CHAPTER 9

FINDING JOB SATISFACTION

Doing nothing is very hard to do . . . you never know when you’re finished.

—Leslie Nielsen

The world of work can be especially frustrating for adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adults with ADHD tend to have held many different jobs and either were fired or quit after a short period of time, usually a year or less. Many report being late for work and not being able to get their work done. If you have ADHD, it is important that you choose a career that is compatible with your unique characteristics. This chapter will help you to choose a job that fits with your particular strengths and weaknesses. If you have already chosen a career path and feel now is not a time you can make a change, don’t worry. I also provide some specific coping skills to help you succeed at your job, including suggestions for dealing with distractibility and lack of focus during the day. Finally, I give you information about workplace accommodations to which you might be entitled. Start by taking the quiz and finding out whether you see yourself in this chapter.

QUIZ YOURSELF—DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

Do you often fall behind or easily lose track of what you are supposed to be doing at work?
Does it take you longer than your coworkers to get the same thing done?
Is it difficult to get along well with your supervisor?
Are you unhappy in your current field but unsure of what job you would like better?
Do you often have a difficult time prioritizing your job duties?
Do you find it hard to concentrate on your work?
Is it hard to pay attention consistently in meetings or during presentations?
Are you often late for work or meetings?

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Research has shown that in late adolescence there seems to be no difference between the work performance of those with ADHD and those without it. It is speculated that many jobs at this stage involve unskilled or semiskilled labor and that true differences may not be evident at this stage. However, by the time young adults graduate from college and take on more complex jobs, difficulties with ADHD emerge quite clearly. There are an estimated 8 million American adults with ADHD, and many of them find that working can be very challenging. One national survey showed that only half of adults with ADHD are able to hold down a full-time job, compared with 72% of adults who do not have ADHD (Watson, 2020). Even when adults with ADHD do have a job, they tend to earn less, are promoted less frequently, and are less likely to become senior managers or have similar positions of authority. Adults with ADHD report more conflict with their supervisor and are more likely to receive disciplinary actions and negative performance evaluations. They are more likely than those without the disorder to only hold down part-time jobs and to be fired from the jobs they do hold. They are also more likely to switch jobs voluntarily, both because of their dissatisfaction in their present position and their need for change and new challenges. As a result, those with ADHD generally report more career dissatisfaction, confusion, anxiety, and conflict regarding their employment.

Let’s go back to the three major symptoms of ADHD. Each can have a direct impact on work. For example, in the area of inattentiveness, common difficulties include not paying attention, making careless mistakes, not listening to directions, failing to finish assignments, having trouble organizing tasks, becoming discouraged or giving up when a task takes sustained mental effort, and being easily distracted once a task is initiated. Cluttered desks, misplaced paperwork, and forgotten assignments are common. These symptoms can also be manifested as difficulty getting to work on time and procrastination with assigned duties. The ability to keep track of multiple deadlines and projects will be affected if one lacks organizational skills.

With regard to symptoms of hyperactivity, workers with ADHD will have difficulty sitting still and completing tasks. They may find sitting through meetings excruciating and, as a result, miss quite a bit of information as they squirm, fidget, or take periodic breaks.

Finally, with regard to symptoms of impulsivity, adults with ADHD have a tendency to interrupt and blurt out answers before others have finished. This may make it difficult for them to work effectively with their colleagues. They may take on new tasks or volunteer for an assignment quite enthusiastically but then have difficulty with follow-through. The task may go unfinished, leaving them with the reputation of being unreliable. Their impulsivity appears to also be related to a difficulty in controlling emotions, which can be expressed as temper outbursts or angry comments. Some adults with ADHD may have frequent run-ins with coworkers or have a blowup with their boss, resulting in getting fired.

Numerous research studies have determined that adult workers with ADHD are more likely to exhibit the difficulties previously mentioned. There is direct evidence that the quality of their work differs significantly from that of adults without ADHD. Employers describe adults with untreated ADHD as less adequate at fulfilling work demands, less punctual, less likely to work independently and to complete tasks, and more likely to have a poorer overall work record. When asked to rate their most common symptoms of those just discussed, a large sample of adults with ADHD rated the top areas of difficulty (in order) as being distracted, fidgeting, having difficulty sustaining attention, and forgetting. The specific job duties that created difficulty were (in order) finishing the job, managing daily responsibilities, budgeting time, and meeting deadlines (Bozionelos & Bozionelos, 2013).

The degree to which a worker has difficulty is directly related to the number of ADHD symptoms they have. Workers in their mid-20s to mid-50s who have many symptoms of ADHD feel anxious about making career decisions, are not comfortable taking responsibility for their career choices, and are less satisfied with their career choice.

There has been some controversy regarding the diagnosis of ADHD in adults with high IQ or high overall ability. Some people believe that if you are really successful, you can’t possibly have ADHD. However, there are many instances of adults who do very well in high school and college and manage to cope with many of their symptoms, yet still have difficulty in their career. For example, someone may complete all the coursework for a PhD degree yet be unable to finish their dissertation. Another adult might be able to complete their law school coursework but lacks the ability to study for and pass the bar exam. Very successful adults may still have a diagnosis of ADHD and may cope with their symptoms in some but not all situations. Take a look at this example: An extremely bright man in his 50s named Henry, who had previously been very successful in his career, sought treatment for his ADHD when he found himself struggling at his new job. He was a visionary and had been in a job in which a large support staff had relied on him to develop “big-picture ideas” that they would then implement. After changing jobs, Henry was required to do his own follow-through and attend to many more details. This job was incompatible with his ADHD symptoms, and he was struggling with his new responsibilities. Clearly, he was quite bright and had high overall ability; however, he did, in fact, have a diagnosis of ADHD, and the symptoms associated with this were impeding him in his new career.

A related enigma has to do with the fact that ADHD symptoms may not seem to emerge until one reaches a certain level of success. For example, a worker may do quite well in one job with low stress and fairly circumscribed job duties. However, a promotion to a higher level might require managerial and organizational skills and added job duties, resulting in increased stress. At this level of functioning, the worker with ADHD might find that their limits of productivity have been met, and they may not be able to handle the increased responsibilities of the job.

A final area of difficulty for adult workers can be the emotional problems that often accompany ADHD. These can be symptoms of depression and anxiety or a tendency to be angry and, perhaps, aggressive. Sometimes these symptoms can be a reaction to years of frustration, poor performance in school, and constant negative feedback or criticism. At other times, a psychological condition may coexist at the same time as the ADHD. Research has shown that if an individual has a diagnosis of ADHD, there is a higher than normal chance that they will also have a diagnosis of an additional psychological disorder. Regardless of the cause of this additional disorder, the added stress of dealing with emotional symptoms will make work performance and interacting with coworkers and supervisors more complicated. Please be sure to read Chapter 10 if you think that additional psychological disorders might be affecting your job performance.

CAN YOU RELATE TO THIS?

The following vignette describes a woman with ADHD who sought help for work-related difficulties. See if any of this sounds familiar to you.

Audra was 45 years old and had never been diagnosed with ADHD; however, she had struggled her entire life at both school and work. In her current job, she was responsible for tracking and maintaining a large database for a university student loan program. She encountered numerous difficulties in this job, and one of her coworkers suggested that she be evaluated for ADHD. Audra underwent a full evaluation by a psychologist and was diagnosed with ADHD, predominantly inattentive type.

During the evaluation, Audra reported that she worked late almost every night and all day Saturdays to keep up with her assignments. She was constantly in fear of being fired, and every time her supervisor asked to talk to her, she was sure he was going to tell her she was finished. During one meeting, her supervisor told her that her nickname in the department was “the black hole” and that coworkers complained that when they gave her something, it would disappear, never to be seen again. He also told her that he was reluctant to assign new tasks to her, as he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to complete them. This frequent negative feedback created a great deal of anxiety and further hindered Audra’s daily performance. Her duties involved a variety of different tasks, including calling students, setting up files, maintaining databases, responding to inquiries, and problem solving whenever student loans were not processed correctly (which was often). She was constantly interrupted by phone calls that had to be dealt with immediately. She was also interrupted by coworkers who needed help with tasks that involved her. Audra could not deal with these interruptions and never seemed to get back on track afterward. At the end of each day, she felt that she had accomplished very little on her list of assigned tasks.

Audra explained to her counselor that she tried to keep a to-do list each day, but, by noon, she was so hopelessly behind that she usually abandoned it and just worked on whatever seemed to be a current crisis. Her desk was usually littered with files and paperwork, and she admitted that she was horrible at organizing her work and finding things that she needed. When she received a phone call, it frequently took an inordinate amount of time just to locate the relevant paperwork that the caller needed. Audra was particularly anxious about her supervisor’s requests for information, as he generally stood in her doorway and glowered while she looked for the information he needed. During the previous month, he had told her that she was “on report” and that her “remediation plan” was to organize her workspace and increase the number of new cases she processed each week. Audra was despondent about these requests and had no idea how to get better organized.

Audra also felt that her coworkers were fed up with her. Many of their job duties were dependent on getting information from her. She would promise to have the information by a certain time, but she rarely managed to meet that commitment. Audra couldn’t remember who she had made promises to. She usually wrote the requests on a note pad or sticky note but frequently lost the note. One of her coworkers, Evangeline, took pity on her and tried to give her suggestions about logging in requests, using a timer, making specific places for her folders, and keeping a daily to-do list. But Evangeline’s rapid-fire description of the myriad things that Audra could do to improve her efficiency overwhelmed her even more, and she quickly lost her motivation to follow Evangeline’s time-saving strategies.

Audra was also depressed about her personal life. She lived with her elderly parents, who had numerous medical problems and required several trips each month to various doctors. She frequently had to schedule these trips during the workday, which only compounded her work difficulties. Audra worried that something serious would happen to her parents and that she would not be able to cope with it. Her symptoms of depression and anxiety, coupled with her stresses at work, made her a “nervous wreck.” She described her job and her life as one huge mountain that just kept getting steeper and steeper, while she kept sliding further and further downhill.

Regarding her early history, Audra reported that she had been a below-average student, managing to scrape by with a mostly C average. Her mother had helped her extensively during middle and high school and put her on a strict homework and activity schedule. Audra had lived at home during college, attending the local community college. Again, she had received help from her mother, along with tutoring and special assistance from her instructors. She had worked in a variety of jobs since college and had, admittedly, been a mediocre employee. She reported that she was frequently reprimanded for arriving late, not getting her work done, and being disorganized. No one had ever mentioned ADHD to her until Evangeline had suggested that she might want to be tested. Audra was actually quite relieved when she received her diagnosis and said it felt as though the pieces all just clicked together and made perfect sense. She had answered positively to all 10 questions in the employment screener (see Quiz Yourself—Does This Sound Like You?) and felt relieved that there was a reason for her work difficulties other than “just being stupid.”

The case of Audra illustrates many difficulties experienced by adult workers with ADHD. Although it is not as likely that someone receives a first diagnosis of ADHD so late in life, it certainly happens, particularly for individuals who may have had good coping skills or support systems early on but who encountered increasingly more demands in new or different jobs. Audra’s difficulties were primarily in the area of inattention, which is more common in adults than symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity. But these basic symptoms can have ramifications across the spectrum of work duties—in Audra’s case, with memory, focusing, prioritizing, organizing, and multitasking. As can be common in adults with ADHD, Audra had some accompanying psychological difficulties, symptoms of both depression and anxiety that made it even more difficult for her to cope. Most adults have demands outside of their work, such as children, spouses, or outside activities and organizations. But in Audra’s case, the increased demands of taking care of her parents overwhelmed her ability to cope. The added time needed to complete the tasks required by her job left her little time for attending to other responsibilities in her life.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

In the following sections, I cover three areas that will help you be more successful at work. The first step in getting back on track is to choose a job or career that is a good fit for you, given your particular ADHD symptoms, as well as your overall profile. Next, I discuss ways to cope with distractibility and lack of focus during your workday. Third, I talk about your legal rights to specific accommodations at work.

Choosing a Job That Works for You

The first step is to have a very thorough evaluation of your ADHD so that you understand your particular symptoms as well as your strengths and weaknesses. Symptoms of primarily inattention will present very different difficulties from those presented by symptoms of hyperactivity or impulsivity. In Exhibit 9.1, check all the things you do well in your job. Then, in Exhibit 9.2, check the things that are difficult for you. Online inventories and websites (e.g., https://www.self-directed-search.com; https://www.mynextmove.org) can be additional helpful tools in your career matching process.

EXHIBIT 9.1. Try It! Things I Do Well at Work

Arrive on time
Follow directions
Complete what I’m supposed to each day
Pay attention during meetings
Get along well with my coworkers
Get along well with my boss or supervisor
Think creatively
Have a positive attitude
Try my best
Am persistent in completing tasks
Have a good memory
Rarely take a sick day
Am a team player
Am honest and can be trusted
Am good at dealing with the public or with customers
Have good telephone skills
Have good computer skills
Do what I’m told without complaint
Can work independently
Am organized and can find things when needed
Don’t give up easily
Don’t mind putting in long hours
Understand how to do my job. I have the skills and knowledge I need
Really enjoy what I do
Am a self-starter
Enjoy new challenges
Additional things:
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

EXHIBIT 9.2. Try It! Things I Have Difficulty With at Work

Frequently late for work
Frequently late for meetings
Forget to show up for meetings
Don’t get my work done on time
Often behind in my work
Take longer than my coworkers to get the same things done
Get bored easily
Get distracted easily
Lose focus
Can’t work very long at one time on one thing
Lose track of what I’m supposed to be doing
Find it hard to concentrate on my work
Have a difficult time prioritizing my job duties
Don’t have the skills or knowledge to do my job
Not a self-starter
Don’t get along well with my coworkers
Don’t get along well my boss
Am moody
Don’t work well in groups
Get in arguments a lot
Really dislike my job
Don’t take feedback well
Don’t like someone telling me what to do
Wish I had a different job
Additional things:
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

These lists are a good place to start as you put together a profile of yourself as a worker (Exhibit 9.3). Look for patterns in the areas that you endorsed as strengths and weaknesses. This will help you to see which aspects of the world of work you do well and those you may need to improve.

EXHIBIT 9.3. Try It! Your Work Profile

Past History. List facts about your past education and jobs here. These should include subjects you liked or did well at, subjects you did poorly in, previous jobs you’ve had, likes or dislikes regarding those jobs, and previous accomplishments or successes.

_______________________________________________________

Skills and Aptitudes. List particular things you do well here, such as computer skills, artistic or musical ability, working with numbers, reading, working with people, or building things.

_______________________________________________________

Personality Characteristics. This may be an area in which you will want professional help to guide you. There are some excellent tests, such as the Meyers–Briggs, that help you understand your personality style. But you can get started by characterizing yourself as an introvert versus extrovert, planful versus spontaneous, creative versus conventional, or other characteristics that you think describe you.

_______________________________________________________

Interests. For this list, don’t worry about whether you are good at something or not, but, instead, write down things that appeal to you. For example, you may possess little athletic skill but be very interested in sports.

_______________________________________________________

Values. List your principles or standards of behavior. These are things you judge to be important in life or career such as honesty, hard work, creativity, financial stability, or flexibility.

_______________________________________________________

With these pieces of information in hand, you are ready to determine whether there is a good match between your current job and the profile you have put together. Is your current situation well suited to your strengths? If your match indicates a poor fit, can you create a better match by gaining some additional skills, changing your job duties somewhat, or just engaging in an attitude adjustment? If you conclude that you will continue to feel like a square peg in a round hole, then you should seriously consider working with a career counselor to change your career path. If you are still in school and still considering your major or career goals, now is an excellent time to go through this exercise. It is very common for college students with ADHD to have an unrealistic view of their suitability for their chosen major. However, if you have long been out of school and in your current field, it is not too late. Many times, decisions are made on the basis of parental pressure, current trends (business, medicine, and law seem to be popular choices), or merely “falling” into a major without careful thought or planning. For some people, many careers can be rewarding and doable, but for adults with ADHD, it is imperative to select a job or career that fits your particular needs. In the case study of Audra, her current job was a very poor match on the basis of her symptoms of ADHD. Her job required many skills that are difficult for adults with ADHD, such as attention to detail, good memory, ability to plan and stick to a schedule, and the ability to focus.

Although your job choice needs to be made on the basis of your particular profile, many experts suggest that adults with ADHD should avoid jobs that involve sitting at a desk all day and doing repetitive, detail-oriented work. More suitable jobs might be ones that involve creativity, spontaneity, the ability to set your own hours, and a degree of variety. But be careful about selecting a job with too much flexibility; some adults with ADHD need clear deadlines and someone to hold them accountable. Otherwise, their tendency to procrastinate may prevent them from following through on tasks. Some good job choices for adults with ADHD might include teaching, sales, or marketing. Managerial or administrative jobs might be quite suitable if there are support staff who take care of structure, organization, and day-to-day details. Many adults with ADHD become entrepreneurs and are quite successful. Adults with ADHD can thrive in jobs that allow them to plan, create new endeavors, solicit contracts, and envision the big picture. Then, they turn the implementation and monitoring over to their detail-oriented support staff. Other jobs may not be an ideal fit but can be made more manageable if one has an understanding boss and supportive coworkers.

Being More Effective on the Job

Organization and time management are critical to being an effective employee. Thus, be sure to review Chapter 7 (on organization) and Chapter 5 (on time management), as they complement the other topics included in this chapter.

After organization and time-management skills, the third most important aspect of your workday will be maintaining your focus throughout the day. If you have a diagnosis of ADHD, it is probably difficult for you to put in an 8-hour day while maintaining maximum concentration. It may be hard for you to do this for even 30 minutes. This section goes over some key concepts to help you spend as much of your workday as possible actually working.

First, it’s important that you at least consider medication. Research has suggested that the primary benefit of medication is that it allows you to focus. If you are not on medication, or it does not seem to be working for you, you might want to skip ahead and review Chapter 11 on medication.

There are numerous coping strategies to help you focus. A good place to start is making your physical environment less distracting. Consider your workspace. Are there ways you can reduce noise and traffic flow? You might have a private office, a cubicle, or work on your feet most of the day. Regardless of your circumstances, spend some time evaluating your environment and work with your supervisor to make any helpful structural changes you can to your physical space. If physical changes are not possible, can you vary your work hours so that you are able to come in early or work late, when other people are not around? A white noise machine is fairly inexpensive and can block out a good deal of noise when it’s not possible to change your physical setting.

Next, consider the types of things that distract you, such as:

people interrupting with questions specifically for you
people interrupting with nonessential information, gossip, or just being noisy within hearing distance
interrupting others to avoid doing work or to seek stimulation
telephone calls
email
your thoughts

Each of these will require different solutions, but the more distractions you can identify and treat, the more efficient you will become. If other people interrupt you, work with your boss and colleagues to determine whether your job requires that you be available at all times for things that “come up.” Is there an expectation that you will be available on an immediate basis? If not, are you allowed to close your door or put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign during specified times when you are working on tasks?

If responding to your phone and email get you off task, can you turn off your ringer, let your voicemail pick up, and select certain times during the day to listen and respond to messages? The same goes for email. Even those with the best of intentions can spend all day long just responding to email. Can you train yourself to check your email at specified times? This method for both phone and email can also work as a type of reward to keep you on track with other tasks (“I’ll work solidly on this report for 45 minutes and then check my phone and email as a way of taking a break”). Remember, a task doesn’t necessarily have to be “fun” to qualify as a reward; sometimes, it just has to be different. Some adults with ADHD can work for long periods of time, as long as the actual tasks have variety.

If your distractions occur inside your head, you will need an outlet to keep yourself from jumping from one task to another. Keep a small notebook or list handy. When intrusive thoughts about other things you need to be doing pop into your head, jot them down and promise to add them to your to-do list later. Do not give in and work on them right away unless they are true emergencies. Some adults find it helpful to set a small timer to go off at regular short intervals, such as every 10 minutes. When the timer rings, they mark down whether or not they are actually focusing on a task. If their mind has begun to wander, the timer is a reminder that helps to bring them back to the task at hand. The timer also gradually conditions them to be more aware of when and how their mind wanders and can eventually be discontinued when this process becomes more under their conscious control.

Workplace Accommodations for ADHD

If you have followed the previous suggestions about choosing a job that works for you and implementing good coping strategies, this next section will hopefully be unnecessary. However, if you find that your current employment is negatively impacted by your symptoms of ADHD, read on. One of the major decisions you will need to make is whether to disclose to your employer that you have ADHD. You might do this somewhat informally at first. For example, suggest to your boss that you know from past experience that you work best under certain circumstances, such as when you take frequent breaks, have a workspace that is free from distractions, or have all assignments written down and sent over email. Try to approach this from a position of strength. Have a discussion early on with your supervisor about ways you know that you work well, and don’t wait until you have problems and it comes across as an excuse. Many supervisors are happy to make changes that facilitate your efficiency. You might need to help educate your employer about ADHD. It may be helpful to print out descriptions of ADHD from one of the numerous websites mentioned in this book. Some employers will be more willing to listen to your suggestions if they learn more about ADHD from a credible source.

Alternatively, you can make a formal disclosure of your ADHD with documentation of your diagnosis and, if necessary, refer to legally mandated protections that you are entitled to under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. This federal law gives you specific protections and prevents employers from discriminating against you. The ADA is periodically amended, so it’s a good idea to check the government website (https://www.ada.gov) to see what might be new. The ADA will cover you if you work for a private employer who has 15 or more employees; an entity of the federal, state, and local governments, including those receiving federal funds; employment agencies and labor organizations; and “places of public accommodation,” including most private schools and higher education institutions.

According to the ADA, if you want to receive certain accommodations at work, you must disclose to your employer that you have a disability, which generally means that you must include some type of documentation. A diagnosis of ADHD does not automatically qualify you for accommodations; it depends on the circumstances. You will likely need a current evaluation report written by a licensed psychologist or physician that specifically states what limitations you have. This report will need to show that you have a physical or mental impairment that causes substantial limitations in a major life activity. You have to be otherwise qualified for the job; for example, you can’t claim ADHD as a reason for being denied a job in a biology lab if you were an English major with no biology experience or expertise.

Employers are only required to make reasonable accommodations to help you perform your work duties. For example, they might be required to let you use a tape recorder in meetings but not be required to provide someone to take notes for you. They might be required to give you a workspace that is not overly distracting but not be required to give you a private office if all other workers have cubicles. They might be required to let you use noise-blocking earphones during the day but not if that prevents you from hearing the phone ring and your primary job is as a receptionist. You might be allowed a 10-minute break every hour if you make up the time by working longer each day but not if your job is as a nurse in an emergency room and that 10-minute break would put patients at risk. You might be allowed to take an hour off each week to attend ADHD coaching sessions but not to take a 20-hour per week position that you think is more flexible. There are no hard-and-fast rules about what is reasonable. Initially, it’s up to you to meet with your employer and together brainstorm solutions that might be mutually agreeable. If the employer can show that the accommodations would create an undue hardship, they don’t have to make them.

If you feel you are being treated unfairly because of your symptoms of ADHD and that your employer is violating the ADA, you might want to consider filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the ADA and other civil rights laws. The EEOC’s telephone number is 1-800-669-4000. The time frame for filing is different in different states, and it can vary from 180 to 300 days from the date of the alleged discrimination, so be sure to check the requirements where you live. There is no cost to file a complaint, and you are not required to have a lawyer. After you file a complaint, the EEOC will notify your employer that a charge has been filed. There are several possible outcomes. The EEOC might investigate and determine that your charge is groundless, they might require that you enter into mediation (a free service that involves an impartial third person who listens to you both and helps you to come to an agreement), they might decide that you have been treated unfairly and work with your employer to make accommodations, or they might initiate a lawsuit against your employer.

As you can see, this can become fairly complicated, so it’s a good idea to think very carefully about whether you want to pursue this option. Sometimes you can win a case but be in a job situation that is so stressful that you dread going to work each day. Hopefully, you can avoid ever having to take this step by carefully selecting a job or career up-front that works for you and by learning on your own how to be organized, practice good time management, and reduce distractibility.

FREE RESOURCES

A couple excellent resources are available to help you with workplace accommodation issues:

The Job Accommodation Network: This organization provides individualized recommendations to callers based on their disability and job demands/responsibilities. Consumers can utilize the website or call directly for consultation.
The state or federal vocational rehabilitation system: Every state has an office of vocational rehabilitation and people with disabilities, including ADHD, can access specialized school-to-work transition, career development, and job placement services. Vocational rehabilitation can also provide assistive technology and other equipment as part of a person’s rehabilitation plan.

QUICK TIPS: IMPROVING WORK PERFORMANCE

There are many common coping techniques suggested by both experts in the field and adult workers who have a diagnosis of ADHD. The tips in this section are a compilation of these suggestions and can be helpful as easy reminders.

Use a daily planner that also has a long-term (week or month) view. Highlight important dates, meetings, and deadlines. Supplement with reminders on a whiteboard, in your phone, or through another system that works for you.
Develop a system to accommodate your restlessness. Build in physical activity all day long, such as taking the stairs, incorporating short exercise breaks in your office, walking to the copy room, or volunteering to do minor errands. Try to leave the office during lunch. You may want to consider a standing desk or swivel chair as well.
Develop a system to accommodate your boredom. Reward yourself on a set schedule (at least once an hour) with something enjoyable (read a few pages of a novel, surf the internet, have a snack, do some exercise, make a phone call).
Develop a system for prioritizing your day (rate your tasks A, B, C; list them in order, or give them stars). Stick to this priority list. Repeat this daily.
Consider using a set time each day to open mail, answer email, or complete other tasks that tend to distract you.
Break your larger tasks into smaller units, preferably things that can be accomplished in less than an hour. It will help you to be able to mark these off as you accomplish them, rather than feel overwhelmed by a job that takes several days to complete.
When you are distracted by the thought of a task other than the one you’re doing, write it down but resist the urge to do the other task right away. Wait until you have finished the task you’re working on.
Develop a system for organizing your space. Have a place for everything (papers, pens, books, work to do, and completed work). Use labels, files, or baskets. Always put things in their place as soon as possible. Learn to throw things away.
Stay focused in meetings by taking notes and asking questions. Bring a small object to manipulate in your hands to help with your need to fidget.
Use a phone, clock, or timer to ring an alarm 5 minutes before you need to be somewhere.
Use some of the functions on your phone, such as an electronic calendar or a system that rings or notifies you of appointments or deadlines.
Always carry a small notebook for reminders. Transfer these to your planner as soon as possible.
When having conversations, try to repeat back or paraphrase what is being said. This helps you focus, helps you remember, and lets the other person know you are interested and paying attention.
Ask your boss or colleagues to put requests in writing. Make sure that you understand what is to be done and that you know the due date.
Create self-imposed deadlines for tasks. Many adults with ADHD report that they are motivated by deadlines and tend to procrastinate unless they have a specific time constraint.
Take time at the end of each day to straighten, file, and organize. It’s much easier to get started the next day if you come into an organized office.
Begin and end each day with 10 minutes to update and review your planner or calendar. In the mornings, make sure meetings are accounted for and prioritize your tasks for the day. At the end of the day review your accomplishments and move any incomplete tasks to the following day.
Try to incorporate daily exercise, meditation, relaxation, or deep breathing into your routine.

SUMMARY

To summarize, here are the important points you will want to take away from this chapter. Use the following checklist to note the areas you have thoroughly studied. Leave the box empty if it is an area you would like to come back to and review further.

I understand how ADHD symptoms play out in the workplace.
I have learned how to choose a job that works for me.
I have learned ways to be more effective on the job.
I understand how to seek accommodations from my employer if work problems persist.