What is it REALLY like working with ADHD in the charity sector?

I’m writing this to share my personal experience of working with ADHD but of course, everyone’s experience is unique; ADHD and other neuro-diversities aren’t as simple as a list of symptoms on the NHS website. It’s a sliding scale, a spectrum, and every experience is different and offers a unique perspective. With that, to give you an idea of my experience of working with and having ADHD in the charity sector.

I remember a brilliant anecdote someone told me which helps put my experience of working with ADHD into perspective –  super interesting person who I met in a hostel a few years back, they have a YouTube channel where they post videos busking in random spots across Europe, I’d love to travel in a VW camper van and busk for a living for a few months, there’s someone down the street from me who seemingly collects camper vans, I wonder if I could borrow one, or perhaps I could become an engineer and fix Camper vans for people on the road… You get the picture.

I was diagnosed back when I was a wee bairn and it’s an interesting thing to dissect, because for me – it’s my very ‘normal’ and everyday experience, I didn’t have a life before ADHD so I can’t firmly tell you how my experience is different from the ‘normal’ experience.

I say ‘normal’ because I truly believe there is no ‘normal’, we’re all on a spectrum of sorts, but that’s just my two pence.

In recent years, ADHD has become quite the buzzword, and it’s so great to see awareness growing and more conversations opening up about ADHD in the charity sector and the workplace. More managers are aware of the condition and more people are being diagnosed and as such, understanding their condition and the support they might need. The world is seemingly taking the right steps to become more accessible for us neurospicy ones.

There is a lot of positive messaging, with many people highlighting the palatable aspects of ADHD, which I totally understand, we’re incredible workers etc, but I think this slight romanticising also undermines the challenges that can come with having ADHD in a workplace.

Yes, I’m very creative with lots of energy and the ability to think outside of the box and that lends itself beautifully to certain aspects of my role. But, I’m also TERRIBLE at time management and staying organised, my attention to detail lacks any precision and I just can’t do numbers, my brain just can’t, no matter how hard I try. One thing I can also really struggle with is getting overstimulated – when this happens, my brain essentially trips like an overloaded blown fuse and I can’t string a sentence together, the words won’t come.

This often means I risk missing deadlines and finishing tasks that I’ve started before moving on to the next one. I also get bored doing the more basic mundane (and mandatory) tasks which often means I put them off or don’t complete them to the best standard. Overwhelm often culminates into a wave of stress and anxiety which then sends me into a downward spiral, deep into the pits of self-despair. It can be really rough.

So, having worked in charity sector recruitment for a couple of years now at a recruitment agency that supports neurodiversity, I wanted to share some simple tips for managers and my fellow neurospicies that could help you navigate some of these challenges.

Tips For Managers:

1. Be open and flexible. I think everyone can benefit from this, but especially when things get overwhelming – it can be beneficial to allow flexible hours to reduce stress or let someone work from home in a more controlled environment.
2. Break Tasks into manageable chunks. It can really help breaking tasks into more manageable steps, preventing overwhelm and improve productivity.
3. Check-in regularly. No, we don’t need micro-managing, but a gentle check in can help maintain focus and ensure we’re on the right track, rather than running with something lower on the priority list.

Tips For managing ADHD:

1. Use Organisational tools. Big up outlook calendar, and whoever thought of a ‘to-do’ list was a certified genius. Keeping a concise to-do list makes things feeling manageable, and it’s so satisfying to tick them off.
2. Ask for help. It can be too easy to get carried away with something and leave something else behind – Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you’ve gone off track or are finding something challenging.
3. Take a break. The overwhelm is very real and sometimes, it’s best to take a break and give your brain time to regroup thus reducing stress.

Relatively simple tips, but I have to make a conscious effort to implement these daily and manage myself, it’s a battle.

I’m very fortunate that I work in a very flexible environment (within a leading charity sector recruitment agency),  If I’m stressed and need to leave earlier, I can. If I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to work from home or somewhere quiet, I can do that. If I need help with a task, I can ask.  Are all people with ADHD in the charity sector as lucky though?

These little adjustments can make a massive difference when the challenges of my ADHD get too much, but not every employer is conscious of this, and when ADHD is glamorised and used as a sales tool, employers don’t have to think about the challenges and thus, make accommodations.

I’d love to hear about your experience of working with ADHD and any useful mechanisms you like to utilise, please feel free to email me [email protected]. You can also read about more of our inclusivity focused blogs here.