⌛Does it take you AGGGGGGGEEESSS to complete your paperwork?
Articles, projects, even text messages?
For me it’s the Linkedin posts…
Long post, short post, doesn’t matter. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
AGES.
Whether it’s writing a post for LinkedIn or completing that plan or report, here are
4 potential reasons ADHDers may find this kind of work more time consuming.
1. Overlooking details 🔎
Whilst under the right conditions, ADHDers can produce A LOT of work in a short period of time (especially when working on something of particular interest or leaving things right up to the deadline⏰) we can often overlook details due to EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING challenges.
This can lead to CARELESS MISTAKES but they are far from careless.❌
I’ve experienced the ‘ADHD TAX' for so many of these errors EVEN when I am trying my ABSOLUTE BEST to be 100% focussed!
📆I’ve missed dental appointments despite being sent reminders because I misread the time or date, I’ve put in my car registration wrong when parking resulting in parking tickets and missed the fact that my council tax direct debit wasn’t going out (for over a year!) and have only just finished paying the outstanding amount for this error. And don’t get me started on subscription automatic renewals…….
As many ADHDers do, in an attempt to overcompensate for these expected errors, I reread my work OVER and OVER again looking for the errors I’m likely missing. And so often, even after several read throughs there are even more!🕵️
This checking for errors over and again makes writing a post (or report/proposal etc...) pretty exhausting. (Feel free to look for errors in this article...!)
2. Visual stress
👀Visual stress (referred to as Irlen or Meares-Irlen Syndrome) is a visual processing difficulty that can impact reading especially when words are chunked together and may be made worse by fancy fonts, 💡 certain lighting or the glare of a white background with black writing.
This visual stress involves difficulty with VISUAL PROCESSING rather than vision, making reading and writing challenging at times.
📖Often those who experience it do not have difficulty with reading itself.
Whilst Irlen syndrome is not tested for in an ADHD assessment, it has a high co-occurrence with ADHD and other neurodivergent conditions.
In my career and spare time I have always done a lot of reading and really enjoyed it.
Visual stress can cause writing to become distorted or blurred
But I had noticed when reading that the writing could become blurry, needing to BLINK a lot, having to move closer and further always from the text, SENSITIVITY to light and aching eyes. I had always thought I just had ‘issues’ with my eyes as I wore contact lens.
🖨️ I would often print out documents I needed onto coloured paper (partly as I’d be more likely to lose them if they were white!) but I often felt I couldn’t ‘see’ the writing on white paper.
This kind of visual stress, especially when you are unaware what is causing it can make working at the computer more challenging and time consuming.
🤯Learning about visual stress and ADHD has been another one of those ‘ohhhhhhhh, so that’s why’ moments for me.
Look for this symbol for ways to improve your experience on the computer and on your phone
If this is something you experience, there are a number of assistive technologies on your computer and even on your phone to make reading more comfortable.
📲In your phone search for ‘ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES’ where you can find colour filters, colour inversion, reducing flashing lights and text to speech options.
🗣️Text to speech options can be particularly helpful as I find many of my clients process audio especially fast tending to listen to videos and audiobooks on 2x speed.
3. Anxiety and RSD (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria)
Did I say something wrong? Did I offend anyone? Does what I wrote make sense to anyone but me??? Did I use the wrong terms or annoy anyone??? Must make sure it is perfect!
A late diagnosis of ADHD and other neurodivergent (ND) conditions often comes hand in hand with ANXIETY.
With a lifetime of being misunderstood and experiencing that their reactions or behaviour may be considered ‘wrong’ by some, many ND individuals can worry and mask in order to avoid making a social faux pas.
So posting your thoughts publicly or handing in an important piece of work can be a pretty daunting experience!
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria involves extreme emotional sensitivity to the perception of ‘rejection’ or criticism.
Whilst ADHDers may be labelled as exaggerating or dramatic for their responses to perceived criticism, ADHDers have been found to experience EMOTIONAL and PHYSICAL PAIN more intensely meaning these rejections literally HURT MORE.
A perceived rejection or wrong-doing can result in RUMINATING over uncomfortable emotions and experiences (🛌think lying in bed rehearsing said unpleasant situation), self-blame and even a physical experience of the emotional distress such as headaches, migraines and body aches.
In order to avoid rejection/criticism, some strategies people unknowingly develop include people pleasing, overachieving and aiming for perfection, or simply not trying at all.
For me, this can lead to worry when posting and I’m often stuck in a cycle of RESEARCHING and checking everything I’m saying to make sure its accurate.
🔍E.g. thinking, "I must find a research journal supporting my statement that individuals with ADHD have been found to experience emotional and physical pain more intensely" before I feel comfortable to post.
If you’re interested, here’s one investigating altered pain perception and neuroinflammation in relation to ADHD:
Kerekes, N., Sanchéz-Pérez, A. M., & Landry, M. (2021). Neuroinflammation as a possible link between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pain. Medical Hypotheses, 157, 110717.
Whilst RSD can be challenging to manage, coaching for emotional regulation can help as can journaling as a way to reduce the inner noise.
4. Difficulty completing tasks
ADHDers challenges with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING contribute to difficulties with task INITIATION and task COMPLETION.
The ADHD brain is motivated by NOVELTY, INTEREST, CHALLENGE and URGENCY so sitting down to actually write a post (or other task) can be a hurdle in itself.
Additionally, when experiencing difficulties with a required task, sometimes your brain simply loses interest making it hard to follow through….
This is why reflecting on the challenges experienced and how these relate to our knowledge of how the ADHD brain may function differently to the NT brain can help us to see patterns in the challenges we experience.
Knowledge is power- when we know what the hurdle is, we can figure out how to jump!
So, against the odds, this article is complete…😆
What rings true for you when writing posts or important documents for work? What strategies have you developed to jump your hurdles?
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