Working with ADHD

It struck me recently when I was trying to update my CV that it would be very unlikely for someone without ADHD to have one like it.  Jumping from big life risk to big adventure, an assortment of unrelated work experiences mixed up with some fairly irregular hobbies, it seems to epitomise my character perfectly. 

Currently I am working as a project coordinator, coordinating a project which aims to integrate young people with disabilities with their non-disabled peers while raising awareness about disability.  It is stressful, impossible, exciting, I am always on the move, and although I don’t always cope with the stress effectively, I absolutely love it and because of that, I excel in it.  I don’t have to sit still in meetings all the time or tap away at a keyboard all day.  I don’t have to listen to people telling me how to do stuff, I figure it out, and that works for me.

Before that I was a personal assistant at a branch of the United Nations Environment Programme which was a different story entirely.  I was hopelessly disorganised and distracted, intensely bored and continually measuring myself against my peers and looking for way out and into something where I could do something meaningful rather than supporting someone else to do that.  After 6 months I was successful at obtaining a 6 month placement on a community development project in India and was about to go for that when I met my fiancé and instead we upped and left together and spent the following 14 months travelling around the world. 

Me having a bit of a tantrum!

Other jobs that I have done include being Co-President, Welfare and Education of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Student Union which I absolutely loved and excelled in, working in a crèche in Brussels which I hated with a passion, volunteering as receptionist at a permaculture farm in Nicaragua which nearly drove me insane, working as a fitness instructor which had its ups and downs but was never going to keep me content in the long run, working in bars and pubs and events catering.  I also spent 6 weeks living in Ghana working at a school for people with disabilities.  My suspicion is that many other people with ADHD have similar CV’s.  Not necessarily similar in what they choose to do as that is down to personal interest, but similar in their haphazard and chaotic nature.

I said that in this blog I would talk about how ADHD affects life at the moment.  I think I’ll split this in two and talk about how it affects my work life today and next week about how it affects my home life as there is so much to cover.

How ADHD affects my working life:

The great thing about my job now is that the hours are very flexible.  In my previous job I was continually late and however early I got up, however organised and disciplined I tried to be, I never once made it in on time.  This has always been a tough area for me and is a typical characteristic of ADHD.

Once in a while I am required to go to office meetings, conferences and training sessions for my work and I find these increasingly difficult to focus in.  I’ll concentrate so hard on focussing that I literally repeat every word that the speaker is saying again in my head but all this seems to do is keep me occupied.  Nothing goes in.  I often catch myself day dreaming when I think I’m listening and suddenly realise that I’m listening to my thoughts rather than the speaker.  On the occasion that I do take something in, my mind will go off on a tangent about that, or how I ‘got’ that and then I’ve missed the next point.  There is absolutely nothing I can do about this which is why agenda’s are so important.  It gives me a guideline, a way to prioritise my focus and with any luck pinpoint the moment to be ready to listen.  I also find taking notes is particularly helpful because that way I can take the key points away with me from the meeting, on paper if not in my head.  I said ‘increasingly’ worse as I think there is an element of being ‘out of practice’ going on here as well. 

In more interactive meetings I find it easier to concentrate but my method of concentrating is often at the expense of colleagues as I tend to monopolise the meeting.  However conscious I am of doing it, I find it excessively hard to keep my mouth shut and not butt in.  For me it is one way or the other which is why academic study has always been so difficult.  But that story is not for today.

The final negative affect that ADHD has on my work is probably in terms of patience.  I am not naturally a patient person and when working with people with disabilities, patience in abundance is imperative.  It takes a lot of will power and determination for me to remain patient with my volunteers and I don’t always succeed and when I do I tend to store it up inside me and wait for a possible release which is usually not particularly good for those around me when I take it, particularly at the moment when I am unable to exercise due to a recent knee injury!

Due to talk as Co-President in front of 2000 people at SOAS graduation

But the affects of ADHD are not all negative in my work.  Having suffered with a condition such as ADHD I can empathise with those I work with to some extent.  On a much more general scale I believe my ADHD has pushed me to take some big risks in my life which have significantly benefitted my career.  At SOAS for example, a friend mentioned that she was running for elections as Co President of the Student Union and on a whim I decided to join her.  I was passionate and cared about the university and particularly about making it greener (I had founded the green group a couple of years previously) but I had no idea about student politics or what a Co President did, so essentially I went in blind.  I ran a campaign and stood up in front of all my peers to tell them why I’d be good and what I’d fight for, I invited the floor to fire questions and abuse at me and I was terrified but invigorated.  I think if I didn’t have ADHD I wouldn’t have taken that risk, and therefore I wouldn’t have had the amazing experience of being Co-President for a year.

The job I am currently in I was equally thrown in at the deep end.  I applied for probably about 50 jobs which I was nowhere near qualified in because I wanted a job which was exciting and rewarding.  Eventually I managed to get one of these jobs and I had to learn how to coordinate a project, learn all about different disabilities and how to work with individuals and groups who have them, and essentially do about a years work in under six months!  It never occurred to me that it was an option not to meet all the targets.  It never does.  I work myself harder than most as I’ve always had to just to keep up with my peers, but it does pay off. 

People with ADHD tend to take more big risks than those without it.  This is because it takes a lot more for the ADHD brain to feel ‘excited’ and ‘invigorated’ and people with ADHD tend to get bored more quickly with things than non-ADHD people.  Although this can be hard to live with both for the individual with ADHD and those close to them, it is a fantastic career advantage.  Other classic traits which are particularly useful in the work place include creativity, high energy levels and innovative problem solving. 

According to Frank Barnhill. MD

‘One of the ADHD person’s most outstanding qualities is the ability to self-start, accept risk and display the determination needed to start a new business.  In fact, a lot of corporate level consultants brought in to rescue a company are ADHD… ADHD workers are usually very devoted to their job and trustworthy.  Once they focus on a task, they can become relentless in solving a problem or completing a project.  They have the energy to stick it out when everyone else gives up.  They can think out of the box and provide solutions to problems that few can see.’

I think it is important to remember that ADHD is not all bad.  It is a personality ‘disorder’ which has to be understood and managed but can be a real advantaged if harnessed correctly.  Today I will leave you to reflect with a list of some of the more famous people who have been diagnosed with ADHD, or have retrospectively been ‘diagnosed’ due to close analysis of biographies.

Bill Gates

Robin Williams

Pablo Picasso

Michael Jordan

Billy Connelly

Alfred Hitchcock

Leo Tolstoy

Galileo

Bob Dylan

Abraham Lincon

Winston Churchill

Albert Einstein

Socrates