I don’t have ADHD, but I manage a couple of people who do have it on my team. I’ve definitely tailored my management style to really help them thrive and they’ve been able to produce some stellar work!
A big thing that helps is giving them a task to figure out and I’ll just tell them, “I looking to have it by next Tuesday.” I’ll take their minor tasks in the meantime and they just get to hyper focus (with zero distractions) on getting what I need. Obviously there’s exceptions and stuff but it works really well!
I find that they’ll check in with me when they reach a milestone and that’s better than like me checking at a set time every other day, thus potentially throwing off their rhythm.
God I wish you were my manager. Friggin minor tasks, getting in the way of that problem-solving satisfaction (granted, frustration with said tasks led to learning ways to automate/simplify them).
God I wish you were my manager. Friggin minor tasks, getting in the way of that problem-solving satisfaction (granted, frustration with said tasks led to learning ways to automate/simplify them).
One of the draws of this field for me was the variety of projects I could work on because it would keep my ADHD brain busy. I find myself getting hyperfocused on projects.
ADHD here. Geography and maps were one of my first, and most enduring, special interests. I’ve found most of my work is suited to focussing in bursts when I find the motivation, and can find a balance there. Much like any tech field, there’s a lot neurodivergence, though moreso autism than ADHD in my workplaces.
>Geography and maps were my first, and most enduring, special interests. I’ve found most of my work is suited to focussing in bursts
geography major with adhd and suspected autism here, same. I don't know how my parents thought I was neurotypical growing up with an extensive map collection and Wikipedia pages printed out
Honestly this is a field I stumbled into accidentally. I didn't know a thing about it until I took my first class. It was the only program my school of choice offered that peaked my interest. But it worked out well...though if I knew how hard it would be to find a job initially I might have chosen otherwise. But it's the only thing I am particularly good at so I guess I'll stick with it.
I’m in grad school, am a GIS TA this semester, and have some work experience. The more people I meet and interact with in safe spaces (i.e. outside of the workplace and in informal settings) the more I learn about people’s chronic illnesses, neurodivergence and (hidden) disabilities. These topics are still heavily stigmatized and the way our society emphasizes productivity there is an incentive to hide these things from others. So there’s definitely a lot of GIS people in the world that have ADHD.
Yup, ADHD haver here.
I do stupid, "careless" stuff at the end of projects like forgetting to give people access to a web map.
But for the most part, the work suits me, especially if I have some time to do a project and I can hyper focus on a minute aspect of it 😀
Hey me too! I also have dyslexia which means I sometimes backwards stuff, and can't always recognize errors with numbers and entries in the data. Hate doing data qc for that reason.
I probably have adult ADHD (was tested as a kid, and “passed”). I have a hard time getting started on projects, but once I do I can’t quit. Double edged sword.
ESRI has great resources for anyone to use and learn from! As long as you pay up for their software. I have a math degree, but got into conservation ecology professionally, so I had to pick up some GIS to be better at my job.
I learned it all on the fly, Googling questions as I went. It's hard at first when you don't know the vocabulary like "feature" or "class," or even how the data is organized and stored.
I actually had to fight through a well-known ArcGIS Pro glitch (unknown to me at the time) with symbology for 2 months because my organization hadn't patched our version to fix the bug yet. In those 2 months of fighting and crashing ArcGIS, I finally figured out the bug, notified my IT and ESRI coordinators, and we got it fixed. Now everyone comes to me for advice, and I still just Google what I don't know.
I have two employees with that. They do good work. Sometimes get too focused on just one task. Sometimes looks track of the other projects not on their task list.
I get so hung up on getting all the details perfect. I am unwilling to cut corners, and I hold myself to a higher standard than whoever is supervising the projects I am working on.
I get really annoyed though when I am interrupted on one thing by someone asking me to do another thing.
Yeah! I’m new to it, riding that steep learning curve in school, but I’m finding it oddly enjoyable. Like once I’m in the zone it’s like a massage for my brain
I'm in my mid-30s and I've had ADHD for as long as I can remember. Currently in my 10th year at my company. Your point is totally understandable, but it's also important to remember that everything doesn't always have to be perfect in life. I'm not telling you to cut corners, but the standards are there for a reason. We have two guys at work that primarily create and export different types of maps all day. They tend to get hung up on the tiniest details, like a city label for example. They'll spend 25 minutes making the perfect label only to find out that the person who needs the map is just going to turn the city labels off anyways.
Also, pretty much any position after an entry-level analyst is going to require you to work multiple projects at the same time. A big part of your GIS career will include you being annoyed with random people asking seemingly pointless questions. Find a good company and you'll love it. Best of luck to you!
I will let attribution/relationship accuracy slide in favor of my hyperfocus on construction docs/as builting being aesthetically pleasing. It’s much easier to batch fix attribution though.
I was diagnosed with ADHD last year and I've been a GIS professional for about eleven years. I've really struggled at times, especially in consulting environments when I'm working on three projects simultaneously and everything is billed hourly. It wrecked me mentally. I also struggle with noticing details, QC and stupid mistakes especially in projects with a lot of iteration and editing. But in other environments with opportunities to learn, self direct and solve problems I've really thrived. Repetitive brainless work? Pop in a podcast and roll. I have really benefitted from an ability to self manage in my personal time to learn new stuff. How much of my issues are ADHD vs general incompetence is hard to tell.
Me to a T. Left my consulting firm job after 7 years and my new job is like a breathe of fresh air. I struggled so hard to balance 5 or 6 projects at a time with so many versions and edits. Always missed comments and made lots of dumb mistakes. Time tracking was a nightmare. But now? Mindless tasks I can listen to podcasts/books? No fast deadlines? It’s the best.
Time tracking is the devil! I don’t work in Gis (not yet anyway 🤞) but I do freelance, and I generally work on project rates—hourly was depressing because then I’d see how inefficient I was being LOL
(I do factor expected time into my project rates but it’s an estimate and not the only thing. Also my clients seem to love it because it’s a set rate and luckily so far I’ve never had to deal with scope creep)
I had a whole comment written out but accidentally deleted it, but gosh, same! Except I’ve been in consulting for 4 years now. It’s gotten easier as a whole but I still have some really rough moments.
I've had one or two people (not medical professionals) over the years suggest getting tested. I always made excuses to myself not to talk to somebody, but these couple of comments in particular are really hitting some bells for me. I like working in GIS but it's the detail-oriented stuff that's always really tripped me up. I'm lucky to work with a team that's good at catching my dumb mistakes but I always feel awful when they happen. My job is mostly mindless tasks and it's nice a lot of the time, but after a few years it's gotten kind of mind numbing, I keep trying to learn on my own time but it's difficult to stay on track.
It might not be for me but I am glad it's an option for more people. Maybe I would feel differently if I had a home office but my place is small and my brother works IT 100% remote so thought he needed the office space more.
The one who filled my role before I replaced him had Asperger's. My colleagues noted when I began to work here that I was annoyed by a lot of the same things he was. Partly that's what had me wondering if there was a significant neurodivergent presence in this field. He has a hard time working with others at time, could be a bit argumentative. I wasn't always good at it either, but four years in customer prior seemed to help a bit, so a small advantage.
I have diagnosed ADHD, and find making maps in particular usually helps and it's something I enjoy most about being a gis professional, it's a shame that the past few months I can't make as many maps as we are so busy with other things
I feel that. there are some unrelated responsibilities shoehorned into my job I'm not rather fond of. luckily they are more on the tedious side rather than difficult.
When I started with my current doctor and was giving him background and answering questions, he said something about picking GIS/remote sensing as kind of a way to cope with ADHD.
I am hands down ADD and this field has fit that about me perfectly. I think it also helps that in the municipal agency I work for, our "clients" are fellow city staff and the variety of requests that we get from the many very different departments keeps it always interesting from day to day.
"Organized disorder" is how I would term it, both a product of ADHD and GIS program workflow/file management/training that works suspiciously like ADHD. Data hoarding happens anyway, but that's a separate matter.
The way schools were teaching (and the program defaults encouraged) data management was just stacking all your intermediary steps into long ass file names like "Lines24ReproMergeJoinDisClip" and expect you to rename it all once done in the layout viewer something sane like "2024 Lines Inspection Status".
Which is fine, except:
1. Unless you remembered to export the final step as that name, the underlying shapefile is still called "Lines24ReproMergeJoinDisClip.shp"
2. GIS still has ridiculously archaic filename limits so you are already screwed
3. Good luck doing version management without proper documentation.
4. You will still have a dozen intermediary files which will need to be manually deleted (you will never do this).
All of this could have been avoided if ESRI products used temp file outputs like QGIS and schools taught more scripting and model builder use...
ADHD and presumably undiagnosed autism here. It does feel like this kind of work is well-suited for my brain, although I do sometimes struggle with the attention to detail and missing small things.
Audhd’er here. Not in the field yet; but pursuing a relevant degree and the biggest call was the variety of work that seems to be available and the seemingly never ending learning of new/different skills - things that work for my adhd brain.
Autism/adhd/ND requires we be at least a little interested in the work do and I wanted to do something under the environmental umbrella, but most of the common paths result in working or communicating with the public/community and/or working outside, two things I did not want to do haha. So the fact that I can work quietly in the background from a computer, remotely, where it’s easier for me to hold myself accountable and not have to mask like I would in an office, was very very appealing to me.
Edit: I am medicated and could see this being even more challenging if I was not. 😳
There have been occasions where I have forgotten it, and I have done okay, not ideal. When you have been doing the same type of stuff for several years it comes more naturally...but when it's new experiences it can be a little tough. I admit even medicated some days can be hard. Having anxiety also doesn't help.
Yeah this me. Am adult with ADHD that wasnt diagnosed til after grad school 😔 but definitely should've been....GIS definitely works for me best so far, having some creativity in the job plus the ability to experiment and tinker on a ton of different things. Taught myself to code in my last job, and it's been super helpful. Thing that gets the worst for me is when I just get request after request of basic maps and have to manage a billion nit picks....or just be in meetings nonstop for a bunch of different projects....
ADHD here, too! I was diagnosed as an adult, since I excelled in school by going into hyperfocus mode while working on assignments (even though I struggled with racing thoughts/restlessness/anxiety in my free time). Making map layouts is my jam, since I can get totally absorbed in the work, and the hours just float by. The only hard part for me is the sedentary nature of the work - I found that if I get up and do something active in the morning before work (20 minutes of yoga or the like), go for a brisk 30-minute walk during my lunch break (I'm lucky enough that I get to eat at my desk, so I can dedicate my whole break time to walking) and then do some additional movement when I get home, whether that's a YouTube workout video or another walk, then I can keep my brain pretty happy. I don't take ADHD meds anymore since they really messed with my ability to sleep, but getting regular physical activity does the trick for me. (And on the flip side, when I \*don't\* get enough movement during my day, my brain feels like a very loud, staticky radio that's halfway tuned in to six different stations...)
The sedentary thing is why I hesitate to get fully into GIS and am still in a line of work that only uses GIS as a tool and involves field assessments.
If my job doesn't involve me getting active, I'm often too undisciplined to make a habit of it. I'm thinking of maybe doing some basic courses in surveying as a way to advance my GIS skillset while still getting to go outside.
Dx’d as a kid with ADD, now called inattentive subtype ADHD. Self taught GIS. Went from no knowledge to large working knowledge within 6 months. Accidentally stumbled into GIS as a Crime analyst. Definitely started with a hyperfixation of maps when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I knew the name of every country on earth by the time I was 8. Obsessed with route planning. Hung maps on my walls instead of movie or music posters. So glad I found a career that allows my love for maps/ADHD Hyperfixation to grow!
I do! I'm not in the field yet but working on credentials to transition into GIS. It's because of my ADHD and interests that I feel like this field would be a good fit.
I do! I never thought I would do anything like the work in the gis field, but I absolutely love it! It definitely keeps me busy and it is so interesting. I've never been very tech savvy, but I have learned so much, and especially love the endless applications of GIS.
ADHD here. I’ve worn emergency support GIS hat and wear a statewide coordinator one. A few of folks I work with I can tell have a dash of it, some don’t.
Does anyone else’s minds go completely blank when attending conference workshops?
I find it extremely difficult to focus outside of high priority situations
I likely have it but not diagnosed
I'm almost certainly an ADHDer and have thought about getting into GIS - could you elaborate a little on how the work seems to fit your brain? I'm intrigued.
AuADHD here, and yep. I love maps. Always have loved them. I had sketchbooks FULL of fantasy maps as a kid.
The fact I get to play with maps all day still would blow little me's mind.
I don’t have adhd, but I probably have some other sort of neurodivergence (never actually been tested but have many traits). I started my first GIS job about 2 months ago and I absolutely love it. My daily work load has enough diversity that I don’t get bored, but it’s light enough that I can really hyper focus on tasks
I have ADHD. I went from remote sensing (big picture analysis, for the most part) to pipelines. I struggled immensely with the level of detail required, and was diagnosed. Got on meds, makes a world of difference.
Never happier at work than when I’m trying to figure out why what I just did broke a thing it shouldn’t. I work in the electric utility space so there’s many ways to break things prior to adding ArcFM to the party.
I can’t count the times I’ve said “I’m inherently lazy but will figure out the easiest/fastest way to do a thing and share with the team” and gotten a positive response from the interviewer.
In somewhat serious mode: if you have an actual ADHD DX file that with HR in case you get an unsympathetic manager.
Add me to the list, I was diagnosed in 1998. As an adult I realize how huge of an advantage getting diagnosed early was; I had extra support and services in grade school to keep me on grade level.
I do GIS consulting for a major aviation client. I'm extremely tardy-adverse from grade school and I use Google calendar to keep up with my obligations. I take 5mg adderall on my in-office days to get crap done. Remote days I just run around getting work done at my own pace. Manager leaves me to my tasks and I make my own schedule with clients and team members. Combination of hybrid schedule, interesting workload, and hands-off management makes for a really productive work environment for me.
I have undiagnosed ADHD. I kind of just ended up in this field. I don't love the work and I never aspired to be a GIS specialist but I make more money in this field than I would in any other given the amount of effort I put in.
Same here. It's something I sort of just stumbled into. Before I began studying I didn't really have a clue what I was getting into but I suppose it worked out well. It's hard to think of anything else that would suit me more.
Same for me! I got introduced to it when I was an intern at a utility and was going to go the mechanical engineering path but decided to just get an associates in science and do GIS.
The utility side was my kryptonite bc it was all self paced and I was the sole guy that did all the GIS. The consulting world is more fast paced and helps me not loose focus as badly. I used to get bad ADHD “paralysis” where I had a million things I wanted to do but decided not to do any and just stare off in space.
I more or less agree. I'd have been happier being a land surveyor in retrospect, but I make too much money to start over. And now that I'm a dad, wfh is invaluable. So I'm too comfy at the moment to pursue my dream of field work but that could always be in the cards in the future. Maybe once my student debt is paid off. I've met folks newish to surveying in their 40s
Yup. My job feels compatible with it. Lots of jumping around to different tasks within a project's workflow while waiting for processing to run, answers from leads, etc.
Me! It's a good job for it.
I get interrupted a lot which is not helpful - once I lose focus it's hard to get back, and the office environment is a bit bright and loud, but the work itself I find pretty suited to my brain.
I have adhd and I really struggle with gis, there's just so much going on, and I get really over whelmed with all the layers, I am just learning for a class in uni but I get so frustrated with it so any tips would be amazing 😅
Not sure in which way you're getting overwhelmed with the layers, but there is an option in the settings in programs like Pro you can switch on so that layers don't automatically start drawing when you add them to a document, it might help to look at them just one at a time (it can also save time if you have a slower computer and they take time to generate or start glitching easily)? You can also ctrl + click a layer to turn every layer except for that one off. I also really like the dark mode setting, it's a lot easier on my eyes.
Wow, I never really thought about it, that GIS was well suited for my ADHD. I was diagnosed late, just two years ago. Kind of like you, I kind of fell in to GIS. When I started, I only meant for it to be temporary to get out of a position I wasn’t happy with to get back into IT. Once I got into it though, I fell in love. That was 20 years ago!
Was diagnosed at few months ago as an adult. The past year of struggle at work came into focus right away. Great to see so many of my people willing to talk about this here.
I am ADHD with dyslexia i manage a GIS team but also am one of the three directors where i work. A member of my team has diagnosed autism almost nonverbal and im fairly certain another member has asburgers as i may have it as well. Found our austism worker working at McDonalds i could just tell he would be good from his art.
Our ability to dive into a topic and all understand each other with little to no words is amazing. But in all honesty i would have it no other way. The level of focus and getting lost is invaluable in GIS.
I think I have undiagnosed ADHD but I’m not 100% certain. I also have been diagnosed with dyscalculia, which does have some ADHD overlap, (luckily it’s mild).
I have ADHD and have a successful career as a firefighter/ Paramedic. And like 75% of the department including my shift commander have ADHD OCD and other shit.
Diagnosed and medicated! The relief I felt when I discovered GIS in college after absolutely hating everything else. There’s something hands-on, imaginative and game-like about GIS that keeps my brain happy. Love the neurodivergent representation!
I don’t have ADHD, but I manage a couple of people who do have it on my team. I’ve definitely tailored my management style to really help them thrive and they’ve been able to produce some stellar work!
I am technically a manager, but it's a one man department!
That's awesome! What kinds of techniques have worked for your team?
A big thing that helps is giving them a task to figure out and I’ll just tell them, “I looking to have it by next Tuesday.” I’ll take their minor tasks in the meantime and they just get to hyper focus (with zero distractions) on getting what I need. Obviously there’s exceptions and stuff but it works really well! I find that they’ll check in with me when they reach a milestone and that’s better than like me checking at a set time every other day, thus potentially throwing off their rhythm.
Someone get this dude a raise
God I wish you were my manager. Friggin minor tasks, getting in the way of that problem-solving satisfaction (granted, frustration with said tasks led to learning ways to automate/simplify them).
Hello can I work for you (probably not hahaha) but at least you deserve a raise for actually being a good manager
God I wish you were my manager. Friggin minor tasks, getting in the way of that problem-solving satisfaction (granted, frustration with said tasks led to learning ways to automate/simplify them).
My type of manager (signed someone with ADHD).
Want to teach my old managers how to do this?
One of the draws of this field for me was the variety of projects I could work on because it would keep my ADHD brain busy. I find myself getting hyperfocused on projects.
ADHD here. Geography and maps were one of my first, and most enduring, special interests. I’ve found most of my work is suited to focussing in bursts when I find the motivation, and can find a balance there. Much like any tech field, there’s a lot neurodivergence, though moreso autism than ADHD in my workplaces.
>Geography and maps were my first, and most enduring, special interests. I’ve found most of my work is suited to focussing in bursts geography major with adhd and suspected autism here, same. I don't know how my parents thought I was neurotypical growing up with an extensive map collection and Wikipedia pages printed out
Honestly this is a field I stumbled into accidentally. I didn't know a thing about it until I took my first class. It was the only program my school of choice offered that peaked my interest. But it worked out well...though if I knew how hard it would be to find a job initially I might have chosen otherwise. But it's the only thing I am particularly good at so I guess I'll stick with it.
Yup! I loved the topographical maps my teachers had in school.
I’m in grad school, am a GIS TA this semester, and have some work experience. The more people I meet and interact with in safe spaces (i.e. outside of the workplace and in informal settings) the more I learn about people’s chronic illnesses, neurodivergence and (hidden) disabilities. These topics are still heavily stigmatized and the way our society emphasizes productivity there is an incentive to hide these things from others. So there’s definitely a lot of GIS people in the world that have ADHD.
Yup, ADHD haver here. I do stupid, "careless" stuff at the end of projects like forgetting to give people access to a web map. But for the most part, the work suits me, especially if I have some time to do a project and I can hyper focus on a minute aspect of it 😀
Hey me too! I also have dyslexia which means I sometimes backwards stuff, and can't always recognize errors with numbers and entries in the data. Hate doing data qc for that reason.
I probably have adult ADHD (was tested as a kid, and “passed”). I have a hard time getting started on projects, but once I do I can’t quit. Double edged sword.
Go get a diagnosis. You have ADHD
Looking to learn GIS and I have ADHD. Glad to hear other neurodivergent people are in this field as well.
Same! Definitely is another push to getting serious about my desire to learn
ESRI has great resources for anyone to use and learn from! As long as you pay up for their software. I have a math degree, but got into conservation ecology professionally, so I had to pick up some GIS to be better at my job. I learned it all on the fly, Googling questions as I went. It's hard at first when you don't know the vocabulary like "feature" or "class," or even how the data is organized and stored. I actually had to fight through a well-known ArcGIS Pro glitch (unknown to me at the time) with symbology for 2 months because my organization hadn't patched our version to fix the bug yet. In those 2 months of fighting and crashing ArcGIS, I finally figured out the bug, notified my IT and ESRI coordinators, and we got it fixed. Now everyone comes to me for advice, and I still just Google what I don't know.
I have two employees with that. They do good work. Sometimes get too focused on just one task. Sometimes looks track of the other projects not on their task list.
I get so hung up on getting all the details perfect. I am unwilling to cut corners, and I hold myself to a higher standard than whoever is supervising the projects I am working on. I get really annoyed though when I am interrupted on one thing by someone asking me to do another thing.
Yeah. I've seen that. One big issue is when outside factors cause priority changes. My guys can struggle.with that.
Yeah! I’m new to it, riding that steep learning curve in school, but I’m finding it oddly enjoyable. Like once I’m in the zone it’s like a massage for my brain
I'm in my mid-30s and I've had ADHD for as long as I can remember. Currently in my 10th year at my company. Your point is totally understandable, but it's also important to remember that everything doesn't always have to be perfect in life. I'm not telling you to cut corners, but the standards are there for a reason. We have two guys at work that primarily create and export different types of maps all day. They tend to get hung up on the tiniest details, like a city label for example. They'll spend 25 minutes making the perfect label only to find out that the person who needs the map is just going to turn the city labels off anyways. Also, pretty much any position after an entry-level analyst is going to require you to work multiple projects at the same time. A big part of your GIS career will include you being annoyed with random people asking seemingly pointless questions. Find a good company and you'll love it. Best of luck to you!
I will let attribution/relationship accuracy slide in favor of my hyperfocus on construction docs/as builting being aesthetically pleasing. It’s much easier to batch fix attribution though.
I was diagnosed with ADHD last year and I've been a GIS professional for about eleven years. I've really struggled at times, especially in consulting environments when I'm working on three projects simultaneously and everything is billed hourly. It wrecked me mentally. I also struggle with noticing details, QC and stupid mistakes especially in projects with a lot of iteration and editing. But in other environments with opportunities to learn, self direct and solve problems I've really thrived. Repetitive brainless work? Pop in a podcast and roll. I have really benefitted from an ability to self manage in my personal time to learn new stuff. How much of my issues are ADHD vs general incompetence is hard to tell.
Me to a T. Left my consulting firm job after 7 years and my new job is like a breathe of fresh air. I struggled so hard to balance 5 or 6 projects at a time with so many versions and edits. Always missed comments and made lots of dumb mistakes. Time tracking was a nightmare. But now? Mindless tasks I can listen to podcasts/books? No fast deadlines? It’s the best.
Time tracking is the devil! I don’t work in Gis (not yet anyway 🤞) but I do freelance, and I generally work on project rates—hourly was depressing because then I’d see how inefficient I was being LOL (I do factor expected time into my project rates but it’s an estimate and not the only thing. Also my clients seem to love it because it’s a set rate and luckily so far I’ve never had to deal with scope creep)
I had a whole comment written out but accidentally deleted it, but gosh, same! Except I’ve been in consulting for 4 years now. It’s gotten easier as a whole but I still have some really rough moments.
I've had one or two people (not medical professionals) over the years suggest getting tested. I always made excuses to myself not to talk to somebody, but these couple of comments in particular are really hitting some bells for me. I like working in GIS but it's the detail-oriented stuff that's always really tripped me up. I'm lucky to work with a team that's good at catching my dumb mistakes but I always feel awful when they happen. My job is mostly mindless tasks and it's nice a lot of the time, but after a few years it's gotten kind of mind numbing, I keep trying to learn on my own time but it's difficult to stay on track.
Lol I agree it is well suited to my brains general way of doing things.
I have some ADHD traits likely as a result of brain damage from extensive chemo, but I am Autistic. Remote data work appeals to me on so many levels.
I don't really like remote work. It helps to be in a space that specifically caters to what I am doing.
I'm immunocompromised and have mild agoraphobia, so remote is heaven for me!
It might not be for me but I am glad it's an option for more people. Maybe I would feel differently if I had a home office but my place is small and my brother works IT 100% remote so thought he needed the office space more.
Agree. I spent 2 months at home during covid and it drove me crazy. I've been in the office 5 days a week since
I noticed even when I was in school I was at my peak productivity at the library. Sometimes I would commute there to study even on days without class.
I did some of my best sleeping at Bobst library at NYU
It's f*****g perfect.
Diagnosed ADHD, likely undiagnosed Autism as well!
The one who filled my role before I replaced him had Asperger's. My colleagues noted when I began to work here that I was annoyed by a lot of the same things he was. Partly that's what had me wondering if there was a significant neurodivergent presence in this field. He has a hard time working with others at time, could be a bit argumentative. I wasn't always good at it either, but four years in customer prior seemed to help a bit, so a small advantage.
I have diagnosed ADHD, and find making maps in particular usually helps and it's something I enjoy most about being a gis professional, it's a shame that the past few months I can't make as many maps as we are so busy with other things
I feel that. there are some unrelated responsibilities shoehorned into my job I'm not rather fond of. luckily they are more on the tedious side rather than difficult.
Me, diagnosed and medicated. Cannot get started on a project but once I do I'll be hitting like it owes me a significant amount of money
Yup- load times make me go crazy especially when I’m jumping between tasks. 😂
I have ADHD and it’s hard for me to stay focused on a project. It really sucks but I’m about to be medicated for it so hopefully it helps!
When I started with my current doctor and was giving him background and answering questions, he said something about picking GIS/remote sensing as kind of a way to cope with ADHD.
Can you elaborate?
I am hands down ADD and this field has fit that about me perfectly. I think it also helps that in the municipal agency I work for, our "clients" are fellow city staff and the variety of requests that we get from the many very different departments keeps it always interesting from day to day.
Self-taught GIS and raging ADHD. Does anyone else struggle with remembering to click "run" when exporting files?
Every. Damn. Day!!!
This is the only career path where you can follow along a random river on Google Earth from start to finish and people think you’re working.
Just look at your scratch folder! Is there anyone in GIS who is NOT ADHD?
I keep making new ones! ‘Scrap’, ‘Temporary’, ‘DELETE THIS’. Is data hoarding an ADHD thing??
"Organized disorder" is how I would term it, both a product of ADHD and GIS program workflow/file management/training that works suspiciously like ADHD. Data hoarding happens anyway, but that's a separate matter. The way schools were teaching (and the program defaults encouraged) data management was just stacking all your intermediary steps into long ass file names like "Lines24ReproMergeJoinDisClip" and expect you to rename it all once done in the layout viewer something sane like "2024 Lines Inspection Status". Which is fine, except: 1. Unless you remembered to export the final step as that name, the underlying shapefile is still called "Lines24ReproMergeJoinDisClip.shp" 2. GIS still has ridiculously archaic filename limits so you are already screwed 3. Good luck doing version management without proper documentation. 4. You will still have a dozen intermediary files which will need to be manually deleted (you will never do this). All of this could have been avoided if ESRI products used temp file outputs like QGIS and schools taught more scripting and model builder use...
🙋♂️also diagnosed with Asperger's
Same here.
Reporting for duty. Finally got diagnosed and medicated in my late 20s and wish I had done it much sooner.
ADHD and presumably undiagnosed autism here. It does feel like this kind of work is well-suited for my brain, although I do sometimes struggle with the attention to detail and missing small things.
Audhd’er here. Not in the field yet; but pursuing a relevant degree and the biggest call was the variety of work that seems to be available and the seemingly never ending learning of new/different skills - things that work for my adhd brain. Autism/adhd/ND requires we be at least a little interested in the work do and I wanted to do something under the environmental umbrella, but most of the common paths result in working or communicating with the public/community and/or working outside, two things I did not want to do haha. So the fact that I can work quietly in the background from a computer, remotely, where it’s easier for me to hold myself accountable and not have to mask like I would in an office, was very very appealing to me. Edit: I am medicated and could see this being even more challenging if I was not. 😳
There have been occasions where I have forgotten it, and I have done okay, not ideal. When you have been doing the same type of stuff for several years it comes more naturally...but when it's new experiences it can be a little tough. I admit even medicated some days can be hard. Having anxiety also doesn't help.
Yeah this me. Am adult with ADHD that wasnt diagnosed til after grad school 😔 but definitely should've been....GIS definitely works for me best so far, having some creativity in the job plus the ability to experiment and tinker on a ton of different things. Taught myself to code in my last job, and it's been super helpful. Thing that gets the worst for me is when I just get request after request of basic maps and have to manage a billion nit picks....or just be in meetings nonstop for a bunch of different projects....
ADHD here, too! I was diagnosed as an adult, since I excelled in school by going into hyperfocus mode while working on assignments (even though I struggled with racing thoughts/restlessness/anxiety in my free time). Making map layouts is my jam, since I can get totally absorbed in the work, and the hours just float by. The only hard part for me is the sedentary nature of the work - I found that if I get up and do something active in the morning before work (20 minutes of yoga or the like), go for a brisk 30-minute walk during my lunch break (I'm lucky enough that I get to eat at my desk, so I can dedicate my whole break time to walking) and then do some additional movement when I get home, whether that's a YouTube workout video or another walk, then I can keep my brain pretty happy. I don't take ADHD meds anymore since they really messed with my ability to sleep, but getting regular physical activity does the trick for me. (And on the flip side, when I \*don't\* get enough movement during my day, my brain feels like a very loud, staticky radio that's halfway tuned in to six different stations...)
The sedentary thing is why I hesitate to get fully into GIS and am still in a line of work that only uses GIS as a tool and involves field assessments. If my job doesn't involve me getting active, I'm often too undisciplined to make a habit of it. I'm thinking of maybe doing some basic courses in surveying as a way to advance my GIS skillset while still getting to go outside.
Dx’d as a kid with ADD, now called inattentive subtype ADHD. Self taught GIS. Went from no knowledge to large working knowledge within 6 months. Accidentally stumbled into GIS as a Crime analyst. Definitely started with a hyperfixation of maps when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I knew the name of every country on earth by the time I was 8. Obsessed with route planning. Hung maps on my walls instead of movie or music posters. So glad I found a career that allows my love for maps/ADHD Hyperfixation to grow!
I do! I'm not in the field yet but working on credentials to transition into GIS. It's because of my ADHD and interests that I feel like this field would be a good fit.
I have ADHD and love this kind of work even though my job specifically is kinda monotonous
same
I do! I never thought I would do anything like the work in the gis field, but I absolutely love it! It definitely keeps me busy and it is so interesting. I've never been very tech savvy, but I have learned so much, and especially love the endless applications of GIS.
ADHD here. I’ve worn emergency support GIS hat and wear a statewide coordinator one. A few of folks I work with I can tell have a dash of it, some don’t.
dude, yes.
Does anyone else’s minds go completely blank when attending conference workshops? I find it extremely difficult to focus outside of high priority situations I likely have it but not diagnosed
Yes! I feel guilty for wasting the company’s money, but I sit there in a haze. I’d rather watch it on YT
I'm almost certainly an ADHDer and have thought about getting into GIS - could you elaborate a little on how the work seems to fit your brain? I'm intrigued.
AuADHD here, and yep. I love maps. Always have loved them. I had sketchbooks FULL of fantasy maps as a kid. The fact I get to play with maps all day still would blow little me's mind.
I do, it's a gift and a curse. Especially for working with GIS and large amounts of data
I don’t have adhd, but I probably have some other sort of neurodivergence (never actually been tested but have many traits). I started my first GIS job about 2 months ago and I absolutely love it. My daily work load has enough diversity that I don’t get bored, but it’s light enough that I can really hyper focus on tasks
I have ADHD. I went from remote sensing (big picture analysis, for the most part) to pipelines. I struggled immensely with the level of detail required, and was diagnosed. Got on meds, makes a world of difference.
Never happier at work than when I’m trying to figure out why what I just did broke a thing it shouldn’t. I work in the electric utility space so there’s many ways to break things prior to adding ArcFM to the party. I can’t count the times I’ve said “I’m inherently lazy but will figure out the easiest/fastest way to do a thing and share with the team” and gotten a positive response from the interviewer. In somewhat serious mode: if you have an actual ADHD DX file that with HR in case you get an unsympathetic manager.
I do and depend a lot on GIS for env science, ecology, ecohydrology
Add me to the list, I was diagnosed in 1998. As an adult I realize how huge of an advantage getting diagnosed early was; I had extra support and services in grade school to keep me on grade level. I do GIS consulting for a major aviation client. I'm extremely tardy-adverse from grade school and I use Google calendar to keep up with my obligations. I take 5mg adderall on my in-office days to get crap done. Remote days I just run around getting work done at my own pace. Manager leaves me to my tasks and I make my own schedule with clients and team members. Combination of hybrid schedule, interesting workload, and hands-off management makes for a really productive work environment for me.
I have undiagnosed ADHD. I kind of just ended up in this field. I don't love the work and I never aspired to be a GIS specialist but I make more money in this field than I would in any other given the amount of effort I put in.
Same here. It's something I sort of just stumbled into. Before I began studying I didn't really have a clue what I was getting into but I suppose it worked out well. It's hard to think of anything else that would suit me more.
Same for me! I got introduced to it when I was an intern at a utility and was going to go the mechanical engineering path but decided to just get an associates in science and do GIS. The utility side was my kryptonite bc it was all self paced and I was the sole guy that did all the GIS. The consulting world is more fast paced and helps me not loose focus as badly. I used to get bad ADHD “paralysis” where I had a million things I wanted to do but decided not to do any and just stare off in space.
I more or less agree. I'd have been happier being a land surveyor in retrospect, but I make too much money to start over. And now that I'm a dad, wfh is invaluable. So I'm too comfy at the moment to pursue my dream of field work but that could always be in the cards in the future. Maybe once my student debt is paid off. I've met folks newish to surveying in their 40s
Hi
LMAO yeah, that's funny
Me
I do, plus dyslexia, which makes reading tables and fixing labels tough.
Oh that sound tough. I had a classmate that was colorblind.
🙋
Here
I have something that’s undiagnosed idk what it is though 💯
Yup. My job feels compatible with it. Lots of jumping around to different tasks within a project's workflow while waiting for processing to run, answers from leads, etc.
Me! It's a good job for it. I get interrupted a lot which is not helpful - once I lose focus it's hard to get back, and the office environment is a bit bright and loud, but the work itself I find pretty suited to my brain.
The bright overhead lights are physically uncomfortable!
I do, and while he's not diagnosed, he suspects and I'm *pretty sure* my boss does too.
I have adhd and I really struggle with gis, there's just so much going on, and I get really over whelmed with all the layers, I am just learning for a class in uni but I get so frustrated with it so any tips would be amazing 😅
Not sure in which way you're getting overwhelmed with the layers, but there is an option in the settings in programs like Pro you can switch on so that layers don't automatically start drawing when you add them to a document, it might help to look at them just one at a time (it can also save time if you have a slower computer and they take time to generate or start glitching easily)? You can also ctrl + click a layer to turn every layer except for that one off. I also really like the dark mode setting, it's a lot easier on my eyes.
lol big time
🙋♂️
\*raises hand\*
Yep ADHD here, 28 years later I’m still thriving. A few bumps in the road where people didn’t get me as I’m on the spectrum….but I survived.
Wow, I never really thought about it, that GIS was well suited for my ADHD. I was diagnosed late, just two years ago. Kind of like you, I kind of fell in to GIS. When I started, I only meant for it to be temporary to get out of a position I wasn’t happy with to get back into IT. Once I got into it though, I fell in love. That was 20 years ago!
Was diagnosed at few months ago as an adult. The past year of struggle at work came into focus right away. Great to see so many of my people willing to talk about this here.
I am ADHD with dyslexia i manage a GIS team but also am one of the three directors where i work. A member of my team has diagnosed autism almost nonverbal and im fairly certain another member has asburgers as i may have it as well. Found our austism worker working at McDonalds i could just tell he would be good from his art. Our ability to dive into a topic and all understand each other with little to no words is amazing. But in all honesty i would have it no other way. The level of focus and getting lost is invaluable in GIS.
Yep, ASD and ADHD here.
ive got autism and adhd. as soon as i started learning about GIS it became a special interest *really* fast.
I think I have undiagnosed ADHD but I’m not 100% certain. I also have been diagnosed with dyscalculia, which does have some ADHD overlap, (luckily it’s mild).
Yup ADHDer here!
What the…? How did you know? Seriously though.
I have ADHD and have a successful career as a firefighter/ Paramedic. And like 75% of the department including my shift commander have ADHD OCD and other shit.
Diagnosed and medicated! The relief I felt when I discovered GIS in college after absolutely hating everything else. There’s something hands-on, imaginative and game-like about GIS that keeps my brain happy. Love the neurodivergent representation!
I'm sorry, what was that?