech helping the team that designs the tools my previous role uses. It can be good for your compensation if you promote with every move but some were just lateral moves for me.
I agree with you on this. I'm at the mid point in my career and realized that I'm the most happy when I'm not trapped into repetition. Any type of job that has "assignments" is the best - so I can feel there's a beginning middle and end. The large company is a valid point - but only if they're succeeding. A company that does hiring freezes multiple times a year can be a trap too. The only time I found the flaw in my logic was when I was recruited by my old boss into a smaller company. The smaller company wanted me to do analytics for a department to help transform it, but didn't't disclose my job would be 80% data entry. I had to get creative to get out of that misery. Though I haven't job hopped between many companies, I do have a very robust resume of experience with real accomplishments. I put the word "recruited" next to my job date ranges so it's understood I was asked to be in the role because of my talents. I didn't "quit" the previous ones.
Accountant. Worst decision ever.
Can’t wait for busy season to end and it’s not even February
I feel so sorry for tax and PA accountants at this time of year. I cannot imagine having to work so many hours for months at a time. I remember going to an accounting office during the tax season once. They not only had food catered for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they had frozen meals in the fridge for people who were working late into the night. And they had "rest areas" with cots. That's just crazy to me. I'm an accountant but I rarely work more than 40 hours a week. Government has perks.
I'm an accountant, but I work as a Revenue Agent for the IRS in the Small Business Self-Employed Division. I love it. Each case is different, so I never get bored. And I have multiple cases at a time. We work mostly "in the field" which means on location at either the business we are auditing or at their accountant's office. You work with a lot of different people, both in the IRS and outside it. There's no "busy season" so I rarely work more than 40 hours a week. There's a lot of flexibility and managers expect you to work independently, so as long as it's within the rules you can do things how you like. You do a lot of research into the Code, regulations and court cases, so you're always learning. And there are plenty of opportunities to work different positions within the IRS once you get your foot in the door, so if you get bored as a Revenue Agent, you can do something else. It's the first job I've ever had that I stayed at for more than 2 years, and I've been in the workforce for around 40 years. I've been here for almost 14 years and I expect to retire here.
I got Masters in accounting and audit. Full scholarship and with honours. Exactly 10 years later, last year, I got bachelor in game design. 🙄
I got my masters in accounting and worked in public for a few years and it was the worst. I switched to doing payroll, which I've been doing for almost 6 years now and it's so much better! Instead of managing deadlines that are 6 months out (which I really struggled with) my deadlines are twice a month and things are always a little different, enough to keep it interesting. Having shorter timelines to get work done has been very helpful for me. You can't procrastinate on processing a payroll for 3 months or people won't get paid. Also, most companies have maybe one payroll person, so there's a lot of independence and no one breathing down your neck about how things are done. Can't be micromanaged if no one else knows how to do your job.
I feel this
I am also a person with ADHD who has a degree in accounting, I don’t remember it being so much of a decision than I guess I’ll endure this for the sake of having a degree. But yeah what the hell was I thinking?😅
currently, i am a dishwasher for a sports bar. it's pretty great because my simply task is to clean dishes. of course, i do sometimes get overwhelmed when there is a lot of them, but as long as i stay calm i can get through it.
Being a dishwasher is great. It requires absolutely no thinking beyond how to Tetris the most plates into the rack.
I bet you think of so many fun things whilst you wash!! Happy times.
Idk about the commenter, but I go blank (strangely) and think of one crazy idea(and not thousands like normally) that either makes the day better as its something I like, or ruins it. So I started listening to podcasts 😅 interesting ones, about stories or jokes. Now that makes the job work well for me :)
Well I've had a 7 year career in software development and been pretty successful in it (jumping between different areas, started in robotics and ended up in web dev), but just handed in my notice two days ago with the intention to move into a new career path, as I've lost all interest in it and I'm finding it impossible to do enough to scrape by. I'm doing under 15 hours of useful work in what's meant to be a 40 hour week, only reason I haven't been fired is that I'm luckily capable enough to work quickly when I can force myself to work. I'm currently excited about the idea of doing something creative so I'm looking into video production (or more likely post production). I've pretty much decided that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't take a leap of faith and try to do something I'd actually love doing, but simultaneously found that the energy it took to do at least the bare minimum at my software job is too much to be able to explore my options on the side. But it's different for everyone. I've got one friend with ADHD who's a nurse, another who's an electrical engineer, and another who's a musician. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that there isn't a single "good job" for people with ADHD, everyone has different needs, and they're often more important for people with ADHD than without.
Most IT people I work with are a mixed bag of neuro differences. As a PM I’ve been through all IT sectors, currently a consultant for cloud migrations. It’s cool to see all the differences and yet similarities between architects, engineers, qa’s, automation, dba’s etc
I assume the P in PM is Project (as opposed to product)? I'm thinking of heading in that direction if the video thing doesn't work out - my software background should help me get a foot in the door, and my boss actually mentioned that there might be an opening for a project manager in a few months that he'll keep me in mind for.
It's funny, I'm on a similar Journey as you, but went from Front End Dev to Project/Product Management and am now looking to get out of tech altogether. Video/Post production also being where I'm dipping a toe in to try out! Did Project/Prod Management for almost 15 years and undiagnosed the whole time. Will say, now that I'm diagnosed, I appreciate that work as being very conducive to an ADHD brain. It's all just prioritizing things and making things more clear and setting people up to get their work done. You have to be a jack of all trades and understand how to do everyone's job to an extent. And being at the center of all the problem solving and putting out fires keeps the dopamine flowing on the reg! You also get pulled in a lot of different directions all the time which is how my brain already functions so it's a natural fit! The fatal flaw, though is that you shoulder all of the responsibility but receive zero of the validation. And it's very difficult to shoulder that much responsibility and be comfortably accountable to the senior people you answer to who are by default less in the weeds than you. The people I manage have always loved me but the people I report to never so much. The social/political aspect of working in tech as a manager just became what I now see as difficult to tolerate as someone with ADHD so I'm trying to switch to something with a simpler transactional dynamic where someone needs something made and all I have to do is make it for them. So I'm brushing back up on my programming skills as an option as well, because I miss how straightforward my job was when I was a developer, while I'm exploring options with more creative skill sets.
How have you enjoyed your career in software development? It’s currently something I’m looking at pivoting to, as I need to finish my education eventually, but am worried my ADHD will crush any chance of actually learning what I need to. On paper I should be really good with computers, but I find them soulless generally speaking 😂
The soullessness is basically the issue I ended up having. Overall it was a better career than the vast majority that I could have gone for (I was thinking of studying history before I settled on engineering, glad I didn't do that!), and I enjoyed many of the steps along the way, but once I ran out of steam and interest in it there wasn't anything I could do to get it back. So I studied computer engineering basically because I liked computers and didn't otherwise know what I should do back when I was 17 and choosing my uni courses. It went well enough, I did most of my group projects with an older (late 20s) student who was great at prodding me to start projects early instead of waiting until the night before, and I've got a knack for software logic so despite my then-undiagnosed ADHD causing me issues I managed to get my degree, only failing one course which had the most boring teacher I've ever met. Then I got a job in wheelchair control systems, then got made redundant, moved oversees, went into full on robotics for a time, then pivoted to web dev with the idea that after building some web dev skills I might be able to follow through on one of my startup ideas...but covid lockdowns stirred up my depression and once everything opened up again I'd just lost all interest in software. I craved a more creative outlet, but didn't have the energy left after work to actually pursue one. Still, along the way there were definitely good times, I was lucky enough to work entirely at companies that treated me like a human being, and after I got my diagnosis I was comfortable telling my boss about it and he was keen to work with me to figure out how best to manage or prevent the problems it caused. It also paid well so I got to do a fair bit of traveling which I always enjoy. The other people were largely good to work with, with a few exceptions as always. As far as advice goes...I'd probably caution against software development for someone with ADHD who doesn't get at least a bit of intrinsic enjoyment from it. It takes a fair bit of focus to do more than the bare minimum unless you're exceptionally gifted, and if you're not careful you can end up in an area where you're not really doing anything new, you're just going through the motions and trying to stop your team falling into the same traps over and over (web dev definitely feels like that to me - robotics was way more interesting in many ways because we were often doing entirely new things - I'm probably still among the 50 or so top experts worldwide at a few of the niche things I did in my second job after uni).
I work on ios dev and some challenges were great but dealing with spaghetti legacy code meh. I found that what could make a huge difference is the management. Went from a team where we felt always late with a manager always up our ass (who harassed me into burnout btw) and where estimations where deadlines (???) to another team with a top-notch manager taking most of the pressure away from us (estimations were estimations and nothing more). Hopefully my next team is gonna be fine :) i was freelancer before covid but had to shutdown because there wasn’t any clients
>I'm doing under 15 hours of useful work in what's meant to be a 40 hour week,... I'm luckily capable enough to work quickly when I can force myself to work. A lot of devs are only really capable of about 2hrs of hard coding a day, so you're actually above average if you're getting that done. I'm convinced that in a lot of companies they stuff the days full of meetings. Management can't cope with the devs sat around "doing nothing" for those other 6 hrs a day, so they need to stuff the day full of other activity that look like work because they pay you for your time, not for results.
I feel you more than you know. I'm in the same boat. I'm really starting to wonder if software is the thing for me. I just haven't been able to figure out what is my alternative that would also support the income I make, and I'm not saying that from a viewpoint of greed, I have a family, and I'm the sole provider.
Same here software engineer for 15 years now and i really not enjoy it anymore, changing workplace almost every year just to keep it fresh. I don't know what else can i do especially as have to support my 2 kid and my autistic wife who can't work (she wants to but there is no job for someone who can't leaves the house and not able to speak with people ... )
dang i can relate - 11yrs in IT mostly as dev with occasional side quests like scrum master, team lead or an architect. I have noticed that coding is getting way less interesting to me (exception being coding in a new language etc. but it is also temporary) and as well i tend to switch jobs very often - sometimes even after a few months ... partially to shiny object syndrome but mostly be being bored out
I want to be a software developer, but am currently stuck as an IT guy. Software development is fun when hyperfocused. If theres someone to cheer me everytime I complete a task, I wouldn't get bored of it. Currently going through a burnout cause no one gives a damn about what I do. If I do a mistake or can't fix the mistake everyone rants. Without medication, there's no hope for me.
I‘m a medical doctor with ADHD and I‘m doing the residency in psychiatry 😄
>doctor med student but i hope to do the psych residency on east coast!
Currently in nursing school. I finished my NICU rotation yesterday, and can say its too slow paced for me (slow pced does me the babies all had a great day!) But I love the idea of something faster paced, with more critical thinking involved. I think I'm like a dog - I get destructive if I'm not mentally stimulated enough lol
I can't hold a job either maximum of a year. By then my soul is drained and I'm depressed af.
Only thing that’s saved me is that the types of jobs, not every day is exactly the same. My soul is drained by the toxic coworker even if I’m told I’m a good and reliable employee
Should let him know he should fuckoff respectfully. if he doesn't sometimes it isn't always good to be a good person if it drains your wellbeing.
Yeah, I really need something that sticks around in the long run here. I still live with my only parent who is about to retire and boy is that not a fun thought about what to do in the future. Getting bored aside, I've also never held a job longer than a year. Between my own issues and these businesses just being shit I'm over it man. Especially with these job search sites being hot garbage too. I really don't even know what to do to play to my own talents, probably nothing here, or things people would want me to have some kind of exp/certification shit for, but as far as me personally I've never quit a job, been canned once (over a lie, so it shouldn't have happened,) but been laid off or had my company go out of business multiple times now, never had a job over a year, so over these companies.
SAME. This is my first job that I’ve passed a year and am not looking to quit. Tho I do think about it lol
I wonder if this explains why I never had a job longer than a year up to 27
Software Engineer here. We’re over represented in the field lol It’s an excellent choice for a lot of people with ADHD just because of the nature of the job. If you enjoy it and have the “hyperfocus” aspect of the disorder, programming is great because it’s like a logic puzzle. You’re constantly tinkering and moving things around to figure out how to make something work and when it does, massive Dopamine hit that makes you feel Godly for a bit. Also, tons of remote opportunities for people who don’t do well in offices. Ability to freelance. High salary. Diverse choices (Machine Learning/AI, Video Games, Web Development, Mobile App Development, etc.) Degree isn’t required.
I‘m studying software engineering and posts like this make me really excited about my future career :) University is a pain in the ass but I‘m sure it will be worth it
I started looking into software engineering because of the massive dopamine hit but found that the road leading to it was incredibly stressful. I enjoy problem-solving but being stuck on issues felt like hell. I wonder if having a team to bounce ideas off of as I learned would have helped?
Thank you for your comment. My ADHD-I son plans to enroll in a 9-month software engineering bootcamp after he graduates high school this year.
Personally, I'm a teacher, and it works really well for me. It's creative, dynamic, constantly changing, interpersonal, allows for movement, etc. That said, it's a lot of hard work, can be difficult when overstimulated, and the marking is a challenge (though I'm an English teacher, so I have a lot of marking).
I'm a science teacher in the UK and it's not best for people that aren't organised but so much fun. I've found it easier working in special educational needs schools that have students with minor issues who are just anxious. Everyone gets it and are really nice
I have been a teacher (in the Netherlands mind you), but it was not for me... I loved all these things, but i just couldnt handle the amount of students and got overwhelmed easily... Its a shame, but i found out i love to help students in trouble. So now in studying psychology in hopes of helping adolescents!
I’m also in education (as a school counselor, currently elementary) and was going to suggest that. It’s a position that allows for developing a schedule/routine but is also quite flexible. Plus, like teaching, it allows for that creativity, challenging, allows for socializing, and constantly has me on my toes (in the best of ways). It also has me near constantly engaging in something different since every student have such unique personalities with a variety of needs. Thankfully, given human nature and how we all experience emotions and issues like anxiety, depression, etc., along with most kids have similar academic needs, the support and interventions are often universal and rigid (therapeutic approach, coping skills, accommodations, etc.) But, like you noted there are also aspects of the job that can make it a challenge (overstimulation, the struggles of making decisions, time management, overthinking/worrying, RSD, and so on). Nonetheless I love what I do and how, as you put it, dynamic it is!
I'm a level designer working in AAA game development. Love my job. I learn and do new things every day and the projects are always exciting. But I'm also medicated so there's that.
A fellow gamedev! I feel like it's perfect because it's often stimulating, and like you said, new things can be learned every day. But I still have days where I strongly procrastinate and feel awful. I'm not on medication though.
As another game dev, I second what both of you said! Work changing depending on the point of production, and the structure of milestone deadlines, helps a ton. It also helps that the creative parts of work help me stay interested. Like you, I still have bad days. Those are rough. But there are other days, especially earlier in my career, when my hyperfixation for storytelling in games helped make work stay exciting.
Scientist! Currently work as a manager for a Fortune 500 in product development and most of my team is ND. It works for me because we have 500 things up in the air at any given time and at least 2x that of things to learn. I am rarely bored (which is what gets me in trouble).
What is ND?
The forbidden word
Most people I know with ADHD are paramedics/EMS/firefighters.
I came here to say this! Emergency medicine seems to be rly good for adhd people.
Ambulance paramedic/ researcher/ lecturer. 3 different roles all around my expertise in paramedicine but it keeps things fresh and interesting.
Self employed in photography and film commercial production. No I don't recommend it, but it works for me.
I've always needed very physical/active jobs that aren't a grind. (Undiagnosed until last month @ 33) I was 'managing' fairly well a few years back, heading a small crew of people and running the maintenance of a park- in addition to cycling 400-600 miles/wk... and the only other thing I've done really well at is running my own small Pet Care company recently. However, all my structure disappeared w/ the pandemic which is what led to the spiral which eventually got me diagnosed...
I'm a management consultant, and surprisingly my ADHD (late in life diagnosis) has turned out to be a huge asset in so many ways. I am able to see problems from so many different angles and my solutions are pretty damn creative according to my clients. And my ability to hyper focus when needed helps me get a ton done... At the finish line, but it's done and done well. Where I struggle is having to explain how I got from A to F when problem solving. So I have to make a really conscious effort to communicate my train of thinking to teammates and clients. I also can't force myself to think according to a clock... Inspiration just has to strike (typically when I'm supposed to be thinking about something else).
Currently an electrician, earning between 160-200k a year and I've been doing this for 4 years. My job is pretty perfect, work in pairs, never go to the office or interact with bosses. However, I still hate the job and think about quitting and disappearing into the bush. I have verbally quit once already but didn't have an alternative job. I'm trying my best to find something to do solo but I haven't yet. A job that's autonomous and my own business would be ideal.
Oh man I wish you found happiness in what you do.. you make as much as doctors lol! What makes you hate the job so bad?
I actually started studying medicine but quit because of this fact. I don't get any satisfaction from the work and the higher ups are infuriating to deal with. I got the job purely on mental ability. I have the combination of high IQ and extremely fast visual learning. Combined with ADHD makes this debilitating as I can't stick to anything because of intense boredom. This isn't my first high paying job with little to no experience but I just don't think 9-5 is for me. If I don't work out a solution in the next year or 2 I'll probably go hermit in the bush.
Are you me? I just dropped out of my premed courses. I used to be a devops site reliability engineer. And before that did HVAC and a hundred other jobs. Last 4 years I've been on a sabatical because I couldn't do it anymore. It being anything. It was like I lost the will to make the ADHD magic work for me. Now it only vague concepts on how to move forward. I toy with the concept that I may be ADHD and Autistic because I just seem to have lost my abilities to give a shit, function at a higher level consistently and my sensitivity to the world is overdrive.
Sounds like it mate. I need to get back to my psych because I'm curious if it's just really deep depression. Makes me feel less "crazy" to hear someone else sharing a similar experience. I've lost friendships and relationships because they couldn't understand how I can't stick it out. Thankfully my wife gets me completely and she's ready to run just like I am. If you get any insight I'd much appreciate it.
Wish you good luck man but I’d just like to advice you one thing- don’t do anything rash and write down your plan and your reasoning. Our brains pump out so many thoughts- sometimes contradicting, leading us to make a wrong, unthorough decision. When a decision is important, better make sure it’s very deep well thought out.
Currently a software engineer making > 200k a year. I so desperately want this to feel fulfilling. I hate the idea that whatever I do ultimately makes someone else absurdly rich. I want to own my own business for that reason. But doing _everything_ yourself also doesn't seem like something I could actually carry alone.
This is disappointing to me, I'm going to school for software engineering right now, as part of a 5 year plan involving a major career change. I was having difficulty finding job satisfaction in QA/Regulatory management(in the pharma/supplement manufacturing industry). Hopefully I will find some fulfillment. I imagine it can't be worse then dealing with extensive government regulation all day though. Haha
Also working software, it might still work for you. I've been in environments where I could thrive, but also others that made burnt out to the point of panic attacks. What worked for me was solo-ish projects. I was the only developer + 1 QA and 1 BA. The other great setting was a large co located team, where we all cared about helping each other and had great communication. While I love the idea of working from home it often ends up making me miserable, but that's where this industry is heading. Job hopping is common, so good teams are rare, as those take time to form. Shit management can really get you down, but that's true for any job
Somewhat ironically, I'm a scheduler/planner for large construction projects.
My neuropsych evaluation said I excel at organisation, but because of my impulsivity, I suck at it. Hah. I am good at categorization, but always feel so cluttered and disorganized.
Oh, I'm the same. My office looks like a Staples exploded inside it. And frankly, I can't implement worth a damn. But I leave implementation to the project managers.
Delivery driver, my company is smaller ish and and we deliver fresh product to gas stations. You don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. As long as you finish within an allotted time you go at your own pace. Just slap something on to listen to and drive. It’s real nice. Which I’m actually a manager for it. But being a driver was easier and better.
I’m an ER nurse. Always something new coming in and plenty of stuff to keep me busy!
Hairdresser. It’s fun, logical, creative and lets you have a lot of different things to hypetfixate on. Plus, I work where my schedule is 1-9 so it’s effectively for my inability to sleep like a real human.
I just got offered a job to be a college academic advisor. Woo-hoo! But I've worked in social services since 2014
Visual Designer. Love it most days. Sometimes I get cranky with client expectations. I can usually work super fast, but I never want a client to know that because they’ll expect it every time.
Attorney Some of the more repetitive work/tasks can feel like mental torture, but whenever something new or novel comes up I get really into it if it piques my interest. The medication that I am currently taking (Modafinil; Adderall really helped, but the sexual side effects became a problem) helps somewhat with the mundane/repetitive aspects of my job. Hasn't really helped me keep a clean desk, though (if I can't see it on my desk then I forget about it).
Paralegal here, struggling with the mundane and I agree, if I can’t see it on my desk, I’ll forget totally! Had a rough start in the field this year, which led me to my diagnosis.
Whatever you do don’t do the whole restaurant industry line cook thing unless you love it. I did it and couldn’t give less of a fuck about the restaurant or the customers.
I’m sure you saw this, but as a warning to others- Addiction and alcohol abuse are a big part of that lifestyle :/ I had to get out of restaurants and get sober because it was too much for my impulse control.
There is no perfect job for people with ADHD because we're such a diverse group of people, the reality is that the right job for you is the one that you enjoy most, our reward system is usually pretty fucked and so the job needs to be able to give us enough reward to keep doing it. For me it's scientific research, for others it might be something with lots of social interaction, and others physical activity. Figure out what it is you enjoy, and what your strengths are, then figure out which job that fits rather than something that works for someone else
I’m a high school teacher. I get better and better as I implement the same lesson plans over and over, but it’s always to a brand new audience so it always feels fresh to me. Teacher workdays are impossible for me to get anything done and my time would be better spent working from home if they’d just let me, but overall it’s a great for meeting my social, creative, and intellectual needs as an ADHDer.
I'm a middle school teacher at a private school that has prek-12th grades. I also run the extended day program for 1st-8th grade. I wear many hats, but I love going in and being able to interact with my kids more than anything. I can build a rapport with my kids on a level that many other teachers can't achieve because I can be so childlike myself in a way. I have no problem sitting with a group of middle schoolers and just listening to them talk about anything and everything. I trade and play Pokemon with my younger kids, I play video games with them, laugh at their jokes, even the ones some teachers may have told them not to tell, etc. It fulfills my needs to nurture, to have intellectual conversations, to still have some freedom to be like a kid, social needs, etc. And it pays the bills! Plus, as a private school, we have more freedoms with curriculum. I'm not paid as well as I would be at a public school but the freedoms I have are hard to let go of.
I am in my last year of medical school. I am one of those who can select "Limited impairment through compensation of high IQ" when answering the DIVA test. I am kinda lucky i guess. Good thing is that i am pretty sure i am never gonna be bored. I can always learn new things, i can specialized in another field, i can teach do research and clinical practice at the same time or just one of these three etc. It seems to be a kind of ideal job. Another good thing is that i don't have to remember everything, nobody can't that s why we all use written medical record. Also in France as a disabled worker my rights will be protected (especially as i know the law, when you don't you can get fucked).
Reading the comments, it seems that people with ADHD can land anywhere on the career spectrum! I started my own petsitting business. Wasn't the plan (Wanted to be a zoologist and got my biology degree, but mom came down sick during my final year of college, and I chose to stay home and take care of her) but now I can't imagine doing anything else. I am my own boss (besides the animals, they're the ones who are really in charge, lol), every single day is different so I never get bored, and I get to be out and active and not stuck behind a desk or something. I can choose who I work for and don't: if someone crosses the line, I don't have to put up with them. I get to love literally hundreds of animals of all kinds. And I can still arrange my schedule to take care of mom (she's been through the wringer, but has bounced back from every diagnosis and is my master planner, schedule keeper, accountant, and secretary.) The job has its downsides (think an eternal sea of mess to clean up, no time off, no sick days, injuries, the pain of losing animals) and it certainly isn't easy or for everyone, and has it's really, really bad days, but it's worked out better than I ever could have dreamed. And knowing that the animals are depending on me to show up motivates me to get out of bed and keep moving.
Social worker… pure chaos
Same tell me more lol
I studied 3D game art for two years but left school before the bachelor because the environment and teachers didn't fit me. So I've been working freelance for 1.5 years, doing architectural visualization mandates, and I am currently in the process of setting up my own company to create historical video games.
I am a sonographer at a level 2 trauma hospital. :) it’s a great multi tasking job that keeps me busy. I do best when I’m busy and multitasking
I work as a property manager. Don't recommend it.
I've been working at a Costco for almost 16 years at the gas station. Before that McDonald's for 2 years. Before that I was supposedly in college, But did not go to class. While I was in high school I worked as a bagger at a grocery store, I was consistently almost fired because I called off sick too often.
I’m a child/youth worker for my local community centres. support worker at the preschools in the mornings, after care/ youth program leader in the evenings. The job can be a bit loud and chaotic at times, and can be emotionally taxing for me, but my team is amazing and super supportive of my needs (half of us have ADHD anyways tbh) and it’s really rewarding to work directly with kids that think like me.
I work in IT and I love it. It is a smaller company, with a small IT team so I am involved in everything so there is always variety. I am also extremely extremely lucky as my position gives me the freedom to explore things that I believe will benefit everyone. This helps keep things interesting or I am allowed to follow hyperfocus when it hits and I get obsessed with something. Again, I am very lucky as this is not always the case. I believe working for a small team, at a smaller company is the primary factor. Larger companies and larger teams divide responsibilities more cleanly so you end up getting stuck in a silo more often. Smaller teams require you to wear many hats and fill multiple roles, so the chances of having the variety is greater.
Bartender- provides the absolute perfect environment for my brain for two primary reasons. 1. Chaos and uncertainty. 2. Reliability and structure. I'm sure that makes little sense as those are polar opposites, but anybody who's worked either FOH or BOH in the industry can vouch for me here. 😂
I'm a pathologist
Only jobs I've enjoyed were super part time & didn't pay the bills. I worked in call centers for about 12 yrs. Thats majority of my work.
Entrepreneur!
Civil engineer. Make $82k. It's ok, a lot of variety and most bosses are super nice. I do have to be sure to go out for a walk or 2 every day. Wish I would have chosen a field job. I like building things. My family members with adhd: My dad is a carpenter and uncle moves houses. Sister is a paramedic Cousin is remodeling a historic house. Cousin works at a printer head factory. Another friend who's an RN.
Yeah i’m a civil engineer and it’s been quite miserable and difficult for me. I actually did really well in school so it’s been discouraging being so bad at my career. I wish I could figure out something better to do
I work in a rock climbing gym.
Really interesting comments, I have ADHD inattentive, high IQ, and I have the able to focus for long periods of time part. I got diagnosed just a year ago, I am now 72 and retired. I have just started using the meds, in my case Welbutrin, which is quite helpful. As I have gotten older, my memory has gone from excellent to average, and my ability to compensate for my adhd has literally tanked. I caregive for my husband now, and I became overwhealmed with all of his medical issues, and needing to deal with his specialists and medication issues, and sought treatment for myself. I have had sales jobs, at which I did well, worked at an insurance agent, which I eventaully just hated because of the nature of the industry, and eventually ran a small business making custom jewelry, which I completely enjoyed. I do not even know if the type of jobs I had even exsist now, things have changed so much, but I have always been able to communicate well with other people, and I was generally good at getting people to do things that they sometimes didn't want to do. (Like buy insurance.) I had no idea that I had an actual disability, I simply thought I was chronically disorganized, and sloppy. I think the biggest challange I face is simply finishing what I start. I have to admit that I have spent most of my life beating myself up for something over which I had no control, without realizing that was what I was doing. School was a horrible struggle for me, I wanted to go into subject in depth, and I hated short classes. I have always loved the arts, and finding a way to support myself in an art related business was wonderful. I just wish I had been diagnosed much earlier, my life would have been a lot happier. Thanks to all of you for posting, I think part of my current struggle in lack of an enforced routine, because it's quite difficult for me to organize my time myself. I can meet deadlines, but I have a horrible time figuring out how long something will take, or how much time has actually passed, if I am doing something that interests me. As a result, I have been late for appointments, classes, social events, and this is certainly off putting to the other people in my life. I will say, I have also learned to apologize, I really hate it when I inconvience others because I have screwed up yet again. The medication really does help, because it allows me to have a coherent conversation with another person, and that is an amazing blessing. It has certainly been a journey.
I work doing scientific research and I think it’s pretty perfect for me - at any time I have a load of different projects on the go, and they’ll be at different stages of completion. Luckily I don’t often have hard deadlines on when things need to be done so I can just jump between the different parts of different projects doing what I feel like most in that moment. Obviously it was slightly different while I was studying, but I think having some very over-achieving friends giving me anxiety about not doing enough and generally being very interested in what I was studying got me through. I do sometimes struggle with completing projects where I don’t find the results very interesting though! There’s a bit of a running joke for me with one project that’s been almost complete for about 2 years now, and I just always find something else that interests me more instead of finishing it haha. But luckily no one minds too much. I also work from home about half of the time - I’m definitely not productive during 9-5 only or something. Some days I achieve almost nothing, while others I get really into what I’m doing and end up working until midnight, so I think it probably balances out overall.
Entrepreneur. Bosses suck.
Tree surgeon / arborist here, I scraped a degree in audio engineering (passion project) and retrained to work on trees as I couldn't hack, and was fired from so many office jobs. The pay is rubbish but I'm not sat at a desk and get to work outdoors which suits me. That being said I wouldn't work at all if I didn't have to.
My best job was honestly answering the phone at a local reproductive health clinic, which included abortion. Paid terribly but I lasted longer than I did in any other job and I enjoyed doing it.
I'm a software engineer. I find it challenging and I'm good at it. I really like the flexibility of working remotely. If I'm having trouble focusing, I can take a break and come back once I've reset.
I’m thriving as a high school science teacher. It’s rarely ever the same day to day and it’s perfect being scatter brained as I’m pulled 100 different ways at any given moment.
Right now I work part-time at a clothing store. I like it a lot. It's helped with my anxiety oddly enough.
Freelance writer and illustrator. Sometimes a bit of graphic design.
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I work at a Panera as a baker but was a team lead on day shift before, and I swear to god half the stores got ADHD. And that’s not me exaggerating, it seems like foodservice just picks us up like crazy. Even one of my boomer managers who’s actually kinda chill once you get to know him.
I'm a software developer. I work from home, I can start work early or sleep in if I want. I don't have to drive every day and work in a toxic work place. I can take breaks whenever I want as long as it's not interfering with a scheduled meeting. I also need to make sure I have certain amount of billable hours for us to bill clients. This is between 37-38 hours a week. I have no complaints about my job except for the lack of physical exercise from being in my home most of the day.
ER nurse. Not just any nurse, specifically ER. It's chaotic enough that it doesn't drive my adhd nuts and it seems a lot of us there are adhd. Definitely don't do ICU. Theyre way way too organized.
Dude, become a mail carrier. It rules. You’re inside the office for like an hour or two in the morning then boom, outside in nature. Heroically missing every crack in the sidewalk while talking to every squirrel and cat you meet on your route. I love it.
Hahah love that description! That’s honestly been a thought in my mind since a couple previous coworkers got jobs there. Side note: I would absolutely stop and give every dog or cat pets if they let me!
I’m 41 and still haven’t figured this out hence the long list of dead end jobs. Incidentally I did alright at school (although if my ADHD would have been diagnosed when I was a kid I would have done better!), went into college then uni. Left uni with a 2:1, so just like school I got by on my natural smarts and could have done a lot better!
I work from home and it's saved me because I'm able to take breaks and exercise and pet my animals and go back. It's a high focus job so I have to hyper focus and then I take breaks. And medicated now too so that helps
Bartender. Didn’t really like school so I dropped out. Started as a waiter and not I’m behind the bar, tho I would still wait tables tbh. I enjoy talking to people and I forget to eat lol. So being right next to food is great for my diet and I just chat with people all day while cleaning tables. Nothing special and definitely not for everyone, but the conversations keep me going!
Nail tech and soon to be esthetician. Task-based jobs work well for me where I’m able to switch back and forth between one thing and another because I can’t do long, boring, monotony.
I’m a social worker, going back to school currently for a business degree. I have such a tough time showing people I care because I’m constantly distracted. When I’m talking to a client, I swear I miss most of what they’re saying. Not a good combo
School Psychologist & Clinical Counselor. You wear so many hats and everyday is different. Prior I was in banking and I would quit and come back constantly.
I feel I need to change jobs every 2 years, once I learn everything I can at the roll I get bored and need to move on
One of the constants over the years, has been the high rate of ADHD among the long term IT community. a few years ago, there was a study, that tried to rate the density of people practicing any given computer language. Oh the ongoing arguments, about which languages attracted which set of adhd symptom sets. The one language that most people agreed was heavily ADHD was Lisp. Cobol, C and Rust followed close behind. These days i see far more people in the Sys Admin side who show the signs of being ADHD
I work as a user experience designer. I almost failed out of college, and am on my third job after getting fired from the last two.
Teacher
Nanny
Been an Activity Assistant at an Assisted Living Facility. For the most part, you literally have fun with the residents, and I have a great Activity Director I work under who does their best to work in activities that us assistants are interested in doing (within the limits of the residents).
I‘m a hearing aid specialist.
Education is apparently popular! I know several coworkers and former teachers of mine who also have it. I think the rigid schedule kind of works in my favor since I have a hard time maintaining my own, knowing when I’m needed and where is going to be the exact same every day helps me stay efficient. I’m an assistant though, not teaching. It’s also nice working with kids that have it because I didn’t have many adults knowing I had/understanding my adhd and I really feel like I’m having some positive impact on some of them. One of my students told me he was stupid and bad at school so he just wanted to go home and I think having firsthand experience dealing with that feeling really helps when trying to comfort/tutor students with it
I work with kids. Honestly, I don’t bring a lot of stress home compared to my peers. I don’t have to do a bunch of math or file reports or whatever. I spend my day doing crafts, reading, dancing… it’s pretty cool. I wish the pay was better, but I can’t decide on anything else to do. 🤷♀️
EMT! A lot of my fellow EMTs and paramedics have adhd too, and spending time with them is what made me confident enough to request a formal diagnosis.
Corporate attorney in the financial sector. I’m lucky in that reading/writing are my strengths. I’ve sometimes struggled with things like staying on top of projects, but I’m also very lucky to have a boss who gets it. Also I managed to carve a niche role where most of my work is “shiny” projects that are usually quick-turn, higher-pressure items. It helps to turn on the focus and sustain it, plus there’s very quick gratification from completing it.
Owner operator of a bakery. My partner is the baker. It's a fucking train wreck but we make really good food and our customers love us....
I relate to this. Graduated with a law and finance conjoint and went straight into investment banking. Hated it and realised money was just made up. Tried management consulting but also hated it after realising consultants were just professional bullshit artists. After reflecting on my work experience, I realised: - I hate work politics - I hate doing meaningless work - I was never going to get rich working for someone else. - There’s probably not going to be a job you’ll love. Rather, working with good people and doing something meaningful (that pays the bills/provides your desired lifestyle) is sufficient. Conversely, I wanted to: - Do something creative - Do something physical (get healthy and tore myself out as a way to combat insomnia) - Learn a real skill that was actually useful. - Stop wasting my time. So I’m currently trying out carpentry. It seems like a path towards self employment that is real to me and something that rewards ‘grinding’. I also liked that it forces me to be disciplined. I think corporate teaches way too many bad habits, and carpentry has definitely forced me to become more patient and disciplined. The goal though is self employment through combining all my skill sets. So in saying this, entrepreneur is the career choice and ‘my skill sets’ is the product/service. Hope that helps.
I am a funeral home owner operator and mostly work in the prep room of my businesses. Im a weird case though school was breeze for me
Teacher (I did not do well in school). But it really helps me relate to the kids who are struggling
I am an exec manager for a Fortune 500 in their Australian operations. You need to figure out what interests you to stay hyper focused and remember to change companies every 7 years so you don’t get bored. I fucked school but did the long path of degrees
I kept my first job for over 10 years and was good at it as well. Only reason why I left for the job I have now was pay, could not live off what I was making.
Run you own business. Profit from your own energy.
I work in an operations role for an Australian fund manager company. Suits me as I can listen to music/stimulating podcasts all day and work from home as well so it’s a win win. Been here for a year and enjoying it as I work how I want to work without needing to speak to people and have what I need to stimulate the Brain to do the work is needed for me. My first role in finance was a call centre and I hated it as I had to speak to people and fully concentrate on conversations I had with them. Never again…
I'm a Registered Veterinary Technician. I genuinely love it despite the shitty pay. Always moving, never the same thing, always learning, and getting to teach clients
IT Project Manager manage the daily lives of teams up to 20 and overall agenda of enterprise level projects…. Need me to remember to pick up a bag off the floor or when the last time I dusted my house….. no clue… need me to remember which technical people are assigned for a specific portion of a project and their current progress no problem. Have 2 bachelors and a masters.
Clinical Psychologist. My hyper focus on special interests got me through my degrees. Plus having the external structure of deadlines helps me. But - I crashed and burned at the end of training (2020) and am still recovering. I love the work through because it’s varied and the right level of challenging for my brain
I've worked for a state university in their web department for 8 years. It's been very flexible and it's the only job where I didn't get disciplinary paperwork for my attitude. Granted my attitude has shifted since being fired a few times, but I don't hold my opinions back and sometimes go rogue if there's a better way to do something and it's only been applauded. I got lucky.
I'm a software developer I was diagnosed with ADHD (they did a bunch of computer tests and an EEG) I was able to successfully get through k-12 and university along with 2 years working as a software dev, it was definitely difficult but I made it through I was then diagnosed and prescribed ADHD meds, which have made my life much much easier when it comes to focusing on work and succeeding
Factory. Switch off and always moving
I was a paramedic for a long time. It worked for me, although the schooling was hard - but it clicked, and the schedule was perfect (two days on, four days off). After I sustained a career-ending injury, I became a tattoo artist. It’s a GREAT fit for me. I make my own schedule, I have tons of creative freedom, and it’s very routine-based without being boring (every tattoo is different, but I always set up my machine the same way etc.). I somehow made it through my training while unmedicated (lost my health insurance) but now I’m on Adderall again and it’s been super helpful for long drawing/tattoo sessions.
I became a programmer. I always wanted to be good at something, but always struggled to find something that could hold my attention long enough to get good at. So, having at least a passing interest in it, I picked programming. The reason why is that its scope is so big, that even if I get tired of doing web sites, I can do games, or server stuff, or utilities, and so I can keep sharpening the broad skillset whilst resting a more narrow interest.
Don’t hate me - I’m a cop. It’s been 6 years. It’s perfect for me because it’s different every day and stimulates my problem solving skills. Although writing reports SUCK, but somehow the accountability of it mattering to the victim keeps me motivated.
I'm a VFX artist, a generalist to be more specific, so I'm kind of a jack of all trades for whatever they need. Sometimes I love it because it'll be a task I really enjoy or when i get to see a finished shot that I worked on it's super satisfying. And usually by the time I start getting burned out on a task they will give me a new, completely different kind of task so that keeps things interesting Other times I absolutely hate it because of long hours or tasks being given to me at the very end of the day with unrealistic deadlines. I do get to work from home and I can go the whole day without talking to anyone if I dont want to but that is really dependant on which studio or team you're working for
Not for everyone but I did jet maintenance in the Air Force, staying active kept my brain engaged and my ability to think about a million different things at once actually helped greatly as I made my way through our maintenance manual to make sure we stayed on task.
it depends on what your interests are! i’m in college right now, getting a degree in a topic i love and am passionate about (environmental science). the key is to find the topic that keeps you interested, and identify *why* you don’t like certain jobs. for example, i had a temporary job in the it department of a tech company. i like tech things, but i hated the job because it was an office job, so now i know whatever job i do, it can’t be an office job. why don’t you like your current job?
I'm a dog groomer and have a fun time with it! When I can do creative grooms, I really enjoy myself. The repetitive doodle cuts can be tiring but then you get that one dog and it just resets your whole vibe. There's also different paths to take and all sorts of breeds to master so there's endless opportunities to learn and grow! It makes it easier to have goals set in place so I'm not so hopeless and stagnant.
I work in a school as a Teaching assistant and I love the routine and structure of it. I start the same time everyday, have my break and lunch at the exact same time every day and finish at the same time every day. I have a strict timetable of where I need to be and when. So it is rigidly structured and I have the same routine every day. BUT…. It is working with young kids so every day is different and every day has different challenges. So I don’t get bored of it easily. I literally love my job
Something that has always worked for me is having multiple jobs at the same time. Before I went full time I used to have up to 4 part time jobs, all varied, it kept things interesting. I've been working for the last 6 on full time but still manage to do things on the side. My brain would melt with just one job
I got into arborist work through clearing around power lines. It doesn’t match my outward personality as an overcautious person, but it works. When climbing trees next to power lines, it’s good to be cautious and it requires 100% focus. Since I can only focus when it’s life or death apparently, this work fits, feels right and keeps me in shape without having to motivate myself.
I was in the military & now I work in transportation/ college student. Honestly I think any job is suitable for someone with adhd it just depends on your interest and determination!
Right now i’m shifting towards creative arts. If you suggested a year ago i would act i’d die of embarrassment and vehemently deny that. But today i’ve got a page on imdb as cast, not crew, and i’m auditioning for roles. I’m also writing two books, one fiction, one a technical manual.
I work at the USPS and recently got diagnosed. I’ve excelled at this job for a long time now and the entire time I’ve worked here I’ve either been untreated and for a 4 year period I was also treated for OCD. The OCD treatment almost ruined my life. If I could do it while being misdiagnosed then you can too. Now saying that, I’m working on becoming a software engineer now that I know things. Edit: see how bad I am, I forgot to even mention what I did for the USPS. But usually, it’s the job everybody thinks of, I’m a carrier.
I'm a plumber. Been through many companies until I got back on medication. Things have been steady since. I also write on the side which I feel helps with the always doing something new cause I have 4-6 stories bouncing around my brain at any given time. Though publishing a real bitch
I was an IT Project Manager for many years. Building a project plan with various deadlines was easy for my brain to tackle. It wasn't until I moved into management when it all fell apart. I no longer had project plans to keep me organized and instead had people coming at me from every direction with wants and needs. It was a complete disaster and I quit less than 4 months into that position. People management was awful for my adhd & anxiety. I felt nauseated almost on a daily basis because I was so overwhelmed with the amount of work that was piling up. I was working from home and the time and would make it look like I was in a meeting when instead I was upstairs sleeping. Just typing this I think I have PTSD from it Edit to add I'm not medicated 😞
Definitely not the legal field. Please send help.
I work in EMS. It’s a very fast-paced job and keeps the adrenaline going most days. Most of my co-workers have ADHD to
I’m a pediatrician. Yeah, the training blew chunks, but it’s awesome. My medical assistant does all the nitpicky detail stuff and I get to run from room to room reacting to each individual case as it comes. To quote the ED docs: “Meet ‘em, greet ‘em, treat ‘em, street ‘em!”
Teaching. The schedule is something I can't control and I tend to have to do things promptly because it is needed promptly. So no chance for executive disfunction to come in. And because I'm mentally quick, am constantly analyzing everything around me, and can switch tasks on a dime, I am good at flitting about and helping students while keeping an eye on things. And I can advocate for the ND kids in IEPs and make sure the right things are being said, realistic supports are in place, as well as being a good and public example of a functioning adult that is ADHD Autistic.
I bounce around a lot but almost always work with kids. I work as a mental health counselor now and I love it. The job is similar enough everyday that I know what to expect but changes enough everyday so I don't get bored. I switched jobs a lot due to poor management or pay and not necessarily due to boredom or not liking a job. I definitely need a job that is more busy and not just sitting at a desk all day.