Re: Finally Freak'n Focused!

[Patte Rosebank]

Since it’s clear that your ADHD is affecting your work—particularly now that you’ve gotten a “Final Warning” for a behaviour which is directly caused by your medical condition (which, in some jurisdictions, is considered a disability)—you need to get a letter from your doctor, certifying that you do, indeed, have this condition, and that time management is a very real problem because of it. You should show this to your employer’s HR department. This will prove that you are not being deliberately irresponsible; you’re trying your best, but your medical condition is making things difficult. Explain to them how you ended up being off your medication for a long time, and the effects of this. And what you are doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Don’t just come to them with the problems; bring the possible solutions too.

Before meeting with HR, look into the legal implications of your situation, but keep them to yourself, unless push comes to shove.

If you live in a jurisdiction that considers ADHD a disability, your employer would be violating the Human Rights Code by punishing you, instead of working with you to implement the necessary supports to accommodate you. If that’s the case, then you can ask the Human Rights Commission to intervene on your behalf. If you don’t live in such a jurisdiction, things are trickier. You may have to ask for help from CADDAC, CAMH, or your provincial mental health association, to educate your employer about your ADHD. But there’s nothing, legally, to force your employer to make accommodations for it.

However, the first thing you should do is GET THAT STOPWATCH / TIMER, AND USE IT! Timers watch the time for you, so you can focus on doing what you need to do, in the time that you have to do it. They also tell you when it’s time to switch to another task.

I use timers a lot. Knowing that I don’t need to worry about the time, takes away a lot of the pressure. And it keeps me on time for appointments. Most of the time…

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