Managing Your ADHD Through Structure In Six Steps

Eran is the CEO and cofounder of ingredient brothers, a natural ingredients importer.

Being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult isn’t news people look forward to, is it? And yet, it’s becoming a more and more common occurrence. And far too often, medication is seen as the holy grail of ADHD solutions. But medication isn’t a panacea that cures all; it’s a single part of a proactive, structured strategy to create order in your life and career.

Here are the key steps that helped me create that structure in my career.

Step 1: Find a space that’s conducive for you.

Finding a quiet corner where you can work without distraction is where it began for me. At college, I rented a desk in the library, cut off from the common areas, where I could get lost for hours in research and study work. Over the years, that quiet space has changed: from an open boardroom to a quiet corner table to a dedicated workspace separate from the rest of the apartment now that I work from home. Find that space where you’re protected from distractions, and then be protective of it.

If you don’t have the luxury of choosing your own workspace, talk to someone within your company about the space you need to do your best work, be open about your ADHD requirement and let them help you find that conducive space.

Step 2: Carve out productive pockets in your day.

Most of us can’t lock ourselves in a little room in a library for entire days, so instead, we have to carve out small pockets of guarded focus time in our days. In my previous position, I went to work in the wee hours of the morning, shut myself in a boardroom and got my focus work out of the way while the world around me was still waking up.

At my next position, I took the habit of working in the evenings and on Sundays when the world was quiet. And it’s something I still do because the calm that falls over the world outside my apartment window and in my inbox also projects onto me.

Yet even in the midst of the remote work culture and a professional community that’s far more willing to explore new avenues of productivity, breaking free from the nine-to-five shell can be difficult. But as a person with ADHD, it’s important that you find the time of day that allows you to work without the world breaking your stride. And then structure the rest of your day around these protected bubbles.

With the increased attention given to work/life balance in professional careers and the content being shared around the topic, it becomes even more important to figure this out for yourself and not follow others’ advice blindly.

Step 3: Separate social and focus work hours.

It’s important to consider that scheduling meetings outside of your solitary focus hours isn’t just for your benefit; it’s for those you need to collaborate with as well. Having to split your attention between multiple tasks can already be a recipe for disaster. Having to shift gears in your mind and go into social drive can be nearly impossible for some people with ADHD.

Creating a clearly defined buffer between focused work and social work gives your brain a moment to shift gears, an especially important buffer I’ve found when you’re taking ADHD medication that stifles social skills.

Step 4: Stick to your own schedule.

So your colleagues at the office and family at home know not to disrupt you in your focus time. But the biggest disruptors of neurodivergent individuals aren’t those around us, are they? They’re us.

You need to be strict with your focus time and find the best way to give yourself the time to do meaningful work.

Along with the rise in remote work popularity, there’s been an increased interest in ways to stay productive and battle distractions. One “hack” that’s come up in probably every ADHD advice piece is the Pomodoro technique, where you work for 25-minute stints and take a 5-minute break after each one.

But what you need to remember is that, as with every other piece of advice, you need to adjust it to your situation. If I stop after 25 minutes, it’s a struggle to get back into motion. So, I’ve extended that time to an hour or two in some cases, depending on the task. And then I step away.

The importance of that “shutting off” stage that people with ADHD often forget.

Step 5: Make time off an official commitment.

According to WebMD, 70% of ADHD patients struggle with anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, which is one of the big reasons why burnout is such a high risk for us.

One of the best ways to counter that risk is to take a step back out of your professional life to rest and focus your mind elsewhere. It doesn’t matter whether it’s reading, painting, spending time with your family, cooking, exercising or binge-watching Netflix—it just matters that you’re doing something rewarding outside of work.

And then sleep. If you haven’t created a structure that includes night-time work sessions, don’t go back down the rabbit hole once you’ve walked away from work for the day.

People with ADHD are more susceptible to disrupted sleep patterns and, in numerous cases, sleep disorders, which lead to forgetfulness and poor concentration when awake. For neurodivergent individuals, this adds fuel to the fire that’s already burning uncontrollably. So it’s important to transpose the structure of your professional day to your sleep schedule as well because whether you like it or not, they’re connected.

Step 6: Continue adapting and evolving.

At each stage of my career, it was necessary to reassess the structures I’d created, and I’m adapting them to this day. But managing ADHD isn’t a destination; it’s a journey. And it’s a journey that’s a lot more enjoyable now that I’ve learned the importance of structure.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?