How to Deal With ADHD at Work
If you are a young person with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), what helped you graduate from college may not necessarily help you in your work.
After graduation, students move from an environment designed to help them succeed into an environment that Landmark College professor and learning differences expert McLean Gander calls “decidedly ADHD-unfriendly.” And inadequate adaptation can cost them their jobs: People with attention deficit disorder are 61 percent more likely to be fired, 33 percent more likely to be fired , and three times more likely to be fired spontaneously . As a result, the Attention Deficit Disorder Association claims that one in three adults with ADHD is unemployed .
But that number doesn’t have to include you.
A diagnosis of ADHD does not mean that a person has a chance of success. ADHD is simply a neurological disorder caused by inadequate production of dopamine and norepinephrine, neurotransmitters that help the mind regulate concentration. But don’t be fooled by this description – people with this disorder are quite capable of paying attention. In fact, we pay attention to everything – the woman at the same table typing too loudly, the guy in the break room, grinding the coffee, the construction workers outside the window – every tiny stimulus that the neurotypical mind does not pass through, passes the ADHD brain. Research from the World Health Organization shows that without treatment, the average adult with ADHD loses 22 days of productivity per year.
Fortunately, there is a cure. Depending on the severity of their symptoms, people with ADHD take medication or develop coping skills with endless stimuli. Finally, says Elaine Taylor-Klaus , co-founder of the online coaching community ImpactADHD, this is where recent graduates need new strategies to survive.
Don’t put things off until the last minute
Let’s talk at night. At 20, according to Taylor-Klaus, hyper-focusing on a single task to meet a deadline “can be an effective tactic [but] it doesn’t really raise the skill level for lifelong success.” Unlike students, employees cannot fail immediately after a project is completed. And weak workers rarely impress the boss. “College students tend to abuse urgency as a way to get motivated to get things done,” she explains. “In the work world, you may have to rely on other motivating factors, such as choosing a job that interests you, having enough novelty and change to stay involved, finding the right amount of competition to stimulate things, or finding a job that fulfills a need for creative self-expression ”.
The latter, however, is tricky when you are new to the workforce; entry-level jobs tend to involve heavier work. People with ADHD tend to be creative people with a broad outlook, which makes us ideal senior executives – like Richard Branson or JetBlue founder David Neeleman – but basic administrative tasks are also very difficult for us.
Talk about your needs, not your diagnosis
It is tempting to explain low academic performance by telling your boss about their ADHD, especially since students are used to sharing their diagnoses with professors. But HR communications strategist Laura Macleod says, “Most people don’t have a clear understanding of ADHD.” Unlike teachers who are trained to recognize different learning styles, your boss may not know what ADHD is, have a negative stereotype of the disorder, or worse, think you are using your diagnosis as an excuse.
Instead, psychologist Maelisa Hall advises to “focus on needs and what makes [you] productive. For example, instead of saying, “I have ADHD, so I need to sit in a conference room to focus and complete this project,” it is also helpful to tell your boss, “I really need less distraction so I can focus on completing this. project. I’ll spend the next two hours in a conference room, not in my noisy office. ” This way you will not only solve the problem, but also impress your boss by suggesting your own ways to improve.
Gander also advises young employees not to use the diagnosis as a crutch. Requesting a separate dorm room or extra time for testing under the Educational Disabilities Act is very different from asking an employer to enact provisions under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is similar to the workplace law. “The adaptations and support provided by federal law can be helpful in many contexts,” he explains, but students should not “ignore learning basic skills and strategies.”
It is this focus on long-term strategies that, according to Taylor-Klaus, defines the difference between success and failure. ADHD is a lifelong condition. It might be called a childhood illness, but the brain cannot voluntarily make more neurotransmitters as adults. The key to surviving distractions is developing broader skills rather than situational tricks. “A lot of college students use what I can call ‘tactics’ to cope with ADHD,” she explains, in contrast to the skills Gander talks about. “Tactics are situational and not transferable,” explains Taylor-Klaus. on long-term success and are transferable to another environment. “