ADHD in the Workplace

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What do you think of when you hear the phrase ADHD? Probably the kid in the back of the class who couldn’t sit still, right? Always in trouble for something. Usually hyperactive, making noises with their mouths or their pencils, forgetting things… all the classic signs.

But what about the kid who doesn’t say much? Nose stuck in a book? Maybe they work really hard, and they pretty much sit still at their desks. But sometimes, they don’t turn in their assignments on time, or they’ve made a bunch of mistakes. That kid could have ADHD, too.

That kid was – and is – me.

I have inattentive type ADHD. In fact, the word “severe” has been used once or twice to describe my level of ADHD. Previously, this probably would have been called ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder, but that term is no longer used among professionals or in the community. That’s because the more we better understand our brains, the more we learn that there is a spectrum. Some people might have mild symptoms, while others might have more severe ones, or sometimes they fall into the middle.

ADHD is what we call a neurodivergence, which means our brains have developed differently from a neurotypical brain – or, the best way I can describe it, a type A brain. There’s nothing wrong with us (or you type A brains out there); we just do things a little differently from other people. Our brains process things differently.

And that is what I’m here to talk about – ADHD and how we can better structure our working environments to suit those with ADHD. Or, if you have been diagnosed or suspect you have it, you can use some of the tools I’ve outlined below to help you succeed in your role. Or, if you’ve got an ADHD person on your team, how can you help them succeed?

Let’s talk first about the different types of ADHD.

Inattentive – this type of ADHD is rarely hyperactive. We tend to make a few more mistakes than our peers; we tend to get bored really easily, we jump around from task to task, and we are easily distracted. We can find ourselves daydreaming a lot and getting glassy-eyed during meetings. And yeah, I am totally telling on myself here.

Hyperactive – your classic ADHD. This is what you think of when you think of ADHD in children. It’s not being able to sit still or restlessness.

And then there’s a mix, which are people who have varying degrees of both.

Now, let’s talk about executive function and dysfunction. This is where we get into trouble as kids and as adults in the workplace. Executive function is a little thing in your brain that makes you do the things. Executive dysfunction is the lack of the little thing in your brain that makes you do things. For example, a person with a fully functioning executive function will be able to send an important email to their boss right away. They can mark it off their list and move on. For those of us with executive dysfunction, that can be really hard. We want to write the email; we know we need to write the email, but we just cannot get our brains to do it. It’s like trying to move an immovable force. And this can come across as lazy. Trust me, we are beating ourselves up about it too.

Now, let’s look at this handy dandy infographic about the pitfalls of ADHD.

adhd roadblogs infographic

How can you, as a manager, help your ADHD-brained team member and help circumvent some of those pitfalls?

The biggest thing is to be patient! Our brains work differently and prioritize things a little differently. We focus on the big projects first because they are the most important. Meanwhile, the smaller stuff that might take half an hour might get pushed off until it’s due because they are so easy. To someone with a neurotypical brain, this could be really frustrating. You may not understand why you wouldn’t just do it now if it doesn’t take that long. But to us, the bigger project needs to take more of that very precious focus when we have it.

By the time a kid with ADHD is ten, it’s estimated that they may get an average of 20,000 more negative comments than a neurotypical child. That can really destroy a person’s self-esteem, and we often have depression and anxiety as a result. We don’t like getting into trouble, so we mask (the act of looking neurotypical) by trying to be as perfect as possible to avoid getting negative comments. To us, that can be the end of the world. For example, if I mess up, I will beat myself up for several days. I’ll even apologize over and over again or try to explain myself because of past negative comments. As a manager, you can help us by giving us much-needed pats on the head. A simple “good job!” will go a long way. We haven’t heard that very much, so when we do, it’ll be pretty special.

If you’re in an office setting, allow your ADHD employee to get up and take more frequent breaks. It’ll help with their focus so they can bust through those projects.

Speaking of special, let’s take a look at our strengths.

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I am very, very lucky to be working at SAGE. I have a wonderful management team who have seen my strengths and have adjusted my position so that I can better use those strengths, such as what we like to call “rabbit holing.” I read things like Wikipedia for fun because, as a person with ADHD, I love to learn. I love being able to whip out a random fact at any time of the day based on whatever my hyperfixation/focus is at the moment. Goodness knows I’ve bored my circle to tears talking about gray-headed flying foxes.

Did you know that a single flying fox can disperse up to 30,000 seeds per night? They’re excellent little pollinators!

Anyway.

Talk to your ADHD person, too! However, it should only be if they have disclosed their diagnosis to you. ADHD is covered under the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act. Talk to them about what sort of reasonable accommodations you can make to help them succeed.

I can work from home, which is way better than being in an office for me. In an office, I feel as though I need to be productive 100% of the time, which makes me productive 0% of the time. Plus, office hours were frustrating to me. I’d spend all day battling the executive dysfunction and distraction and finally get the productivity bolt at 4:30 in the afternoon. Working from home is by far more flexible. I can get up and walk the dog, run to the store, and when I’m back, my brain is back in work mode, and I can get so much stuff done. I also like to call this following the dopamine (ADHDers are lacking in dopamine – the brain chemicals that makes us feel good when we complete a task). When our little dopamine gland sputters to life, we have to take advantage of it. Sometimes, that leaves me working late into the night because that’s when I’m most productive.

For example, I’m writing this blog at 9:30 at night. 🙂

And finally, how can we, as ADHDers, make sure we are as successful as we possibly can be?

Give yourself momentum. One of my favorite tools to help me do this is Goblin Tools. It’s an app that helps you break down your tasks into bite-sized nuggets that are less daunting to complete using AI. The only downside to this app is that you can break down your tasks an infinite number of times, which is really fun and sort of distracting when you’re trying to see how many times you can break something down.

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The Goblin Tools App with a breakdown of tasks!

If I feel overwhelmed in the day, or if I’m not sure where to start, I always look at my simplest tasks first, like tasking out a design project to one of our fantastic designers or shooting an email to a supplier for a Supplier Spotlight blog. Then, I use the little amount of dopamine I get from completing those tasks to propel myself forward and complete the bigger tasks. Usually, I’ll tell myself if I can do x, then why not do y, and then why not z?

Time blindness is an absolute nightmare, especially when you have deadlines. Sometimes, they can just sneak up on you. But, for the love of all things promotional products, please don’t get a planner. You know they don’t work, I know they don’t work. They’ll end up in the pile of dead planners that you have starting from 2018. Trust me. I have a pile of dead planners starting from 2018. The thing I found that helps me the most is having a special pad of paper or notebook, a nice pen, and a nice highlighter. I list out the tasks I know need to get done for the day. Both work and personal. I even include my meetings. It doesn’t have to be in a specific order, and the key is to not go in any specific order. That will probably lead to an executive dysfunction fight with ourselves. Do what you can, mark the things off your list, and if you don’t get everything done, you need to in the day – that’s okay; move it to the next day.

The next biggest piece of advice is something that I have trouble following myself. Sometimes, we all have days where our focus isn’t there. It’s a day where maybe one or two things get done, and that’s it. It’s okay to have those days; we can’t be 100% all the time. And we shouldn’t beat ourselves up because of that. Be kind to yourself and know tomorrow is a new day. 

How can we use our strengths within the promotional products industry?

Well, we already know we think differently. So, why not use that to see if we can streamline our processes? People with ADHD are insanely creative and I think that’s why we can succeed in the promotional products industry. Use that creativity to bring your clients a fun new product idea that they can use to wow their prospective clients or show off their brand at an event. And, like I said, we have the insane ability to research and go down the rabbit hole. Use that to your advantage, too. I once had a college professor who said she learned everything she could about a client’s industry before starting on their project. While I wouldn’t go quite that far, researching their industry and getting an idea of what they do, how they work, and more will help you with some of those unique ideas, too.

ADHD doesn’t have to be a roadblock – with some little tools and tricks, we can really win at this whole work thing!

Do you have any productivity tips for ADHDers? Let me know in the comments below! And don’t forget to check out more productivity tips here!

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(Marketing Content Writer)

Betty is the Marketing Content Writer at SAGE. She is a self-proclaimed, bonafide nerd, and when she's not writing, you can find her playing video games, watching documentaries, hunting for heavy metal records, and going down rabbit-holes on Wikipedia.

One Comment

  1. After 45 years of living with poor mental health I decided a few months ago that it was time for me to get professional help for it. The stigma about poor mental health needs to be talked about more and I was thrilled when I saw this blog post on SAGE. Thank you for sharing!

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