ADD friendly jobs

[Anonymous]

@sugargremlin: I’m with you on the schooling. I don’t think we’re the only ADDers who have sailed through school by not taking it too seriously–maybe we’re a subtype!

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[Anonymous]

Sugargremlin: I’m fairly new to this, so thanks for any help/guidance you can provide.

1. I’m assuming your screen name is reflective of a transformation after ingesting refined sugar? If this is the case, I also suffer from sugar sensitivity and it makes me irritable and even achey. I’ve often thought there’s a correlation somehow to the ADHD. Are you aware of any other ADDers with high sensitivity to sugar?

2. My niece also suffers from ADD and is about to take her boards for her APRN degree. She’s exploring options. Any suggestions on what kind of practice/specialty would work well for her? She’s supersmart and is able to take on a lot. Appreciate your insight.

3. Last, re jobs: I’m a corporate recruiter and find the variety of skills required suits me well. I talk with internal managers that are hiring about their needs, talk with applicants that meet the requirements and manage the process to a successful conclusion. Although the volume can get a little overwhelming, it’s fast paced and stimulating. Earlier in my recruiting career, I worked for a staffing firm and found that many in the profession had ADD.

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[Anonymous]

pete-puma- I didn’t totally ‘sail’ through school. I just didn’t really have any other responsibilities. I spent ridiculous amounts of time on school which was always workable because I didn’t really have much else I needed to do. But as long as I spent all that time, I always got straight As. I’ve never had any trouble learning material; i just procrastinate and spend inordinate amounts of time on things. I never thought I could ever have this because I have always been such a good driven student. I can succeed in any academic subject I could throw a lot of time at. I’m actually kind of bitter about all the time I wasted in life doing schoolwork when I could have accomplished it in so much less time! The time I spent procrastinating or spacing out while attempting to do schoolwork is probably more time than I actually spent doing it! I am hoping so much that medication will allow me to work part time in this challenging position and complete my part-time doctoral coursework without having zero free time. I can no longer be a little post-adolescent college bum..sitting in PJs reading facebook..in distraction from school work. A little piece of me is hoping that I am secretly brilliant behind the ADHD lol (yeah…I can dream…..). People tell me that I am extremely intelligent, but I always feel like such an airhead who can’t remember anything and is always lost and confused!

Brujadel:

1. no, I just have a raging sweet tooth. sugar gremlin…because I guilt all my friends to share their candy/chocolate with me. I need candy and sugar every day or I crave it and get frustrated. I have always been like this. I was that hyper little kid eating a bag full of candy at night and running around giggling. Now I’m just a sugar-craving excitable adult I have no idea if this has anything to do with ADHD. I just love me some sugar! I am extremely lucky with my fast metabolism.

2. the practice….which she LOVES the most. Her passion! Mine chose me! I have very few problems focusing on my clients because I am just extremely interested and engaged. I also love learning the material, so it isn’t that hard to focus. (the boring crap is the giant challenge and time sink). I passed the boards my first time, although I did use all the allotted time, probably due to attention fatigue. my only suggestion…maybe not administrative? but maybe that is just me…. but if my job were all about paperwork, policies, and people politics, I would go on a paper shredding, paper confetti throwing, “i quit” rampage… lol… I LOVE being a NP. but it has been so much stress to fall so far behind in productivity and efficiency. I’m doing great work..but taking 11 hours for 6 hour of pay…so this is where I am hoping the meds will help me + better time management habits of course!

3. I guess it depends on the person. ADHD is a spectrum disorder. I am horrible with organizing paperwork. I am an over-thinker, daydreamer, and a ponderer, so I get stressed and overwhelmed with high volumes and quick deadlines. I would suck at your job basically. The high volumes, quick decision making, and quick deadlines are what is kicking my butt right now and why I sought treatment. However, I love being a NP soooooooo much, that it is powering me to overcome what I suck at. I am most diagnostically inattentive with hyperactive traits which are apparent, but less impairing.

hope this was helpful

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[Anonymous]

I have found that working in a call center was a pretty good fit for a non-college typle job that doen’t make laughable pay. But it has to be the right call center. I tried a tech support job, and it didnt work out. I tried a customer service job, and I was pretty good at it. Its not the greatest job, but its got full bennies, and paid vacation, 401k, decent hourly rate. (for a non-college job) I’ve been there 3 years. Now looking for another call center though as this one is going to lay off (fire) 150+ of us in the next 3 to 6 months.

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[Anonymous]

i LOVE learning. i would love to be a professional student . . . although the nuts and bolts of education can get somewhat boring (you know, tests, papers, etc). and when i AM in school i don’t love it as much. it’s just that i LOVE learning. i have come to realize in the past few weeks (when i was told i had adhd) (total shocker) that i have tremendous numbers of work-arounds that have helped me cope. i get it now that my brain works differently, and i process information differenlty. when i really want to understand something (ie in school, or in my new job) i find that it doesn’t just happen with readings and lectures. i have to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to figure it out. which takes tremendous amounts of energy. what may take one person to read and understand after reading, it takes FAR MORE RESEARCH and PROCESSING for me to get it. but i’m tenacious- and once i get it, i’ve got it. going through the back door like that also gives me a different perspective (and sometimes different “answer”) than others. i put alot of energy and effort (mental and emotions) into figuring things out while some people get it right away. but i must say, when it comes to actually taking tests, etc. i am usually the first person out. i generally do quite well. by the time the test arrives, i either know it or don’t. period. these past few weeks have been so helpful to me, listening to others’ stories and challenges and coping skills- i have truly been re-framing my whole story of myself. knowing is always the first step growing.

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[Anonymous]

I’m a librarian and college teacher and LOVE MY JOB! I’m the only one in my department who really LOVES teaching in front of the classroom – most others teach online by preference – but it’s akin to performing, with enough variety that it’s never quite the same thing twice. Grading papers? Not so fun, but you do what you’ve got to do. . . I’ve learned to cope (take frequent timed breaks, etc.)

But the really important thing for me the last four-five years has been taking on extra assignments outside my department that are big enough and important enough to get notice – i.e., stimulating – while still being short-term enough that I can get through them. Since they’re new-to-me, they’re interesting for the first month or so, and if I throw myself into them I can often find and fix things that no one else had even noticed needed fixing – which reinforces the positive feedback I get. I’m also pretty good at systems-level stuff such as looking at the overall process used to develop a new course, but then my picky detail-oriented side will surface and start playing around with the “what-ifs” – what if I changed this step in the process? What if we added these features? etc.

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[Bibliophile]

@Catic15 Happy to see a fellow librarian here.

I can’t stress enough that variety in tasks is what keeps me going. If all I had to do each day was catalogue materials, I would never have lasted. The fact that I do web editing, collection development, circulation, some IT, news tracking, etc. keeps the job fresh.

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[Anonymous]

I’m self diagnosing ADD at the moment and read the posts here with both fear and frustration (too long not read!) I get the spectrum (I’m also bipolar,) and the frustration comes from hearing the back and forward on extents of focusing at micro and macro levels. I am an event coordinator that has recently been ‘job-changed’ from a developmental and social/cultural exploration focus to a box of productivity and output. Perhaps I am not giving it enough time yet, but the new approach is more nine-to-five and the restrictive regimen leaves me uncertain. Can anyone tell me if a structured job is a benefit to someone with ADD if it is also within a relatively fast paced multitasking environment with daily distractions?

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[Bibliophile]

@spevpro you are going to get different replies on whether a structure environment is right for an ADHD condition. It will depend on severity of the impulsiveness/restlessness as well as personal traits.

Speaking from my own situation, what matters most is accountability, not structure. I require a set of structured tasks and firm deadlines to ensure I know what I am trying to achieve and to ensure I stay on topic as much as possible but the freedom to approach them anyway I want to. Also, mixing up tasks is very important to survive in a formal workplace.

Too much structure is boring and does not lend itself to the mutable nature of our attention spans. Too many meetings as well would not go over very well. I like the idea of 9 to 5, but require much more flexible hours to achieve anything. I invariably come in at 7:30 am to get stuff done when it is quiet and my mind is fresh and prefer to leave when enough has been achieved and not necessarily at a set time. however, I can wind up staying later than I should this way if I get caught up in something (often something tangential to what I am supposed to be doing).

I hope that helps.

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[Geoduck]

Awesome thread!!!! @ADDisME, my dad is a retired Marine. It was the perfect fit for him. It was only his last year, when his job got to be more a 9-5 desk type thing, that he was bored. He still did a great job, but he hated it and was very grumpy when he came home. REALLY grumpy!

For me, I’m at home with my 3 kiddos right now and contemplating a move back into the paying job force. Very handy thread! I’m considering going into business for myself. Any comments on that?

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[sdwa]

I don’t think there are any “ADHD-friendly” jobs. The friendly job is the one that supports your best functioning, and offers the environment that supports you in doing what you naturally do best.

Unlike many others here, I am the introverted, reserved, shy type. I don’t like crowds, noise, commotion, telephones, fast-paced environments, or interacting with clients or the general public. I am definitely NOT a “thrill-seeker” – or if I am, my thrills come in highly emotional situations, not physically dangerous ones. I prefer long, uninterrupted blocks of time when I can work, preferably alone where it’s quiet, and then get up and move around, take a walk outside, mull things over. And the kind of work I do best involves things like art, design, writing, editing, or arranging “stuff.” But using those skills would be best in the type of secluded setting I’ve described, and it would be on a job-by-job basis in which every project would have a clear ending or outcome, and it would involve ideas but not craftsmanship. I might design a pattern for fabric, but I would never sew anything, or I could do technical writing because I like to learn about how things work and tell others about it, but I’d never care about a subject long enough to become an expert. What I do has to involve using imagery or ideas that appeal to me aesthetically or spiritually.

For me, multi-tasking is out. Tracking details is out. Planning and scheduling, also out. Organizing information or deciding how to display a collection of objects is okay, but organizing people would be a disaster.

We’re all different, you know? There aren’t any one-size-fits-all solutions.

I would suggest investigating your process, how you naturally function at your best, and when and where. The type of job that would be good for you wouldn’t necessarily be found in or limited to a job title or professional category. It’s what you’d actually be doing, moment by moment, that counts. For example, someone with an analytical mind, who likes to look at how variables interact, and who naturally tends to think about the question “what happens if…?” would make a good chess player, a good day-trader, a good sports-team manager, and a good cook. It isn’t the activity, but the way of engaging with that activity.

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[Anonymous]

Check out this video: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cRrjJCgRcQ) Around the 43 minute mark, he talks about how to manage ADHD employees. Interesting stuff.

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[Anonymous]

@Geoduck – if you want to go into business for yourself, then you need to look at your motivation levels. I know I would be a disaster at anything involving self employment, because I would never motivate myself to do anthing. I need external motivation if I am to function in a job. I have done costume sewing for dancers on the odd occasion, but have found I tend to leave everything until the last minute and then stress myself into dermatitis, headaches, and mouth ulcers trying to get it all finished in time. Not good!! If you are okay at getting yourself going, then self employment might be good for you. There are things about it that I know I would enjoy, and that would suit my lifestyle (flexible hours being the biggest incentive), but I also have to be realistic about my failings. So think about what business you would be doing, and look back on whether you have done similar things in the past, and look at how successful you were. Do you think ADHD issue will come into play in your business? Can you make up for those issues by hiring a secretary, or making yourself accountable to someone, or by environmental organisation? If you can make it work, then go for it. I would be fine if I could go into business with someone else, and have them with me to keep me on track.

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[Anonymous]

@pete-puma, @librarian, and others thank you so much for your advise here. A lot of what is being created in my environment in terms of structure and boundaries is probably going to help me manage my attention a lot better than if it were not in place. The employee/employer video was most helpful pete-puma, I’ll have to take a look at the rest (some day.) The language I’m hearing about the process of ADD, such as tangential thinking and concrete boundaries – even discipline – is more relevant to me. If I can harness these things I will have a greater chance of success.

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[Geoduck]

Thanks, KrazyKat! Great advice

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[Author]

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