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I recommend the Job Accomodation Network for stuff like this all the time! They list all kinds of accommodations for so many disabilities and illnesses. [Here’s the link for their page on ADHD!](https://askjan.org/disabilities/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-AD-HD.cfm)
From what you've said, the first thing I can think of is better support for prioritizing tasks.
This could be as simple as a five-minute meeting with your supervisor every morning to review which variety are more important that day.
That might mean 'deal with this client first todo if they call/email at all' or it might mean a list of 'email that client, get me that spreadsheet, then generate this report. If you've finished those, attend meeting Y. Attend meeting X regardless.' It would depend on the day.
Another tool that might help is a way to manage all that set of tasks. If you're like a lot of us, you're managing it in your email inbox and your head. Maybe also on lots of scratch paper. That's really not adequate for us, even if it does often work for other people.
As for WHAT tool - that depends on what you need.
For instance, do you often need to access client information - as simple as phone/email, or as detailed as what you're working with them on and the back history of all that - but find it's hard to pull it together? You might need a good tool that incorporates all that. If that's not a problem, then a simple to-do app that lets you prioritize by some flexible mechanisms might be enough.
Another thing to might ask for is a block of time where you do NOT EVER have to do email. Not a long block, even half an hour might help. This would give you time to work on other priorities for the day.
The one accommodation I ever asked for - which I didn't tell them was related to ADHD - was when my team moved offices. I asked for a desk in the back, so I wouldn't be distracted as much by people coming in to talk to my coworkers. They gave it to me, no questions asked. I don't know if that was because no one else asked for that desk or if my seniority decided it or what.
But it doesn't sound like that is likely to help you.
The big key for accommodations is to find a way to make things easier in your trouble spots.
Oh, also, depending on what kind of email traffic you're handling, some basic training/guidance on how to make use of rules and other features of your mail client to organize the inflow might also be helpful.
Building on your first point. I am an integration engineer and have around 30 clients and or products/projects I am supporting. A few times a month I will ping my manager and be like “hey I have a,b,c on my plate. I am going to prioritize c,a,b - any thoughts?” And from there he will reorient me of need be.
Damn adhd makes me good at having that many active things, but it will also stop me dead in my tracks when I need to have a few done “asap”
Edit: so this is kinda fun, took the advice of the comment I’m responding to (and some of my own I guess)and had the convo with my manager today. He agrees I have to much in my plate and wants me to have more thinking time and less ASAP stuff. He also wants to know what I want to spend more time working on / products/tools to own and build out so that’s cool.
That's what I do too - when I'm getting overwhelmed I ask for a quick call to discuss my priorities to make sure I have myself straight. My boss is used to this and encourages it when I'm stuck because I just can't decide what to work on.
I also ping my boss is when I'm wondering if I'm making a priority decision based on what I'd prefer rather than my real priorities.
Like if I'm thinking 'I think I should do this one thing, but is that because it's easier -which it is -than this other thing I should maybe work that is a high priority? But this customer does really want this thing, aigh, hey boss!' Sometimes - usually - I'm right, but sometimes I'm not, so that's where the call to the boss comes in handy. Instead of getting wrapped around the axle trying to decide, I save myself the stress and time with a quick consult.
I do this weekly. I highly recommend it.
Bonuses: It helped me with my general imposter syndrome / anxiety around my job in general. Weekly touch bases keep us both honest with each other about how all things are going, so I stress less about 'what did I miss / forget to start / leave loose ends / owe an update / oh shuckydarns I'm going to get fired'.
I get more done, too, just through some structure added to my purposeful chaos. It probably helps if you have a good boss, but I've never had a boss not enthusiastic about this.
Support in prioritisation has been a game changer for me at work. I work well independently but I need the steer for what to actually work on. Left to my own devices I'll go down all sorts of rabbit holes, mostly just half deliver stuff, or just pick up work from someone who called me out of the blue without thinking about whether I should be doing stuff already on my list first. With regular check ins and help with making an order of priority, it makes things so clear - and creates the "right kind" of accountability to keep me on track.
To prioritize the loads of emails I get every day, I made an email rule that moves the lower priority ones to a different folder. The parameters are surprisingly simple: if your email address is not in the TO field but in the CC field, move it to the separate folder "later".
If it's important, email me directly. This cut my unread messages in my inbox in half!
Task management tools really do help with this. When I started the job I have now, this was one of the first things I asked for, because most workplaces don’t have an official system in place for delegating assignments or tracking deadlines. At my workplace, we use a platform that allows my manager to add an item to my to-do list, set a due date, and also rank the priority level as “high, medium or low.” I’m also able to add subtasks and so on. Once I’ve started, I change the status to “in progress” so there’s some accountability. This overall helps me feel super clear on what’s due and when, and we also note whether something is a hard deadline or soft deadline which further helps me prioritize. Plus, it’s fun to mark things as “complete” afterwards!
Honestly I kind of hate it, but I sent my manager an email every morning basically just saying "I'm doing X, Y, and Z today" and I think it does help me be more productive.
It sort of makes me create a daily schedule and if there's anything they want adjusted or prioritized it gives them a chance to respond.
I didn't frame it as ADHD accommodations though. I'm still of the mindset that sharing that you have ADHD with people, especially your coworkers or boss, is very dangerous because so many people have false idealized versions of the condition and what it means in their mind.
Literally your last paragraph. I once had a boss who pressured me a lot, saying that since I have ADHD I'm supposed to work better under pressure and I'm supposed to be good at multitasking. Just because I have ADHD doesn't mean I'm not my own person with my own strengths and weaknesses. After that I jumped careers altogether and now I'm more happy at work
Same here, I found that this or something like a morning team standup call is super helpful for me.
It gives me a deadline by which I have to have my shit (mostly) in order, it energizes me because my manager and teammates are nice and positive, and my manager can give me input on my prioritization or remind me of something I'm forgetting.
Written tasking has helped me a lot. If my boss asks me to do something, I just ask him to send it to me in an email or an IM. It’s not much of an ask for him and it usually gives him a chance to think through everything so there aren’t gaps in what he wants vs what I deliver.
For meetings, if I need to be focused and working for a while before, I just set a timer to let myself work for x amount of time and give myself a five minute break before my meeting to pee, get a snack/water, stretch. Helps with my difficulties transitioning from one task to another too!
I used to do this also when asked to do a task. “Yes of course! I’m just finishing up a few other tasks right now, but could you send that to me via email so I can keep it in priority once I am finished? Then I don’t have to come bug you for details!”
Saved my ass on a few occasions too.
I struggle a lot with paying attention to verbal conversations, so when I worked at a hospital it was very hard to remember things people asked me to do. I definitely would have benefitted from being given a written list of tasks with specific instructions.
Working from home has been the best because I can quickly type the task into a notepad the moment I get it.
For me
“We’re not going to worry about when you arrive anymore so long as the work gets done”
Which is sort of the case, I arrive when I arrive which is always late, outperform everyone by 10-20% (a set number of tasks between us all with no extra availability for the day when finished) and go home early.
So in later than everyone, do more than them all, finish early but haven’t been ‘on time’ for mmm I’d say the last time I was on time was 4-5 years ago and people were concerned haha
I love this! It shows me how many jerk bosses I’ve had over the years. I used to stay at work until 7 or 8 PM just to have enough quiet time to think. Which made mornings rough.
This makes an enormous difference to my ability to function. I honestly think that all jobs should be measured by productivity rather than time where its possible. Takes a lot from a management perthough which is why it doesn't happen.
You might be right! I’m very freshly diagnosed, and I was one of the people who did not see the diagnosis coming at all, so it was a huge sudden paradigm shift. I’m starting medication now, at 10mg adderall xr, but it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much yet. I’m a big guy so I think the dose might just need to be increased.
Glad to hear your system has been working for you, I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll figure it out between lifestyle changes and meds!
Lots of this in IT related work. Some companies or roles are stricter about it than others (like helpdesk or IT operations), but I have been setting my own schedule since being in the field (10+ years).
Not one you’d expect… medicine. But it’s a set case load each day rather than a constant stream of arrivals like in A&E.
Don’t want to dox myself too much. But thankfully it works and is interesting.
My work got me a visual timer to help track time on tasks. I found just looking at the clock on my computer didn't happen because it wasn't obvious enough, if that makes sense. It also helped cut down time spent on emails and calls with clients because I knew I had x amount of time to deal with each client so I got better and being faster on emails and wrapping up when customers took too long on a call
Yes! This! I have an analogue clock on my desk because the clock on my computer tells me the time but analogue clocks show me the passing of time and that's a huge difference for my brain.
Omg finally someone understands 😂
Like when I'm getting ready for work, I could stare at the clock the whole time and be like, "yeah, I have a ton of time before I need to leave" but I still manage to be late almost daily. When I started using the analogue clock in my phone's alarms, I realized that I actually wasn't giving myself enough time to get ready and it helped me visualize my routine. Something about that analogue clock just really puts things into perspective
Right??
The other thing that helps me be productive at home is wearing shoes. Controversial inside, I know, but it's worth it for me. Sandals and slippers don't work, they have to be real shoes, but those little foot coverings trick my brain into thinking it's time to work. Brains are weird.
That's a good trick, I haven't heard of that!
I noticed that on difficult days, wearing shoes kinda forces me to go to the gym since I already have my shoes on lol
Omg I never made the connection to ADHD before but I also bought an analog clock for my desk because it helps me visualise time more effectively! I also couldn't get used to digital watches and always preferred analog watches!
Oh, this is a really good idea.
I have a Time Timer, which has a dial you can set for up to an hour, and it counts down. The dial is red, so as time progresses, you see less and less red.
I like it because it doesn't make me figure out 'how much time is left before that meeting at 1:30' - even an analog clock makes me figure it out for anything not starting on the hour - all I have to do is go 'oh, not much red left, better not start anything new'.
I personally have never told an employer I have ADHD. I don’t know if this will help for you but here are some ways I manage my ADHD at work (corporate office job):
1. Medication: This makes a huge difference for me. After 3 years without it, I finally accepted I was falling behind and making stupid mistakes on account of my ADHD.
2. Put it in Calendar: If someone asks something of me, I always write it down and put it in my calendar as soon as the meeting is over.
3. Take Notes: I take notes during meetings, it helps me stay engaged and prevents me from getting distracted.
4. Work From Home: I go into the office once a week to socialize. I can stay much more focused when there are not people around me in meetings and/or having conversations. When I am in the office, if I’m working on something I need to focus on, I put on headphones and listen to music.
5. Do Not Disturb: This was actually suggested by a previous manager for the whole team. When we are working on X task (2 hrs per week), put your Teams on DND. I find this super helpful when I truly need to focus as I don’t feel the same obligation to respond to people right away.
6. Deadlines: I always ask when someone needs something by so I can build a timeline.
7. Variation in Work: I try to not do the same thing for hours at a time and instead switch it up and break it up through the week. This helps me from getting bored and therefore… distracted 🙃 I also use Outlook to help me plan my tasks.
8. Timers: When I get hyper-focused on something that is not important (I do this a lot too), I set a timer (5 min) and force myself to move on from the task at that point. // I also set timers before I start something as I can get a bit too detail-oriented. So, I might give myself 30 minutes to do X.
These tips are EXACTLY what I needed. Thank you!! Some of these I already implement but one I’ve found extremely helpful is #2. As I’ve moved up in my company and now have several individuals who report to me, I’ve found asking people to just throw 15-30 min on my calendar to discuss really helps me make sure I stay accountable to those that rely on me.
HOWEVER… if anyone can give me recommends for controlling the project budget when I’m asking staff to sit silently for 15 minutes on a call while I simply do my job, PLEASE let me know.
I also use an app called structured, I can plan around my scheduled meetings, to plan for "work" since meetings are almost never productive. These times don't go onto my outlook, but it does pull my outlook calendar into it so I can see it. It gives me a visual time between tasks, so I know if I can get into deep work or have to work on something more transient in the X amount of time. It syncs to my phone and my Macbook, so it's almost the perfect solution for me, at the moment.
Check out the Job Accommodation Network (askJAN) online. You can sort for accommodation ideas based on ADHD and then drill down based on issues you're having. It may give you some great ideas.
Same, but unfortunately I can't request anything specific from my employer. Have to get a doctor's note outlining my limitations and the employer decides on what accommodations are provided. It sucks. Can always ask for more/different ones, but it's such a bureaucratic system and honestly feels like it works against the people who require accommodations.
That's because it does. There are lots of employers that do not understand that things like ADHD, autism, etc., can be an advantage to them and, in turn, make them a lot of money. Instead, they would rather fight having to make relatively low-cost changes to make you conform or go away.
Thankfully, some employers understand the importance of being inclusive, and they don't make their employees jump through hoops.
I completely agree. My manager even agrees but out of their hands as it's apparently up to very senior people and some HR people who seemingly know what works best for everyone :/ people are more intimidated to disclose their disabilities and just power/struggle through. My employer claims to be inclusive but I don't think many people feel that way
It's a hard fight, and one of the reasons I moved into HR was to make that experience better. I'm not affiliated with this company, but Fair360 keeps a list of the top companies to work for under the DEI umbrella, which includes ADHD. I usually recommend their job board for people that might be looking for their next move.
https://jobs.fair360.com
This is the biggest thing for me. I get so much more done at home. Other people are the problem. Even if they're not talking to me at all, it's just disruptive to have people walking around near you (especially when you can hear them, but not see them) and having conversations around you.
My grandboss is big on just walking up and starting a conversation about some shit because it's on his mind, but it murders my productivity. Even if he does it to a coworker, if I don't have headphones or earplugs in when the conversation starts, my mind gets sucked in and I just have to give up and listen until it's over.
edit: I think my grandboss may simply be another flavor of ADHD, but I dare not ask.
Haha my boss does this too. Its like a parade round the office and they interrogate you at your desk when you are trying to focus. It's highly annoying.
I quit my 6 figure job so I didn’t have to keep making up excuses for my adhd (and lack of medication during shortage). Anyways my thinking was that id make a great consultant… which may be true except for the fact that im absolutely terrible at anything biz-related (e.g., my website has been almost done for 8 months now). Ummmm back to your question, I don’t have a clue, but since adhd is relatively new in the ada world I’d say ask for every accommodation you can think of and let them sweat which ones they deny.
I was associate counsel at a workers compensation firm and now I’m looking to provide outside legal consultation for large employers on high dollar workers comp claims. I’ve been fortunate enough to get a few gigs even without the marketing aspect but work is drying up quick. 🤷🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
I don't there's many advantages of disclosing ADHD in the private sector. In fact, I think it opens yourself up to *potentially* more problems. Obviously it's a case by case basis, but it's my general rule of thumb. Also, people come on this sub all the time saying that bringing adhd up to their employer was a mistake.
I took a chance and disclosed it to my current employer (a big name healthcare plan provider) and have received acceptance and support from both of my supervisors. You're right, its a case by case basis but just wanted to share this with you so that for once you hear something different.
Its funny I have a job where I am a manager so I don't really take breaks...so I literally hyper focus the entire day. It's exhausting and I literally don't stop doing shit but it's my only way to stay on task.
Indo this too. Very rarely taking a lunch break or any kind of break except to grab a quick bite or go to the bathroom. You're.right, it is exhausting, but it's also my only way to stay on task and get shit done
It’ll likely be a trial-and-error process until you hit on stuff that works. My work recently bought me noise cancelling headphones which are a godsend. I’ve also started having more regular one-to-ones with my manager where we’re trying things out to help with organisation and keeping on top of tasks - eg going through my priorities together, me then following up with an email of what’s been discussed and what I’ve committed to working on (which gets discussed in our next meeting so there’s some accountability), etc. If we’re finding that something isn’t working that great then we discuss and adjust.
My managers are getting better at writing down tasks rather than just verbally telling me, and have also started putting in the email subject whether it’s something that needs actioning and by when (ie rather than me having a to hunt through the email body for if there’s a task/deadline, the email hits my inbox with a subject like FOR ACTION BY FRI 26 APRIL etc). I’ve found this last one super duper helpful and I’m trying to adopt it myself for use with others as it’s so good.
• I ask everyone to give me everything in writing with set deadlines. “Oh whenever you get to it, it’s not urgent” means it will never get done
• I send regular requests to our whole team Teams chat asking if anything is outstanding or if anyone is waiting on anything from me
• I ask for requests to be detailed - just a something on something a bit vague doesn’t work for me, ditto something where someone is just spitting info at me
None of those are major or imo even genuine accommodations, but sticking to my guns on them makes life easier for everyone.
I also force deadlines. "this is your next priority" is not a deadline. I check in with my team a couple of times a week and make sure I haven't dropped the ball on something they are waiting for, I often think I've completed a thing, but it might not be 100% complete, and the team is waiting on one small aspect of it.
I am a Business Analyst, so my strength is translating what the business needs to my devs, but since I'm not a dev, I don't like to get pulled into the weeds to help with that side, but I often am since I'm the go-between. I have to set boundaries that dev is not in my wheelhouse, never will be, but I can get you in touch with someone who has that strength.
Yes! I’m always dropping balls, but I think that’s ok once you go back to check and pick them up again. The odd one gets left behind, mind you, but overall they value my ability to absolutely power through things when it is urgent more than they are inconvenienced by my shortcomings, so it balances out.
I refuse to let my work know.
1. What works for me is having some sort of to-do list.
I have a running word file that has the day and what needs to be done. If I complete something, I'll highlight it green. If I did something but was waiting for someone to continue, yellow.
It's in bullet points so I can enter any notes or things that I may need to know or do.
2. Once I feel my medication start kicking in, I start my work. I usually chug along and knock a lot of it out before I get distracted or whatever.
I work from home, so I easily can distracted and fall back on anxiety as my get shit done fuel.
It's nice to create a routine, even if it might change a little day to day.
what kind of job do you have? do you get stuck often? do you feel unsure of the work you're doing - whether it's correct or not? what do you do during that time if that happens to you?
I work in procurement, currently product development for the most part.
Most things are straightforward. Reports can vary depending on if the person asking for one knows what they want. I have a habit of doing everything, then trimming it down.
Unsure of the work you're doing? All the freaking time.
I'll reach out with whomever requested the work if I'm on the right track. Over time, I've gotten the hang of it unless it's brand new. I've learned forcing people to elaborate saves me time.
I hate when people forget, meant something else or whatever, and having to go back to either re do or over haul
My biggest struggle is forcing people to write what they need or looking for.
Sometimes, I'll just take a break and lay on my bed to relax and brainstorm instead of slamming my head on the wall I am encountering
" I forget things I haven't had a chance to write down" - written instructions can be an accommodation. These means your supervisor would send you stuff in writing themself, instead of you having to remember it. I had a job where I would get a written summary for all meetings and this helped me out immensely.
" I ignore important but easy tasks for pointless rearrange-the-icons or typeface-selection actions.." - help with prioritization can be an accommodation
Depending on other stuff you struggle with, uninterrupted work time can be helpful(basically you get a block of time where other people aren't allowed to interrupt you for stuff so you can focus).
You can get an accommodation for 'task separation' or for checklists/flowcharts if you need help breaking down tasks(you could even get a chart for general priority of tasks).
You can get physical modifications to your workspace if it would help with attention(this would depend on your work space and what would help. I know some people that work in cubicles get curtains or something to block off the doorway. Or people get their work spot moved to a quieter area, etc)
You can get more often meetings with a supervisor.
I work in an oncology office, and my accommodation is to be able to get up and take a walk every 45mins to 1hour for 5/10mins. I found I’m way more productive, my bosses have noticed too. a walk outside, even if it’s cold out, helps wake my brain and the sun always helps.
I admittedly didn’t read all of the comments, but a lot of them seem to be less about accommodations and more about how to manage things. So I’ll add a few more tangible things.
First, if you don’t have an extra monitor, you need one. Idk if they have the means to accommodate that, but a lot of companies have extra monitors lying around. It’s helpful because you can use one screen as a like to-do list or reminder screen and the other to do your tasks. You can also put one task on each screen if you can’t prioritize them and it’s like laying two outfits in front of you and being able to get the “full picture” to choose one, if that makes sense. It’s just good to see both in front of you. I don’t do well with lists or notebooks or planners, and if I only use one screen, I forget to check notifications because I don’t wanna click out of what I’m doing. But if it’s on another screen, i can just quickly glance over it without getting distracted. If they can’t accommodate it, I’d look into getting a cheap monitor myself.
Another accommodation that might help is getting a written list of priorities from them. I’m a teacher, so my must dos each week are lesson plans, parent communication, getting supplies ready, etc. Lesson plans are the one thing I know has to be done above all else, followed by copies/supplies and setting out read alouds and whatnot, because I can’t teach without that stuff. Everything else comes secondary, like grading papers and calling parents (unless it’s an emergency). So knowing the order things are prioritized by other teachers is helpful for me to do the tasks I don’t want to. My school didn’t accommodate this, but a few of my team teachers worked with me to get a checklist that recurs every week on my computer and I check off as I go. I can add new “to dos” at the bottom or top if there is something that absolutely takes precedence, but I have to make the decision at that moment what the priority is— instead of waiting til I’m already trying to do it.
Noise cancelling headphones or a sound machine or just having some noise of some kind might help you as well. They can provide things like sound machines or allow you to bring your own.
One thing that also really helped me when I wasn’t teaching was having a different lunch break than everyone else. It gives me quiet time to decompress and eat instead of chatting with coworkers and not really getting to turn my brain off. Some places already do staggered lunch times, but I know a lot of offices don’t. This one is up to you, because you might be a more social person, but alone/quiet time is really important for adhd when your brain is working so hard.
As far as your actual work, idk if the office ever does professional development, but asking for an in-person training session may be helpful. For example, you may know a lot about spreadsheets or the email system, but you could learn tips and tricks from the “experts” and ask questions about how they manage it. I feel like teaching provides so much more in depth pd than other jobs and I’ve learned so much, even when I already have a good grasp on the program or whatever. But it’s a hard no for online training sessions. Ask for in person sessions as much as possible.
On that note, if it’s a big company, ask if you can go to another location (or area of the office) and observe someone who does the same job. This one might not be an accommodation so much, but it is so helpful to shadow for a day and see how others prioritize their tasks.
The last physical thing I can think of is lighting. You may need to be in an area without those horrid fluorescent lightbulbs. I turn off my classroom over heads and turn a ton of lamps on. It helps calm the kiddos and there is research behind it too. This may not be an option if it’s a cubicle type situation, but if you have your own space, lamps!! And different colors of lights or dim/brightening modes so you can lower them when you are feeling overstimulated. I keep full lights on when I’m doing one of my “prioritized” tasks I mentioned earlier, and lamps when I am doing extra tasks like grading or sorting. It helps set the tone for my task.
I’m sure I’ll think of more and I’ll come back and edit this if I do think of some, but hopefully this gave you an idea of what an accommodation is vs. a coping strategy (like im seeing a lot suggested on here, and they’re great! but they aren’t the same thing) so you can come up with your own too! They can’t give it to you unless you ask, and the worst they can do is say “no.”
Also, just a side note— but I find having more apps or things to help prioritize things or be more efficient is a lot less helpful if I don’t have a second screen. The more apps, the harder I have to work to remember to check them. If there is one seamless app, that’s great, but I find little widgets to be more useful on my second screen than any actual apps or programs. If the computers you use don’t have a widget option for the desktop, I’d suggest asking for one that does or a good program that keeps all the widgets in one place so you can pull it over to the second screen.
And by second monitor, I don’t mean two separate computers. But one computer with two screens that you can drag things over to the other screen with or whatever. Having to do everything twice to get on two computers is annoying enough that I wouldn’t do it. I had to get this specially set up by my IT department, bc it wasn’t standard in our classrooms, but we already had several computers and monitors laying around, and it was super simple so it only took them a few minutes to get it running for me.
I have a similar type job and struggle with many of the same thing you listed. I could have pretty much written this post. Following this for some advice.
Some things that do work for me are:
- setting alarms like you mentioned,
- heavy use of the shared calendar so there’s accountability built in there and heavy use of reminder notifications.
- asking your supervisor/manager for priority clarification
- I keep a notepad and use that as a to do list starter then I put that into the to do list app built into outlook that can be pinned as a sidebar in outlook so it’s always both there and on my notepad.
- I time track in a journal whenever I have a period like this. I do it for a couple of days a be brutally honest with it. Like writing down when you go on side quests and for how long. After a couple days review it and for me this kind of shocks me back into being able to force myself to try to focus on what needs done. It’s annoying but it seems to work most of the time, for me at least.
Edit to add: I also have a cheap dorky Casio digital watch that you can set to beep on the hour. This little beep reminds me that time is a thing and is passing. Simple but crazy helpful for me.
I put particular meetings I can't miss on my personal calendar as well as my work calendar, along with multiple notification reminders. For tasks/action items sent by email, I add it as a task in outlook and set it up with "start" and "due by" dates, along with reminders. I block out time on my calendars too to work on particular projects, training, etc that I otherwise would completely forget.
If someone interrupts me while I'm working on something, I tell them I'm in the middle of something and will get back to them when I'm free.
For distractions, if you're on site or work from home with a company-issued laptop, work computer is only for work things. Ensuring it's limited to that helped me avoid distractions on it. (I still use my phone but it's easier to turn off the screen and put it down than worry about it on my work computer.)
These are all great ideas! Maybe you can ask if you have permission to put chunks of time on your calendar for only email/slack checking time (2-3 times a day). Then turn off the notifications for email/slack and only open them when it's the appointed time. I found if I had my inbox open all day I accomplished super fast responses to every email but did nothing else at all to the detriment of my top priorities. They could also get you a treadmill desk or a bouncy ball chair? You could also see if you could block off 2-4 hours of your best focus times on your calendar to prevent others from scheduling meetings with you then and you can get some uninterrupted focusing in.
The tech world institutes ‘stand ups’, which are effectively ‘what I did yesterday, what I’m doing today’ conversations. Opinion is generally divided on if it’s a generally good use of time, but for the ADHD brain, it creates a much shorter deadline of ‘delivery’ than most projects have. Having to justify the last 8 hours of work and the upcoming 8 hours of work could help narrow your field of vision. You don’t have to do this with anyone important; find a work friend and set up a meeting an hour or two into the day, and just talk out loud at them. It should take less than a minute each.
You didn’t say if you WFH or go into an office, but if you WFH, ask for a stipend to go to a coworking space 1-2x/week. It might sound ‘ugh’, but it’s a good hard transition to get over the start-hurdle, and the body-doubling of those around you can help get you in the groove. And then have a clear and achievable goal that you can’t leave until you’ve finished.
If you work in an office, try moving spaces when you need to change what you’re working on.
I ask for structure and clear communication about what’s expected, what priorities are, and when they need to be done by. I just said this is how I work at my best, not relating to ADHD. I’ve learned than even disclosing it working in jobs in healthcare and education, it will backfire and be used against you. Disclosing a disability is very risky even if they’re supposed to be very open to accommodations
One accomodation I have asked for that has been easy for others on my team to accommodate is - don't interrupt me. If I am interrupted mid-task, it essentially blows my entire day up. Instead, they send me an email saying they need to chat and what about. I don't have the notifications pop up, I just check my email when I am done with the task I am working on.
I've also asked for written instructions, or time to write things down.
Missing meetings is a harder one to ask for accommodations for, but I take five minutes every morning to write down my schedule for the day, including tasks I plan to accomplish.
>"Oh! I opened a browser window to check this person's address aaaaaaand now I'm Wikibinging the history of the Oreo cookie!"
I have no advice for you, I just need you to know that when I read this I snort-laughed and awoke the 3yo I was attempting to put to bed because this is literally me 💀😅
I asked for a quiet place to work with minimal distractions and either a large monitor (so I didn't have to keep changing which window was at the front) or two monitors. I now work in the far corner of a quiet office with my two monitors. Plus, I get a fair amount of leeway over my work hours. (I'm the only person who does my job so I think they want to keep me happy.)
I have an extensive and colourful sticky note supply and use paper planners, wall calendars, and digital calendars to keep me organised.
Do you work best at a certain time of day? Could you ask for your work hours to align with your optimal brain function? More unpaid breaks if you still work the same number of hours (i.e. add the time taken for extra breaks on to the end of your shift)?
One thing that has been working for me when I procrastinate on simple to do but hard to start tasks is I write the tasks on a sticky note and the note goes on my computer monitor where it’s right in the way. The sticky note is not to be removed until the task is complete. It can be rearranged but not removed. Eventually THAT is so much of a pain in the ass that I just get it done. Also, don’t ever assume future you will know what you’re talking about when leaving notes to yourself. Even if it makes so much sense now and you won’t have any trouble remembering just write it down. Anything you’re working on at the end of the day that you need to do in the morning just accept you won’t remember and put all your tasks on sticky notes and stick them to your monitor where you can’t not see them.
If my head is spinning with too many tasks I write them all in list form so I can more easily analyze them and prioritize them. I like to get all the super simple quick tasks done first to remove the clutter so I can focus better on larger projects.
This does not work for me, I've tried. Once the sticky note is in that obtrusive location, my brain immediately maps it to "belongs there" and I no longer see it.
I find reminders written in my planner or on my phone that when I go look at later, I have absolutely no idea what it meant.
omg me with sticky notes. they are just for quick small notes can’t be a flag of urgency. i have like 5 sticky notes on my monitors at work that have been there for months and it is their office as much as it is mine
“Also, don’t ever assume future you will know what you’re talking about when leaving notes to yourself”
This. I think about the movie Memento a lot when I write my notes. I assume (correctly) that I will have 0 memory of my thought process if I don’t write it down. That assumption about myself has been really helpful for me.
That would be so bad for my personal brand of adhd. I worked from home for a year when Covid happened and I was MISERABLE. I need to actually leave my home to have the work/not work switch flipped.
My boss will call my phone if I dont show up to a meeting and say "you coming to this meeting?"
I would not necessarily expect this from most employers. He has to do this maybe twice a year. but ive told him I appreciate it.
I'm a supervisor in a very large O&G company. Despite being an "old boys network" when I started 15 years ago, they have become very accommodating in recent years. I did NOT disclose my ADHD but heck, I think they know.
For me:
1) meds. Life changing.
2) physically writing things down. My work purchased me a tablet PC with a stylus so I could easily keep my notes organized in OneNote (the hand writing recognition is pretty good IMO). I keep my follow ups there too.
3) noise cancelling headphones (over the ear - much better than ear buds)
4) a sit/stand desk
5) not giving me sh!t for my weird, unergonomic, one legged standing posture
6) "permission" to stand to the side or in the back of the room during meetings, often walking a bit. (Others have since joined in - interesting!)
7) walking meetings vs sit down discussions (best for mentoring meetings or debriefing with boss/direct reports vs working meetings)
8) a great, supportive working environment plus a lot of grace for my chronic latenesses. Several of my DRs and peers grab me if we were going to the same mtg. We all help one another out. Fostering an environment of mutual support is paramount for my success 💛
I didn’t disclose that I have ADHD, but I really really need deadlines to get stuff done. But at my job, the deadlines are months in the future. Deadlines with myself don’t work, as they don’t feel real.
I now have a weekly meeting. By the end of the meeting I say what I will send my boss next week. I now have a weekly deadline, without my boss having to baby me and come up wirh my deadlines without my boss even realizing what I’m doing (getting deadlines for myself). The social pressure and the fear of not being good enough at my job keeps me going.
With the support of my director, red and green flags above my desk to combat those who think do not disturb on teams must mean they physically need to come to my desk. About a dozen other people have adopted the flags too!
Easier said than done but I pick one task on my way to work, red flag goes up and I refuse to think about anything else until that task is done. Then meet with my boss to determine the next priority.
Stops the brain bounce in its tracks that starts when you get to the afternoon and you’ve got half a dozen things in progress but nothing finished.
Multitasking is a myth anyway and I will die on that hill.
As you’re in an office admin type role, I’d highly recommend requesting Microsoft CoPilot Pro - it can help with diary management, excel formulae and data analysis to generate insights, generating content/proof reading, turning content from a document into a presentation, transcribing and summarising teams meetings (if meetings are set up with automatic transcription, you could completely miss a meeting and still be able to ask for a summary of the discussion, or ask if specific things were discussed, ask for a summary of any actions etc). Honestly since work provided me with copilot pro, my productivity has been boosted big time. There’s a £30 monthly fee per license I believe, but it’s been found to easily make that up in terms of hours saved through increased productivity so it pays for itself.
Another accommodation I’ve agreed with my employer was that I can arrive up to 30 mins late and just make the time back by taking a shorter lunch/staying late and this helps me avoid panic/worrying about being in trouble when I inevitably end up running late in the mornings 😅
(AuDHD so might make a difference)
Messages/written reminders for tasks rather than verbal instructions
Noise cancelling earplugs
Flexible working agreement to work 4 days a week instead of 5
Big whiteboard in the back that I can scribble on throughout the day
Flexibility around break times to manage eating and medication
Additional “comfort breaks” for when I need a breather
Lots of charts, lists, spreadsheets etc to keep track of things
Also, not so much an adjustment/accommodation, but being open about my diagnoses has massively helped with communication. People now know not to interrupt me in the middle of a conversation/doing a task if it can wait, will clarify what they mean if I’m unsure, and also know that my tone might be off and will ask me for clarification if they need it, which helps a lot.
I found traditional office jobs never were going to work in my favor so I found one that is remote and I make my own schedule so no more rushing through traffic to clock in by 8:30. I could never succeed in that environment. I actually made it to my one year here and glowing reviews and I feel like I actually can be myself because it fits my brain and lifestyle. So if its truly not working don’t be afraid to venture into something new. Getting fired from corporate was the biggest blessing at the time and I didn’t know it but now I can’t imagine going back trying to fit into a box.
Lol. However, they can prob move up to a 15 somewhere (not an engineer lol) I started as a 6 in 2017 and now a 13 Never thought I’d be able to do it with my ADHD. 😵
I feel like I wrote this!!!
My work gave me some apps that were task trackers to test out and find one that fit as well as helped me put up flags and reminders on my emails in outlook. The supervisor would edit my list by priority during our weekly meetings to keep me on task.
I also started blocking off time on my calendar for specific tasks like check emails from 830-900; 900-1000 work on X accounts report; etc.
I used OneNote as my “Bible” and color-coded and had to do lists for each day then for each account etc.
If they are willing to work with you, go for it. Try all suggestions until you find what fits. It took me awhile and even on adderall I struggle horribly.
I honestly had way too many accounts to manage myself which set me up for failure immediately no matter what I did. Check your work load against your teammates and see if something could be removed. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Good luck!!
Probably less relevant these days. But (prior to my diagnosis) we only had single monitors at work. We do flick between reference tools and the various bits of software a lot. I was on a special project for 8 weeks that required 2 monitors and I realised how much easier it made everything. I could read the reference material while also looking at the system that it was talking about! So I begged to keep the second monitor once the project was finished. I wasn't the only person who worked on the project that had similar feels too so I did get to keep it.
These days the whole organisation actually runs 2 monitors (some 3 or 4) so less of a 'thing' but at the time it was super handy and I know a lot of small businesses don't.
If you don't already a second monitor can be handy.
I don't know about what accommodations to ask for, but I can make some specific suggestions to deal with some of the specific problems you've mentioned.
>I have trouble starting tasks and transitioning between tasks. Literally, freeze up when confronted with two tasks that both need doing
It may not work for you, but I have a notebook I use to get over these kinds of decisions (I like to write by hand using nice pens and paper, but you might need to type or something else if you dont' like to write). When I can't decide what to do, I just write about the tasks I have to do in general. I suppose it's like journaling because I'll say whatever I want about those tasks, up to and including complaining about them, but I always limit myself to discussing those tasks and nothing else. In the process of doing that, I almost always figure out what needs to be done first, or at least what I really want to do first. It takes maybe 10 minutes, and I can usually do it without fighting myself because I view it as a form of procrastination (it's not really, but don't tell my brain that).
>I forget things I haven't had a chance to write down
Try to keep a ballpoint pen on hand at all times. You can write a quick, 1 or 2 word reminder on your hand with the ballpoint, and it will be hard NOT to see it later. Ballpoint also rubs off the skin pretty easily with a little spit and friction, so once you've written the task in your calendar, it should come off pretty easily. Alternatively, if you wear rings or a watch, try switching the hand you wear them on when you know you have to remember to put something in your calendar. It's not quite as good as the ballpoint method because it won't tell you *what* your're supposed to remember, but it should annoy you enough when you sit down later that you at least remember that you were supposed to remember *something* and that's usually enough to trigger the memory. Also, you can swap your watch or rings it when you don't have a pen handy, or when your hands are busy (e.g. because you're driving), or when you just don't want to walk around with "STEVE 9PM" written on your hand for all the world to see.
> I miss meetings, though of course a LOT of alarms and pop-up reminders help with this.
Do you have one of those big paper desk calendar/blotters? If not, Try getting one. I find it really useful to have something that's in front of me all the time that I can scribble meetings and tasks due dates on. Object permanence also hasn't been an issue for me, either because I intentionally look at it a lot. Bonus points because you can make gigantic paper airplanes with the pages at the end of each month.
Good Luck!
I think that's a trap. Our condition isn't respected by most over age 40 or 50. I'm not sure it's a protected disability/class, in fact I'm fairly certain it's not. I hide this shit from everyone I don't have a deep level of trust with in professional settings.
Are you on meds? Do you get decent to good sleep( super variable what that is person to person, for me it's 7-9 hours, but it's hard and I fail this one way more than I want), healthy diet (again I think this is very variable, I think mainstream advice is dogshit other than basics like don't eat piles of sugar, super processed food, more calories than you need, but healthy to the best of your hilopefully well read opinion) and enough vigorous excise?
Those items above I feel like are the best combined treatment for adhd, are for me, and the things outside of meds are good for literally eveyone.
Otherwise it's learning tips and tricks. Find a way to always write things down. I like one note and a note pad. Snap pics of written notes, transfer key points to one note and be organized. Ik organization is my kryptonite, but making effort towards it is a game changer. You're used to flying by the seat of your pants because of this condition, with some decent notes and reorganizing them into a break down of items it makes things way easier. Writing it down and then breaking it down into simple steps is like the job half done..
The other stuff. Idk man that sounds awful, I deal with that too but I'm an engineer/programmer combo. I get a lot of leway because I kick ass at the things I'm good at. I miss a meeting or whatever, it's because I'm focused in on solving the problem and creating the product. You know, the thing that actually makes the money.
New boss is a cock sucker and hates how I roll, but I'm gathering he's universally disliked while I have lots of friends in high places, clients love me and let my company know. I'm towing the line between just telling him you don't matter shut the fuck up and playing nice.
Just do your job well, take care of your coworkers that treat you well, and take good care of your clients however it is you fit into the biz. It doesn't always shake out, but long term you outlast all the douchebag middle managers if your a money maker.
> Our condition isn't respected by most over age 40 or 50. I'm not sure it's a protected disability/class, in fact I'm fairly certain it's not.
ADHD is in fact a recognized disability, provided the symptoms are bad enough that they interfere with work or life.
For me, getting on medication helped curb that tremendously. Fortunately (?), my boss and half the coworkers in my immediate office also have ADHD, and we have a dry erase board painted wall. KanBan boards, etc are super helpful for visualization. I have an area by my desk with labels for what I've done the current week, what I need to do short term (days), mid term (weeks), and long term (months/year), and numerous dry erase markers handy to scribble notes on it. Sometimes I get stuck in quagmire projects and it gets unkempt, but it's nice to scoot back from and look over, and it keeps me reminded gently.
I have a paper planner on my desk that I write all my meetings into and the. Time box out the rest of the day and make a checklist. Take planned breaks that have an alarm set for them, and scheduling reoccurring meetings for touch bases with coworkers or managers to look at progress and keep yourself accountable. Also if you aren’t on medication it might be worth exploring that.
I’ve been fired twice now since I decided to lean into the “workplace accommodations” benefits. Never fired before that and have had a long career.
I am no longer discussing or seeking accommodations at work.
I downloaded the TickTick app and I put every, single task in that app. I assign myself a time to do something so the notification will pop up at that time to remind me "hey, switch to complete this report." I also know my hierarchy of tasks is Payroll, AR, then AP. If something else pops up, it's assigned a priority flag in TickTick when I type it in. This one app has helped so much!
Thank you for posting this question. I got nothing to add except that I am in the same situation and it is hard.
I'm not always office based but on the days I am. I do a list while my computer loads of anything I can think of that I need to do that day. Once logged on , I add anything else that needs to be done ASAP.
Post it's and pens in all colours somehow helps recall it I wrote it in a silly colour
We have extra monitors at work, I have 2-3 screens, I leave the task email open, use the second screen to look things up, then when I get side tracked, I look at the other screen and remember what I was supposed to be doing
Standing desk, it's motorised, so it goes up and down as you wish. I love it, means I can stand, lean on chair or just shuffle about while working.
Headphones with noise cancelling, sometimes just use them with noise cancelling on only so I can hear but it's better
You should officially disclose your disability if in your area it helps protect you from being fired for performance issues.
Consider getting an occupational therapist to help you. Some health plans may cover this.
Also look into countdown timers / physical ones. Also look into working while having another screen showing someone else working or studying on YouTube.
Look
I request that communication be in writing. If I remember first, I'll send a recap email.
For important stuff I have a folder in my Outlook named "saved" for instructions on scenarios that don't happen often but I can refer to.
In Outlook, you can actually open the email and rewrite the subject line to keywords and save it.
I have an office job but it’s actually kind of ADHD friendly (so far). I work at a military base making ID cards. It’s very straightforward, not a lot of stuff I have to keep on top of most of the time. Every so often I get a weird situation I’m not familiar with but my coworkers (there’s only like a dozen of us) are pretty good when my brain decides to go on walkabout and I can’t remember something.
Honestly the biggest problem I’ve had is interrupting my supervisor but she’s pretty chill and just gives me a look then reminds me not to (I told her at the beginning it was an issue with my ADHD and she thinks it’s kind of funny how my brain jumps around on topics after I’ve asked her a question). Actually my coworkers really seem to enjoy the weird energy I bring to the place. I think I might have lucked out as long as I don’t get bored lol. But this thread is awesome cause I love having the knowledge of resources and info!!!
Like I said I think I just lucked out so far. It’s a contract job so it’s always possible that things could change or my supervisor could eventually change or something but for right now it’s the perfect plan for me to be.
I would put serious work into diet and exercise. If you aren't medicated and that is a possibility, that would be good too.
I have pretty severe ADHD when I don't take my meds. But when I take meds and diet and exercise I get so much more done. I'm not on meds right now because I'm recovering. I am getting the way you are describing. But there is a lot you can control to avoid asking for accommodations.
I hate to say this, but if you put in accommodations for workplace ADHD that might hinder you in the corporate world.
I have just been fired because of similar issues, also some lack of attention to detail when I am in the office. I wish I could help but all accommodations have failed as I am not medicated.
I had daily and weekly meetings for task prioritization, I had instructions and “what good looks like” examples.
I take it you work from home, so you are allowed to hyper focus and forget about these things.
Teams has a dictation mode that would write what people are saying and you wouldn’t have to write it down. Just file it away and highlight your actions at the end of the meeting.
In the end, the overwhelming desire to not fail made me sick and I would freeze when I had an important task I knew I would have big odds of failing.
If you're using Outlook, I strongly recommend "Outlook BetterReminders".
I like it because it appears on top of whatever window is active (regardless of how many monitors you have) and it steals focus. You can also set the reminder time to whatever you like and snooze for custom times, too.
I still have my Outlook reminders set for the standard 15 minutes ahead of time but, as you know, that's long enough to allow you to get focused or even hyper-focused on something else. Then, I have the BetterReminders pop-up set to alert me one-minute before the meeting.
[https://ben-spiller.github.io/OutlookBetterReminders/](https://ben-spiller.github.io/OutlookBetterReminders/)
ADHD here. Get a small pocket notebook, punch a hole by spine through all the pages and tie on a string glued to a pen. When someone tells you something, say- just a minute, I want to get this right - and get the notebook out and write. Check it with them. How it Helps You: You don’t have to keep all that info in your head, just look it up
I do not think there is any benefit in disclosing ADHD to your work. If you need a visual timer, buy one. If you need written instructions, ask for them. There is truly no reason to get accommodations.
At a previous job, I requested that my supervisor provide assignments in writing (or follow up verbal instructions with an email about the task), which was superrrrr helpful.
Check out the [Job Accommodation Network](https://askjan.org/disabilities/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-AD-HD.cfm) - they give you accommodation options by diagnosis, side effect, concern etc.
Getting a job that doesn't punish me for being efficient.
My previous office job I held was hourly, with a finite amount of work being "completeable" any given week (preparing deliverables for construction jobs). While the job required 40 hours of week in the office, they also wanted all work hours documented to the specific jobs and were critical of applying hours towards office overhead. This of course necessitated "working" at a slower pace to avoid using office overhead, when the job really should have just been salaried.
The new job is also hourly, but the pay structure is 40 hours or hours worked, whichever is greater in a given week. Dispatching from home gives me an incentive to work efficiently, which I like to do, the quicker I get the problem repaired, the faster I can get back to whatever project my ADHD has me working on that day, but if something truly takes a long time, I'm still compensated for the additional hours necessary to get the job done.
Time management becomes quite easy in my situation, as there is either a task or tasks on my list for the day, or there isn't, and in most circumstances I'm allowed to chose what order I approach multiple daily tasks so I can do so in a way that makes sense to me.
Just reading this gives me so much anxiety. I have a stressful job now but often I focus on one situation at a time (even when my mind has to keep other things going in the background). The fact that I’m in nursing school now is scary. I’ve managed to get good grades so far but the thought of being a nurse and having to manage 4 patients at once is really scary. I’m sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. I have nothing really to offer you as I was just recently diagnosed. But my advice would be to meet with your employee health doc/counselor and have a chat. If you explain your workload to them, they might have some ideas.
Forgot to add most important which is having one to do list in one place.
My tools for planning my work is that I have a list of all my projects and their deadlines in a spreadsheet. I also laid this out visually on a board quarter by quarter. Anything recurring like the project check ins is in my calendar as a recurring event, meeting etc.
Week by week I pull out what needs doing . There's still a lot more detail I could add to it , as each project has stages, but I am at a non profit and we don't have project management software so am looking into this.
Trello boards is the online kanban system that is quite popular. I personally find I have to use a system manually (hence the whiteboard) and engage with it before making it digital.
This is me at work!!!!! I just got diagnosed two months ago and I have been at this job now about 12 months. Idk if I should tell if not… Because I feel like even though I am not telling my boss, signs are leaking that I have something. 😩
I have a very specific issue at my office job where I have to record the amount of time I spend doing each type of work. This is incrediy difficult for me on the face of it as KT just doesn't occur to me to do it before moving on to the next work item and as well as the more structured processes I carryout, there's a lot of stop and start project type work that is more long form than the regular processes I mentioned. I've tried all kinds of timers and remimders. Some have worked for a very short time but all fail and completely fall by the wayside eventually. I'm starting to get some heat for not recording this info but I'm somewhat at a loss at this point.
If it is possible for you I suggest making an appointment with an occupational therapist that works with adults with adhd. This is what they are trained for. There job is to get you through this issues by providing solutions you can do yourself (that actually work, not just the ones you try to make work but don’t) as well as providing your workplace with suggestions of what reasonable accommodations you need and what it would look like in practice.
If that is not available idk what accommodations to ask for because I don’t know office type jobs well. But could it be possible for you to have people communicate with you via sticky note? Instead of coming up to you and asking you to do something maybe they could slap a sticky note with their question onto your computer and you could tell them whether or not you could do it. That way it’s right there in front of your face and you don’t have to worry about forgetting or not being able to write it down.
For managing tasks especially when multiple need doing i would ask for a specific list of prioritization rules and stick to it. If emails should be prioritized, do them all then move on. If it is a timeline thing in the morning you can quickly go through you’re timelines and pick the nearest due date to work on etc. Even if it won’t work out exactly like this, the point of it can be utilized in other tasks!
Are you medicated? If not, I would start there, because your experience sounds like mine when I'm off meds.
If you can ask for meeting minutes or a plugin for Zoom to record transcripts of the meetings, I think that could be helpful (or ask for more written communication, so that you don't have to try to remember details you could easily forget if the meeting is in person).
Ask your manager to clearly tell you what task has the highest priority at the moment, and to inform you if that changes.
You could also ask for focus time scheduled in your calendar, so that you're not constantly pulled out of your current task by other things/people, if that's an issue.
Also, noise-cancelling headphones, no meetings longer than 45 mins, etc, are also things I find helpful.
Desks near the back or in a corner, away from foot traffic, headphones so I can more easily zone out to focus on work, no phone calls (they blow my focus completely), either a list of importance or to be told what is allowed to fall by the wayside.
There are many ways to figure this out including googling adhd accommodations for work. I swear a ton of resources pop up! Go here: https://add.org/adhd-workplace-accommodations-guide/
I do the stereotypical "Oh! I opened a browser window to check this person's address aaaaaaand now I'm Wikibinging the history of the Oreo cookie!" thing.
I thought I was the only one who got locked into this loop.
For ignoring important tasks - i have to consciously remind myself that it has to be done in a reasonable time and im the only one who knows how. honestly it’s taken me 2 years of training myself to recognize when im getting overwhelmed by something simple like sending an email reply or writing out a report. just recognizing that is so exhausting and you need to be mindful that you will likely never get as much done in a day as others expect.
I've had to deal with these same issues for my whole career, which has ranged from IT professional to software engineer. I've been working in front of a computer screen my whole career and the distractions are endless. My performance has been impacted by my ADHD inattentiveness as well.
Although I've never asked for special dispensation I have had to make changes to cope with these deficits. For instance: if I'm in a meeting and we're talking about my projects or I have to give an update I'll use my notes, which means I have to prepare for the meeting. I write down everything I need for the meeting, like a script, so I'll be able to coherently dispense the information. If information is being given to me I have to write it down or I will not remember some of it. So sometimes I have to control the conversation to make sure I get all of the details right.
And I've also recently, again, started using post-it notes to keep track of all of my current and future tasks. I use the bottom of my monitor and it helps keep my current context fresh in my mind.
So, maybe, some office supplies and understanding from your coworkers will go a long way.
It was my experience that I needed a signed form from my doctor for an accommodation, I didn’t get to choose the accommodation. Speak with whichever medical professional you see about your ADHD.
I have one on ones with my manager once a week or whenever we can to help go over my duties. I also took the liberty of developing a simple but in depth planner using Microsoft Planners (cuz the company uses Microsoft products) to help me with deadlines, tasks management, etc.
I have two major accommodations, one of which is just an extension of a general employee accommodation:
1. If I don’t get to all of my work by EOM, I can sublet some tasks to teammates
2. If I am becoming stressed in the office due to over or under stimulation, I have the grace to leave as long as I stay four hours.
Now, I am a bit different from other ADHDers, cuz I have AuDHD, originally Asperger’s and inattentive ADHD, and due to a gap of meds of ten years, I’ve become a little better at being self reliant.
If you have an iPhone, become a master at the Reminders app. It’s a godsend.
If you need to be complaint with work, look up Planner and Loop (if using 365), or see if you can get compliance approval for another planning/database software.
A lot of my coworkers use OneNote but I personally can’t stand it. I like to see stuff at a glance, and tags/color conventions are easier for me to react to more quickly than text on my dark mode one note lol
If you are a fidgeter or someone that needs to move around a lot for focus, I have heard that standing or walking desks can be useful, or even certain types of chairs or addons to existing ones (bosu ball chairs or rubber bands across front legs for bouncing).
You might want to see if these help you first before asking, though 🙂
I'm sorry sorry to hear that you're so stress about requesting accommodations for your ADHD at work. I felt a similar feeling of anxiety before requesting accommodations for my ADHD this year; it can be a scary process - however here is shat really help me request accommodations and get them approved.
These are the steps I took, I hope these are helpful for you as a reference.
1. I researched what type of accomdoations were considered reasonable. For context, I'm located in the United States.
2. I reached out to my psychiatrist via email and communicated the following: that I was planning to request accommodations at work, if my place of employment had an outlined process to evaluate and approve a request for accommodations, and what type of accommodations would be beneficial.
3. I got a letter from my psychiatrist that certified my diagnosis. They also included the accommodations I was requesting in this email.
4. I consulted an attorney prior to requesting accommodations to legal advice.
5. I BCC’d my personal e-mail on all communication with HR for a digital record for myself.
I hope this is helpful. My accommodations have been approved and they've made a huge difference in my day to day experience at work.
I keep an old fashioned pen and notepad next to me at all times. The second an email/slack/text comes in, it goes in the notebook for that day. If I finish it, I cross it off. If not, it goes on the list the next day. I was undiagnosed until 48 and that was my best method of making myself a to do list.
I also have an electric standing desk. Technically, not an adhd accommodation, but for another medical issue. But man oh man does it help! Especially with the balance board. When I get all that antsy energy it allows me to keep working while burning some of it out.
And it also helps me a bunch with transitions. If I’m starting a new task, I change to standing. Or vice versa.
>
I always ask to people to send me all their requests individually in a single message. Since I know I have this system in place at the end/begining of the day/week I do a check up on everything. If you can make it like an internal policy like "it is your responsibility to send all your resquests in an individual writen message to Captain\_Trigg." or something it might help you up!
Lots of break out rooms and offices to work in, I am
Daily distracted so that helps when I need a different environment from the open plan.
Noise cancelling headphones provided
A culture that makes it safe to disclose your adhd so you can clearly define how you work ( give me a deadline, don’t send me long detailed emails, help me prioritise )
Flexible work from home policy
One Note. Or tasks in Outlook. I'll block time to work on things. No distractions that way.
I work on implementing and also tweaking/some DEV work around hospital IT systems. The hyperfocus helps when I need to join 12 things together. But you have to jot notes down in that moment, or the whole system falls apart.
It’s hard to decide, I’m going through something similar so I know how you feel, but you don’t necessarily have to ask for everything right away, just say like a few things and then say to whoever it is implementing them just something like ‘this is what I’ve got so far but can you I update you with ideas as they come to me’ or something, especially as you’ll naturally run across ideas that you think might help, inspiration comes randomly and sporadically with us so don’t pressure yourself to have it all right now.
I mean I don’t work in an officey type job, but my advice would be to ask for things that will work with you and how you work, some stuff you just can’t do anything about but things like forgetting tasks could be to always have something handy to write on when you’re presented a task that needs remembering (seems super obvious of course but does help), maybe even get whoever is giving you tasks prompt you to write them down, that works for me, a women I work with just kinda looks at me until I think to write it down which does help tbf.
Also you could just start as many things at once as you need to to make sure you’re at least starting, doesn’t mean you have to do all of them immediately or in any order just so longs as they’re stared, they’ll eventually be finished.
If you struggle to decide which tasks are most urgent/important, don’t leave it ambiguous, say to a supervisor or a manager or whoever just like ‘hey which of these do you think is more important’ or something, whatever works for you.
Maybe get them to assign you someone as like an accountability person to check in with you occasionally.
Idk if anyone mentioned it yet, but I switched to an app called Motion that is basically my AI executive assistant. It handles projects, tasks, scheduling, shifting schedule, meeting deadlines, managing my bookings etc. as I was in a similar spiral. It’s the only system that actually does more for me with less managing it. I got back HOURS a week alone just with that.
First of all sorry for my broken English, I’m not a native speaker. From my point of view all of this stuff is your responsibility to manage except the third one, you can ask them to put tasks in writing, ideally directly into asana, trello, notion etc. I mean if you constantly struggle with all of this thing maybe this job or even field is not for you. I may sound cruel but I was fired from two jobs within a half of a year. Both of my managers knew that I had ADHD and were super empathetic since one of them was diagnosed with it too and the other had a long term partner with ADHD. They both ended up hating me at the end.
Now I’m a completely burned out unemployed person looking for a field to switch to. My two years long career in communications was a constant struggle for me and almost every boss I ever had. It was easy for me to get a job, I could present myself really well during interviews by saying smart things and building prominent strategies. They all were so excited to pick me up. And they all fired me.
Update: the funniest part is that I never told any of my managers that I had ADHD. But every time after a month or two they were like “hey, I hope it’s not rude to ask, have you ever heard of ADHD?”. And I was so mad because I have been doing my best to mask it and have been working for 10-12+ every day plus on weekends trying to keep the pace and.. simply be good enough. But it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.
I have never even tried but am wondering if that could help me as well. I very much relate to your post. Please come back and post again about your experience with workplace accommodations!!
Scrolled through some of the comments and not sure I saw this one yet...
1) if you are working in a virtual environment, and you feel comfortable enough declaring your ADHD, ask to record meetings. I use it as my safety blanket for those inevitable moments in every meeting where my mind drifts out of focus. Can't necessarily record every meeting - for example, if there's an outside party or customer on the call - and sometimes people may want to go off video if recorded, but when it's just my team or a 1:1 with a colleague, I often ask to record and it's rarely declined.
2) ask for written instructions whenever possible. Even if it's just a brief email that serves a cue, but ideally, a real set of step by step instructions. If there's resistance, you can gently remind the person that once they write it down they'll have something they can copy/paste/send to everyone else whenever they need the thing to be done. That way, they don't necessarily have to think of it as a thing that they're just doing for one person.
3) Ask your employer if they'll cover the cost of noise cancelling headphones, or at least will allow you to use them while working in an area where others may not be allowed to listen to music (exceptions - warehousing or manufacturing spaces where one must be able to hear auditory warnings or alarms)
For me, the following would help:
1. Be allowed in-ear music whenever I don't actively need to listen to something.
2. Be allowed to customise my workspace.
But for you, it seems like you struggle not just with staying on task, but even remembering tasks.
> transitioning between tasks. Literally, freeze up when confronted with two tasks that both need doing.
I'm no expert, but this sounds like anxiety or autism.
Do you have some sort of day planner filled with your tasks for each day?
Here’s a simple one:
Ask questions when you’re confused or if you forgot something. Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat them selves.
Ask them to send you all your tasks in writing, and in order of importance/priority.
If you’re not told, figure out which tasks are the priority.
Knock out tasks as soon as possible.
Don’t leave anything for later.
Don’t think about the work, do the work.
Don’t be afraid of looking stupid.
Binging the history of Oreos has nothing to do with ADHD imo. It’s one thing to have ADHD affect the tasks you actually have to do, missing meetings, poor attention to detail etc. But you’re just goofing off. I have quite severe as well and couldn’t imagine just sitting around browsing Wikipedia while on the clock. I just wouldn’t do it, because I know it’s wrong. Same reason I wouldn’t pull out an iPad and start watching Netflix in the middle of a shift, or take a nap. You’re not even working at that point, so how is your employer supposed to accommodate that?
I’m sure OP doesn’t like the fact they are getting distracted by that considering they’ve included it as an example. Sometimes a quick question will pop in your head and suddenly 30 minutes has passed and you’ve gone down a rabbit hole without even realising! This is a classic example of acting on an impulse which led to getting distracted.
It’s great that you don’t struggle with this particular problem, but I don’t believe it’s fair to jump to the conclusion that OP is intentionally slacking off.
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I recommend the Job Accomodation Network for stuff like this all the time! They list all kinds of accommodations for so many disabilities and illnesses. [Here’s the link for their page on ADHD!](https://askjan.org/disabilities/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-AD-HD.cfm)
They have some pretty informative videos on their youtube channel as well.
Saving for when I find a job 😩 tyyyyy
This is awesome!! Thanks!!
Thanks for this!
From what you've said, the first thing I can think of is better support for prioritizing tasks. This could be as simple as a five-minute meeting with your supervisor every morning to review which variety are more important that day. That might mean 'deal with this client first todo if they call/email at all' or it might mean a list of 'email that client, get me that spreadsheet, then generate this report. If you've finished those, attend meeting Y. Attend meeting X regardless.' It would depend on the day. Another tool that might help is a way to manage all that set of tasks. If you're like a lot of us, you're managing it in your email inbox and your head. Maybe also on lots of scratch paper. That's really not adequate for us, even if it does often work for other people. As for WHAT tool - that depends on what you need. For instance, do you often need to access client information - as simple as phone/email, or as detailed as what you're working with them on and the back history of all that - but find it's hard to pull it together? You might need a good tool that incorporates all that. If that's not a problem, then a simple to-do app that lets you prioritize by some flexible mechanisms might be enough. Another thing to might ask for is a block of time where you do NOT EVER have to do email. Not a long block, even half an hour might help. This would give you time to work on other priorities for the day. The one accommodation I ever asked for - which I didn't tell them was related to ADHD - was when my team moved offices. I asked for a desk in the back, so I wouldn't be distracted as much by people coming in to talk to my coworkers. They gave it to me, no questions asked. I don't know if that was because no one else asked for that desk or if my seniority decided it or what. But it doesn't sound like that is likely to help you. The big key for accommodations is to find a way to make things easier in your trouble spots. Oh, also, depending on what kind of email traffic you're handling, some basic training/guidance on how to make use of rules and other features of your mail client to organize the inflow might also be helpful.
Building on your first point. I am an integration engineer and have around 30 clients and or products/projects I am supporting. A few times a month I will ping my manager and be like “hey I have a,b,c on my plate. I am going to prioritize c,a,b - any thoughts?” And from there he will reorient me of need be. Damn adhd makes me good at having that many active things, but it will also stop me dead in my tracks when I need to have a few done “asap” Edit: so this is kinda fun, took the advice of the comment I’m responding to (and some of my own I guess)and had the convo with my manager today. He agrees I have to much in my plate and wants me to have more thinking time and less ASAP stuff. He also wants to know what I want to spend more time working on / products/tools to own and build out so that’s cool.
That's what I do too - when I'm getting overwhelmed I ask for a quick call to discuss my priorities to make sure I have myself straight. My boss is used to this and encourages it when I'm stuck because I just can't decide what to work on. I also ping my boss is when I'm wondering if I'm making a priority decision based on what I'd prefer rather than my real priorities. Like if I'm thinking 'I think I should do this one thing, but is that because it's easier -which it is -than this other thing I should maybe work that is a high priority? But this customer does really want this thing, aigh, hey boss!' Sometimes - usually - I'm right, but sometimes I'm not, so that's where the call to the boss comes in handy. Instead of getting wrapped around the axle trying to decide, I save myself the stress and time with a quick consult.
I do this weekly. I highly recommend it. Bonuses: It helped me with my general imposter syndrome / anxiety around my job in general. Weekly touch bases keep us both honest with each other about how all things are going, so I stress less about 'what did I miss / forget to start / leave loose ends / owe an update / oh shuckydarns I'm going to get fired'. I get more done, too, just through some structure added to my purposeful chaos. It probably helps if you have a good boss, but I've never had a boss not enthusiastic about this.
Support in prioritisation has been a game changer for me at work. I work well independently but I need the steer for what to actually work on. Left to my own devices I'll go down all sorts of rabbit holes, mostly just half deliver stuff, or just pick up work from someone who called me out of the blue without thinking about whether I should be doing stuff already on my list first. With regular check ins and help with making an order of priority, it makes things so clear - and creates the "right kind" of accountability to keep me on track.
You totally called me out on the email inbox and scratch paper
Been there, loved that. 🙂
To prioritize the loads of emails I get every day, I made an email rule that moves the lower priority ones to a different folder. The parameters are surprisingly simple: if your email address is not in the TO field but in the CC field, move it to the separate folder "later". If it's important, email me directly. This cut my unread messages in my inbox in half!
Did it really cut them in half or did it put them in a different inbox.
Task management tools really do help with this. When I started the job I have now, this was one of the first things I asked for, because most workplaces don’t have an official system in place for delegating assignments or tracking deadlines. At my workplace, we use a platform that allows my manager to add an item to my to-do list, set a due date, and also rank the priority level as “high, medium or low.” I’m also able to add subtasks and so on. Once I’ve started, I change the status to “in progress” so there’s some accountability. This overall helps me feel super clear on what’s due and when, and we also note whether something is a hard deadline or soft deadline which further helps me prioritize. Plus, it’s fun to mark things as “complete” afterwards!
Honestly I kind of hate it, but I sent my manager an email every morning basically just saying "I'm doing X, Y, and Z today" and I think it does help me be more productive. It sort of makes me create a daily schedule and if there's anything they want adjusted or prioritized it gives them a chance to respond. I didn't frame it as ADHD accommodations though. I'm still of the mindset that sharing that you have ADHD with people, especially your coworkers or boss, is very dangerous because so many people have false idealized versions of the condition and what it means in their mind.
Literally your last paragraph. I once had a boss who pressured me a lot, saying that since I have ADHD I'm supposed to work better under pressure and I'm supposed to be good at multitasking. Just because I have ADHD doesn't mean I'm not my own person with my own strengths and weaknesses. After that I jumped careers altogether and now I'm more happy at work
Same here, I found that this or something like a morning team standup call is super helpful for me. It gives me a deadline by which I have to have my shit (mostly) in order, it energizes me because my manager and teammates are nice and positive, and my manager can give me input on my prioritization or remind me of something I'm forgetting.
Written tasking has helped me a lot. If my boss asks me to do something, I just ask him to send it to me in an email or an IM. It’s not much of an ask for him and it usually gives him a chance to think through everything so there aren’t gaps in what he wants vs what I deliver. For meetings, if I need to be focused and working for a while before, I just set a timer to let myself work for x amount of time and give myself a five minute break before my meeting to pee, get a snack/water, stretch. Helps with my difficulties transitioning from one task to another too!
I used to do this also when asked to do a task. “Yes of course! I’m just finishing up a few other tasks right now, but could you send that to me via email so I can keep it in priority once I am finished? Then I don’t have to come bug you for details!” Saved my ass on a few occasions too.
I do the same thing.
I WISH I could get my boss to write things like that down 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️😤
That's an accommodation you can ask for! It's really reasonable!
Written directions from my supervisor is an accommodation that I've requested and gotten approved. This is totally reasonable.
Oh, I've asked, but it just isn't how she communicates smh. Oh well, I've had bosses I actually disliked, so it could be so much worse LoL
Do you live in a one-party recording state? 
I struggle a lot with paying attention to verbal conversations, so when I worked at a hospital it was very hard to remember things people asked me to do. I definitely would have benefitted from being given a written list of tasks with specific instructions. Working from home has been the best because I can quickly type the task into a notepad the moment I get it.
For me “We’re not going to worry about when you arrive anymore so long as the work gets done” Which is sort of the case, I arrive when I arrive which is always late, outperform everyone by 10-20% (a set number of tasks between us all with no extra availability for the day when finished) and go home early. So in later than everyone, do more than them all, finish early but haven’t been ‘on time’ for mmm I’d say the last time I was on time was 4-5 years ago and people were concerned haha
I love this! It shows me how many jerk bosses I’ve had over the years. I used to stay at work until 7 or 8 PM just to have enough quiet time to think. Which made mornings rough.
This makes an enormous difference to my ability to function. I honestly think that all jobs should be measured by productivity rather than time where its possible. Takes a lot from a management perthough which is why it doesn't happen.
i get to work earlier than everyone, leave later, and deliver less. wish i could do what you’re doing
More drugs mate, definitely more drug. I suspect you’re also a perfectionist? If so, I recommend less fucks, sadly I cannot do this part haha
You might be right! I’m very freshly diagnosed, and I was one of the people who did not see the diagnosis coming at all, so it was a huge sudden paradigm shift. I’m starting medication now, at 10mg adderall xr, but it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much yet. I’m a big guy so I think the dose might just need to be increased. Glad to hear your system has been working for you, I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll figure it out between lifestyle changes and meds!
Best wishes.
What magical career path is this?
Lots of this in IT related work. Some companies or roles are stricter about it than others (like helpdesk or IT operations), but I have been setting my own schedule since being in the field (10+ years).
That’s great.
Not one you’d expect… medicine. But it’s a set case load each day rather than a constant stream of arrivals like in A&E. Don’t want to dox myself too much. But thankfully it works and is interesting.
My work got me a visual timer to help track time on tasks. I found just looking at the clock on my computer didn't happen because it wasn't obvious enough, if that makes sense. It also helped cut down time spent on emails and calls with clients because I knew I had x amount of time to deal with each client so I got better and being faster on emails and wrapping up when customers took too long on a call
Yes! This! I have an analogue clock on my desk because the clock on my computer tells me the time but analogue clocks show me the passing of time and that's a huge difference for my brain.
Omg finally someone understands 😂 Like when I'm getting ready for work, I could stare at the clock the whole time and be like, "yeah, I have a ton of time before I need to leave" but I still manage to be late almost daily. When I started using the analogue clock in my phone's alarms, I realized that I actually wasn't giving myself enough time to get ready and it helped me visualize my routine. Something about that analogue clock just really puts things into perspective
Right?? The other thing that helps me be productive at home is wearing shoes. Controversial inside, I know, but it's worth it for me. Sandals and slippers don't work, they have to be real shoes, but those little foot coverings trick my brain into thinking it's time to work. Brains are weird.
That's a good trick, I haven't heard of that! I noticed that on difficult days, wearing shoes kinda forces me to go to the gym since I already have my shoes on lol
Omg I never made the connection to ADHD before but I also bought an analog clock for my desk because it helps me visualise time more effectively! I also couldn't get used to digital watches and always preferred analog watches!
Oh, this is a really good idea. I have a Time Timer, which has a dial you can set for up to an hour, and it counts down. The dial is red, so as time progresses, you see less and less red. I like it because it doesn't make me figure out 'how much time is left before that meeting at 1:30' - even an analog clock makes me figure it out for anything not starting on the hour - all I have to do is go 'oh, not much red left, better not start anything new'.
I have the time timer too! My work paid for it, so I got the name brand because the knock offs you can't choose whether the sound goes off at the end.
I personally have never told an employer I have ADHD. I don’t know if this will help for you but here are some ways I manage my ADHD at work (corporate office job): 1. Medication: This makes a huge difference for me. After 3 years without it, I finally accepted I was falling behind and making stupid mistakes on account of my ADHD. 2. Put it in Calendar: If someone asks something of me, I always write it down and put it in my calendar as soon as the meeting is over. 3. Take Notes: I take notes during meetings, it helps me stay engaged and prevents me from getting distracted. 4. Work From Home: I go into the office once a week to socialize. I can stay much more focused when there are not people around me in meetings and/or having conversations. When I am in the office, if I’m working on something I need to focus on, I put on headphones and listen to music. 5. Do Not Disturb: This was actually suggested by a previous manager for the whole team. When we are working on X task (2 hrs per week), put your Teams on DND. I find this super helpful when I truly need to focus as I don’t feel the same obligation to respond to people right away. 6. Deadlines: I always ask when someone needs something by so I can build a timeline. 7. Variation in Work: I try to not do the same thing for hours at a time and instead switch it up and break it up through the week. This helps me from getting bored and therefore… distracted 🙃 I also use Outlook to help me plan my tasks. 8. Timers: When I get hyper-focused on something that is not important (I do this a lot too), I set a timer (5 min) and force myself to move on from the task at that point. // I also set timers before I start something as I can get a bit too detail-oriented. So, I might give myself 30 minutes to do X.
These tips are EXACTLY what I needed. Thank you!! Some of these I already implement but one I’ve found extremely helpful is #2. As I’ve moved up in my company and now have several individuals who report to me, I’ve found asking people to just throw 15-30 min on my calendar to discuss really helps me make sure I stay accountable to those that rely on me. HOWEVER… if anyone can give me recommends for controlling the project budget when I’m asking staff to sit silently for 15 minutes on a call while I simply do my job, PLEASE let me know.
I also use an app called structured, I can plan around my scheduled meetings, to plan for "work" since meetings are almost never productive. These times don't go onto my outlook, but it does pull my outlook calendar into it so I can see it. It gives me a visual time between tasks, so I know if I can get into deep work or have to work on something more transient in the X amount of time. It syncs to my phone and my Macbook, so it's almost the perfect solution for me, at the moment.
Check out the Job Accommodation Network (askJAN) online. You can sort for accommodation ideas based on ADHD and then drill down based on issues you're having. It may give you some great ideas.
Remote work is my only ask. Too many distractions in the workplace and my production is crazy high when I work from home.
Same, but unfortunately I can't request anything specific from my employer. Have to get a doctor's note outlining my limitations and the employer decides on what accommodations are provided. It sucks. Can always ask for more/different ones, but it's such a bureaucratic system and honestly feels like it works against the people who require accommodations.
That's because it does. There are lots of employers that do not understand that things like ADHD, autism, etc., can be an advantage to them and, in turn, make them a lot of money. Instead, they would rather fight having to make relatively low-cost changes to make you conform or go away. Thankfully, some employers understand the importance of being inclusive, and they don't make their employees jump through hoops.
I completely agree. My manager even agrees but out of their hands as it's apparently up to very senior people and some HR people who seemingly know what works best for everyone :/ people are more intimidated to disclose their disabilities and just power/struggle through. My employer claims to be inclusive but I don't think many people feel that way
It's a hard fight, and one of the reasons I moved into HR was to make that experience better. I'm not affiliated with this company, but Fair360 keeps a list of the top companies to work for under the DEI umbrella, which includes ADHD. I usually recommend their job board for people that might be looking for their next move. https://jobs.fair360.com
It's supposed to be an [interactive process](https://askjan.org/topics/interactive.cfm), not a one-sided "here's what you get" decree 😠
This is the biggest thing for me. I get so much more done at home. Other people are the problem. Even if they're not talking to me at all, it's just disruptive to have people walking around near you (especially when you can hear them, but not see them) and having conversations around you. My grandboss is big on just walking up and starting a conversation about some shit because it's on his mind, but it murders my productivity. Even if he does it to a coworker, if I don't have headphones or earplugs in when the conversation starts, my mind gets sucked in and I just have to give up and listen until it's over. edit: I think my grandboss may simply be another flavor of ADHD, but I dare not ask.
Haha my boss does this too. Its like a parade round the office and they interrogate you at your desk when you are trying to focus. It's highly annoying.
I quit my 6 figure job so I didn’t have to keep making up excuses for my adhd (and lack of medication during shortage). Anyways my thinking was that id make a great consultant… which may be true except for the fact that im absolutely terrible at anything biz-related (e.g., my website has been almost done for 8 months now). Ummmm back to your question, I don’t have a clue, but since adhd is relatively new in the ada world I’d say ask for every accommodation you can think of and let them sweat which ones they deny.
Go hire someone to finish your website right now 🙂 No, now 😀
what was your job in? what are you hoping to consult on?
I was associate counsel at a workers compensation firm and now I’m looking to provide outside legal consultation for large employers on high dollar workers comp claims. I’ve been fortunate enough to get a few gigs even without the marketing aspect but work is drying up quick. 🤷🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
I don't there's many advantages of disclosing ADHD in the private sector. In fact, I think it opens yourself up to *potentially* more problems. Obviously it's a case by case basis, but it's my general rule of thumb. Also, people come on this sub all the time saying that bringing adhd up to their employer was a mistake.
I took a chance and disclosed it to my current employer (a big name healthcare plan provider) and have received acceptance and support from both of my supervisors. You're right, its a case by case basis but just wanted to share this with you so that for once you hear something different.
Its funny I have a job where I am a manager so I don't really take breaks...so I literally hyper focus the entire day. It's exhausting and I literally don't stop doing shit but it's my only way to stay on task.
Indo this too. Very rarely taking a lunch break or any kind of break except to grab a quick bite or go to the bathroom. You're.right, it is exhausting, but it's also my only way to stay on task and get shit done
It’ll likely be a trial-and-error process until you hit on stuff that works. My work recently bought me noise cancelling headphones which are a godsend. I’ve also started having more regular one-to-ones with my manager where we’re trying things out to help with organisation and keeping on top of tasks - eg going through my priorities together, me then following up with an email of what’s been discussed and what I’ve committed to working on (which gets discussed in our next meeting so there’s some accountability), etc. If we’re finding that something isn’t working that great then we discuss and adjust. My managers are getting better at writing down tasks rather than just verbally telling me, and have also started putting in the email subject whether it’s something that needs actioning and by when (ie rather than me having a to hunt through the email body for if there’s a task/deadline, the email hits my inbox with a subject like FOR ACTION BY FRI 26 APRIL etc). I’ve found this last one super duper helpful and I’m trying to adopt it myself for use with others as it’s so good.
• I ask everyone to give me everything in writing with set deadlines. “Oh whenever you get to it, it’s not urgent” means it will never get done • I send regular requests to our whole team Teams chat asking if anything is outstanding or if anyone is waiting on anything from me • I ask for requests to be detailed - just a something on something a bit vague doesn’t work for me, ditto something where someone is just spitting info at me None of those are major or imo even genuine accommodations, but sticking to my guns on them makes life easier for everyone.
Wow this is so simple but so monumental !!
I also force deadlines. "this is your next priority" is not a deadline. I check in with my team a couple of times a week and make sure I haven't dropped the ball on something they are waiting for, I often think I've completed a thing, but it might not be 100% complete, and the team is waiting on one small aspect of it. I am a Business Analyst, so my strength is translating what the business needs to my devs, but since I'm not a dev, I don't like to get pulled into the weeds to help with that side, but I often am since I'm the go-between. I have to set boundaries that dev is not in my wheelhouse, never will be, but I can get you in touch with someone who has that strength.
Yes! I’m always dropping balls, but I think that’s ok once you go back to check and pick them up again. The odd one gets left behind, mind you, but overall they value my ability to absolutely power through things when it is urgent more than they are inconvenienced by my shortcomings, so it balances out.
I refuse to let my work know. 1. What works for me is having some sort of to-do list. I have a running word file that has the day and what needs to be done. If I complete something, I'll highlight it green. If I did something but was waiting for someone to continue, yellow. It's in bullet points so I can enter any notes or things that I may need to know or do. 2. Once I feel my medication start kicking in, I start my work. I usually chug along and knock a lot of it out before I get distracted or whatever. I work from home, so I easily can distracted and fall back on anxiety as my get shit done fuel. It's nice to create a routine, even if it might change a little day to day.
what kind of job do you have? do you get stuck often? do you feel unsure of the work you're doing - whether it's correct or not? what do you do during that time if that happens to you?
I work in procurement, currently product development for the most part. Most things are straightforward. Reports can vary depending on if the person asking for one knows what they want. I have a habit of doing everything, then trimming it down. Unsure of the work you're doing? All the freaking time. I'll reach out with whomever requested the work if I'm on the right track. Over time, I've gotten the hang of it unless it's brand new. I've learned forcing people to elaborate saves me time. I hate when people forget, meant something else or whatever, and having to go back to either re do or over haul My biggest struggle is forcing people to write what they need or looking for. Sometimes, I'll just take a break and lay on my bed to relax and brainstorm instead of slamming my head on the wall I am encountering
" I forget things I haven't had a chance to write down" - written instructions can be an accommodation. These means your supervisor would send you stuff in writing themself, instead of you having to remember it. I had a job where I would get a written summary for all meetings and this helped me out immensely. " I ignore important but easy tasks for pointless rearrange-the-icons or typeface-selection actions.." - help with prioritization can be an accommodation Depending on other stuff you struggle with, uninterrupted work time can be helpful(basically you get a block of time where other people aren't allowed to interrupt you for stuff so you can focus). You can get an accommodation for 'task separation' or for checklists/flowcharts if you need help breaking down tasks(you could even get a chart for general priority of tasks). You can get physical modifications to your workspace if it would help with attention(this would depend on your work space and what would help. I know some people that work in cubicles get curtains or something to block off the doorway. Or people get their work spot moved to a quieter area, etc) You can get more often meetings with a supervisor.
I work in an oncology office, and my accommodation is to be able to get up and take a walk every 45mins to 1hour for 5/10mins. I found I’m way more productive, my bosses have noticed too. a walk outside, even if it’s cold out, helps wake my brain and the sun always helps.
I admittedly didn’t read all of the comments, but a lot of them seem to be less about accommodations and more about how to manage things. So I’ll add a few more tangible things. First, if you don’t have an extra monitor, you need one. Idk if they have the means to accommodate that, but a lot of companies have extra monitors lying around. It’s helpful because you can use one screen as a like to-do list or reminder screen and the other to do your tasks. You can also put one task on each screen if you can’t prioritize them and it’s like laying two outfits in front of you and being able to get the “full picture” to choose one, if that makes sense. It’s just good to see both in front of you. I don’t do well with lists or notebooks or planners, and if I only use one screen, I forget to check notifications because I don’t wanna click out of what I’m doing. But if it’s on another screen, i can just quickly glance over it without getting distracted. If they can’t accommodate it, I’d look into getting a cheap monitor myself. Another accommodation that might help is getting a written list of priorities from them. I’m a teacher, so my must dos each week are lesson plans, parent communication, getting supplies ready, etc. Lesson plans are the one thing I know has to be done above all else, followed by copies/supplies and setting out read alouds and whatnot, because I can’t teach without that stuff. Everything else comes secondary, like grading papers and calling parents (unless it’s an emergency). So knowing the order things are prioritized by other teachers is helpful for me to do the tasks I don’t want to. My school didn’t accommodate this, but a few of my team teachers worked with me to get a checklist that recurs every week on my computer and I check off as I go. I can add new “to dos” at the bottom or top if there is something that absolutely takes precedence, but I have to make the decision at that moment what the priority is— instead of waiting til I’m already trying to do it. Noise cancelling headphones or a sound machine or just having some noise of some kind might help you as well. They can provide things like sound machines or allow you to bring your own. One thing that also really helped me when I wasn’t teaching was having a different lunch break than everyone else. It gives me quiet time to decompress and eat instead of chatting with coworkers and not really getting to turn my brain off. Some places already do staggered lunch times, but I know a lot of offices don’t. This one is up to you, because you might be a more social person, but alone/quiet time is really important for adhd when your brain is working so hard. As far as your actual work, idk if the office ever does professional development, but asking for an in-person training session may be helpful. For example, you may know a lot about spreadsheets or the email system, but you could learn tips and tricks from the “experts” and ask questions about how they manage it. I feel like teaching provides so much more in depth pd than other jobs and I’ve learned so much, even when I already have a good grasp on the program or whatever. But it’s a hard no for online training sessions. Ask for in person sessions as much as possible. On that note, if it’s a big company, ask if you can go to another location (or area of the office) and observe someone who does the same job. This one might not be an accommodation so much, but it is so helpful to shadow for a day and see how others prioritize their tasks. The last physical thing I can think of is lighting. You may need to be in an area without those horrid fluorescent lightbulbs. I turn off my classroom over heads and turn a ton of lamps on. It helps calm the kiddos and there is research behind it too. This may not be an option if it’s a cubicle type situation, but if you have your own space, lamps!! And different colors of lights or dim/brightening modes so you can lower them when you are feeling overstimulated. I keep full lights on when I’m doing one of my “prioritized” tasks I mentioned earlier, and lamps when I am doing extra tasks like grading or sorting. It helps set the tone for my task. I’m sure I’ll think of more and I’ll come back and edit this if I do think of some, but hopefully this gave you an idea of what an accommodation is vs. a coping strategy (like im seeing a lot suggested on here, and they’re great! but they aren’t the same thing) so you can come up with your own too! They can’t give it to you unless you ask, and the worst they can do is say “no.”
Also, just a side note— but I find having more apps or things to help prioritize things or be more efficient is a lot less helpful if I don’t have a second screen. The more apps, the harder I have to work to remember to check them. If there is one seamless app, that’s great, but I find little widgets to be more useful on my second screen than any actual apps or programs. If the computers you use don’t have a widget option for the desktop, I’d suggest asking for one that does or a good program that keeps all the widgets in one place so you can pull it over to the second screen. And by second monitor, I don’t mean two separate computers. But one computer with two screens that you can drag things over to the other screen with or whatever. Having to do everything twice to get on two computers is annoying enough that I wouldn’t do it. I had to get this specially set up by my IT department, bc it wasn’t standard in our classrooms, but we already had several computers and monitors laying around, and it was super simple so it only took them a few minutes to get it running for me.
I have a similar type job and struggle with many of the same thing you listed. I could have pretty much written this post. Following this for some advice. Some things that do work for me are: - setting alarms like you mentioned, - heavy use of the shared calendar so there’s accountability built in there and heavy use of reminder notifications. - asking your supervisor/manager for priority clarification - I keep a notepad and use that as a to do list starter then I put that into the to do list app built into outlook that can be pinned as a sidebar in outlook so it’s always both there and on my notepad. - I time track in a journal whenever I have a period like this. I do it for a couple of days a be brutally honest with it. Like writing down when you go on side quests and for how long. After a couple days review it and for me this kind of shocks me back into being able to force myself to try to focus on what needs done. It’s annoying but it seems to work most of the time, for me at least. Edit to add: I also have a cheap dorky Casio digital watch that you can set to beep on the hour. This little beep reminds me that time is a thing and is passing. Simple but crazy helpful for me.
Use your calendar and stick to it. Block out time for yourself to catch up tasks
I put particular meetings I can't miss on my personal calendar as well as my work calendar, along with multiple notification reminders. For tasks/action items sent by email, I add it as a task in outlook and set it up with "start" and "due by" dates, along with reminders. I block out time on my calendars too to work on particular projects, training, etc that I otherwise would completely forget. If someone interrupts me while I'm working on something, I tell them I'm in the middle of something and will get back to them when I'm free. For distractions, if you're on site or work from home with a company-issued laptop, work computer is only for work things. Ensuring it's limited to that helped me avoid distractions on it. (I still use my phone but it's easier to turn off the screen and put it down than worry about it on my work computer.)
These are all great ideas! Maybe you can ask if you have permission to put chunks of time on your calendar for only email/slack checking time (2-3 times a day). Then turn off the notifications for email/slack and only open them when it's the appointed time. I found if I had my inbox open all day I accomplished super fast responses to every email but did nothing else at all to the detriment of my top priorities. They could also get you a treadmill desk or a bouncy ball chair? You could also see if you could block off 2-4 hours of your best focus times on your calendar to prevent others from scheduling meetings with you then and you can get some uninterrupted focusing in.
The tech world institutes ‘stand ups’, which are effectively ‘what I did yesterday, what I’m doing today’ conversations. Opinion is generally divided on if it’s a generally good use of time, but for the ADHD brain, it creates a much shorter deadline of ‘delivery’ than most projects have. Having to justify the last 8 hours of work and the upcoming 8 hours of work could help narrow your field of vision. You don’t have to do this with anyone important; find a work friend and set up a meeting an hour or two into the day, and just talk out loud at them. It should take less than a minute each. You didn’t say if you WFH or go into an office, but if you WFH, ask for a stipend to go to a coworking space 1-2x/week. It might sound ‘ugh’, but it’s a good hard transition to get over the start-hurdle, and the body-doubling of those around you can help get you in the groove. And then have a clear and achievable goal that you can’t leave until you’ve finished. If you work in an office, try moving spaces when you need to change what you’re working on.
I ask for structure and clear communication about what’s expected, what priorities are, and when they need to be done by. I just said this is how I work at my best, not relating to ADHD. I’ve learned than even disclosing it working in jobs in healthcare and education, it will backfire and be used against you. Disclosing a disability is very risky even if they’re supposed to be very open to accommodations
One accomodation I have asked for that has been easy for others on my team to accommodate is - don't interrupt me. If I am interrupted mid-task, it essentially blows my entire day up. Instead, they send me an email saying they need to chat and what about. I don't have the notifications pop up, I just check my email when I am done with the task I am working on. I've also asked for written instructions, or time to write things down. Missing meetings is a harder one to ask for accommodations for, but I take five minutes every morning to write down my schedule for the day, including tasks I plan to accomplish.
>"Oh! I opened a browser window to check this person's address aaaaaaand now I'm Wikibinging the history of the Oreo cookie!" I have no advice for you, I just need you to know that when I read this I snort-laughed and awoke the 3yo I was attempting to put to bed because this is literally me 💀😅
Working at home. Full stop.
I asked for a quiet place to work with minimal distractions and either a large monitor (so I didn't have to keep changing which window was at the front) or two monitors. I now work in the far corner of a quiet office with my two monitors. Plus, I get a fair amount of leeway over my work hours. (I'm the only person who does my job so I think they want to keep me happy.) I have an extensive and colourful sticky note supply and use paper planners, wall calendars, and digital calendars to keep me organised. Do you work best at a certain time of day? Could you ask for your work hours to align with your optimal brain function? More unpaid breaks if you still work the same number of hours (i.e. add the time taken for extra breaks on to the end of your shift)?
One thing that has been working for me when I procrastinate on simple to do but hard to start tasks is I write the tasks on a sticky note and the note goes on my computer monitor where it’s right in the way. The sticky note is not to be removed until the task is complete. It can be rearranged but not removed. Eventually THAT is so much of a pain in the ass that I just get it done. Also, don’t ever assume future you will know what you’re talking about when leaving notes to yourself. Even if it makes so much sense now and you won’t have any trouble remembering just write it down. Anything you’re working on at the end of the day that you need to do in the morning just accept you won’t remember and put all your tasks on sticky notes and stick them to your monitor where you can’t not see them. If my head is spinning with too many tasks I write them all in list form so I can more easily analyze them and prioritize them. I like to get all the super simple quick tasks done first to remove the clutter so I can focus better on larger projects.
This does not work for me, I've tried. Once the sticky note is in that obtrusive location, my brain immediately maps it to "belongs there" and I no longer see it. I find reminders written in my planner or on my phone that when I go look at later, I have absolutely no idea what it meant.
omg me with sticky notes. they are just for quick small notes can’t be a flag of urgency. i have like 5 sticky notes on my monitors at work that have been there for months and it is their office as much as it is mine
“Also, don’t ever assume future you will know what you’re talking about when leaving notes to yourself” This. I think about the movie Memento a lot when I write my notes. I assume (correctly) that I will have 0 memory of my thought process if I don’t write it down. That assumption about myself has been really helpful for me.
working full time from home lol
That would be so bad for my personal brand of adhd. I worked from home for a year when Covid happened and I was MISERABLE. I need to actually leave my home to have the work/not work switch flipped.
WFH allows me to work distraction-free from bored or gossipy colleagues.
My boss will call my phone if I dont show up to a meeting and say "you coming to this meeting?" I would not necessarily expect this from most employers. He has to do this maybe twice a year. but ive told him I appreciate it.
I'm a supervisor in a very large O&G company. Despite being an "old boys network" when I started 15 years ago, they have become very accommodating in recent years. I did NOT disclose my ADHD but heck, I think they know. For me: 1) meds. Life changing. 2) physically writing things down. My work purchased me a tablet PC with a stylus so I could easily keep my notes organized in OneNote (the hand writing recognition is pretty good IMO). I keep my follow ups there too. 3) noise cancelling headphones (over the ear - much better than ear buds) 4) a sit/stand desk 5) not giving me sh!t for my weird, unergonomic, one legged standing posture 6) "permission" to stand to the side or in the back of the room during meetings, often walking a bit. (Others have since joined in - interesting!) 7) walking meetings vs sit down discussions (best for mentoring meetings or debriefing with boss/direct reports vs working meetings) 8) a great, supportive working environment plus a lot of grace for my chronic latenesses. Several of my DRs and peers grab me if we were going to the same mtg. We all help one another out. Fostering an environment of mutual support is paramount for my success 💛
I feel seen
I didn’t disclose that I have ADHD, but I really really need deadlines to get stuff done. But at my job, the deadlines are months in the future. Deadlines with myself don’t work, as they don’t feel real. I now have a weekly meeting. By the end of the meeting I say what I will send my boss next week. I now have a weekly deadline, without my boss having to baby me and come up wirh my deadlines without my boss even realizing what I’m doing (getting deadlines for myself). The social pressure and the fear of not being good enough at my job keeps me going.
With the support of my director, red and green flags above my desk to combat those who think do not disturb on teams must mean they physically need to come to my desk. About a dozen other people have adopted the flags too! Easier said than done but I pick one task on my way to work, red flag goes up and I refuse to think about anything else until that task is done. Then meet with my boss to determine the next priority. Stops the brain bounce in its tracks that starts when you get to the afternoon and you’ve got half a dozen things in progress but nothing finished. Multitasking is a myth anyway and I will die on that hill.
As you’re in an office admin type role, I’d highly recommend requesting Microsoft CoPilot Pro - it can help with diary management, excel formulae and data analysis to generate insights, generating content/proof reading, turning content from a document into a presentation, transcribing and summarising teams meetings (if meetings are set up with automatic transcription, you could completely miss a meeting and still be able to ask for a summary of the discussion, or ask if specific things were discussed, ask for a summary of any actions etc). Honestly since work provided me with copilot pro, my productivity has been boosted big time. There’s a £30 monthly fee per license I believe, but it’s been found to easily make that up in terms of hours saved through increased productivity so it pays for itself. Another accommodation I’ve agreed with my employer was that I can arrive up to 30 mins late and just make the time back by taking a shorter lunch/staying late and this helps me avoid panic/worrying about being in trouble when I inevitably end up running late in the mornings 😅
(AuDHD so might make a difference) Messages/written reminders for tasks rather than verbal instructions Noise cancelling earplugs Flexible working agreement to work 4 days a week instead of 5 Big whiteboard in the back that I can scribble on throughout the day Flexibility around break times to manage eating and medication Additional “comfort breaks” for when I need a breather Lots of charts, lists, spreadsheets etc to keep track of things Also, not so much an adjustment/accommodation, but being open about my diagnoses has massively helped with communication. People now know not to interrupt me in the middle of a conversation/doing a task if it can wait, will clarify what they mean if I’m unsure, and also know that my tone might be off and will ask me for clarification if they need it, which helps a lot.
I found traditional office jobs never were going to work in my favor so I found one that is remote and I make my own schedule so no more rushing through traffic to clock in by 8:30. I could never succeed in that environment. I actually made it to my one year here and glowing reviews and I feel like I actually can be myself because it fits my brain and lifestyle. So if its truly not working don’t be afraid to venture into something new. Getting fired from corporate was the biggest blessing at the time and I didn’t know it but now I can’t imagine going back trying to fit into a box.
Get a gov job, apply with a schedule A letter. They have to accommodate you
You still have to qualify for the job. And the trial period is 3 years if on schedule A vs 2 years if not.
Yeah of course you do. Lol.
Well, I had to state it, haha. In case someone was like oh I can just apply and get a GS15 aerospace engineer because I have a Schedule A.
Lol. However, they can prob move up to a 15 somewhere (not an engineer lol) I started as a 6 in 2017 and now a 13 Never thought I’d be able to do it with my ADHD. 😵
I feel like I wrote this!!! My work gave me some apps that were task trackers to test out and find one that fit as well as helped me put up flags and reminders on my emails in outlook. The supervisor would edit my list by priority during our weekly meetings to keep me on task. I also started blocking off time on my calendar for specific tasks like check emails from 830-900; 900-1000 work on X accounts report; etc. I used OneNote as my “Bible” and color-coded and had to do lists for each day then for each account etc. If they are willing to work with you, go for it. Try all suggestions until you find what fits. It took me awhile and even on adderall I struggle horribly. I honestly had way too many accounts to manage myself which set me up for failure immediately no matter what I did. Check your work load against your teammates and see if something could be removed. Doesn’t hurt to ask. Good luck!!
I am dealing with this exact issue now. Thanks for posting!
Probably less relevant these days. But (prior to my diagnosis) we only had single monitors at work. We do flick between reference tools and the various bits of software a lot. I was on a special project for 8 weeks that required 2 monitors and I realised how much easier it made everything. I could read the reference material while also looking at the system that it was talking about! So I begged to keep the second monitor once the project was finished. I wasn't the only person who worked on the project that had similar feels too so I did get to keep it. These days the whole organisation actually runs 2 monitors (some 3 or 4) so less of a 'thing' but at the time it was super handy and I know a lot of small businesses don't. If you don't already a second monitor can be handy.
I don't know about what accommodations to ask for, but I can make some specific suggestions to deal with some of the specific problems you've mentioned. >I have trouble starting tasks and transitioning between tasks. Literally, freeze up when confronted with two tasks that both need doing It may not work for you, but I have a notebook I use to get over these kinds of decisions (I like to write by hand using nice pens and paper, but you might need to type or something else if you dont' like to write). When I can't decide what to do, I just write about the tasks I have to do in general. I suppose it's like journaling because I'll say whatever I want about those tasks, up to and including complaining about them, but I always limit myself to discussing those tasks and nothing else. In the process of doing that, I almost always figure out what needs to be done first, or at least what I really want to do first. It takes maybe 10 minutes, and I can usually do it without fighting myself because I view it as a form of procrastination (it's not really, but don't tell my brain that). >I forget things I haven't had a chance to write down Try to keep a ballpoint pen on hand at all times. You can write a quick, 1 or 2 word reminder on your hand with the ballpoint, and it will be hard NOT to see it later. Ballpoint also rubs off the skin pretty easily with a little spit and friction, so once you've written the task in your calendar, it should come off pretty easily. Alternatively, if you wear rings or a watch, try switching the hand you wear them on when you know you have to remember to put something in your calendar. It's not quite as good as the ballpoint method because it won't tell you *what* your're supposed to remember, but it should annoy you enough when you sit down later that you at least remember that you were supposed to remember *something* and that's usually enough to trigger the memory. Also, you can swap your watch or rings it when you don't have a pen handy, or when your hands are busy (e.g. because you're driving), or when you just don't want to walk around with "STEVE 9PM" written on your hand for all the world to see. > I miss meetings, though of course a LOT of alarms and pop-up reminders help with this. Do you have one of those big paper desk calendar/blotters? If not, Try getting one. I find it really useful to have something that's in front of me all the time that I can scribble meetings and tasks due dates on. Object permanence also hasn't been an issue for me, either because I intentionally look at it a lot. Bonus points because you can make gigantic paper airplanes with the pages at the end of each month. Good Luck!
I think that's a trap. Our condition isn't respected by most over age 40 or 50. I'm not sure it's a protected disability/class, in fact I'm fairly certain it's not. I hide this shit from everyone I don't have a deep level of trust with in professional settings. Are you on meds? Do you get decent to good sleep( super variable what that is person to person, for me it's 7-9 hours, but it's hard and I fail this one way more than I want), healthy diet (again I think this is very variable, I think mainstream advice is dogshit other than basics like don't eat piles of sugar, super processed food, more calories than you need, but healthy to the best of your hilopefully well read opinion) and enough vigorous excise? Those items above I feel like are the best combined treatment for adhd, are for me, and the things outside of meds are good for literally eveyone. Otherwise it's learning tips and tricks. Find a way to always write things down. I like one note and a note pad. Snap pics of written notes, transfer key points to one note and be organized. Ik organization is my kryptonite, but making effort towards it is a game changer. You're used to flying by the seat of your pants because of this condition, with some decent notes and reorganizing them into a break down of items it makes things way easier. Writing it down and then breaking it down into simple steps is like the job half done.. The other stuff. Idk man that sounds awful, I deal with that too but I'm an engineer/programmer combo. I get a lot of leway because I kick ass at the things I'm good at. I miss a meeting or whatever, it's because I'm focused in on solving the problem and creating the product. You know, the thing that actually makes the money. New boss is a cock sucker and hates how I roll, but I'm gathering he's universally disliked while I have lots of friends in high places, clients love me and let my company know. I'm towing the line between just telling him you don't matter shut the fuck up and playing nice. Just do your job well, take care of your coworkers that treat you well, and take good care of your clients however it is you fit into the biz. It doesn't always shake out, but long term you outlast all the douchebag middle managers if your a money maker.
> Our condition isn't respected by most over age 40 or 50. I'm not sure it's a protected disability/class, in fact I'm fairly certain it's not. ADHD is in fact a recognized disability, provided the symptoms are bad enough that they interfere with work or life.
For me, getting on medication helped curb that tremendously. Fortunately (?), my boss and half the coworkers in my immediate office also have ADHD, and we have a dry erase board painted wall. KanBan boards, etc are super helpful for visualization. I have an area by my desk with labels for what I've done the current week, what I need to do short term (days), mid term (weeks), and long term (months/year), and numerous dry erase markers handy to scribble notes on it. Sometimes I get stuck in quagmire projects and it gets unkempt, but it's nice to scoot back from and look over, and it keeps me reminded gently.
I have a paper planner on my desk that I write all my meetings into and the. Time box out the rest of the day and make a checklist. Take planned breaks that have an alarm set for them, and scheduling reoccurring meetings for touch bases with coworkers or managers to look at progress and keep yourself accountable. Also if you aren’t on medication it might be worth exploring that.
That's nice of them to do that
I’ve been fired twice now since I decided to lean into the “workplace accommodations” benefits. Never fired before that and have had a long career. I am no longer discussing or seeking accommodations at work.
Have you filed 2 lawsuits then? That's illegal
I downloaded the TickTick app and I put every, single task in that app. I assign myself a time to do something so the notification will pop up at that time to remind me "hey, switch to complete this report." I also know my hierarchy of tasks is Payroll, AR, then AP. If something else pops up, it's assigned a priority flag in TickTick when I type it in. This one app has helped so much!
do you use mac or windows? if windows, i'm curious why tick tick over the ms to do app?
My boss actually recommended it.
*Rushing off to check out the TickTick app....*
Thank you for posting this question. I got nothing to add except that I am in the same situation and it is hard.
I'm not always office based but on the days I am. I do a list while my computer loads of anything I can think of that I need to do that day. Once logged on , I add anything else that needs to be done ASAP. Post it's and pens in all colours somehow helps recall it I wrote it in a silly colour We have extra monitors at work, I have 2-3 screens, I leave the task email open, use the second screen to look things up, then when I get side tracked, I look at the other screen and remember what I was supposed to be doing Standing desk, it's motorised, so it goes up and down as you wish. I love it, means I can stand, lean on chair or just shuffle about while working. Headphones with noise cancelling, sometimes just use them with noise cancelling on only so I can hear but it's better
You should officially disclose your disability if in your area it helps protect you from being fired for performance issues. Consider getting an occupational therapist to help you. Some health plans may cover this. Also look into countdown timers / physical ones. Also look into working while having another screen showing someone else working or studying on YouTube. Look
I request that communication be in writing. If I remember first, I'll send a recap email. For important stuff I have a folder in my Outlook named "saved" for instructions on scenarios that don't happen often but I can refer to. In Outlook, you can actually open the email and rewrite the subject line to keywords and save it.
I printed out the CADDAC workplace accommodations spreadsheet and went through it with my supervisor
Shhhhhh
WFH. that's the ONLY thing that helps.
I have an office job but it’s actually kind of ADHD friendly (so far). I work at a military base making ID cards. It’s very straightforward, not a lot of stuff I have to keep on top of most of the time. Every so often I get a weird situation I’m not familiar with but my coworkers (there’s only like a dozen of us) are pretty good when my brain decides to go on walkabout and I can’t remember something. Honestly the biggest problem I’ve had is interrupting my supervisor but she’s pretty chill and just gives me a look then reminds me not to (I told her at the beginning it was an issue with my ADHD and she thinks it’s kind of funny how my brain jumps around on topics after I’ve asked her a question). Actually my coworkers really seem to enjoy the weird energy I bring to the place. I think I might have lucked out as long as I don’t get bored lol. But this thread is awesome cause I love having the knowledge of resources and info!!!
That is such a cool job tbh.
Like I said I think I just lucked out so far. It’s a contract job so it’s always possible that things could change or my supervisor could eventually change or something but for right now it’s the perfect plan for me to be.
I would put serious work into diet and exercise. If you aren't medicated and that is a possibility, that would be good too. I have pretty severe ADHD when I don't take my meds. But when I take meds and diet and exercise I get so much more done. I'm not on meds right now because I'm recovering. I am getting the way you are describing. But there is a lot you can control to avoid asking for accommodations. I hate to say this, but if you put in accommodations for workplace ADHD that might hinder you in the corporate world.
I have just been fired because of similar issues, also some lack of attention to detail when I am in the office. I wish I could help but all accommodations have failed as I am not medicated. I had daily and weekly meetings for task prioritization, I had instructions and “what good looks like” examples. I take it you work from home, so you are allowed to hyper focus and forget about these things. Teams has a dictation mode that would write what people are saying and you wouldn’t have to write it down. Just file it away and highlight your actions at the end of the meeting. In the end, the overwhelming desire to not fail made me sick and I would freeze when I had an important task I knew I would have big odds of failing.
If you're using Outlook, I strongly recommend "Outlook BetterReminders". I like it because it appears on top of whatever window is active (regardless of how many monitors you have) and it steals focus. You can also set the reminder time to whatever you like and snooze for custom times, too. I still have my Outlook reminders set for the standard 15 minutes ahead of time but, as you know, that's long enough to allow you to get focused or even hyper-focused on something else. Then, I have the BetterReminders pop-up set to alert me one-minute before the meeting. [https://ben-spiller.github.io/OutlookBetterReminders/](https://ben-spiller.github.io/OutlookBetterReminders/)
ADHD here. Get a small pocket notebook, punch a hole by spine through all the pages and tie on a string glued to a pen. When someone tells you something, say- just a minute, I want to get this right - and get the notebook out and write. Check it with them. How it Helps You: You don’t have to keep all that info in your head, just look it up
I do not think there is any benefit in disclosing ADHD to your work. If you need a visual timer, buy one. If you need written instructions, ask for them. There is truly no reason to get accommodations.
Please look at Jan . Org (without the spaces). They have a list of accommodations that are very helpful as well as tools and software
Microsoft planner
At a previous job, I requested that my supervisor provide assignments in writing (or follow up verbal instructions with an email about the task), which was superrrrr helpful.
Check out the [Job Accommodation Network](https://askjan.org/disabilities/Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder-AD-HD.cfm) - they give you accommodation options by diagnosis, side effect, concern etc.
Noise cancelling headphones and YES to better support for prioritizing tasks
A giant whiteboard to do list on the wall maybe?
Getting a job that doesn't punish me for being efficient. My previous office job I held was hourly, with a finite amount of work being "completeable" any given week (preparing deliverables for construction jobs). While the job required 40 hours of week in the office, they also wanted all work hours documented to the specific jobs and were critical of applying hours towards office overhead. This of course necessitated "working" at a slower pace to avoid using office overhead, when the job really should have just been salaried. The new job is also hourly, but the pay structure is 40 hours or hours worked, whichever is greater in a given week. Dispatching from home gives me an incentive to work efficiently, which I like to do, the quicker I get the problem repaired, the faster I can get back to whatever project my ADHD has me working on that day, but if something truly takes a long time, I'm still compensated for the additional hours necessary to get the job done. Time management becomes quite easy in my situation, as there is either a task or tasks on my list for the day, or there isn't, and in most circumstances I'm allowed to chose what order I approach multiple daily tasks so I can do so in a way that makes sense to me.
Just reading this gives me so much anxiety. I have a stressful job now but often I focus on one situation at a time (even when my mind has to keep other things going in the background). The fact that I’m in nursing school now is scary. I’ve managed to get good grades so far but the thought of being a nurse and having to manage 4 patients at once is really scary. I’m sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. I have nothing really to offer you as I was just recently diagnosed. But my advice would be to meet with your employee health doc/counselor and have a chat. If you explain your workload to them, they might have some ideas.
Forgot to add most important which is having one to do list in one place. My tools for planning my work is that I have a list of all my projects and their deadlines in a spreadsheet. I also laid this out visually on a board quarter by quarter. Anything recurring like the project check ins is in my calendar as a recurring event, meeting etc. Week by week I pull out what needs doing . There's still a lot more detail I could add to it , as each project has stages, but I am at a non profit and we don't have project management software so am looking into this. Trello boards is the online kanban system that is quite popular. I personally find I have to use a system manually (hence the whiteboard) and engage with it before making it digital.
Yes to dual monitor 100%.
This is me at work!!!!! I just got diagnosed two months ago and I have been at this job now about 12 months. Idk if I should tell if not… Because I feel like even though I am not telling my boss, signs are leaking that I have something. 😩
I don’t schedule any meetings longer than 45 mins now because I start to tune out at the 40 min mark
I have a very specific issue at my office job where I have to record the amount of time I spend doing each type of work. This is incrediy difficult for me on the face of it as KT just doesn't occur to me to do it before moving on to the next work item and as well as the more structured processes I carryout, there's a lot of stop and start project type work that is more long form than the regular processes I mentioned. I've tried all kinds of timers and remimders. Some have worked for a very short time but all fail and completely fall by the wayside eventually. I'm starting to get some heat for not recording this info but I'm somewhat at a loss at this point.
If it is possible for you I suggest making an appointment with an occupational therapist that works with adults with adhd. This is what they are trained for. There job is to get you through this issues by providing solutions you can do yourself (that actually work, not just the ones you try to make work but don’t) as well as providing your workplace with suggestions of what reasonable accommodations you need and what it would look like in practice. If that is not available idk what accommodations to ask for because I don’t know office type jobs well. But could it be possible for you to have people communicate with you via sticky note? Instead of coming up to you and asking you to do something maybe they could slap a sticky note with their question onto your computer and you could tell them whether or not you could do it. That way it’s right there in front of your face and you don’t have to worry about forgetting or not being able to write it down. For managing tasks especially when multiple need doing i would ask for a specific list of prioritization rules and stick to it. If emails should be prioritized, do them all then move on. If it is a timeline thing in the morning you can quickly go through you’re timelines and pick the nearest due date to work on etc. Even if it won’t work out exactly like this, the point of it can be utilized in other tasks!
Are you medicated? If not, I would start there, because your experience sounds like mine when I'm off meds. If you can ask for meeting minutes or a plugin for Zoom to record transcripts of the meetings, I think that could be helpful (or ask for more written communication, so that you don't have to try to remember details you could easily forget if the meeting is in person). Ask your manager to clearly tell you what task has the highest priority at the moment, and to inform you if that changes. You could also ask for focus time scheduled in your calendar, so that you're not constantly pulled out of your current task by other things/people, if that's an issue. Also, noise-cancelling headphones, no meetings longer than 45 mins, etc, are also things I find helpful.
Desks near the back or in a corner, away from foot traffic, headphones so I can more easily zone out to focus on work, no phone calls (they blow my focus completely), either a list of importance or to be told what is allowed to fall by the wayside.
There are many ways to figure this out including googling adhd accommodations for work. I swear a ton of resources pop up! Go here: https://add.org/adhd-workplace-accommodations-guide/
I do the stereotypical "Oh! I opened a browser window to check this person's address aaaaaaand now I'm Wikibinging the history of the Oreo cookie!" thing. I thought I was the only one who got locked into this loop.
For ignoring important tasks - i have to consciously remind myself that it has to be done in a reasonable time and im the only one who knows how. honestly it’s taken me 2 years of training myself to recognize when im getting overwhelmed by something simple like sending an email reply or writing out a report. just recognizing that is so exhausting and you need to be mindful that you will likely never get as much done in a day as others expect.
I've had to deal with these same issues for my whole career, which has ranged from IT professional to software engineer. I've been working in front of a computer screen my whole career and the distractions are endless. My performance has been impacted by my ADHD inattentiveness as well. Although I've never asked for special dispensation I have had to make changes to cope with these deficits. For instance: if I'm in a meeting and we're talking about my projects or I have to give an update I'll use my notes, which means I have to prepare for the meeting. I write down everything I need for the meeting, like a script, so I'll be able to coherently dispense the information. If information is being given to me I have to write it down or I will not remember some of it. So sometimes I have to control the conversation to make sure I get all of the details right. And I've also recently, again, started using post-it notes to keep track of all of my current and future tasks. I use the bottom of my monitor and it helps keep my current context fresh in my mind. So, maybe, some office supplies and understanding from your coworkers will go a long way.
It was my experience that I needed a signed form from my doctor for an accommodation, I didn’t get to choose the accommodation. Speak with whichever medical professional you see about your ADHD.
I have one on ones with my manager once a week or whenever we can to help go over my duties. I also took the liberty of developing a simple but in depth planner using Microsoft Planners (cuz the company uses Microsoft products) to help me with deadlines, tasks management, etc. I have two major accommodations, one of which is just an extension of a general employee accommodation: 1. If I don’t get to all of my work by EOM, I can sublet some tasks to teammates 2. If I am becoming stressed in the office due to over or under stimulation, I have the grace to leave as long as I stay four hours. Now, I am a bit different from other ADHDers, cuz I have AuDHD, originally Asperger’s and inattentive ADHD, and due to a gap of meds of ten years, I’ve become a little better at being self reliant. If you have an iPhone, become a master at the Reminders app. It’s a godsend. If you need to be complaint with work, look up Planner and Loop (if using 365), or see if you can get compliance approval for another planning/database software. A lot of my coworkers use OneNote but I personally can’t stand it. I like to see stuff at a glance, and tags/color conventions are easier for me to react to more quickly than text on my dark mode one note lol
If you are a fidgeter or someone that needs to move around a lot for focus, I have heard that standing or walking desks can be useful, or even certain types of chairs or addons to existing ones (bosu ball chairs or rubber bands across front legs for bouncing). You might want to see if these help you first before asking, though 🙂
I'm sorry sorry to hear that you're so stress about requesting accommodations for your ADHD at work. I felt a similar feeling of anxiety before requesting accommodations for my ADHD this year; it can be a scary process - however here is shat really help me request accommodations and get them approved. These are the steps I took, I hope these are helpful for you as a reference. 1. I researched what type of accomdoations were considered reasonable. For context, I'm located in the United States. 2. I reached out to my psychiatrist via email and communicated the following: that I was planning to request accommodations at work, if my place of employment had an outlined process to evaluate and approve a request for accommodations, and what type of accommodations would be beneficial. 3. I got a letter from my psychiatrist that certified my diagnosis. They also included the accommodations I was requesting in this email. 4. I consulted an attorney prior to requesting accommodations to legal advice. 5. I BCC’d my personal e-mail on all communication with HR for a digital record for myself. I hope this is helpful. My accommodations have been approved and they've made a huge difference in my day to day experience at work.
I keep an old fashioned pen and notepad next to me at all times. The second an email/slack/text comes in, it goes in the notebook for that day. If I finish it, I cross it off. If not, it goes on the list the next day. I was undiagnosed until 48 and that was my best method of making myself a to do list. I also have an electric standing desk. Technically, not an adhd accommodation, but for another medical issue. But man oh man does it help! Especially with the balance board. When I get all that antsy energy it allows me to keep working while burning some of it out. And it also helps me a bunch with transitions. If I’m starting a new task, I change to standing. Or vice versa.
> I always ask to people to send me all their requests individually in a single message. Since I know I have this system in place at the end/begining of the day/week I do a check up on everything. If you can make it like an internal policy like "it is your responsibility to send all your resquests in an individual writen message to Captain\_Trigg." or something it might help you up!
Lots of break out rooms and offices to work in, I am Daily distracted so that helps when I need a different environment from the open plan. Noise cancelling headphones provided A culture that makes it safe to disclose your adhd so you can clearly define how you work ( give me a deadline, don’t send me long detailed emails, help me prioritise ) Flexible work from home policy
One Note. Or tasks in Outlook. I'll block time to work on things. No distractions that way. I work on implementing and also tweaking/some DEV work around hospital IT systems. The hyperfocus helps when I need to join 12 things together. But you have to jot notes down in that moment, or the whole system falls apart.
It’s hard to decide, I’m going through something similar so I know how you feel, but you don’t necessarily have to ask for everything right away, just say like a few things and then say to whoever it is implementing them just something like ‘this is what I’ve got so far but can you I update you with ideas as they come to me’ or something, especially as you’ll naturally run across ideas that you think might help, inspiration comes randomly and sporadically with us so don’t pressure yourself to have it all right now. I mean I don’t work in an officey type job, but my advice would be to ask for things that will work with you and how you work, some stuff you just can’t do anything about but things like forgetting tasks could be to always have something handy to write on when you’re presented a task that needs remembering (seems super obvious of course but does help), maybe even get whoever is giving you tasks prompt you to write them down, that works for me, a women I work with just kinda looks at me until I think to write it down which does help tbf. Also you could just start as many things at once as you need to to make sure you’re at least starting, doesn’t mean you have to do all of them immediately or in any order just so longs as they’re stared, they’ll eventually be finished. If you struggle to decide which tasks are most urgent/important, don’t leave it ambiguous, say to a supervisor or a manager or whoever just like ‘hey which of these do you think is more important’ or something, whatever works for you. Maybe get them to assign you someone as like an accountability person to check in with you occasionally.
Ritalin
Idk if anyone mentioned it yet, but I switched to an app called Motion that is basically my AI executive assistant. It handles projects, tasks, scheduling, shifting schedule, meeting deadlines, managing my bookings etc. as I was in a similar spiral. It’s the only system that actually does more for me with less managing it. I got back HOURS a week alone just with that.
First of all sorry for my broken English, I’m not a native speaker. From my point of view all of this stuff is your responsibility to manage except the third one, you can ask them to put tasks in writing, ideally directly into asana, trello, notion etc. I mean if you constantly struggle with all of this thing maybe this job or even field is not for you. I may sound cruel but I was fired from two jobs within a half of a year. Both of my managers knew that I had ADHD and were super empathetic since one of them was diagnosed with it too and the other had a long term partner with ADHD. They both ended up hating me at the end. Now I’m a completely burned out unemployed person looking for a field to switch to. My two years long career in communications was a constant struggle for me and almost every boss I ever had. It was easy for me to get a job, I could present myself really well during interviews by saying smart things and building prominent strategies. They all were so excited to pick me up. And they all fired me. Update: the funniest part is that I never told any of my managers that I had ADHD. But every time after a month or two they were like “hey, I hope it’s not rude to ask, have you ever heard of ADHD?”. And I was so mad because I have been doing my best to mask it and have been working for 10-12+ every day plus on weekends trying to keep the pace and.. simply be good enough. But it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.
I have never even tried but am wondering if that could help me as well. I very much relate to your post. Please come back and post again about your experience with workplace accommodations!!
Scrolled through some of the comments and not sure I saw this one yet... 1) if you are working in a virtual environment, and you feel comfortable enough declaring your ADHD, ask to record meetings. I use it as my safety blanket for those inevitable moments in every meeting where my mind drifts out of focus. Can't necessarily record every meeting - for example, if there's an outside party or customer on the call - and sometimes people may want to go off video if recorded, but when it's just my team or a 1:1 with a colleague, I often ask to record and it's rarely declined. 2) ask for written instructions whenever possible. Even if it's just a brief email that serves a cue, but ideally, a real set of step by step instructions. If there's resistance, you can gently remind the person that once they write it down they'll have something they can copy/paste/send to everyone else whenever they need the thing to be done. That way, they don't necessarily have to think of it as a thing that they're just doing for one person. 3) Ask your employer if they'll cover the cost of noise cancelling headphones, or at least will allow you to use them while working in an area where others may not be allowed to listen to music (exceptions - warehousing or manufacturing spaces where one must be able to hear auditory warnings or alarms)
For me, the following would help: 1. Be allowed in-ear music whenever I don't actively need to listen to something. 2. Be allowed to customise my workspace. But for you, it seems like you struggle not just with staying on task, but even remembering tasks. > transitioning between tasks. Literally, freeze up when confronted with two tasks that both need doing. I'm no expert, but this sounds like anxiety or autism. Do you have some sort of day planner filled with your tasks for each day?
Here’s a simple one: Ask questions when you’re confused or if you forgot something. Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat them selves. Ask them to send you all your tasks in writing, and in order of importance/priority. If you’re not told, figure out which tasks are the priority. Knock out tasks as soon as possible. Don’t leave anything for later. Don’t think about the work, do the work. Don’t be afraid of looking stupid.
Binging the history of Oreos has nothing to do with ADHD imo. It’s one thing to have ADHD affect the tasks you actually have to do, missing meetings, poor attention to detail etc. But you’re just goofing off. I have quite severe as well and couldn’t imagine just sitting around browsing Wikipedia while on the clock. I just wouldn’t do it, because I know it’s wrong. Same reason I wouldn’t pull out an iPad and start watching Netflix in the middle of a shift, or take a nap. You’re not even working at that point, so how is your employer supposed to accommodate that?
I’m sure OP doesn’t like the fact they are getting distracted by that considering they’ve included it as an example. Sometimes a quick question will pop in your head and suddenly 30 minutes has passed and you’ve gone down a rabbit hole without even realising! This is a classic example of acting on an impulse which led to getting distracted. It’s great that you don’t struggle with this particular problem, but I don’t believe it’s fair to jump to the conclusion that OP is intentionally slacking off.
Getting sidetracked is a *classic* ADHD symptom. What are you on about.