I wanted to talk about ADHD and career - I see a lot of posts about how it affects people in their career and parents worries if their child will be able to have a good career with ADHD so thought i might share my thoughts and what helps me and where i need help and the strengths also that we have in the hope that if you're feeling like it will negatively impact your career or your child's then maybe this gives you hope as well as some hacks to help!! There are many successful sports and business people and entrepreneurs with ADHD who have achieved great things, possibly because their ADHD gives them that energy and focus on another level when they find something they are passionate about.
First the obvious - ADHD does mean energy and a super hyper focus that's incredible when you find something that passionate about - so here if you can find something that you are passionate about and follow that, then chances are you will be better at it than most other ordinary people - it doesn't matter what it is if your passionate enough about something that you do it very well then there will always be opportunities in life and guess what it will make life very enjoyable
If your a parent of an ADHD child all i can say is nurture and help your child find and follow those passions - yes there will be a few that come and go, but the best thing we have done is support and allow our children to follow their passions regardless of what they were - its much easier than trying to fight them or change them on those things and they are excelling in those things and loving them at the same time.
My own career experience and learnings: I fell into a uni degree in economics which I hated and the results showed that, and had to redo a lot of subjects but did manage to finish ! then I worked for my father because i had no idea what i wanted to do or how to work that out then I was lucky with my first real job in my mid 20’s as it saw me working with retail business owners of a national franchise - i was in a different business every day helping on different problems and often in different towns as well so i got that variety and was never stuck in an office - and got to help people (which i have since understood to be my thing) but when that job came to an end i struggled with the next few to find another one i liked and over time time, before i knew what ADHD was i though i was serial entrepreneur, without finding anything that really stuck - having lots of great ideas but never really getting them to take off and now i realise the my ADHD brain does have lots of great ideas but the key to turning them into a successful business is having people around you to compliment you and perhaps get things done without going off on a tangent! The other things use to get me through the day are lists - i plan with some journaling in the morning and a broad outline of what im doing and reminding myself why and then to actually get things done i use task lists to ensure but the things i like doing and the things i dont like doing gets done - i also get my wife to write things that she wants done in a list rather than tell me - 100% ill forget if im just told but put it in a list i can check off and it will get done and ill be proud to tell her i got it all done. The other thing I need is move and daydream breaks as well as i have recently started taking a camp chair and working outside in a park or at a cafe - i am way more productive than trying to work in a room or office for a day.
Anyway thats my info and some hacks i use so hopefully there's something in there you can use to make your life a little better - PS the things i mention above i miss them at times - i dont journal every morning or forget my notes sometimes - so don't beat yourself up if you do - we're not aiming for perfection, just to make things a bit better each day - and that adds up quickly over time!
Please let us know your thoughts or reach out if you have questions