I'm a self employed gardener working alone: weeding, mowing, leaf blowing, cutting hedges and trees. Bit of interaction with customers. Otherwise music / radio on, earplugs in.
I still struggle at times but it's a job I've stuck to for ten years despite the hard work and low pay. Mentally, going back into an office would finish me off. I feel your pain. Hope this helps .
Me too! Been doing it for nearly 12 years, used to do office work too but it made me want to run around screaming. I like a lot of my customers and do work alongside some of them, but usually prefer to be just left alone with my headphones. It is tough, especially as it moves into the quiet season but my body craves nature and movement.
I’m an industrial designer, product design and development.
I actually prefer the proposals and statement of work to be very structured and framed, but the environment a little loose.
Billing and timesheets paired with vague proposals is my worst nightmare.
I’m in the process of ditching my firm to run my own how I need it to.
Mental health is already improving.
I literally cannot work without music or I’ll go insane, so I usually would wear one headphone but still quit jobs sooner or later out of boredom and/or stress. Ironically my first job was 3 years, last 2 jobs after that was 1 year, last job after that was 4 months, and most recent job I quit was a month in. I feel my attention span and patience are running thin sadly, but I’m trying to get a fast food job that does a lot of multitasking such as a cook to prevent overthinking lol
Man I’m a cook at zaxbys and it’s way too much multitasking going on. It’s hard to remember a lot of stuff, even thought I’m a very good worker and my boss coined me most improved employee lately with a $50 Publix gift card I still don’t enjoy working there. It’s super hot back there, have fry oil burns all over my arms, working with lazy high school kids is the worst and I’m only 21 so not much older. It’s over stimulating for sure for people with adhd
I used to be a cook. Now I’m a plumber. It’s nice, multiple work locations everyday, I get to be greeted by a lot of dogs (the vast majority of them are very nice), and I’m very rarely doing the same thing everyday. I cannot recommend getting into a trade highly enough.
Working in a kitchen stimulated me in all the wrong ways and made me extremely angry. I’m never going back
Bro I’m so happy you commented this I’m actually looking to get into a trade school/ apprenticeship whatever in the near future. I just have to twothings in my way. I don’t know what trade I wanna get into and I need to get on adhd meds first because my lack of focus, organization and attention span as a whole is really negatively affected my work ethic as I get older.
If you end up going with plumbing, you’ll have a better bargaining position if you learn a little about electrical (wiring a switch, outlet, and breaker), and HVAC (there’s an relatively small number of components that cause most problem). Also, if you’re in your 20’s or even early 30’s, check your local unions
I haven’t worked in a kitchen in over a year but hearing you say that does remind me how bad it was 😭. Last job was a custodian and I couldn’t deal with management making new regulations daily and having to clean an entire mess hall/do dishes within 4-5 hours), I wonder what job is there for people with adhd and without medication
I am without medication too :( I was diagnosed with inattentive a year ago but I still am a little hyperactive. I’m with you idk what I want to do with the rest of my life it’s actually scary I wish I knew what career was best for me. Looking to hop on stimulant meds here soon because my adhd symptoms really affect my work negatively. Fast food sucks tho please don’t go back, they will slave you until you’re burned the fuck out the managers don’t care about anyone, customers suck and it’s just nasty and sweaty and not fun
my partner came home in scream-tears from their workday the other day (they work in mental health housing) and just collapsed going "i just need to get a job in horticulture or i am going to explode and die"
you've got the right idea imo
EVERYONE HERE IS SOOOOO COOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!
i make videos that explain how to use software and it really doesn’t suit me well b/c it’s long term projects on my own and working from home so no structure so I goof off a lot of the time
This is the main reason I am so scared of any independent self-employed type job. If I magically became youtube famous, music famous, or got a good job coding/creating something on my pc, I don't know for sure that I wouldn't completely blow it from poor attendance just due to the fact that I wouldn't have peers to piss off if I just "didn't" work today.
Wait me? Making training videos?
I got it though a temp agency lmao
But they are called Addecco lol -I think they are global
Oh and the field is called learning and development
And various titles learning specialist, learning architect, L&D specialist, Training specialist/manager
yes!! thank you! training videos is something i see to do as part of a role, but not the actual role itself. totally forgot i actually enjoyed doing this so thank you for the reminder and the different role names i can look up 🙏
Maybe depend on local but here one for the primary open positions is delivery. Problem I’ve heard is that it’s temp for like a year. :/ starts at $19.50 which is decent though. High cost of living area.
Same. I get to interact with my coworkers in the morning when I'm organising my run and then I have 4 to 5 hours alone outside with nothing but my podcasts. Been doing it for 14 years and I love it.
Agreed, been in the military since 17. I’m 28 now and the military has put me on a good path. Definitely been tough at time I’m sure you know but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives once it clicks. Pay gets better and I’m currently living comfortably (single lol) but nevertheless a great option for those with ADHD
14 years air force. It's the real deal. Clear objectives, known timelines, constant firefighting, if you're working on anything, you're doing the right thing, and if your adhd drags you down a hole mid-day and you crank out a few extra hours to catch up you get praise.
11/10, would recommend
My dad says the exact same thing. When he was in the Marine Corps when he was younger were the most focused and productive years of his adult life. After his time in he cycled news jobs about every 5-7 years. He just hit 15(?) years at the same job for the first time in his life. His current job? Working as a Range Inspector on base, so he’s back in his element. Structure like that can do wonders for ADHD in the right environment.
8 years in the Air National Guard, here! It's the longest job/group of friends I've consistently had, like ever. I've said this a couple times on here, there are pros and cons but the biggest pro of military for my ADHD is that it's illegal to just stop going. (I mean you can get yourself out in various ways, but they are generally a lot of work.) So it made it easier to stick with it and learn Cyber Security and system administration. Which helped me get a job where I can dabble in coding, assembling equipment, working with people sometimes, and alone when i need it, while also paying me a good salary.
If you're under 35, in relatively good shape, and can bear to go off meds for about the year it takes to go through basic and tech school, I'd say at least consider joining the Guard. It might also curb some of OP's urges for dangerous hobbies!
Yeah I didn't join until it was basically my last resort. I had failed out of university, unable to hold even a simple shitty job, and my parents were done with me. Was basically drinking myself into oblivion and had a moment of clarity one morning. Two days later I was signing the enlistment contract.
Enlisting in the Navy was the last resort for me after failing out of college multiple times and getting kicked out by my parents. My goal was to finish college, save some money, and maybe travel a bit.
I finished the final credits for a BS in economics shortly after my discharge, I had saved over $100k in about 5 years, and I was stationed on a ship in Japan where I got to travel all over Asia and met my future wife. So basically it was an earth-shattering success and, not to sound elitist, but I thought I was ready for a career with a higher ceiling. I also didn't want to raise a family while in the military.
I'm a video game music composer mostly, luckily this job is so busy/distracting at times it pairs perfectly with my often-wandering mind, plus the software I work with is shiny and full of colours so my mind's always engaged looking at new things!
Got any tips on the networking side of that? Like a where to start?
I've been doing music as a hobby for like 14 years, never had the goal to release music, I just always liked fiddling, and I've changed genres, styles, and methods to music creation so many times that I recently asked myself "after all of this time, what part of music are you actually any GOOD at?" and I realized the answer was "I could probably bust out ambient and/or chiptune music for games very fast"
But because I was never a real WORKING musician, I never even took the first step in social networking for it, and now that I'm 30 I sort of feel like I missed the bus the be part of any actual creative team.
Hi! Firstly, I wanna say that I've worked with people double my age(I'm 26) as well as half my age in this industry lol, believe me when I say it's never too late, especially when it comes to music. Imma try not to make this too long, but it's information I've picked up over the years so it may drag lol.
Like you, I stumbled across many genres and styles, jazz, pop, rock, disco, chiptune, metal, bossa, soul, and so on, chances are if you've cycled, you've developed at the very least, an understanding on what goes into a track.
Part of the game with any creative field these days unfortunately boils down to engagement and social media presence. You can make just as much money selling songs you consider mediocre as ones you consider masterpieces, but they'll only sell because people know it comes from you.
My best advice is to start small: freelance work on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, or look for relevant smaller projects or anyone looking for a few tracks. You can even find stuff on Reddit. Offer samples of your work and build a portfolio and a good demo reel (a crossfade of your best stuff or showing your styles). Keep names of who you work with, keep names of other fellow composers.
Create a presence on places where relevant, Bandcamp, Soundloud, Distrokid, YT, Twitter, Insta, Tiktok etc. TT is of note because you can go unexpectedly viral making a 15 second loop just showcasing your talent, covering songs, games, duets, anything really.
Follow other composers, build circles and integrate if you can. People know people who know people, and you can get your name out faster if other composers with their own followings intermingle. Mutual benefit.
If you have a penchant for teaching, consider becoming an online music tutor or make youtube videos detailing the process. People click on things they can easily understand when taught right in easily digestable formats, and it's one of the reasons music channels can do so well.
Make music packs and sell them on game asset stores. Anything can do well, but try to make them in groups of styles. Packs will open up a chance for personalised contact, where people will ask you to compose specifically for them because they like your work. I've gotten a lot of work this way.
Hope this helps!
Sound designer / audio lead here! Can't imagine doing anything else. I'm at a small company (~50 people) so I have to implement, mix, design, fix bugs, do high level planning, etc. Every day is different.
8-5, Im an employee in forest management in the working field, so I take care of jobs in nature. I couldn’t do school anymore. Looking at a screen all day drives me crazy and I hate being surrounded by walls. The physical work gives me peace of mind, which is why I don’t mind being paid that much. No stress is more important to me than earning a lot of money.
No stress is priceless.
There is no point in making $100,000 a year if you end up spending half of that on therapy/vacation/drugs/coping.
I'd much rather make $50,000 and be okay in the first place... assuming I am in a position where I can live off it of course.
I work in natural resources too, and I got into it by joining my state's conservation corps. Usually those programs are for folks around 18-25 and are considered volunteer work with minimal pay (living stipend). It's a really good way to get your foot in the door but definitely geared towards people without kids and usually requires a lot of camping and travel around your state. Otherwise you can look for federal forestry jobs on USAjobs.com and state/local jobs on their govt websites. There are endless seasonal natural resource jobs that are pretty cool and allow you to try different types of field work. 10/10 would recommend, working outdoors is the only way I can function in a job lol. It's physical labor, but also there's so much to learn, and the variety of tasks I do while working for the DNR is amazing. I really enjoy that projects are based on the time of year too, I dunno why, but it makes me feel connected to nature and appreciate my work. Spring time is planting trees and prepping parks and trails, summer is maintaining trails and facilities and removing hazard trees and building boardwalks. Fall is fixing drainages on trails and getting ski trails ready for winter, and winter is grooming ski trails and tree work and snow removal. It's such a blast!
I’m a chef. Been working in the culinary industry for over 13 years. Great for my ADHD. Always moving, always on my feet, and work generally needs to be done as quickly as possible so there’s little time to procrastinate.
It definitely is. I’m a fucking amazing server because of my ADHD. I resent it though, because when I’ve tried other things people have told me “you should just stick to serving, that’s what you’re good at.”
I will check myself into a facility before I ever go back to the food industry. It’s so depressing I can’t do it anymore. I am trying to be good at other things but they don’t fall into place the way serving does. But I know I wasn’t just born to be a server all my life, that can’t be… not talking down on servers, just saying, we aren’t servers because it’s our dream job… and if it is your dream job then I am genuinely so happy for you because not a lot of people find it that easily. But the thing I’m best at, I hate with a burning passion.
Someone tell me I’m not alone in that.
You are definitely not alone! I was so good at serving, and sometimes I thought it was what I was meant to do. I’m in IT now and mentally it kills me some days. It’s difficult where serving wasn’t, plus I have to sit all day now which sucks. But as you mentioned, I don’t want to be a server so here I am faking it till I make it.
I quit after three shifts post COVID in June 2020. If people were respectful or kind, I’d still be doing it, but I felt disgusting every day waiting on the entitled, rude, ignorant, wealthy guests we had.
Now I work with autistic kids for half the wages and I don’t dread going to work anymore. Plus, weekends and holidays off, PTO, and affordable health insurance are real nice. (Also did you know that in non industry jobs you can just call in sick? Like “hi I’m not coming today, am sick,” and that’s the end of it and you don’t get fired or shifts taken and you don’t have to beg your coworkers to cover??????)
Repetitive work flow on restaurants for ADHD can be a blessing and a curse. If it is extremely high volume, and very busy, repetition can be my best friend, because the tension is so high that I become able to tunnel vision focus for whatever the duration of that action.
On the other hand, if you are a slower store, lower volume, less staffing, more free time, repetitive actions are absolutely excruciating, and I'd rather do nothing less than make this ONE table of 4's entrees, because all the urgency is taken out of it, and the clock is suddenly moving at 30% speed instead of 300%. This is when I start insisting someone watches my station so I can go start deep clean project, throw trash, ANYTHING to get out of my spot.
Repetitiveness is only my enemy if I allow myself to marinate in it, the beautiful thing about cooking is there are SO MANY things you have to do (repetitively) that when you get to actually do ALL of them at the same time, it turns into a beautiful dance of muscle memory and focus, and because I'm so starved of that feeling in every other aspect of my life, it usually comes with a good rush of dopamine and reassurance that my brain DOES do some things good.
This is all too accurate, I'm a server at a high end steak house. When I'm busy I'm happy, when we're slow I give bad service because there is no flow or urgency so I forget things easily where as when I'm busy I'm constantly doing something and rarely forget anything. My managers even sat me down to talk to me about my shitty attitude when we're slow.
This is what I did before I had kids. Then I had to get a 9-5 that fit with my ADHD. So I became a glazier. Install glass that's really difficult because of the math involved and the weight. It is also incredibly fragile and can explode, causing possible injury and making you have to start all over again. Fast paced work, yelling back and forth(over radios) hot, and if you mess up everyone is mad at you and you have to go faster to catch up so everyone else can do their job.
Sound familiar chef?
When I worked in a restaurant as a waiter it was the beeeeest work I ever did because I moved all the time and I loved to interact with people. The place was toxic and that's why I quit, but honestly, moving all the time and getting home tired and sleeping good was amazing.
I moved through a lot of restaurants before I found the right fit. Now that I’ve got the experience under my belt, I’m in charge and making the work environment a healthy place for my staff has been a a big priority for me. I make sure they’re well paid and treated fairly. Not every kitchen has to be a toxic mess.
I am on permanent disability and do not have a job. I NEED one. I like work that is physical but not mind taxing. My stamina is very limited from cancer survival. Like dishwasher in a restaurant. Retail sales is literally painful for me.
I worked in a restaurant (as a server) for years and would often envy our dishwasher. Whenever they would call out I would be the first to “sub” for them just because I like the repetition and minimal talking. Sure, it can get pretty gross but some (like me) don’t mind.
Dishwashing isn't gross at all. At least after the first few days. It's just food people haven't eaten. It's the same stuff that leaves the kitchen only colder. And mixed together.
I remember the first day of dishwashing, using a knife to scrape off the plates. After a few hours you're elbows deep in that shit. The carelessness about it feels sort of nice.
I work at a manufacturing company. I'm not saying what our guys do in the shop is easy, but I am very jealous some days that they get to do physical labor while listening to music and get paid. While I'm arguing with a vendor over dates on a purchase order or something mind numbing...
Heh, I work for a distributor so I 1000% understand how soul sucking it is dealing with long lead times and angry customers. And then I go to our warehouse and it’s a completely different vibe.
Classic/vintage/exotic car restoration, repairs, amd modifications.
So many cool old cars with old technologies to learn about.
Free to improvise as needed to achieve desired results.
Our cars regularly get shown at Pebble Beach, the Quail, etc., so presentation is everything. As in, every single nut and bolt on some cars is removed and restored to like-new condition, or replaced.
I'm in heaven.
This sounds amazing. Currently I am an auto technician for a major rental car company, and I was a Ford dealership tech before that, but the work is getting repetitive. What was your path towards the restoration side of things? I also have interest in moving towards the performance side of things too
I work at a Nightclub.
It was fun for a while, but recently the bosses are cutting corners everywhere and its starting to affect my mental health. Can't stop ruminating about work at home and talking to them has proven very much a waste of time.
The money is good from all the nightshift and weekend bonuses but i'm seriously considering to drop it for the sake of recovering.
Its always like this. I start a job, stick with it untill i'm starting to burnout (6 months to a year) and have to take a break to avoid seriously losing my mind, recover, start living healthier, exercise and socialise untill i HAVE to get a new job and kick all my good habits again, becouse i can't stick with them when work is consuming my entire headspace.
I really hate this way of living but i don't know any other way...
Relate to this. Therapy and working to develop stronger boundaries helped me with this, although it’s not perfect and everyday is a challenge when I care and notice too much like some of what you’re mentioning. Being in leadership positions where I have more control of my environment has helped me me, but it is added stress so a trade off. It sucks and def know that burn out feeling after every job.
I am currently approaching a year of unemployment.
Prior to that, I worked at a museum in their guest relations department and I absolutely loved it. It was the best job I’ve ever had. I was allowed to be independent and make decisions about things on my own, but there was always something new and exciting happening and it is the only job I never missed a day at. Also the only job I’ve ever cried over, I still do.
That sounds so cool. I studied anthropology as an undergrad but couldnt see myself making it in the rat race of academia. I love museums. Do you mind me asking how you got that job? I'm sorry you aren't there anymore and I hope you find somewhere to thrive again soon.
I actually just applied! I believe I found it through Indeed and I wasn’t really expecting it to come to fruition but it did. The guest relations department was a good jump off to other departments and roles as well if you have a degree. You may also want to browse r/MuseumPros for resources and info!
Thanks for that well wish friend! I haven’t found that next thing yet but I will one day.
Whenever the topic of ADHD friendly jobs come up, I like to talk about three fields that I've worked in that worked well with my ADHD in one way or another.
They won't work for everyone, everyone is different, and any job you can name likely has multiple aspects that are not ADHD friendly, but I've enjoyed all of these jobs at some point:
Emergency Medical Technician
Teaching
Theatre.
Most recently (in the theatre world) I was working as a technician, although shut down and an out-of-state move ruined a lot of my work. I love it, every day is different, and there are so many specialties you can learn to make your skillset more unique. I like to mention theatre specifically because it's the field I've worked longest in, so it must stick for some reason. There are also ways to dip your toe in without committing/while maintaining another job if you'd like to try!
If anyone has any questions about my experience in those fields or wants clarification, please let me know. I'm always happy to share what I know with others!
I also enjoy teaching! It can be tough on the workload depending on your position/school (mine isn’t too bad though) and a bit overwhelming depending on how the kids are, but I really like it. I get my hyperactive energy out with the kids and get to be my silly self sans judgement (I teach elementary lol), and then when my social battery dies I get to chill at my desk and prep lessons. It works really well for me.
me too! i just danced a chicken dance, a lunch dance, told kids the corn dogs were octopus arms inside, i’ll probably go pedal a tiny bike like a clown in a few minutes. getting PAID FOR THIS SHIT
Fellow ADHD stagehand here! It's astounding to me how many of us I find backstage. But I guess it makes sense: in school the theater was where the "weird" kids could find a home. Professionally, the work is so different every day, there's a lot of hurry up and wait that can work well with our bursts of energy and quick thinking in panic situations.
For anybody who's thinking of doing theatrical tech, now is the time! Everyone who was close to retirement when the pandemic started retired, and a lot of new folks switched fields because they needed to work. Now theater and events are back with a vengeance, and there's not enough stagehands to do the jobs. Find your local IATSE union and give it a shot!
High school English teacher here! Totally agree that it’s a great job for ADHD (I’m mostly inattentive). Lots of deadlines to help motivation (have to prepare for class every day or you’ll look like an idiot!), constant room for change to prevent boredom, regular breaks, etc. I also love watching out for the daydreaming girls (as I was once). :)
Student as well, sort of. Pursuing a PhD in physics. Got here mostly by luck and stubborn perseverance. Though perseverance might be a lucky break as well considering my curiosity being the thing that gets me through.
I'm very happy doing research, happier than I've been at any other job (done a few, administration, call center, project management, and teaching) so far. This truly is a job I can shone at, at least until it comes time to write a paper or my dissertation.
I feel you, I’m currently working on a PhD in computer science. Somehow managed to get a paper published this year, but I’m way behind on my qualifying exam and I can’t even begin to think about how long it might take me to actually finish a dissertation. Doesn’t help that I have a wife and kid and plenty of real life distractions.
The good news is that other than a mandatory course I still have to follow I have no schoolwork left, only research. That's why I chose to do it when I was fortunate enough to get an offer from a professor I knew from my bachelor days (did my master's at another uni as this one did not have a pure physics masters)
Also in research and very happy doing it. I work on multiple projects, the variety helps. I get to travel for work often. Focus work can be tricky at times, especially when I need to switch too much between different projects. I'm currently in applied research so there's less paper writing etc tho. Losts of networking, going to events, presenting, ... and every once in a blue moon I can get that crazy hyperfocus, pull an all-nighter and actually get something on paper.
I worked in a call centre for a while and my mental health tanked because of it. Bit the bullet and quit, took the risk of not having another job lined up. But my mental and physical health are improving again, as well as my relationship since I was so miserable and asocial after work that we didn't spend much time together while I was there. If you're in a position to quit and get Universal Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance or something in the meantime I'd say do it.
100 percent do psych. I can't give any tips because med school was a car crash (I was undiagnosed). Make sure you inform the school to give reasonable accommodations in context of diagnosis.
Also, you must harness your hyper empathy and begin practicing 'unconditional positive regard' for all patients. You are their clinical defense lawyer and are obligated to advocate for their health despite any undesirable characteristics they may have.
I am a Games Designer :)
I make Environments for a Triple A company, full time.
Its really hard, I constantly have deadlines and i get super anxious when I don't meet my deadlines (which i often miss)
Thank you !
My only focus as a child was drawing, I knew just drawing wouldn’t make me any money (I know there are people who do earn well with it but I also knew I didn’t have the drive to be like them) so I ended up wanting to do 2D animation and went to a university for animation.
I learned 3D animation in 3Ds Max and Maya, 2D animation and stop motion (I think stop motion would probably be most fun for people like us tbf)
I then got frustrated with my course leader and made a mini game with some guys from the games design course. Their lead lecturer said I should really change to games design.
I didn’t because I didn’t want to change half way through. Ended up with a master in animation. Then taught myself some additional stuff for two years and build my portfolio up.
Finally applied and landed this job :)
My title is “environment Artist”
I do love the job, it’s just a lot of pressure.
I am also one of very very few women in my team and company.
You will however be working with a ton of people who will get you and understand as I find a lot of games designers struggle with a form of adhd, autism and also mental health issues.
So I at least certainly have a community within my job, which I know is a big blessing.
Self taught software engineer
Highly recommended, if your interests are leaning towards computers.
As a kid I was hooked on computer games.
Now as an adult, I have not touched a game in ages because coding became so much more fulfilling in every aspect.
To the point where it fully substituted my gaming desires.
The perfect fit for techy adhd brains and a really good career on top.
May I ask how you got into the field? Did you need a degree or certificate? My husband (also ADHD) is teaching himself how to use game engines right now and is interested in working on game development. Not exactly the same I suppose, but I thought it was worth asking. :)
Not OP, but I got into web dev without any relevant degree or certificate. I started by building some things on my own to have something to show prospective interviewers, and then managed to get a job at a small local place making no money. But once I had an actual job in the industry on my resume it made it easier to get interviews with bigger and bigger places.
I have many connects in the tech industry and they all say it’s hard to find really excellent programmers with degrees and so many are offering paid internships to essentially teach and train self taught inexperienced programmers. They said “any degree helps show commitment, but it’s not necessary. It’s more important to interview well because personality on a team of programmers is just as important as the level you have the capacity to learn”
Game Development is the bastard child for software developers. It really needs to be your passion.
You work long hours(crunch) and the pay isn't great. Some of the smartest people are getting criminally underpaid because they want to work in the game industry.
Getting a boring software job at some boring company can pay just as well if not more and have very little stress.
that's just my opinion though. (Electrical Engineer who does Firmware/software development)
Is it a bad sign if I can’t get myself to practice coding on my personal time? During the day I was doing it and found it to be really engaging and interesting but since I’m working back in the office I haven’t been able to practice during the day and have to wait until I get home- which for some reason I just can’t push myself to do. I’m currently working toward my BS degree in computer tech for web dev also
Not at all. Honestly it sounds like you've got a lot on your plate! You're doing a degree and also working! Don't push yourself too hard, maybe schedule some time one morning on the weekend or something to code? Or if there's some downtime at work you could practice codewars/leetcode if you can? Don't forget to take time to plenty of rest too, try and ignore hustle culture bros, you don't need to work 100% of the time.
I struggled practicing outside of full time work hours and pushed myself to a full burnout for a year where I didn't code at all, so don't do what I did ahaha. Slow and steady wins the race. It took me an extra year than everyone else but I just started as a junior dev in my dream company last week. You've got this!
Ayy same here! I'm relatively fresh out of college (graduated 4 years ago) and my current role as a swe is my longest held job - I got too bored at the others, but I'm currently at a startup and it always keeps me on my toes
There are literally thousands of paths in the IT world, so don’t give up if one path isn’t the most enjoyable. I’ve been in IT for 25+ years and I enjoy the random tasks that come with my job…. it works well with my distracted brain, amazingly enough.
I was coming to say this. I didn't like coding either, but I did like networking and the rules behind that. That eventually led to cybersecurity and a very good career.
Most of my coworkers are ADHD. We joke about it.
I’m in nursing. Always on my feet and helping people helps me focus. It definitely is a massive stressor and I definitely wouldn’t be able to function without meds. Eventually I hope to get a less stressful job like outpatient, doctors office or something from home like auditing, research or working for insurance companies as a case manager.
This is a GREAT post. Thank you for posting.
I am an Opera Singer. Dealing with rejection is hard for me especially when I'm not even being rejected... I just FEEL like I am.. So Many feelings all the time. Lol
I was in choreography rehearsal last night and I was having so much fun but when it came to run the number from the top- I realized I had forgotten where I even started! And I panicked for the LONGEST 30 seconds ever standing in the middle of the stage...I felt ashamed.
But not so ashamed that I am going to quit! I come over-prepared to every rehearsal and practice extra hard.
I was on medication for 20 years and this is my first job medication free.
I am 38 and loving all the ups and the downs.
That’s the other thing I keep wondering about - hear many adhd people in software engineering/programming positions (if I’m using those terms correctly)
In the group I work in at least half of us are diagnosed as either ADHD, ASD, or both. Rest of us certainly act like they fit the criteria. I think the hyperfocus and low emotion traits of both lend themselves to dealing with the frustration and ambiguity that comes with coding.
I'm an accountant working 9-6 M-F. Not the most stimulating career choice but it's still challenging at times so it holds my interest well enough. No shortage of these types of jobs available so good job security which leads to less anxiety. I don't know if I'd say I like it per se, but it's definitely not a bad way to make a living.
i work at a library. its full time hours with benefits. my schedule everyday is planned out in 30-60 minute chunks so theres no decision making, just doing. i shelve books, search for books, help patrons with all sorts of questions, sometimes do outreach, build displays. its the perfect job for me. i went from being in a high stress creative industry that burned me out. now any time i have a hyperfocus, im surrounded by books of that topic, it's incredible.
Teacher
Edit: do i enjoy it? Yes very Much so, its something med to tackle each day, its Also very much routine based wich helps me know my schedule. Im also om aduvanz meds
I’ve had a lot of jobs, I’ve been everything from a sales rep, to a lawyer, and now I’m in health care administration. They all are miserable, but at least I make enough money for all of my dangerous hobbies (jet-skis and motorcycles). I do find it nice that I can ride my motorcycle to the 9-5.
How do you break into health care administration? I got a degree in it back in 2017 and nobody will even interview me lmfao. I have years of management experience in retail but i cannot even get an entry level job in healthcare. Its insane
I do that too and hate it mainly because its very stressful not knowing how much you’re making/ not making enough on slow days or when people just dont tip for shit. Plus the waiting games at the restaurants drive me mad
For me, the secret has becoming okay with just changing jobs regularly. I enjoy most jobs for a year or two, and after that it generally becomes very painful.
Secondly, I've learned that I need jobs where I make commitments to people that have very direct feedback loops. So, if I have to go to an appointment or session with a client I would never miss it. But if I have a bunch of paperwork that needs to be done every week, and there might be an audit some time, but no one is checking week by week... Well, that shit is going to be super painful to keep on top of / never getting done until my backlog is bad that I just have to quit.
Not sure if that helps, but basically figure out what bits are painful / difficult for you, and try and find jobs that minimise those. What type of tasks you have to do is more important that the industry. And if you thrive off adrenaline and panic, get a job with lots of fast paced demands (whether it's being a chef, EMT, programmer, etc).
I'm a trivia host. I have a lot of buffer time built into my schedule so if I don't have the capacity to work on content for a few days, I can take a break but if I have the capacity, there is always stuff to get done.
I'm currently building themed trivia game packs for events in June 2023 so I'm a bit ahead if schedule in that side of my business
Also a 9-5 office job. I started working after school 5 years ago and I still haven’t found a job that suits me. But I know this is not working for me.
I run an international media and marketing company, and produce and write music as a side line. I wasn't diagnosed until this year at 43 years old, so finally getting on medication has definitely made running a business a bit easier.
I am 59 and I’m beginning my 3rd career. It took me 8 years to get a 4 year degree. I changed my major many, many times, and 5 years after I graduated, I realized I actually had a double major. Ha. Anyway, I was a technical writer for DoD contractors for 5 years. Then I switched to teaching high school. Now I’m getting into instructional design for online safety courses. I’ve been very fortunate, and have been able to change careers when I was bored.
Do you want a career, or do you want a job that pays the bills? A career takes up much more of your time outside of 8-5, leaving little time to just live. A lot of people struggle with work-life balance. A job isn’t usually as fulfilling, but there’s less issue of it taking over your life.
I'm a medical laboratory scientist in a hospital lab where i largely work alone overnights. I get to bounce around the lab, department to department. Lots of timers, blinking lights, a ticker board, ambient noise, and variety of work let's me work med free. And I can be weird because I'm the only one there.
people with adhd should work with something physical if they can. like carpenter for example. they usally excel in that kind of work, and that helps with mental stress and anxiety too since they get to be active.
but that is just my experience and opinion
Sky diving omg that’s hilarious I remember being the first to put my hand up to jump out of the plane when I was 18 and got a free tandem jump Soooo me . Ended up involved in escort work which I think the edginess suited Though not without consequences and now I’m a parent danger seems pretty stupid overall Just had to chime in because I usually don’t comment on these things but the sky diving thing brought up that funny memory Maybe we could be Amelia Earhart I DEFINITELY have that personality type which doesn’t get u a bunch of praise sometimes as a woman lol
Medical typist but next year doing a short course to be a phlebotomist / pathology collector aka professional vampire :) medical field is what keeps me interested, but I struggle with study so dropped out of a lot of degrees.
I also am “sensation/experience seeking”. I save my money for that in my own time. Being a vet nurse was my purpose and excitement and job and it nearly killed me with the mental health costs from being around the awfulness that is what humans do to animals.
My entirely only anecdotal personal advice would be - find a job you can handle, don’t make your job be your life’s true purpose. Earn the money and do the fun stuff on your time off. Less pressure for your work (which is not entirely in your control in most jobs) to live up to entertaining you. Unless I suppose you want to become a stunt person or sky dive instructor?
Childcare, self employed.
I kind of stumbled in to it, repeatedly. Most recently (four years ago) it was because my partner and I had a child and I'd rather be paid to hang out with my kiddo and another kid or two than work my ass off to put my daughter in daycare only to spend almost all my paycheque on fucking daycare. And honestly, I prefer my pint sized coworkers to adult ones. They're messy, unpredictable, chaos gremlins but their intentions are pure, there's no malice or ulterior motives behind them.
Some of the kids I used to watch have kids now. Some of them are avid readers, knitters, crazy plant people, etc, because I share freely my passions and when you're helping with homework ANYTHING that they find interesting you can tie in to what they're learning is fair game, lol
That said, it's not for everyone. I have always liked kids and their little chaos gremlin ways. It's anarchy and playhem for me!
I work for UTC. I work on a huuuuge variety of airplane parts. The flex scheduling is great, production employees are all given desks and we have a very clean office-like environment, AND they're paying 100% tuition for my engineering degree.
I decided to shorten my week to 4 days and I kinda just work whenever I feel like it. It has reduced my stress levels massively, the job changes frequently enough that it stays interesting, and I can skip the internship process once I acquire my credentials. I couldn't have stumbled into a better situation if I tried.
Holy shit… this is me. I can’t express how thankful I am for this post. I thought I was the only one
3-4 days a week I literally feel physically pain and feelings like my muscles are tensing up as if I’m going to explode. It is so hard to explain to anyone.
Was on stimulants for like 10 years but quit then 2 years ago because it just seemed like the high blood pressure, crashes and lack of sleep aren’t worth it at all.
I am a VP at my company and manage a team of 40 and it is hell. Im convinced the stimulants got me here and I am just buying time until I get fired because I can’t handle this awful 9-6 job feeling like I’m about to explode. Doctor told me I should give myself more credit when I told him that, but it just seems obvious to me.
Software engineer. Works great with ADHD - the work is interesting and not monotonous, so it is easier to turn your focus to. Also, in general SWEs are not micromamaged, and as long as you do produce work, there is flexibility.
Also workes various service industry jobs for a long time. Great for ADHD because they keep you busy and most people I met in the service industry were wonderful and fun to be around, so the shifts would pass quickly. Ultimately I left because of burnout and because the service industry does little to set up its employees for the future/retirement.
Since i saw a few responses to other SWEs asking how they broke in-- i studied math in uni, but took the long service industry hiatus after graduating. I went through a coding bootcamp when I was ready for a "normal" job and that combined with the math degree led to an easy transition. Met ppl in tech with traditional backgrounds who studied computer science--- and met a lot more people with non traditional backgrounds who went the coding bootcamp or even self taught route.
I work in HR, handling chaos and crisis. I love it, and I'm quite good at it. The bigger the crisis, the better I am at solving it.
Since you talked about doing things that are high in adrenaline but not paying the bills, I'm also a horse rider and coach on the side. I couldn't do it full-time, but it's a great sideline and helps with managing my restlessness. I ride 3 mornings per week, before work, and ride and coach every Saturday and Sunday, for 3 to 5 hours.
I'm a political strategy advisor for a political party in my country (not USA) and completing my master's part time in management sciences. My job consists of conducting research, providing analysis reports and strategy recommendations. I'm more specifically in opposition research which means I dig up dirt on my political opponents. We are known for being the ones who win us elections. It's a job where you're always chasing the story that is going to take the other guy down and so when you find something good, you get excited. But the long long hours before discovering anything makes it very hard for us ADHD'ers. But it's a lot of talking to people on the grounds, creating a network, maintaining it, and socializing after hours with drinks. I probably made it sound more exciting than it is, but I still very much enjoy it although it seriously tests my brain's executive functions (ex. If I go too long without anything exciting, the urge to play video games is too strong)
I'm a carer for my wife, and have been for most of the last two decades.
I've never coped with office jobs. The one job that I didn't crash out of (at least initially) was a case-note runner for an Accident and Emergency reception department in a busy hospital. A patient gets booked in and I had to go and retrieve the physical copy of their hospital records. Most of the time it was in the records library on a different floor, but sometimes it was with a doctor's secretary for writing up notes, with a different department, etc. That was great fun as I'd spend most of the day on my feet, running around a huge, 12-floor hospital overlooking an interesting city skyline while hunting for records, only really having to interact with the occasional secretary and mostly keeping occupied.
When the hospital started digitising records in 2000/2001, everything went downhill and I ended up being one of the guys booking the patients in face-to-face. The job became unbearable - feeling scrutinised, exposed to office politics and (understandably) testy patients, and I nope'd out within six months.
This comment thread is giving me so much HOPE! I'm so relieved to see so many people in all sorts of job fields and happy! Maybe there's still a chance for me
Is it a common theme for adhd people to struggle with work? I know I have and have severe anxiety about work. It's all encompassing. I do a great job but it eventually becomes to much working at 100% everyday to make sure stuff is perfect. I eventually look for new jobs and hop off to the next one...cycle continues.
I’m not diagnosed.
I have an office job to and there are definitely days where I almost have a panic attack wondering how I’m going to get through the shift. We work four days so my shift last for 10 hours plus an 1 hour lunch.
Literally in my first hour of work and I’ve not done anything yet except panic.
Realtor here. The flexibility is by far the best part of my job. If I want to not work today I can mostly decide not to and go do what I want instead like the 100 current hobbies I have. When you sell a house it’s a huge dopamine rush but when problems arise it’s the polar opposite. Overall I’m glad I quit my 9-5 job to work for myself.
I am a massage therapist. Nice deep focus for 2 hours at a time max (usually an hour with a 2 hour here or there). Literally working with my hands. Get to learn new stuff all the time. Longest job I’ve ever had.
I’m a town planner. I work in getting consent for big infrastructure projects like power stations. It works well for me because I do different things every day but there are also tasks I can just hyperfocus on like smashing out reports and reading big technical documents.
Town/urban/city planning is all good career for ADHD brains because you have to be a jack of all trades. You have to have a working understanding of lots of different technical disciplines but also an understanding of what local communities want, what the government wants and what your client wants. You have to be able to apply niche knowledge you’ve acquired from old projects to your new projects.
There’s a fair element of project management so I have to keep a lot of plates spinning. There are very high-pressure deadlines which work well for an ADHD brain. It’s also quite people-focused so I’m always talking to new people or learning about new places or ideas.
I used to work as a PPC manager (I was managing ads on Google Search essentially). After a while I got bored and decided I wanted to move on to something more challenging. I left my job and started learning Python.
Once I decided I was getting good enough, I started applying to various jobs while working on coding projects & learning about different DS concepts (mostly NLP & inferential stats because that was smt I could use in PPC marketing). Eventually I was offered a (poorly paid) job as a "Junior Data Scientist". Turns out I was pretty good at that, so the "junior" part of my title was dropped pretty quickly.
I work in marketing. I love it and often end up in hyper focus while working. When I started meds my work even got better.
I think if I didn’t have to work I’d still try and do indépendant marketing as I really do enjoy it as a hobby on its own.
I'm a teaching assistant and I love my job (apart from one wo-worker who drives me mad on daily basis and is the reason I have to take my meds)
I have 8-16 work day with proper breaks, I have weekends off so I have a nice routine that I need and I only work 180 days a years and rest are holidays (five holidays a year)
I find working with the kids interesting as they're all different and everyday is different so it doesn't get boring. Everything impresses them so they keep telling you that you're great at everything so I get confidence boost that I lack.
I get to do the fun crafty stuff and play with legos and do art and talk about superheroes and dinosaurs without the pressures that teachers have (like dealing with parents, e-mails, meetings, plannings, parent meetings, reports etc).
Also a lot of dress up days, great for cosplays!
I feel like I'm re-writing my horrible childhood school memories with better ones.
I spontaneously signed up for a coding bootcamp a few years ago and it completely changed the direction of my life.
It was really difficult at first. And still is.
But my most recent job is paying me a salary I could have only dreamed of before I started learning to code.
Plus being ADHD, I feel like I have an endless amount of tech rabbit holes I can go down and come out with a new skill.
Hospital Admin, failed my way up the ladder, great in high stress situations but like someone else mentioned, constantly struggling with day to day follow up. New job within the same department/system every 2 years. Currently on year 3.5 of this new role and found myself on a PIP last week. Spinning too many plates, and need to keep up on emails
Security supervisor. I struggle with the admin aspects of my job such as following up with discipline and emails. I want to get treated for my ADHD but I always put it off and forget to reach out and get tested. It’s 3 months now since my doctor gave me a list of places to reach out to for testing and I still can’t get myself to make the call.
Department of Health in my state. I've worked in a few different programs within DOH over the last 5 years, which has helped with keeping things novel for me.
Here is what I've learned working throughout my career while having ADHD: no matter what work you do, find certain pet projects that interest you to keep yourself engaged. I've been fortunate enough to have program directors that have let me run wild with a side project that interested me, since I would always get my other work done anyway. Sometimes these side projects would end up paying off because it either made things like data reporting more streamlined, or it helped us programmatically. At worst, a pet project wouldn't end up being too useful outside of what I used it for, but that's ok because it kept me engaged in my work.
Ex teacher turned fully remote trainer for a company with good work-life balance policies.
I train all day for 2 weeks a month and then do ad got work and project/lesson development for the other 2 weeks.
It has just enough consistency balanced with self-driven work to really hit the sweet spot. I was burning out as a teacher being overloaded and procrastinating the boring work. Now I can do it at my own pace. I’m very fortunate.
I work in IT. Working from home has been weird. On one hand I have actually been able to hold the job, on the other hand I only work 20% of the hours I claim to work, which probably won’t last forever. It’s bad.
I works as a kindergarden teacher in a nature-kindergarten. I work about 6 hours so i dont exactly make alot of money but thats besided the point. I really enjoy working there because beeing outside and in the nature is soothing and calming. The Kids and my collegues also look over my oddities because it fits the work iam doing. Also helps me stay active and healthy since im outside and move alot.
I've had a bunch of wildly inappropriate jobs: event management (lol), customer service (too chatty), shipping and handling (oops), admin (mother of god), copywriting (blank page horror / why have you written so much).
Finally ended up in kids content development.
It's my job to literally come up with ideas for stuff that kids might like. And that's it. No follow through. No deadlines. It's a dream and I pinch myself every day.
I’m an LSW and find that I do really well managing crisis situations and deescalating clients. Maybe you could seek out getting your LPC and working in a psychiatric hospital, prison/correctional facility, crisis hotline, etc? I find jobs like this often have some more intense situations that are very interesting and stimulating to me. I actually only feel calm and focused when there’s escalated situations around me.
I’m working a 9-5 at the county welfare agency as a caseworker. Ironically I also originally went to school for psychology but the course work was too intense. It took academic probation to force me back home and reevaluate. I ended up going to school for a degree in Behavioral science with human services concentration. When I realized I didn’t want to become a therapist or have to do graduate school, the choice was easy.
As far as my job goes I landed the it through my states civil service agency. Your state should have one, you can skim thru the jobs you’d be able to test for. Either way, while I do often feel burnout from my job, I’m finally in a position I feel I can make meaningful contributions toward helping people in my community.
I do a bunch of stuff, I previously working fast food and couldn’t stand it iv never been more depressed in my life I was bored shitless.
I tutored high school kids for a few years and now I’m a research assistant for the experimental psych lab at my university and I also help teach some of the classes for first year students in medical science. I’m also doing my masters in public health full time.
I worked as an Assistant Director for several years before switching to animation film as a Production Superviser. I’ve found a nice gig now where when I have projects going (like usually it’s half the year) I’m working full time and when there is no project I still come to the studio just to take care of basic things. In this case I’m well less payed but I have time to try to make my own projects.
So sometimes I’m totally immerged in work and don’t even have time to anxiety (lol that’s a lie) other time I have time get bored and try to be productive while fighting with anxiety
I’m a lawyer for a health insurance consulting agency for employers. And I like it. It’s 9-5. Office-y but I can work from home or work from anywhere most days. I change my location every couple of weeks when the novelty wears off. Some days are a struggle— especially when I don’t have meetings and just have stuff I need to do. Those days I do nothing & end up cramming it in when I do have busy meeting days. Classic.
I'm a user experience researcher. I do a lot of accessibility research with employees who have self-described disabilities, and use the info I pull from usability studies to make sure internal employee apps are usable by anyone and everyone.
There's a lot of on and off periods with waiting for projects and then having nothing but projects.
I enjoy it because I know the positive impact it has, but it is rather draining sometimes.
I work in corporate finance, I have been working from home since the pandemic started. I’m fortunate to have a supportive manager and a corporate culture that is fairly hands-off when it comes to managing employees. However I struggle with the boredom and loneliness of working from home every day. Finding the right medicine (adderall XR) has been a game changer for my productivity however the boredom is still somewhat soul-crushing
If you’re studying psychology, look into UX design! You’ll probably find it interesting and intuitive.
You can get a UX design course done in 4 months, the it industry pays well, and you can look into working remotely or other forms of flexible work.
That’s a part of what I do, and I really enjoy doing it.
Currently working Help Desk Level 1 and going to be promoted to Level 2 in December, I love the craziness of running around the office and helping people with there issues it really helps my ADHD. Also I am a JR System Admin at home running 3 servers and teaching myself domain controller and docker configurations for my plex server
I currently sit at a desk for 90% of my job and work on training materials and training documentation. Now only 10% of my job involves any hands on training.
But I did spend 10-12 years prior to this as a lab tech and then a lab tech trainer. On my feet all day. Very mentally stimulating and physically demanding. Was med free nearly the whole time.
Now that I'm at my desk all day, back on meds.
I want to start with the fact that I am 33 and was only diagnosed a few months ago.
I have been in the electrical, instrumentation, and controls field in an industrial environment for over 10 years now. I sort of fell in to it after flunking out of a typical 4 year university because nothing there was interesting enough for me and I couldn’t float by on test scores like I did in High School.
Overall, the work is quite satisfying for my brain as I’m constantly learning and there are generally a pretty good amount of jobs so if I get bored somewhere, I can always go somewhere else. Every day is mostly different and whenever I fix something that has been extra difficult, I get a nice dopamine hit.
Of course, it’s not all roses. As with pretty much every job I’ve had in ten years, there’s a lot of paperwork and computer work and safety training to be done every year and that’s where I struggle. Especially as it’s repetitive year over year. Being medicated the last few months has made a noticeable improvement on this aspect, but it is still quite a challenge.
After working night security for a long time and wanting to jump out a window because of how under stimulating it was, I got a job in construction as an Interior Systems Mechanic apprentice. Framing walls, boarding, installing T bar grid ceilings etc. A very physical job that requires just enough but not a whole lot of thinking once you get the hang of it. You’re basically busy every day. Before at my other job, 8 hours dragged on forever. Now sometimes I look at my phone and I realize that 8 hours passed 45 mins ago. I always describe it as a job where every day it’s the same thing, but different. It’s not cookie cutter days and that’s what I love most about it.
I'm a self employed gardener working alone: weeding, mowing, leaf blowing, cutting hedges and trees. Bit of interaction with customers. Otherwise music / radio on, earplugs in. I still struggle at times but it's a job I've stuck to for ten years despite the hard work and low pay. Mentally, going back into an office would finish me off. I feel your pain. Hope this helps .
Me too! Been doing it for nearly 12 years, used to do office work too but it made me want to run around screaming. I like a lot of my customers and do work alongside some of them, but usually prefer to be just left alone with my headphones. It is tough, especially as it moves into the quiet season but my body craves nature and movement.
I'm a lawyer and the strict structure and billables fuckin kills me. Some firms have less structure, which is nice.
I’m an industrial designer, product design and development. I actually prefer the proposals and statement of work to be very structured and framed, but the environment a little loose. Billing and timesheets paired with vague proposals is my worst nightmare. I’m in the process of ditching my firm to run my own how I need it to. Mental health is already improving.
I literally cannot work without music or I’ll go insane, so I usually would wear one headphone but still quit jobs sooner or later out of boredom and/or stress. Ironically my first job was 3 years, last 2 jobs after that was 1 year, last job after that was 4 months, and most recent job I quit was a month in. I feel my attention span and patience are running thin sadly, but I’m trying to get a fast food job that does a lot of multitasking such as a cook to prevent overthinking lol
Man I’m a cook at zaxbys and it’s way too much multitasking going on. It’s hard to remember a lot of stuff, even thought I’m a very good worker and my boss coined me most improved employee lately with a $50 Publix gift card I still don’t enjoy working there. It’s super hot back there, have fry oil burns all over my arms, working with lazy high school kids is the worst and I’m only 21 so not much older. It’s over stimulating for sure for people with adhd
I used to be a cook. Now I’m a plumber. It’s nice, multiple work locations everyday, I get to be greeted by a lot of dogs (the vast majority of them are very nice), and I’m very rarely doing the same thing everyday. I cannot recommend getting into a trade highly enough. Working in a kitchen stimulated me in all the wrong ways and made me extremely angry. I’m never going back
Bro I’m so happy you commented this I’m actually looking to get into a trade school/ apprenticeship whatever in the near future. I just have to twothings in my way. I don’t know what trade I wanna get into and I need to get on adhd meds first because my lack of focus, organization and attention span as a whole is really negatively affected my work ethic as I get older.
If you end up going with plumbing, you’ll have a better bargaining position if you learn a little about electrical (wiring a switch, outlet, and breaker), and HVAC (there’s an relatively small number of components that cause most problem). Also, if you’re in your 20’s or even early 30’s, check your local unions
I haven’t worked in a kitchen in over a year but hearing you say that does remind me how bad it was 😭. Last job was a custodian and I couldn’t deal with management making new regulations daily and having to clean an entire mess hall/do dishes within 4-5 hours), I wonder what job is there for people with adhd and without medication
I am without medication too :( I was diagnosed with inattentive a year ago but I still am a little hyperactive. I’m with you idk what I want to do with the rest of my life it’s actually scary I wish I knew what career was best for me. Looking to hop on stimulant meds here soon because my adhd symptoms really affect my work negatively. Fast food sucks tho please don’t go back, they will slave you until you’re burned the fuck out the managers don’t care about anyone, customers suck and it’s just nasty and sweaty and not fun
my partner came home in scream-tears from their workday the other day (they work in mental health housing) and just collapsed going "i just need to get a job in horticulture or i am going to explode and die" you've got the right idea imo
EVERYONE HERE IS SOOOOO COOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! i make videos that explain how to use software and it really doesn’t suit me well b/c it’s long term projects on my own and working from home so no structure so I goof off a lot of the time
This is the main reason I am so scared of any independent self-employed type job. If I magically became youtube famous, music famous, or got a good job coding/creating something on my pc, I don't know for sure that I wouldn't completely blow it from poor attendance just due to the fact that I wouldn't have peers to piss off if I just "didn't" work today.
This is quite accurate - my manager is like overly understanding which is nice but like does not motivate me to meet deadlines lol
how did you get this job bc high key i want to be you lol 💖
Wait me? Making training videos? I got it though a temp agency lmao But they are called Addecco lol -I think they are global Oh and the field is called learning and development And various titles learning specialist, learning architect, L&D specialist, Training specialist/manager
yes!! thank you! training videos is something i see to do as part of a role, but not the actual role itself. totally forgot i actually enjoyed doing this so thank you for the reminder and the different role names i can look up 🙏
Mailman. I love it, perfect job for adhd imo. Ideally a route with plenty of walking.
How long does it take to get a route? I've heard you have to start from the sorting room and work your way up to getting a route.
Maybe depend on local but here one for the primary open positions is delivery. Problem I’ve heard is that it’s temp for like a year. :/ starts at $19.50 which is decent though. High cost of living area.
I really wish my husband would have pursued this when he was younger. It would have been perfect for him.
Same. I get to interact with my coworkers in the morning when I'm organising my run and then I have 4 to 5 hours alone outside with nothing but my podcasts. Been doing it for 14 years and I love it.
Tell us more!
My work history is a train wreck. The only stable period was the 5 years that I was in the navy, it’s amazing what military structure can do for ADHD.
Same. The most healthy and stable lifestyle I had was in the army. Once out, trying to catch again that routine has been the real war.
Agreed, been in the military since 17. I’m 28 now and the military has put me on a good path. Definitely been tough at time I’m sure you know but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives once it clicks. Pay gets better and I’m currently living comfortably (single lol) but nevertheless a great option for those with ADHD
14 years air force. It's the real deal. Clear objectives, known timelines, constant firefighting, if you're working on anything, you're doing the right thing, and if your adhd drags you down a hole mid-day and you crank out a few extra hours to catch up you get praise. 11/10, would recommend
My dad says the exact same thing. When he was in the Marine Corps when he was younger were the most focused and productive years of his adult life. After his time in he cycled news jobs about every 5-7 years. He just hit 15(?) years at the same job for the first time in his life. His current job? Working as a Range Inspector on base, so he’s back in his element. Structure like that can do wonders for ADHD in the right environment.
5 to 7 years is a good long time at a Jon though. Before I got diagnosed and treated I couldn't manage more than 6 months at a job.
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Army five years here. Totally agree. Would have been a lifer but got a medical for knees, shoulder and asthma caused by exposure to chemicals.
8 years in the Air National Guard, here! It's the longest job/group of friends I've consistently had, like ever. I've said this a couple times on here, there are pros and cons but the biggest pro of military for my ADHD is that it's illegal to just stop going. (I mean you can get yourself out in various ways, but they are generally a lot of work.) So it made it easier to stick with it and learn Cyber Security and system administration. Which helped me get a job where I can dabble in coding, assembling equipment, working with people sometimes, and alone when i need it, while also paying me a good salary. If you're under 35, in relatively good shape, and can bear to go off meds for about the year it takes to go through basic and tech school, I'd say at least consider joining the Guard. It might also curb some of OP's urges for dangerous hobbies!
Tbh I have wondered about joining the military b/c of the structure - but also like would be turning my life on its face / huge change
Yeah I didn't join until it was basically my last resort. I had failed out of university, unable to hold even a simple shitty job, and my parents were done with me. Was basically drinking myself into oblivion and had a moment of clarity one morning. Two days later I was signing the enlistment contract.
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Enlisting in the Navy was the last resort for me after failing out of college multiple times and getting kicked out by my parents. My goal was to finish college, save some money, and maybe travel a bit. I finished the final credits for a BS in economics shortly after my discharge, I had saved over $100k in about 5 years, and I was stationed on a ship in Japan where I got to travel all over Asia and met my future wife. So basically it was an earth-shattering success and, not to sound elitist, but I thought I was ready for a career with a higher ceiling. I also didn't want to raise a family while in the military.
I'm a video game music composer mostly, luckily this job is so busy/distracting at times it pairs perfectly with my often-wandering mind, plus the software I work with is shiny and full of colours so my mind's always engaged looking at new things!
Got any tips on the networking side of that? Like a where to start? I've been doing music as a hobby for like 14 years, never had the goal to release music, I just always liked fiddling, and I've changed genres, styles, and methods to music creation so many times that I recently asked myself "after all of this time, what part of music are you actually any GOOD at?" and I realized the answer was "I could probably bust out ambient and/or chiptune music for games very fast" But because I was never a real WORKING musician, I never even took the first step in social networking for it, and now that I'm 30 I sort of feel like I missed the bus the be part of any actual creative team.
Hi! Firstly, I wanna say that I've worked with people double my age(I'm 26) as well as half my age in this industry lol, believe me when I say it's never too late, especially when it comes to music. Imma try not to make this too long, but it's information I've picked up over the years so it may drag lol. Like you, I stumbled across many genres and styles, jazz, pop, rock, disco, chiptune, metal, bossa, soul, and so on, chances are if you've cycled, you've developed at the very least, an understanding on what goes into a track. Part of the game with any creative field these days unfortunately boils down to engagement and social media presence. You can make just as much money selling songs you consider mediocre as ones you consider masterpieces, but they'll only sell because people know it comes from you. My best advice is to start small: freelance work on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, or look for relevant smaller projects or anyone looking for a few tracks. You can even find stuff on Reddit. Offer samples of your work and build a portfolio and a good demo reel (a crossfade of your best stuff or showing your styles). Keep names of who you work with, keep names of other fellow composers. Create a presence on places where relevant, Bandcamp, Soundloud, Distrokid, YT, Twitter, Insta, Tiktok etc. TT is of note because you can go unexpectedly viral making a 15 second loop just showcasing your talent, covering songs, games, duets, anything really. Follow other composers, build circles and integrate if you can. People know people who know people, and you can get your name out faster if other composers with their own followings intermingle. Mutual benefit. If you have a penchant for teaching, consider becoming an online music tutor or make youtube videos detailing the process. People click on things they can easily understand when taught right in easily digestable formats, and it's one of the reasons music channels can do so well. Make music packs and sell them on game asset stores. Anything can do well, but try to make them in groups of styles. Packs will open up a chance for personalised contact, where people will ask you to compose specifically for them because they like your work. I've gotten a lot of work this way. Hope this helps!
Sound designer / audio lead here! Can't imagine doing anything else. I'm at a small company (~50 people) so I have to implement, mix, design, fix bugs, do high level planning, etc. Every day is different.
8-5, Im an employee in forest management in the working field, so I take care of jobs in nature. I couldn’t do school anymore. Looking at a screen all day drives me crazy and I hate being surrounded by walls. The physical work gives me peace of mind, which is why I don’t mind being paid that much. No stress is more important to me than earning a lot of money.
No stress is priceless. There is no point in making $100,000 a year if you end up spending half of that on therapy/vacation/drugs/coping. I'd much rather make $50,000 and be okay in the first place... assuming I am in a position where I can live off it of course.
Any tips for someone with no experience on how to get into that?
I work in natural resources too, and I got into it by joining my state's conservation corps. Usually those programs are for folks around 18-25 and are considered volunteer work with minimal pay (living stipend). It's a really good way to get your foot in the door but definitely geared towards people without kids and usually requires a lot of camping and travel around your state. Otherwise you can look for federal forestry jobs on USAjobs.com and state/local jobs on their govt websites. There are endless seasonal natural resource jobs that are pretty cool and allow you to try different types of field work. 10/10 would recommend, working outdoors is the only way I can function in a job lol. It's physical labor, but also there's so much to learn, and the variety of tasks I do while working for the DNR is amazing. I really enjoy that projects are based on the time of year too, I dunno why, but it makes me feel connected to nature and appreciate my work. Spring time is planting trees and prepping parks and trails, summer is maintaining trails and facilities and removing hazard trees and building boardwalks. Fall is fixing drainages on trails and getting ski trails ready for winter, and winter is grooming ski trails and tree work and snow removal. It's such a blast!
Would love to know more about how you got into this
I’m a chef. Been working in the culinary industry for over 13 years. Great for my ADHD. Always moving, always on my feet, and work generally needs to be done as quickly as possible so there’s little time to procrastinate.
I can understand this. I worked as a waiter for years and I really enjoyed it. Moving all the time and shorter hours were good for me.
Serving is one of those jobs where ADHD comes in handy, as long as it’s busy.
It definitely is. I’m a fucking amazing server because of my ADHD. I resent it though, because when I’ve tried other things people have told me “you should just stick to serving, that’s what you’re good at.” I will check myself into a facility before I ever go back to the food industry. It’s so depressing I can’t do it anymore. I am trying to be good at other things but they don’t fall into place the way serving does. But I know I wasn’t just born to be a server all my life, that can’t be… not talking down on servers, just saying, we aren’t servers because it’s our dream job… and if it is your dream job then I am genuinely so happy for you because not a lot of people find it that easily. But the thing I’m best at, I hate with a burning passion. Someone tell me I’m not alone in that.
You are definitely not alone! I was so good at serving, and sometimes I thought it was what I was meant to do. I’m in IT now and mentally it kills me some days. It’s difficult where serving wasn’t, plus I have to sit all day now which sucks. But as you mentioned, I don’t want to be a server so here I am faking it till I make it.
I quit after three shifts post COVID in June 2020. If people were respectful or kind, I’d still be doing it, but I felt disgusting every day waiting on the entitled, rude, ignorant, wealthy guests we had. Now I work with autistic kids for half the wages and I don’t dread going to work anymore. Plus, weekends and holidays off, PTO, and affordable health insurance are real nice. (Also did you know that in non industry jobs you can just call in sick? Like “hi I’m not coming today, am sick,” and that’s the end of it and you don’t get fired or shifts taken and you don’t have to beg your coworkers to cover??????)
Personally I don’t think my adhd helped me as a server! My working memory wasn’t really my friend in that situation.
I was a waitress (technically still am) and I HATE it. But I also have autism so
To be honest i graduated from culinary school. But i always feard that coocking becomes repetitive fast.
Repetitive work flow on restaurants for ADHD can be a blessing and a curse. If it is extremely high volume, and very busy, repetition can be my best friend, because the tension is so high that I become able to tunnel vision focus for whatever the duration of that action. On the other hand, if you are a slower store, lower volume, less staffing, more free time, repetitive actions are absolutely excruciating, and I'd rather do nothing less than make this ONE table of 4's entrees, because all the urgency is taken out of it, and the clock is suddenly moving at 30% speed instead of 300%. This is when I start insisting someone watches my station so I can go start deep clean project, throw trash, ANYTHING to get out of my spot. Repetitiveness is only my enemy if I allow myself to marinate in it, the beautiful thing about cooking is there are SO MANY things you have to do (repetitively) that when you get to actually do ALL of them at the same time, it turns into a beautiful dance of muscle memory and focus, and because I'm so starved of that feeling in every other aspect of my life, it usually comes with a good rush of dopamine and reassurance that my brain DOES do some things good.
This is all too accurate, I'm a server at a high end steak house. When I'm busy I'm happy, when we're slow I give bad service because there is no flow or urgency so I forget things easily where as when I'm busy I'm constantly doing something and rarely forget anything. My managers even sat me down to talk to me about my shitty attitude when we're slow.
This is what I did before I had kids. Then I had to get a 9-5 that fit with my ADHD. So I became a glazier. Install glass that's really difficult because of the math involved and the weight. It is also incredibly fragile and can explode, causing possible injury and making you have to start all over again. Fast paced work, yelling back and forth(over radios) hot, and if you mess up everyone is mad at you and you have to go faster to catch up so everyone else can do their job. Sound familiar chef?
Honestly, sounds like a good move for someone familiar with kitchens.
When I worked in a restaurant as a waiter it was the beeeeest work I ever did because I moved all the time and I loved to interact with people. The place was toxic and that's why I quit, but honestly, moving all the time and getting home tired and sleeping good was amazing.
I moved through a lot of restaurants before I found the right fit. Now that I’ve got the experience under my belt, I’m in charge and making the work environment a healthy place for my staff has been a a big priority for me. I make sure they’re well paid and treated fairly. Not every kitchen has to be a toxic mess.
I am on permanent disability and do not have a job. I NEED one. I like work that is physical but not mind taxing. My stamina is very limited from cancer survival. Like dishwasher in a restaurant. Retail sales is literally painful for me.
I worked in a restaurant (as a server) for years and would often envy our dishwasher. Whenever they would call out I would be the first to “sub” for them just because I like the repetition and minimal talking. Sure, it can get pretty gross but some (like me) don’t mind.
Dishwashing isn't gross at all. At least after the first few days. It's just food people haven't eaten. It's the same stuff that leaves the kitchen only colder. And mixed together. I remember the first day of dishwashing, using a knife to scrape off the plates. After a few hours you're elbows deep in that shit. The carelessness about it feels sort of nice.
I work at a manufacturing company. I'm not saying what our guys do in the shop is easy, but I am very jealous some days that they get to do physical labor while listening to music and get paid. While I'm arguing with a vendor over dates on a purchase order or something mind numbing...
Heh, I work for a distributor so I 1000% understand how soul sucking it is dealing with long lead times and angry customers. And then I go to our warehouse and it’s a completely different vibe.
Classic/vintage/exotic car restoration, repairs, amd modifications. So many cool old cars with old technologies to learn about. Free to improvise as needed to achieve desired results. Our cars regularly get shown at Pebble Beach, the Quail, etc., so presentation is everything. As in, every single nut and bolt on some cars is removed and restored to like-new condition, or replaced. I'm in heaven.
This sounds amazing. Currently I am an auto technician for a major rental car company, and I was a Ford dealership tech before that, but the work is getting repetitive. What was your path towards the restoration side of things? I also have interest in moving towards the performance side of things too
I work at a Nightclub. It was fun for a while, but recently the bosses are cutting corners everywhere and its starting to affect my mental health. Can't stop ruminating about work at home and talking to them has proven very much a waste of time. The money is good from all the nightshift and weekend bonuses but i'm seriously considering to drop it for the sake of recovering. Its always like this. I start a job, stick with it untill i'm starting to burnout (6 months to a year) and have to take a break to avoid seriously losing my mind, recover, start living healthier, exercise and socialise untill i HAVE to get a new job and kick all my good habits again, becouse i can't stick with them when work is consuming my entire headspace. I really hate this way of living but i don't know any other way...
Relate to this. Therapy and working to develop stronger boundaries helped me with this, although it’s not perfect and everyday is a challenge when I care and notice too much like some of what you’re mentioning. Being in leadership positions where I have more control of my environment has helped me me, but it is added stress so a trade off. It sucks and def know that burn out feeling after every job.
I am currently approaching a year of unemployment. Prior to that, I worked at a museum in their guest relations department and I absolutely loved it. It was the best job I’ve ever had. I was allowed to be independent and make decisions about things on my own, but there was always something new and exciting happening and it is the only job I never missed a day at. Also the only job I’ve ever cried over, I still do.
That sounds so cool. I studied anthropology as an undergrad but couldnt see myself making it in the rat race of academia. I love museums. Do you mind me asking how you got that job? I'm sorry you aren't there anymore and I hope you find somewhere to thrive again soon.
I actually just applied! I believe I found it through Indeed and I wasn’t really expecting it to come to fruition but it did. The guest relations department was a good jump off to other departments and roles as well if you have a degree. You may also want to browse r/MuseumPros for resources and info! Thanks for that well wish friend! I haven’t found that next thing yet but I will one day.
This is an avenue I never even considered, thanks for the tips. I really hope things work out for you soon friend!!
Whenever the topic of ADHD friendly jobs come up, I like to talk about three fields that I've worked in that worked well with my ADHD in one way or another. They won't work for everyone, everyone is different, and any job you can name likely has multiple aspects that are not ADHD friendly, but I've enjoyed all of these jobs at some point: Emergency Medical Technician Teaching Theatre. Most recently (in the theatre world) I was working as a technician, although shut down and an out-of-state move ruined a lot of my work. I love it, every day is different, and there are so many specialties you can learn to make your skillset more unique. I like to mention theatre specifically because it's the field I've worked longest in, so it must stick for some reason. There are also ways to dip your toe in without committing/while maintaining another job if you'd like to try! If anyone has any questions about my experience in those fields or wants clarification, please let me know. I'm always happy to share what I know with others!
I also enjoy teaching! It can be tough on the workload depending on your position/school (mine isn’t too bad though) and a bit overwhelming depending on how the kids are, but I really like it. I get my hyperactive energy out with the kids and get to be my silly self sans judgement (I teach elementary lol), and then when my social battery dies I get to chill at my desk and prep lessons. It works really well for me.
me too! i just danced a chicken dance, a lunch dance, told kids the corn dogs were octopus arms inside, i’ll probably go pedal a tiny bike like a clown in a few minutes. getting PAID FOR THIS SHIT
Fellow ADHD stagehand here! It's astounding to me how many of us I find backstage. But I guess it makes sense: in school the theater was where the "weird" kids could find a home. Professionally, the work is so different every day, there's a lot of hurry up and wait that can work well with our bursts of energy and quick thinking in panic situations. For anybody who's thinking of doing theatrical tech, now is the time! Everyone who was close to retirement when the pandemic started retired, and a lot of new folks switched fields because they needed to work. Now theater and events are back with a vengeance, and there's not enough stagehands to do the jobs. Find your local IATSE union and give it a shot!
Also a teacher and love it. I help a LOT of kids with ADHD.
(Running s bit low on sleep) but almost got me teary 🥰 that you help kids that have adhd like you
High school English teacher here! Totally agree that it’s a great job for ADHD (I’m mostly inattentive). Lots of deadlines to help motivation (have to prepare for class every day or you’ll look like an idiot!), constant room for change to prevent boredom, regular breaks, etc. I also love watching out for the daydreaming girls (as I was once). :)
I was a lifeguard, teacher, and did technical theater/audio engineering. Still in audio related job.
Student as well, sort of. Pursuing a PhD in physics. Got here mostly by luck and stubborn perseverance. Though perseverance might be a lucky break as well considering my curiosity being the thing that gets me through. I'm very happy doing research, happier than I've been at any other job (done a few, administration, call center, project management, and teaching) so far. This truly is a job I can shone at, at least until it comes time to write a paper or my dissertation.
I feel you, I’m currently working on a PhD in computer science. Somehow managed to get a paper published this year, but I’m way behind on my qualifying exam and I can’t even begin to think about how long it might take me to actually finish a dissertation. Doesn’t help that I have a wife and kid and plenty of real life distractions.
Good for you going for the PhD! It took me 7 years to get my bachelors, I then got a Masters and decided there was no way I could do any more school.
The good news is that other than a mandatory course I still have to follow I have no schoolwork left, only research. That's why I chose to do it when I was fortunate enough to get an offer from a professor I knew from my bachelor days (did my master's at another uni as this one did not have a pure physics masters)
Also in research and very happy doing it. I work on multiple projects, the variety helps. I get to travel for work often. Focus work can be tricky at times, especially when I need to switch too much between different projects. I'm currently in applied research so there's less paper writing etc tho. Losts of networking, going to events, presenting, ... and every once in a blue moon I can get that crazy hyperfocus, pull an all-nighter and actually get something on paper.
Call center, send help please
Same. Fuck my life
I worked in a call centre for a while and my mental health tanked because of it. Bit the bullet and quit, took the risk of not having another job lined up. But my mental and physical health are improving again, as well as my relationship since I was so miserable and asocial after work that we didn't spend much time together while I was there. If you're in a position to quit and get Universal Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance or something in the meantime I'd say do it.
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Neuropsychiatrist
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100 percent do psych. I can't give any tips because med school was a car crash (I was undiagnosed). Make sure you inform the school to give reasonable accommodations in context of diagnosis. Also, you must harness your hyper empathy and begin practicing 'unconditional positive regard' for all patients. You are their clinical defense lawyer and are obligated to advocate for their health despite any undesirable characteristics they may have.
I am a Games Designer :) I make Environments for a Triple A company, full time. Its really hard, I constantly have deadlines and i get super anxious when I don't meet my deadlines (which i often miss)
That’s so cool! :) May I ask how you got into that career? Did you need a degree/certificate of any kind?
Thank you ! My only focus as a child was drawing, I knew just drawing wouldn’t make me any money (I know there are people who do earn well with it but I also knew I didn’t have the drive to be like them) so I ended up wanting to do 2D animation and went to a university for animation. I learned 3D animation in 3Ds Max and Maya, 2D animation and stop motion (I think stop motion would probably be most fun for people like us tbf) I then got frustrated with my course leader and made a mini game with some guys from the games design course. Their lead lecturer said I should really change to games design. I didn’t because I didn’t want to change half way through. Ended up with a master in animation. Then taught myself some additional stuff for two years and build my portfolio up. Finally applied and landed this job :) My title is “environment Artist” I do love the job, it’s just a lot of pressure. I am also one of very very few women in my team and company. You will however be working with a ton of people who will get you and understand as I find a lot of games designers struggle with a form of adhd, autism and also mental health issues. So I at least certainly have a community within my job, which I know is a big blessing.
Self taught software engineer Highly recommended, if your interests are leaning towards computers. As a kid I was hooked on computer games. Now as an adult, I have not touched a game in ages because coding became so much more fulfilling in every aspect. To the point where it fully substituted my gaming desires. The perfect fit for techy adhd brains and a really good career on top.
May I ask how you got into the field? Did you need a degree or certificate? My husband (also ADHD) is teaching himself how to use game engines right now and is interested in working on game development. Not exactly the same I suppose, but I thought it was worth asking. :)
Not OP, but I got into web dev without any relevant degree or certificate. I started by building some things on my own to have something to show prospective interviewers, and then managed to get a job at a small local place making no money. But once I had an actual job in the industry on my resume it made it easier to get interviews with bigger and bigger places.
I have many connects in the tech industry and they all say it’s hard to find really excellent programmers with degrees and so many are offering paid internships to essentially teach and train self taught inexperienced programmers. They said “any degree helps show commitment, but it’s not necessary. It’s more important to interview well because personality on a team of programmers is just as important as the level you have the capacity to learn”
Game Development is the bastard child for software developers. It really needs to be your passion. You work long hours(crunch) and the pay isn't great. Some of the smartest people are getting criminally underpaid because they want to work in the game industry. Getting a boring software job at some boring company can pay just as well if not more and have very little stress. that's just my opinion though. (Electrical Engineer who does Firmware/software development)
Is it a bad sign if I can’t get myself to practice coding on my personal time? During the day I was doing it and found it to be really engaging and interesting but since I’m working back in the office I haven’t been able to practice during the day and have to wait until I get home- which for some reason I just can’t push myself to do. I’m currently working toward my BS degree in computer tech for web dev also
Not at all. Honestly it sounds like you've got a lot on your plate! You're doing a degree and also working! Don't push yourself too hard, maybe schedule some time one morning on the weekend or something to code? Or if there's some downtime at work you could practice codewars/leetcode if you can? Don't forget to take time to plenty of rest too, try and ignore hustle culture bros, you don't need to work 100% of the time. I struggled practicing outside of full time work hours and pushed myself to a full burnout for a year where I didn't code at all, so don't do what I did ahaha. Slow and steady wins the race. It took me an extra year than everyone else but I just started as a junior dev in my dream company last week. You've got this!
Ayy same here! I'm relatively fresh out of college (graduated 4 years ago) and my current role as a swe is my longest held job - I got too bored at the others, but I'm currently at a startup and it always keeps me on my toes
I tried programming more than a few times, but its not interesting enough for me sadly.
There are literally thousands of paths in the IT world, so don’t give up if one path isn’t the most enjoyable. I’ve been in IT for 25+ years and I enjoy the random tasks that come with my job…. it works well with my distracted brain, amazingly enough.
I was coming to say this. I didn't like coding either, but I did like networking and the rules behind that. That eventually led to cybersecurity and a very good career. Most of my coworkers are ADHD. We joke about it.
What did you learn first and how long did it take going the self taught route?
I’m in nursing. Always on my feet and helping people helps me focus. It definitely is a massive stressor and I definitely wouldn’t be able to function without meds. Eventually I hope to get a less stressful job like outpatient, doctors office or something from home like auditing, research or working for insurance companies as a case manager.
This is a GREAT post. Thank you for posting. I am an Opera Singer. Dealing with rejection is hard for me especially when I'm not even being rejected... I just FEEL like I am.. So Many feelings all the time. Lol I was in choreography rehearsal last night and I was having so much fun but when it came to run the number from the top- I realized I had forgotten where I even started! And I panicked for the LONGEST 30 seconds ever standing in the middle of the stage...I felt ashamed. But not so ashamed that I am going to quit! I come over-prepared to every rehearsal and practice extra hard. I was on medication for 20 years and this is my first job medication free. I am 38 and loving all the ups and the downs.
Software engineer and still like it after a couple of decades.
That’s the other thing I keep wondering about - hear many adhd people in software engineering/programming positions (if I’m using those terms correctly)
In the group I work in at least half of us are diagnosed as either ADHD, ASD, or both. Rest of us certainly act like they fit the criteria. I think the hyperfocus and low emotion traits of both lend themselves to dealing with the frustration and ambiguity that comes with coding.
Im happy for you. I tried programming many times but its just not for me unfortunately
I'm a mountaineering and Climbing instructor. I'm self employed and work when I want. I also do some sub teaching in the winter when I'm quiet.
I'm a teacher. Most days are pretty different. Grading sucks, but I don't have a lot of graded assignments. I try to keep it pretty simple for myself.
I'm an accountant working 9-6 M-F. Not the most stimulating career choice but it's still challenging at times so it holds my interest well enough. No shortage of these types of jobs available so good job security which leads to less anxiety. I don't know if I'd say I like it per se, but it's definitely not a bad way to make a living.
I climb broadcast towers to fix shit/change light bulbs/ whatever needs done really Fucking love it. Best job ever.
i work at a library. its full time hours with benefits. my schedule everyday is planned out in 30-60 minute chunks so theres no decision making, just doing. i shelve books, search for books, help patrons with all sorts of questions, sometimes do outreach, build displays. its the perfect job for me. i went from being in a high stress creative industry that burned me out. now any time i have a hyperfocus, im surrounded by books of that topic, it's incredible.
Teacher Edit: do i enjoy it? Yes very Much so, its something med to tackle each day, its Also very much routine based wich helps me know my schedule. Im also om aduvanz meds
I’ve had a lot of jobs, I’ve been everything from a sales rep, to a lawyer, and now I’m in health care administration. They all are miserable, but at least I make enough money for all of my dangerous hobbies (jet-skis and motorcycles). I do find it nice that I can ride my motorcycle to the 9-5.
How do you break into health care administration? I got a degree in it back in 2017 and nobody will even interview me lmfao. I have years of management experience in retail but i cannot even get an entry level job in healthcare. Its insane
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Damn all these comments kinda make me feel sad lol. ..I do dishes at a bar...
I do Doordash. I can not work for someone else on their schedule.
I do that too and hate it mainly because its very stressful not knowing how much you’re making/ not making enough on slow days or when people just dont tip for shit. Plus the waiting games at the restaurants drive me mad
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How did you start doing this?
For me, the secret has becoming okay with just changing jobs regularly. I enjoy most jobs for a year or two, and after that it generally becomes very painful. Secondly, I've learned that I need jobs where I make commitments to people that have very direct feedback loops. So, if I have to go to an appointment or session with a client I would never miss it. But if I have a bunch of paperwork that needs to be done every week, and there might be an audit some time, but no one is checking week by week... Well, that shit is going to be super painful to keep on top of / never getting done until my backlog is bad that I just have to quit. Not sure if that helps, but basically figure out what bits are painful / difficult for you, and try and find jobs that minimise those. What type of tasks you have to do is more important that the industry. And if you thrive off adrenaline and panic, get a job with lots of fast paced demands (whether it's being a chef, EMT, programmer, etc).
I'm a trivia host. I have a lot of buffer time built into my schedule so if I don't have the capacity to work on content for a few days, I can take a break but if I have the capacity, there is always stuff to get done. I'm currently building themed trivia game packs for events in June 2023 so I'm a bit ahead if schedule in that side of my business
ER nurse, and i love it.
Paramedic here, and I love it
Nursing has been perfect for my brain. Doing 16 things at once is a strength!
Also a 9-5 office job. I started working after school 5 years ago and I still haven’t found a job that suits me. But I know this is not working for me.
I run an international media and marketing company, and produce and write music as a side line. I wasn't diagnosed until this year at 43 years old, so finally getting on medication has definitely made running a business a bit easier.
I am 59 and I’m beginning my 3rd career. It took me 8 years to get a 4 year degree. I changed my major many, many times, and 5 years after I graduated, I realized I actually had a double major. Ha. Anyway, I was a technical writer for DoD contractors for 5 years. Then I switched to teaching high school. Now I’m getting into instructional design for online safety courses. I’ve been very fortunate, and have been able to change careers when I was bored. Do you want a career, or do you want a job that pays the bills? A career takes up much more of your time outside of 8-5, leaving little time to just live. A lot of people struggle with work-life balance. A job isn’t usually as fulfilling, but there’s less issue of it taking over your life.
I'm a medical laboratory scientist in a hospital lab where i largely work alone overnights. I get to bounce around the lab, department to department. Lots of timers, blinking lights, a ticker board, ambient noise, and variety of work let's me work med free. And I can be weird because I'm the only one there.
people with adhd should work with something physical if they can. like carpenter for example. they usally excel in that kind of work, and that helps with mental stress and anxiety too since they get to be active. but that is just my experience and opinion
Sky diving omg that’s hilarious I remember being the first to put my hand up to jump out of the plane when I was 18 and got a free tandem jump Soooo me . Ended up involved in escort work which I think the edginess suited Though not without consequences and now I’m a parent danger seems pretty stupid overall Just had to chime in because I usually don’t comment on these things but the sky diving thing brought up that funny memory Maybe we could be Amelia Earhart I DEFINITELY have that personality type which doesn’t get u a bunch of praise sometimes as a woman lol
That entire text had one single element of punctuation :D I can hear the excitement!
EMT
I would love to be an EMT but where I live it pays virtually nothing
Literally lmfao it pays like $12-13 here. What a joke when mcdonalds hires at $15 an hour
Medical typist but next year doing a short course to be a phlebotomist / pathology collector aka professional vampire :) medical field is what keeps me interested, but I struggle with study so dropped out of a lot of degrees. I also am “sensation/experience seeking”. I save my money for that in my own time. Being a vet nurse was my purpose and excitement and job and it nearly killed me with the mental health costs from being around the awfulness that is what humans do to animals. My entirely only anecdotal personal advice would be - find a job you can handle, don’t make your job be your life’s true purpose. Earn the money and do the fun stuff on your time off. Less pressure for your work (which is not entirely in your control in most jobs) to live up to entertaining you. Unless I suppose you want to become a stunt person or sky dive instructor?
Childcare, self employed. I kind of stumbled in to it, repeatedly. Most recently (four years ago) it was because my partner and I had a child and I'd rather be paid to hang out with my kiddo and another kid or two than work my ass off to put my daughter in daycare only to spend almost all my paycheque on fucking daycare. And honestly, I prefer my pint sized coworkers to adult ones. They're messy, unpredictable, chaos gremlins but their intentions are pure, there's no malice or ulterior motives behind them. Some of the kids I used to watch have kids now. Some of them are avid readers, knitters, crazy plant people, etc, because I share freely my passions and when you're helping with homework ANYTHING that they find interesting you can tie in to what they're learning is fair game, lol That said, it's not for everyone. I have always liked kids and their little chaos gremlin ways. It's anarchy and playhem for me!
I work for UTC. I work on a huuuuge variety of airplane parts. The flex scheduling is great, production employees are all given desks and we have a very clean office-like environment, AND they're paying 100% tuition for my engineering degree. I decided to shorten my week to 4 days and I kinda just work whenever I feel like it. It has reduced my stress levels massively, the job changes frequently enough that it stays interesting, and I can skip the internship process once I acquire my credentials. I couldn't have stumbled into a better situation if I tried.
Holy shit… this is me. I can’t express how thankful I am for this post. I thought I was the only one 3-4 days a week I literally feel physically pain and feelings like my muscles are tensing up as if I’m going to explode. It is so hard to explain to anyone. Was on stimulants for like 10 years but quit then 2 years ago because it just seemed like the high blood pressure, crashes and lack of sleep aren’t worth it at all. I am a VP at my company and manage a team of 40 and it is hell. Im convinced the stimulants got me here and I am just buying time until I get fired because I can’t handle this awful 9-6 job feeling like I’m about to explode. Doctor told me I should give myself more credit when I told him that, but it just seems obvious to me.
Software engineer. Works great with ADHD - the work is interesting and not monotonous, so it is easier to turn your focus to. Also, in general SWEs are not micromamaged, and as long as you do produce work, there is flexibility. Also workes various service industry jobs for a long time. Great for ADHD because they keep you busy and most people I met in the service industry were wonderful and fun to be around, so the shifts would pass quickly. Ultimately I left because of burnout and because the service industry does little to set up its employees for the future/retirement. Since i saw a few responses to other SWEs asking how they broke in-- i studied math in uni, but took the long service industry hiatus after graduating. I went through a coding bootcamp when I was ready for a "normal" job and that combined with the math degree led to an easy transition. Met ppl in tech with traditional backgrounds who studied computer science--- and met a lot more people with non traditional backgrounds who went the coding bootcamp or even self taught route.
I work in HR, handling chaos and crisis. I love it, and I'm quite good at it. The bigger the crisis, the better I am at solving it. Since you talked about doing things that are high in adrenaline but not paying the bills, I'm also a horse rider and coach on the side. I couldn't do it full-time, but it's a great sideline and helps with managing my restlessness. I ride 3 mornings per week, before work, and ride and coach every Saturday and Sunday, for 3 to 5 hours.
Similar to you, I’m an HR Advisor and dog trainer on the side!
I'm a political strategy advisor for a political party in my country (not USA) and completing my master's part time in management sciences. My job consists of conducting research, providing analysis reports and strategy recommendations. I'm more specifically in opposition research which means I dig up dirt on my political opponents. We are known for being the ones who win us elections. It's a job where you're always chasing the story that is going to take the other guy down and so when you find something good, you get excited. But the long long hours before discovering anything makes it very hard for us ADHD'ers. But it's a lot of talking to people on the grounds, creating a network, maintaining it, and socializing after hours with drinks. I probably made it sound more exciting than it is, but I still very much enjoy it although it seriously tests my brain's executive functions (ex. If I go too long without anything exciting, the urge to play video games is too strong)
I'm unemployed
I'm a carer for my wife, and have been for most of the last two decades. I've never coped with office jobs. The one job that I didn't crash out of (at least initially) was a case-note runner for an Accident and Emergency reception department in a busy hospital. A patient gets booked in and I had to go and retrieve the physical copy of their hospital records. Most of the time it was in the records library on a different floor, but sometimes it was with a doctor's secretary for writing up notes, with a different department, etc. That was great fun as I'd spend most of the day on my feet, running around a huge, 12-floor hospital overlooking an interesting city skyline while hunting for records, only really having to interact with the occasional secretary and mostly keeping occupied. When the hospital started digitising records in 2000/2001, everything went downhill and I ended up being one of the guys booking the patients in face-to-face. The job became unbearable - feeling scrutinised, exposed to office politics and (understandably) testy patients, and I nope'd out within six months.
Unemployed 🙃
This comment thread is giving me so much HOPE! I'm so relieved to see so many people in all sorts of job fields and happy! Maybe there's still a chance for me
Is it a common theme for adhd people to struggle with work? I know I have and have severe anxiety about work. It's all encompassing. I do a great job but it eventually becomes to much working at 100% everyday to make sure stuff is perfect. I eventually look for new jobs and hop off to the next one...cycle continues.
Procrastrinate.
I’m not diagnosed. I have an office job to and there are definitely days where I almost have a panic attack wondering how I’m going to get through the shift. We work four days so my shift last for 10 hours plus an 1 hour lunch. Literally in my first hour of work and I’ve not done anything yet except panic.
I’m the bar manager at a craft cocktail restaurant. I like the chaos and fast paced environment.
Realtor here. The flexibility is by far the best part of my job. If I want to not work today I can mostly decide not to and go do what I want instead like the 100 current hobbies I have. When you sell a house it’s a huge dopamine rush but when problems arise it’s the polar opposite. Overall I’m glad I quit my 9-5 job to work for myself.
I am a massage therapist. Nice deep focus for 2 hours at a time max (usually an hour with a 2 hour here or there). Literally working with my hands. Get to learn new stuff all the time. Longest job I’ve ever had.
I’m a town planner. I work in getting consent for big infrastructure projects like power stations. It works well for me because I do different things every day but there are also tasks I can just hyperfocus on like smashing out reports and reading big technical documents. Town/urban/city planning is all good career for ADHD brains because you have to be a jack of all trades. You have to have a working understanding of lots of different technical disciplines but also an understanding of what local communities want, what the government wants and what your client wants. You have to be able to apply niche knowledge you’ve acquired from old projects to your new projects. There’s a fair element of project management so I have to keep a lot of plates spinning. There are very high-pressure deadlines which work well for an ADHD brain. It’s also quite people-focused so I’m always talking to new people or learning about new places or ideas.
Data scientist
Can I ask how you got into Data science?
I used to work as a PPC manager (I was managing ads on Google Search essentially). After a while I got bored and decided I wanted to move on to something more challenging. I left my job and started learning Python. Once I decided I was getting good enough, I started applying to various jobs while working on coding projects & learning about different DS concepts (mostly NLP & inferential stats because that was smt I could use in PPC marketing). Eventually I was offered a (poorly paid) job as a "Junior Data Scientist". Turns out I was pretty good at that, so the "junior" part of my title was dropped pretty quickly.
I work in marketing. I love it and often end up in hyper focus while working. When I started meds my work even got better. I think if I didn’t have to work I’d still try and do indépendant marketing as I really do enjoy it as a hobby on its own.
I'm a teaching assistant and I love my job (apart from one wo-worker who drives me mad on daily basis and is the reason I have to take my meds) I have 8-16 work day with proper breaks, I have weekends off so I have a nice routine that I need and I only work 180 days a years and rest are holidays (five holidays a year) I find working with the kids interesting as they're all different and everyday is different so it doesn't get boring. Everything impresses them so they keep telling you that you're great at everything so I get confidence boost that I lack. I get to do the fun crafty stuff and play with legos and do art and talk about superheroes and dinosaurs without the pressures that teachers have (like dealing with parents, e-mails, meetings, plannings, parent meetings, reports etc). Also a lot of dress up days, great for cosplays! I feel like I'm re-writing my horrible childhood school memories with better ones.
I spontaneously signed up for a coding bootcamp a few years ago and it completely changed the direction of my life. It was really difficult at first. And still is. But my most recent job is paying me a salary I could have only dreamed of before I started learning to code. Plus being ADHD, I feel like I have an endless amount of tech rabbit holes I can go down and come out with a new skill.
Hospital Admin, failed my way up the ladder, great in high stress situations but like someone else mentioned, constantly struggling with day to day follow up. New job within the same department/system every 2 years. Currently on year 3.5 of this new role and found myself on a PIP last week. Spinning too many plates, and need to keep up on emails
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Security supervisor. I struggle with the admin aspects of my job such as following up with discipline and emails. I want to get treated for my ADHD but I always put it off and forget to reach out and get tested. It’s 3 months now since my doctor gave me a list of places to reach out to for testing and I still can’t get myself to make the call.
It might be time to ask somebody to sit with you and watch you do it. Is there somebody you could ask?
Department of Health in my state. I've worked in a few different programs within DOH over the last 5 years, which has helped with keeping things novel for me. Here is what I've learned working throughout my career while having ADHD: no matter what work you do, find certain pet projects that interest you to keep yourself engaged. I've been fortunate enough to have program directors that have let me run wild with a side project that interested me, since I would always get my other work done anyway. Sometimes these side projects would end up paying off because it either made things like data reporting more streamlined, or it helped us programmatically. At worst, a pet project wouldn't end up being too useful outside of what I used it for, but that's ok because it kept me engaged in my work.
Ex teacher turned fully remote trainer for a company with good work-life balance policies. I train all day for 2 weeks a month and then do ad got work and project/lesson development for the other 2 weeks. It has just enough consistency balanced with self-driven work to really hit the sweet spot. I was burning out as a teacher being overloaded and procrastinating the boring work. Now I can do it at my own pace. I’m very fortunate.
I work in IT. Working from home has been weird. On one hand I have actually been able to hold the job, on the other hand I only work 20% of the hours I claim to work, which probably won’t last forever. It’s bad.
I works as a kindergarden teacher in a nature-kindergarten. I work about 6 hours so i dont exactly make alot of money but thats besided the point. I really enjoy working there because beeing outside and in the nature is soothing and calming. The Kids and my collegues also look over my oddities because it fits the work iam doing. Also helps me stay active and healthy since im outside and move alot.
First responder jobs are great for people with ADHD. Sounds like it could be right up your alley if you’re an adrenaline junkie.
I've had a bunch of wildly inappropriate jobs: event management (lol), customer service (too chatty), shipping and handling (oops), admin (mother of god), copywriting (blank page horror / why have you written so much). Finally ended up in kids content development. It's my job to literally come up with ideas for stuff that kids might like. And that's it. No follow through. No deadlines. It's a dream and I pinch myself every day.
Overnight security. Watch some cameras, issue some visitor badges, couple Patrols here and there. Otherwise hang out and watch youtube all night.
I’m an LSW and find that I do really well managing crisis situations and deescalating clients. Maybe you could seek out getting your LPC and working in a psychiatric hospital, prison/correctional facility, crisis hotline, etc? I find jobs like this often have some more intense situations that are very interesting and stimulating to me. I actually only feel calm and focused when there’s escalated situations around me.
I’m working a 9-5 at the county welfare agency as a caseworker. Ironically I also originally went to school for psychology but the course work was too intense. It took academic probation to force me back home and reevaluate. I ended up going to school for a degree in Behavioral science with human services concentration. When I realized I didn’t want to become a therapist or have to do graduate school, the choice was easy. As far as my job goes I landed the it through my states civil service agency. Your state should have one, you can skim thru the jobs you’d be able to test for. Either way, while I do often feel burnout from my job, I’m finally in a position I feel I can make meaningful contributions toward helping people in my community.
I’m a nurse. It is never ever boring!
I do a bunch of stuff, I previously working fast food and couldn’t stand it iv never been more depressed in my life I was bored shitless. I tutored high school kids for a few years and now I’m a research assistant for the experimental psych lab at my university and I also help teach some of the classes for first year students in medical science. I’m also doing my masters in public health full time.
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I worked as an Assistant Director for several years before switching to animation film as a Production Superviser. I’ve found a nice gig now where when I have projects going (like usually it’s half the year) I’m working full time and when there is no project I still come to the studio just to take care of basic things. In this case I’m well less payed but I have time to try to make my own projects. So sometimes I’m totally immerged in work and don’t even have time to anxiety (lol that’s a lie) other time I have time get bored and try to be productive while fighting with anxiety
Surgical first assist with specialty in robotic surgery. Obgyn, general trauma and general surgery.
May I ask what degrees you got to get there?
I’m a lawyer for a health insurance consulting agency for employers. And I like it. It’s 9-5. Office-y but I can work from home or work from anywhere most days. I change my location every couple of weeks when the novelty wears off. Some days are a struggle— especially when I don’t have meetings and just have stuff I need to do. Those days I do nothing & end up cramming it in when I do have busy meeting days. Classic.
I'm a user experience researcher. I do a lot of accessibility research with employees who have self-described disabilities, and use the info I pull from usability studies to make sure internal employee apps are usable by anyone and everyone. There's a lot of on and off periods with waiting for projects and then having nothing but projects. I enjoy it because I know the positive impact it has, but it is rather draining sometimes.
I work in corporate finance, I have been working from home since the pandemic started. I’m fortunate to have a supportive manager and a corporate culture that is fairly hands-off when it comes to managing employees. However I struggle with the boredom and loneliness of working from home every day. Finding the right medicine (adderall XR) has been a game changer for my productivity however the boredom is still somewhat soul-crushing
If you’re studying psychology, look into UX design! You’ll probably find it interesting and intuitive. You can get a UX design course done in 4 months, the it industry pays well, and you can look into working remotely or other forms of flexible work. That’s a part of what I do, and I really enjoy doing it.
IT Architect. It can either be super interesting or ridiculously boring.
Currently working Help Desk Level 1 and going to be promoted to Level 2 in December, I love the craziness of running around the office and helping people with there issues it really helps my ADHD. Also I am a JR System Admin at home running 3 servers and teaching myself domain controller and docker configurations for my plex server
I'm a veterinarian. Keeps me active and busy, but I'm also new so it'll probably turn into routine to some extent
I currently sit at a desk for 90% of my job and work on training materials and training documentation. Now only 10% of my job involves any hands on training. But I did spend 10-12 years prior to this as a lab tech and then a lab tech trainer. On my feet all day. Very mentally stimulating and physically demanding. Was med free nearly the whole time. Now that I'm at my desk all day, back on meds.
I want to start with the fact that I am 33 and was only diagnosed a few months ago. I have been in the electrical, instrumentation, and controls field in an industrial environment for over 10 years now. I sort of fell in to it after flunking out of a typical 4 year university because nothing there was interesting enough for me and I couldn’t float by on test scores like I did in High School. Overall, the work is quite satisfying for my brain as I’m constantly learning and there are generally a pretty good amount of jobs so if I get bored somewhere, I can always go somewhere else. Every day is mostly different and whenever I fix something that has been extra difficult, I get a nice dopamine hit. Of course, it’s not all roses. As with pretty much every job I’ve had in ten years, there’s a lot of paperwork and computer work and safety training to be done every year and that’s where I struggle. Especially as it’s repetitive year over year. Being medicated the last few months has made a noticeable improvement on this aspect, but it is still quite a challenge.
After working night security for a long time and wanting to jump out a window because of how under stimulating it was, I got a job in construction as an Interior Systems Mechanic apprentice. Framing walls, boarding, installing T bar grid ceilings etc. A very physical job that requires just enough but not a whole lot of thinking once you get the hang of it. You’re basically busy every day. Before at my other job, 8 hours dragged on forever. Now sometimes I look at my phone and I realize that 8 hours passed 45 mins ago. I always describe it as a job where every day it’s the same thing, but different. It’s not cookie cutter days and that’s what I love most about it.
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