In a study of 1,134 parents, 25% said they wouldn't be happy if their child became friends with a kid who had attention deficit. This wasn't ten years ago. This study was reported in Science Daily March 21, 2007*! They went on further to say that they wouldn't want an ADHD kid to live next door. Why is this? There have been so many advancements in understanding attention deficit that this statistic is shocking. Even worse, they continue to connect AD/HD to the stigma of mental illness.
That's just archaic thinking! You know your strengths and weaknesses, but if you have attention deficit, you're probably a very intelligent and very creative. The bad press is just forgettable.
When you admit that you have AD/HD to people, most of them understand the attention deficit part, but they don't usually get the rest. They don't know, for instance, that you get easily bored. They have no idea that you are bored easily, for instance. And they may not understand that you have trouble making yourself clear sometimes or maybe that you need to get up and move around more than others.
Now, here's an idea: Get them to help you work around your areas of difficulty.
Find someone that you work well with and ask them to be your accountability partner. When they agree and you have a project that has to be done, get them to IM you every 15 minutes and ask if you're still working on the project or even, if it's done yet. If they don't get a response, ask if they'll physically come to your cubby and see if you're doing what you need to do to get the project done and if not, to get you back on track.
Also use the rotation method for tasks that you hate to do. If you know they take half-an-hour, then set up a rotation whereby you do one thing for fifteen minutes and then something else that you enjoy for fifteen minutes. Choose four tasks that you have to do every day or that you know need to be completed by the end of the day. Start with something that really bores the heck out of you, and get it out of the way first. Then, you'll have three more things to look forward to that you like to do. Or, if you hate two of the four, make the worst first, and the next worst third. That way, you'll be sure to get them done.
Always keep an organizer handy, whether it's a personal data assistant (PDA), a day planner, or software on your computer. The best type is one that will give you reminders via pop-ups or some kind of sound pings or whatever.
If you have a co-worker that's responsible for basically the same tasks as you are, ask to do one they hate in exchange for one you hate. If one of you is linear and the other ADD, you may like things that are polar opposites.
Be sure to use some kind of organization system that suits your ADD. Instead of having a bunch of papers flying around everywhere, have a basket that you can keep loose items in. Then, at the end of every day, go through it and decide if you need it or not. Get rid of unwanted stuff, and file the other things in hanging folders inside your desk drawer. That's if you know for sure, you can't get rid of them. If you're unsure about whether to throw them away or keep them, then, have a file in front that you go through once a week. Call it your "maybe" file, and if you haven't used the item in the week's time, toss it. Chances are you'll never need it again.
Always approach a new job as a learning experience. Keep a notebook or a loose-leaf binder and take notes for each task you're responsible for doing. Write every step in the process down. That way, when you have to perform the task on your own, you won't have to remember it all, you'll have an instruction manual at your fingertips.
Be clear when communicating. Always be sure to ask questions about assignments that aren't clear, or if you're delegating to an employee or assistant, make sure they understand the task before walking away. Your last question should always be, "Do you understand?" Then, be sure that they realize it's OK to ask questions.
These are all ways to improve not only your personal job performance but your inter-personal work relationships. People who aren't acquainted with attention deficit have no idea what it's like to be AD/HD and they'll probably be understanding once they realize what you deal with every single day. Only 5% of the child population has ADD and only about 15% of those children grow up to be instantaddsuccess.com/" target="_blank AD/HD adults. Ignorance sparks fear, so let people know what attention deficit is about and you'll probably have a much better time of it at work and outside the office.
But it may be hard for you to even admit you have ADD or ADHD. If you're over 20, you probably grew up in a time where people looked at attention deficit as a mental "problem." There was something "wrong" with you, and you may still have residual low self-esteem, even though AD/HD rules. Linear thinkers can't think as fast as you can, and they usually aren't as creative. Exploit those incredible strengths and find ways to work around the weaknesses. When you do, you'll have a much happier life and like yourself a lot better, too. You should! You're really and truly awesome.
* sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070320110106.htm sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070320110106.htm
Tellman Knudson is CEO of OvercomeEverything, Inc. and a certified hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner who has helped many clients instantaddsuccess.comachieve ADD Success. Visit his comprehensive library of ADD information and join the forum at InstantADDSuccess.com ( instantaddsuccess.com instantaddsuccess.com)