VOICES
WORK
POST- ADHD — Female, 30s, Admin Assistant
I can start anything. That’s not my problem. I’ll decide I’m going to clean the house, start in the kitchen, then somehow end up reorganising a drawer, then halfway through that I’ll notice something else, and nothing actually gets finished. By the end of the day I’ve been “busy” but the house still looks messy. Nothing ever gets completed. I end up throwing everything into the back room and locking the door.
Same with work. I’ll open emails, start replying, then get distracted, then come back and realise I didn’t send half of them. Deadlines save me. If something is due tomorrow, I will do it tonight. If it’s due next week, it basically doesn’t exist yet. So with my ADHD, if I have pressure, only then do I have a chance of finishing anything. The house stays messy because I am not going to lose my job over it, That said, pushing through to complete even urgent tasks is so incredibly effortful. I feel really low all the time as I just want to finish stuff like everyone else does - without stress.
POST - Autism — Male, 40s, Accountant
I left a job because of constant change. Processes would shift without warning, expectations weren’t clear, and I found myself constantly trying to catch up. In my current role, everything is structured and predictable. I perform significantly better. Consistency matters more to me than variety.
POST - AuDHD — Female, 30s, Project Manager
(high performer masking)
I look organised to others at work. I’m not, internally.
I rely heavily on bursts of focus where I get a huge amount done, then I slow down massively. People think I’m consistent because I deliver results, but they don’t see the swings behind it. If I didn’t have pressure, I don’t think I’d function the same way. I’ve learned to plan around my demons instead of fighting them. I can't sleep at night with the pressure of keeping this front going
POST — Male, (mid-40s). Work: ADHD
I Was Diagnosed at 45. I’ve built a career, and from the outside there’s nothing obviously wrong. Which is why ADHD never came up. I was always described as capable, but difficult to manage. I worked best under pressure, avoided routine tasks, and had a tendency to leave things to the very last possible moment. What became harder was the knock on effect of everything over time. Missed details. admin backlogs. The constant sense that I was only just about keeping things together. At work, I compensated by over-delivering in some areas but I could never catch up in the areas that seemed more tedious. I get overlooked for promotions now as things have got so bad for me. I am just stagnating.
POST — Structured thinking (male, 37): Mechanical Engineer: Autism
I think in systems. Machines make sense. People are more unpredictable. Work suits me because it’s logical and structured. Ambiguity is the hardest part.