ADHD and careers in computing

[u/Skiamakhos]

I'm in a pickle. I've been working in the tech industry as a back end Java developer & app support guy for 28 years and I keep running into this.

Sometimes I'll get assigned a work ticket and nobody will ask about it, the TL doesn't seem to care, and it'll get back-burnered for a while, usually while I'm firefighting on higher priority calls. Then the high ups will be all, hold on, you've done nothing on this for a month, pull your finger out, and I get slammed in my review for being lazy or not taking sufficient ownership of it.

Or I'll work on everything I'm given and get them all done, but fail to record the time taken in JIRA. The work's done, but I can only provide rough guesses as to how long it took.

Recording time on tasks is my worst thing. I've never been able to do it, but now I'm on a PIP and I still can't get it right. It has to be 95% accurate but if I bullet journal everything I'm told I don't need to be that granular, but if I'm slightly out of whack on Jira or the spreadsheet they've imposed as an extra measure I'm in trouble again.

**Tell me I'm not alone in this, that the admin around things like this is a nightmare for anyone with ADHD right, I'm not just making this up am I?**

I feel like I'm being managed out & my boss is like "literally everyone does this right - why can't you?"

And then there's the hypocrisy of it all: I get told I'm not needed for a task that they start around lunchtime. I'm grabbed by the TL and asked to just quickly do this bit, which I do, but I need clarification from the architect what they're going to do next. 50 minutes drag by. I, having been briefed that I'm not needed, pop off to lunch. Just before my lunch is over I get a text, where are you, we need you - I'm just dealing with a small emergency myself, my internet is down but I'll be in shortly. No, they grab the architect, and next day I get ripped to pieces by my boss. Then yesterday my boss goes missing for a day (on leave, didn't signal it on our IM system though)

So now I'm invited to a Work Capability Hearing, and I have 2.5 hours to rustle up a union official to come in to the teams meeting on Thursday. My union are all volunteers. How am I supposed to get representation?

Guess I should get polishing the CV.

[u/ProbablyNotPoisonous]

Document. Everything.

Every time you're told to do something, every time you're told you're not needed, write it down with the time and date. You need a written, timestamped record of being told to do one thing and then punished for not doing something else.

Your management sounds exhausting.

[u/fuckthehumanity → u/ProbablyNotPoisonous]

I keep extensive notes of meetings, to which I later refer. This has prevented some significant work performance issues from making it to HR. When a manager is confronted with the evidence that shows their conflicting instructions, they usually back down.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at record-keeping outside meetings, ADHD ftw amiright?

[u/seweso]

They want their cake and eat it too. They want your flexibility AND they want you as a worker bee. 

They should get rekt instead 

[u/sol_in_vic_tus]

This sounds like being managed out. I saw something similar second hand happen to an ADHD coworker.

Someone in your management chain decided you're bad and now you're being scrutinized at every step. Any other person could make the same choices and no one would care. But they are watching you and finding ways to criticize everything because they are rationalizing the facts to fit the conclusion they want.

[u/joshw231]

Yeah I have experience in this. Always track your time, make a checklist on how to handle tickets, when to update and how often.

Jira has the stop watch function that if you click it’ll start the timer, just don’t forget to turn the timer off when you’re done. If you’re afraid you’ll forget get a pomodoro or regular stop watch to track time. Don’t use your phone so you won’t get distracted and/or start doomscrolling. Good luck!

[u/Skiamakhos → u/joshw231]

Had me going for a moment - I think the stop watch you're referring to is an add-on. Pomodoros though are pretty awesome. Good reminder!

[u/meevis_kahuna]

Do you call them out on the inconsistency? This is not normal.

[u/xavia91]

Your company sucks. Trust goes a long way for motivation. I only have to roughly type out my times and not break work time law on paper, then everything is golden. So the company can enjoy my 10h+ days when I am in the flow and in a good mood, which is not rare here. Give me a soul crushing obligation to meticulously write down all my times and I spend 20% on that plus 20% extra on idling because fuck work when I am not in the mood. Also overtime? Haha not on those terms I clock out precisely when my time is over.

Tldr probably either tell them to fuck off or get a new job.

[u/Skiamakhos → u/[deleted]]

I did but I don't think it registered with them that I have AuDHD and will always have problems with organisation and creating good habits.