ADHD 101

The phrase “attention deficit” is misleading.

When someone has ADHD, it doesn’t mean that they can’t focus or concentrate. It just means they struggle to concentrate on things that don’t engage or stimulate.

When you’re working on a mind-numbing written discovery project, for example, someone with ADHD may get distracted by any number of things: unimportant sounds and sights, ideas, websites, projects, phone calls, email, group messaging, and unrelated tasks.

When it comes to concentration and focus, lots of lawyers may overlook these characteristics because they tend be less disruptive than other symptoms like impulsivity and hyperactivity. But they’re still troubling and they can still absolutely eviscerate your productivity.

Here are some signs that may seem familiar:

• You’re frequently distracted by unimportant and low-priority things.
• You’re an idea and thought machine. With all those thoughts you’ve got rolling around up there, and it’s difficult to focus on just one (and often even harder to focus on the “right” one).
• You struggle to give attention or focus when reading or listening, particularly if the subject is uninteresting to you.
• You’ve been caught yourself (or, worse, been caught by others) daydreaming. Sometimes you don’t know, and sometimes you do it even in the middle of a conversation.
• You often struggle to complete tasks. Even simple ones.
• Depending on the type, you’ve been known to overlook details. Boring, repetitive, basic details can avoid your fullest attention, often resulting in work poorly done or incomplete.
• Your listening skills can wax and wane, and sometimes you’ll have difficulty following instructions if you’ve tuned out.

We’ve said elsewhere that adults with ADHD can lose focus on things that bore them. Hyperfocus sits on the opposite end of that pendulum.

Adults with ADHD are known to pour 100% of their focus on interesting, exciting, rewarding, and stimulating things. Sometimes this hyperfocus is so complete that external interruptions are useless.

New and interesting ideas, products, hobbies, and technology can do it. So, too, can new clients, new projects, new roles, new jobs, and new research.

When I hit “flow” like that, I have been know to ignore alarms, I have spaced out on tasks, on departure times, and on meetings.

I can get too absorbed in my computer, a book, or social media. I’ll research a new interest until I’m satisfied that I understand it. I’ll buy all of the gear for that new hobby, but only after understanding the best, the worst, and the characteristics that separate them.

Indeed, I’m delayed in getting this page out. Know why? I was focused on learning how to upgrade the hard drive on my 2010 iMac. Ugh.

Here’s the great thing: when channeled appropriately to the “right” tasks and activities, hyperfocus helps lawyers with ADHD perform at extraordinarily high levels. Left unchecked, though, hyperfocus can quickly cause troubles on the home front and at the office.

Disorganization and Forgetfulness

For lawyers with ADD, life may feel out of control and chaotic. It did for me, that’s for sure.

Organization can be hard for all kinds of people. But adults with ADHD have deep and abiding struggles owing to ADHD’s impacts on executive function.

Lots of JDHDs will find organization difficult no matter how hard they try. They’ll adopt new systems. They’ll set New Year’s resolutions that start strong and fizzle quickly. They’ll struggle with time management, task prioritization, tracking deadlines, duties, and responsibilities, and sorting out the relevant information from the red herrings.

How do you know if you’re disorganized and forgetful?

Here are some signs to look for:

• Your world is messy and cluttered. Your home, car, office, and workspace all meet the same fate: it looks disorganized and, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that it is.
• Procrastination. Lawyers with ADHD  procrastination. Putting of boring and repetitive tasks is easy and relieves short-term boredom.
• You’re often (always?) late.
• Starting projects and tasks is challenging.
• Finishing projects and tasks is challenging.
• You’re chronically forgetful about commitments, deadlines, and appointments.
• You’ve been known to misplace or lose your things, even ones that are really important to you. Your inattention spares nothings: car keys, phone, wallet, purse, documents, and glasses are its frequent victims.
• You’re a “time optimist” (as my wife, Katie, calls me). You rarely schedule enough time to get things done and believe you can get more done that time will reasonably permit.

If you struggle with impulsiveness, you will often have difficulty controlling how you act, respond, listen, and comment.

I’ve been known to spend impulsively, particularly on technology. Maybe you often find yourself doing things abruptly without giving enough thought or considering the consequences.

You might dive headlong into work on a project without reading the instructions, blurt comments before thinking them through, or commonly interrupt others as they talk. You feel impatient and dive fast into situations, even the risky ones.

Here are some clues that you might be a bit on the impulsive side:

• You interrupt others frequently as they talk, or talk when they’re talking.
• You lack self-control, even with things and relationships that feel important to you.
• You’ll share inappropriate or rude responses without thinking them through.
• You jump into reckless or spontaneous behavior without much worry about the repercussions.
• You have difficulty sitting still (during long meetings, for example), and can sometimes be found fidgeting, walking around, or otherwise interrupting the meeting.

ADD adults often have complex emotional lives, too. For example, they might often find themselves overwhelmed with sudden and intense feelings that can lead to big feelings and big reactions.

We can have bursts of giddiness and enthusiasm that look to others like they’re out of sync with the situation. So, too, can our anger, frustration, shame, or irritability appear from nowhere (and disappear as quickly).

Some researchers talk about a condition called rejection sensitive dysphoria (or “RSD”), which can look like extreme emotional sensitivity and emotional pain, often triggered by a belief that someone important to them has rejected or criticized them.

RSD has been a huge part of my personal ADHD journey.

Here are some other indicators of emotional regulation difficulties for lawyers with ADHD:

• Getting upset or anxious, even with small issues.
• Feeling quickly irritated or putting an explosive temper on display.
• Feeling like you haven’t achieved anything worthwhile in life, insecurity, low self-confidence, and imposter syndrome.
• You have a hard time feeling motivated.
• You react to criticism in powerful ways, often disproportionate to the criticism (real or perceived).

First, a moment on my soapbox. Not everyone with ADHD is “hyperactive.” Indeed, wide swaths of ADHD adults don’t meet the criteria to be diagnosed with hyperactive-type ADHD and don’t have significant struggles with it.

So, if you’re an adult with ADHD, you may (or may not) feel “hyperactive.” In other words, if you don’t feel hyperactive, it does not necessarily mean you don’t have ADHD.

And even for those of us who do have the “hyperactive” component of ADD in our lives, hyperactivity can be hard to notice in adults.

Unlike hyperactive kids, ADD adults often—but not always—develop ways to quiet their omnipresent impulses to climb the walls or fidget incessantly.

That doesn’t mean they’re without restlessness or hyperactivity, though.

For instance, a lawyer with ADHD may feel perpetually energetic and always feel compelled to “be on the go” as if driven by a motor.

Still, as you age, hyperactive tendencies can smooth into subtle, mostly-internal symptoms

Here’s what “hyperactivity” symptoms can look like in adults with ADHD:

• Feeling agitated, internally restless, fidgety, or as though your thoughts are racing.
• Frequent boredom. You’re often looking for novel and exciting activities, foods, arguments, books, or hobbies and have little hesitation taking risks (even big ones).
• Constant chatter and frequently “multitasking” by trying to do lots of things at the same time (like driving and using your phone, watching TV and reading your phone, playing with your kids while doing the laundry).
• Difficulty sitting still and having the constant urge (sometimes acted upon) to fidget and move.