This is my first time coming back to this website after a long time .
I have ADD and possibly Social anxiety. I work as a recruiter and I have to focus multiple recruitments and multiple clients at once. I worked in HR before, but due to my social anxiety I left HR and went into pure recruitment. However one thing that I could not fix by a career change was my ADD. Actually In my 3rd week at my job, a Client has called my boss and has personally thanked her on my performance. Which is good, but in my 4th week of work, my boss said this...
"Your work is good, you're dedicated and you work like this is your own business, but you need to be more focused on your work. Its been 1 month so work on your focus."
Honestly I can't say I didn't expect that within the first month, as all 4 of my other bosses has said the same thing. The only way I know how to deal with my ADHD/ADD was with adderall, but due to lack of funds I cannot afford to go to a doctor and govt doctors are a hassle to visit anyway where I live. I am going to save up and visit a good doctor (or psychiatrist or whatever) but for the mean time I have a few methods I use to focus.
1. Listen to ASMR
This is possibly the most random thing I've come across. ASMR really helps. It's mostly used to help people sleep and give a calm feeling. It's very satisfying and people on youtube have great videos.
I usually listen to them while at work when I need to calm down and focus on one thing. However, I see a disadvantage in this as you need to have both headphones on to get the best experience. This I noticed is not a good Idea if you work in a job where you have to be on the phone all the time. If you are in job that is like coding or drawing or something that involves the use of phones less, these jobs should be ideal for this method.
Still, your boss might not like this as it might seem like you're not working, but if you work hard the first 3 or more months, they won't care about this. While I was typing this, I was listening to this ASMR video...
I Like ASMR Gibi, ASMR Darling & Goodnight moon (she started asmr recently) as their ASMR's are rather simple and more my taste.
2. Coffee
As we all know, coffee works. It just does. It isn't as helpful as ASMR but taking a sip helps me get through the day. I drink about 2-3 cups a day. It will usually be around 400ml in the morning and another in the evening. It might be costly if you're just starting to work but it truly helps. If you don't have the money you could use the other tips I have mentioned.
I make my own coffee...
- 1 tbsp 1/2 nescafe
- milk
- 3tbsp of milk powder
- 1tbsp sugar
- one of those nescafe 3 in 1 packets
I add hot water halfway, then ice cubes, mix it up and take it to work. That usually lasts me the morning since the mug thing (the jug or whatever) can hold about 500 ml. Once I'm done with that, I might go to mcdonalds/burger king and take another coffee (since my office doesn't have coffee) to use for the evening.
3. Talk to someone, someone imaginary
This might be the weirdest thing you have to do but think of it like this, just imagine you talk to someone who you look up to or wanna be like. I think it would be easier if the person is fictional. Buuuuuuuuut either way having an imaginary person to talk to when your mind starts going crazy helps to calm down, not as much as the above methods but still when I feel like I'm usually forgetting something because of my ADHD I just imagining talking to a person and it helps me focus on the task and help me notice what I missed.
Even in meetings and situations where my social anxiety comes up, imagining a person next to me who is listening to the conversation and giving their ideas to me helps to be more focused. As if it's my own personal assistant. It also sometimes helps me respond to questions, and answer more effectively as I imagine another person giving me their view on the conversation/question. Maybe I got the idea from watching Mr. Robot.
I just start imagining someone in front of me and I turn around towards the wall and talk. This can be weird for you if you are in the middle of a row of people or if somebody is right next to you but if you can just put on your headphones and pretend you're in a call, it works. If you are in a position where you can't "talk" to your imaginary friend, just imagine them talking to you and listen, you don't have to actually talk since they are imaginary.
For me I usually think of Spencer Strasmore from Ballers (HBO) which is also one of the reasons Im in recruiting. Yes you could think of the Rock, who plays spencer but I like Spencer more than the Rock.
Anyway, this was a quick myTake I did and I think it's my first one. Please Ignore the grammar & lack of creativity.
Also share your ideas below!
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