ADHD folks, how do you cope/manage at work?

Twitch / Eng
Pylons

Go to company page Twitch Eng

Pylons
Sep 28, 2018 17 Comments

Diagnosed at the end of college. Apparently my attention span is equivalent to a 5th grader.

It seems like every piece of technology makes it harder and harder to focus these days. It was easier to manage my disease back when Slack didn’t exist and it was just email.

Are there any resources that have been helpful to you?

I don’t want to take medication because it really messes with my mood, but my career progress is being materially affected by the disease and I’d like to find a way to manage it more effectively.

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TOP 17 Comments
  • Amazon / Eng
    poconos

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    poconos
    Let me just start off and say that I rely on medication and I am afraid to say that I didn’t find any alternative that’s just as effective. If they ruin your mood, work with your doctor on correcting the dosage. It takes a really scientific approach to arrive at the right dosage for you.

    Having said that, before starting medication, I had these alternatives:

    1. Sleep - Absolute 8 hours undisturbed sleep every day. Period. (Applies even more emphatically if you are on medication)

    2. Mindfulness - Probably the only real alternative in terms of effectiveness at this point but we all know how hard it is achieve and even more so for ADHDers

    3. Coffee (didn’t workout too well in the long term as it’s way too easy to develop resistance and was too acidic for my stomach)

    4. Pomodoro technique of time management. Work in 25 minute bursts of focus with 5 minute breaks in between. No phone, no emails nada, And then an hour break for lunch and possibly more (YMMV) to batch process all the emails and messages.

    5. Fish oil capsules (they worked to an extent but not as effective)

    But I repeat, I never found any alternative as effective as the medication at the right dosage. With the right dosage, you will be in the zone and you will never look back. It’s worth spending time to optimize the dosage as you don’t want have regrets later in your life for not trying to level your playing field earlier and unleash your potential. So, don’t waste your time.
    Sep 28, 2018 3
  • Apple
    jfro

    Go to company page Apple

    jfro
    This is a real challenge and I applaud you for sharing this. Slack, IM, text, internal chat rooms and the like are like the worst game of whack a mole and not healthy for those that have any form of attention deficit. My solution has been to drive people to text me if they are looking for a response from me. If there is something that I need to review they can email me. My world is constant phone communication and text and I’m responsible for teaching people how to best communicate with me. I hope this helps. I’m always open for other solutions, but this has worked for now.
    Sep 28, 2018 1
  • Some days when I have too many tasks I get no work done . When I have fewer tasks I do a shit load of work and feel like a hero for a short amount of time . Maybe you are juggling with too many things - could be work or personal.
    Sep 28, 2018 1
  • New
    aLuu55

    Go to company page New

    aLuu55
    If you find your work boring it will already be difficult to focus. ADHD makes that difficult situation even harder.

    I would suggest trying to find work you are truly passionate about. That - combined with medication - should really help.

    I just think it’s important to mention it’s not purely a physiological thing. What you’re working on matters too.
    Sep 28, 2018 1
    • Twitch / Eng
      Pylons

      Go to company page Twitch Eng

      Pylons
      OP
      Yeah you make a good point, the sad thing is that I think I’d be happier doing something physical for a living, but there are very few jobs that pay well enough
      Sep 28, 2018
  • Nike / Eng
    IrAi64

    Go to company page Nike Eng

    PRE
    Intuit
    BIO
    Backend SWE at Nike
    IrAi64
    Same situation, diagnosed at the beginning of college and working for about 2 years after graduating. For me, the single biggest factor is being on medication (Adderall XR for me as well). It took me on the order of 1-2 YEARS to find the right medication at the right dosage/type, but once I did, it made all the difference in the world. I'd really recommend experimenting with different medication/dosage/type varieties until you find one that works for you.

    In addition to medication:

    - I close Slack/Outlook for 30-60min periods when I need to focus and catch up on messages after
    - Listening to music is pretty much a requirement if you have an open office plan (I listen to "focus" category playlists on Spotify)
    - Decide what task you want to work on for the next unit of time (15/30/60 min) and try your best to focus exclusively on that - context switching kills my productivity

    Feel free to pm if you want to talk more :)
    Sep 28, 2018 0