Wrestling With Something Shiny
My dear colleague Jamie McMillan, Kickass Careers / Helmets to Hardhats, and I were texting over WhatsApp recently about our sometimes debilitating inability to focus. It was in the middle of the work day — we both probably should’ve been on some other task. But it was cathartic to not only accept, yes, I’m not feeling the work at hand now, but also to be able to talk to someone about the struggle to complete seemingly simple tasks.
While I have quite the proclivity for daydreaming and being in motion (writing for me often involves walking around thinking about what I want to say), Jamie’s condition is much more insidious. Her recent and very authentic LinkedIn post about her battle with clinical ADHD reinforced just how unweildy this can be to manage. And it reminded me that it was time to tend to one of MOXY’s objectives — talking about mental health, especially as it manifests within male-dominated infrastructure sectors, where the topic is often still viewed as taboo.
According to WebMD, “an estimated 8 million to 9 million American adults have ADHD. One national survey showed that only half of adults with ADHD were able to hold down a full-time job, compared to 72% of adults without the disorder. When they were able to secure a job, they tended to earn less than their peers without it. Those job problems translate into nearly $77 billion in lost income each year.”
Interestingly, many jobs that “click” for people with ADHD are in infrastructure. Take the role of construction foreperson, for example. This requires a willingness to take risks and think innovatively, which are two skills that some people with ADHD have in spades. Construction is also highly driven by completion milestones, which brings an intensity and pressure that can help focus and motivate an ADHD sufferer.
“Being transparent about my life and struggles has always been a priority for me,” said Jamie, an Ontario-based ironworker and boilermaker turned skilled trades keynote speaker and educator, entrepreneur, and Helmets to Hardhats recruiter.
“Every day I wake up it’s a struggle. What will I do? What do I need to do? What meetings do I have? What paperwork needs to be submitted? I get overwhelmed, can’t remember anything, find myself easily distracted, get anxious about disappointing everyone for being late, missing deadlines or just simply losing track and forgetting obligations.”
Women often go undiagnosed because their symptoms present differently than men. ADHD comes in two presentations: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, or a combination of the two. As explained in an article in The HR Director, “males tend to have hyperactive/impulsive ADHD, which may cause them to be fidgety, always on the go, disruptive, restless, talkative, impulsive, impatient, and have mood swings.”
Females, however, tend to exhibit inattentive ADHD, which makes it hard to focus, pay attention to details, stay organized, listen, and remember things.
Sometimes these symptoms are mistaken for hormonal imbalances or anxiety. Additionally, some of the characteristics of inattentive ADHD, such as being shy or impulsive, “are often viewed as personality traits rather than symptoms,” according to The HR Director.
“The ADHD causes me to get annoyed, frustrated and angry with myself to the point that I feel overwhelmingly exhausted so I shut everything down,” Jamie shared. “One of two things seems to be the cure: take a nap (though that makes me feel lazy and I beat myself up more) or go outside and get nature therapy (that makes me feel amazing until I come home to a bigger mountain of responsibilities). It’s a vicious cycle but I am working with my doctor to adjust my medication and a psychotherapist to help find solutions.”
Over the past few years, Jamie started to notice the ADHD becoming worse, extending into more areas of her life. I posited the ever-increasing information overload we are bombarded by daily. Even while walking — from the car to the office building, down the street, around the lake — we’ve got earbuds in. At the stoplight, we’re checking our phones. Information is everywhere, all the time. Creating more distraction. Or at least more oppportunities for it.
There are many resources (see below) available for mitigating symptoms of not only ADHD but our quasi-addictions to being connected, productive, and on-the-move. But my favorite is talking to a friend, like Jamie. Find your people, open up, go easy on each other. Listen, pace yourself, laugh. To a degree, we’re all tangled up in our own “something shiny.”
Resources
https://www.verywellmind.com/add-and-work-20397
https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-in-the-workplace
https://www.happierhuman.com/unplug/