For my Neurodivergent corporate bots

This one's for you, and you, and you!

Three women wearing work attire, standing next to a bar chart and a pie chart, working together

Hello, ADHD’ers, ND’ers,

Before you get offended by the title of this newsletter, I am a fellow ND corporate bot, forced to partake in the rat race.

So you may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while. That’s mainly because my 9-5 is kicking my ass and I’ve been feeling drained every single day.

You know, the kind of drained where you actually have to physically roll out of bed! Can you picture it? Rough!

I have sooooooo much to unpack. We’re going to get into Burnout, Accommodations for Neurodivergent employees, and Unionising.

So there isn’t much of an order to this but I’m sure you expect this from this ADHDer.

Anyways, I’ve blabbed on for too much, let’s get into it.

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Burnout

A turquoise circle with the text written ‘ADHD and running on empty’ with a low battery emoji. The graphic can be found on my instagram.com/AdultingADHD

Raise an invisible hand if you’ve experienced burnout more than once this year 👋

Ok now raise another invisible hand if you have taken time off work due to burnout. I’m sensing fewer invisible hands here!

Burnout refers to when a person experiences extreme exhaustion, both mental and physical. This includes feeling depleted, overwhelmed, fatigued, sleep deprived, demotivated, etc.

The thing I’ve struggled with is how to communicate that I’m feeling burned out at work without coming across as a spoilt lazy millennial that doesn’t want to work. I mean, they could be more accepting than I’m setting out to be.

As an ADHDer, I tend to burnout quite often due to:

• Overcompensating because I have ADHD by taking on too much.

• My ‘driven by a motor’ ADHD brain that is hard to switch off.

• Having too much on my plate at work. Let’s face it, sometimes we need to shift away from ‘it’s a me problem’ to ‘what is my organization doing that contributes to this problem?’.

I’ve taken some time off but burnout has long-lasting effects and I’m battling fatigue. I’ve also taken a step back at work and have tried to delegate tasks more often. What has worked for you?

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Accommodations - ‘Access to Work’

For those of you based in the UK, Access to Work is ‘a grant that funds practical support if you have a disability, health or mental health condition’.

It can help with equipment at work, travel costs, assistance at an interview (e.g. interpreter), and a job coach. WHOOP!

Quite a few of my followers have managed to get funding for an ADHD coach via Access to Work. I recently (a month ago) told my new manager that I had ADHD:

Tweet reads: Had a review with my new manager. I opened up about my ADHD because work tasks were becoming overwhelming and I felt like I needed to give an explanation, her response was “ahhh this makes so much sense” and then said we can try to use the orgs budget to get me extra support

I started in my new management role at the beginning of the year. Shoutout to my Neurodivergent folks in management - it’s not easy!

I had no idea that most of the coping strategies I developed in my previous role would not be as effective for the new set of responsibilities and challenges that came with this role.

Although everyone was supportive and told me how great I was doing, I FELT LIKE I WAS FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE EVERY DAY! I MEAN, I WAS!

I’ve finally cracked and decided to fill out the paperwork to request a grant for an ADHD coach - wish me luck!

If you’re based in the UK, I think you might be eligible for it too, you can find out more here.

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UNIONISING

Trade Unions/Unions support workers to get better working conditions. This could include support with discrimination, promotions, and collective wage increases.

Quite a few Neurodivergent people have mentioned to me that they were treated differently as soon as they disclosed their diagnosis. Employers all of a sudden had issues with the way they did things, they experienced unfair treatment and some were fired in the end.

I don’t have experience with dealing with a Union but I am taking the step to join one this week, as it is my legal right to do so.

1. It sucks that some countries don’t have unions!

2. It sucks that employees in some countries face disciplinary action by their companies for unionizing!

3. It sucks that even with the support of a union, some Neurodivergent people, especially ethnic minorities tend to fear raising issues at work due to the fear of not being believed.

Unions cost, and it isn’t an option for many people. I created a discord channel a few months back *only* for Neurodivergent Working Professionals. Many people have turned here for advice and support.

You can DM @NDProfessionals on Twitter for the access link or comment below.

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I hope this wasn’t too much ‘woe is me’ and you found this somewhat useful! 

Us corporate bots have to stick together! I am planning an in-person meet-up in London, so stay tuned!

It’s ok to change your mind, your role, or your career. If you are feeling trapped, explore all options and have faith it’ll all work out!

Rach with ADHD.