ADHD and focus struggles

I was diagnosed earlier this year with ADHD. I am in my mid-twenties and I have really struggled with focusing on work or study since I was 14. I have lost a job before due to focus-related issues and my grades at university were also affected by my inability to submit assignments on time. My problem is that I am now doing my dream job and I am finding it so difficult to focus, and actually complete required tasks, that I am concerned I will lose the job. I start each day with a to-do list but find my mind wanders constantly and I can’t stop wandering around or googling other things when I need to focus on work tasks. I am in the process of starting a course of medication, but it will likely take a few months before this can happen. In the meantime, I’m not sure how to support myself to perform at work. I know that I can focus for a few hours if I start work as soon as I get up in the morning, so I am committing to doing that. I also try to switch my working space during the day as I find this helps. But I’m still finding that I can only focus for about half the hours I am contracted for. I have a high workload and do need to work the full hours I’m contracted for to be able to complete allocated tasks. At the moment, I’m working late into the evenings to compensate for not getting enough work done during my 9-5, which I don’t really want to have to do. Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you!

 

 

Answer:

 ADHD  brains may work slightly differently than other brains but it doesn’t have to be a disadvantage. There are many successful people with ADHD, use them as your examples of what’s possible. Here’s the thought that is the biggest problem: I’m not sure how to support myself to perform at work. When you think that you’re putting up a wall that will stop you from figuring out how to keep your dream job and enjoy it.

If you knew EXACTLY how to support yourself at work, what would you do?

If you believed you could easily keep your dream job with just a few adaptations, how would that feel? Lean into what you want and see what you come up with.