Guest Blog: ADHD or “I meant to write this article earlier, but I got distracted by a squirrel”

By Michael Whitehouse

I meant to write this article earlier, but I got distracted by a squirrel.

I’m kidding. Actually, I was asked to write this article last night, and I wrote it in one sitting because if I don’t get it done immediately, it may not get done at all.

This is an example of one of the workflow strategies that I use to be efficient and functional in business. Tasks are either placed on a list which will be executed at a particular time or done immediately. Otherwise, they simply will never get done.

For forty years, I have been functioning with ADHD (although it was called ADD when I was first diagnosed). It is unmedicated and untreated but well managed. 

I have allowed myself to assess my strengths, weaknesses, and abilities with brutal honesty then worked to build a workflow strategy that works with what I have to work with.

ADHD is the epitome of the phrase “differently abled.” ADHD is not a disability. If you were to ask for true generative thinking and creative problem solving from a neurotypical person and a person with ADHD, I believe you would find the neurotypical individual would be the one with the relatively more limited ability.

Think of two cars. One is powered by gasoline, and the other diesel. The diesel car has higher torque and better gas mileage, and has some natural superiorities. However, if the only service stations in town only sell gasoline and not diesel, then the diesel car will seem markedly inferior.

ADHD is similar. There are many advantages that the ADHD neurological configuration provides, especially in the entrepreneurial environment. We tend to be more creative. We tend to think outside the box. We tend to see solutions to problems others might not. Some have the ability to hyperfocus for hours on end on particular projects.

Like the diesel car in the land of gas stations, ADHD presents challenges when we are expected to do things in a particular way following a strict way of doing things designed for neurotypicals.

School, for example.

When I was in school with its memorization based tests and homework that was expected to be done at specific times in specific orders, ADHD was a great disability to me. I struggled to get work done and to deal with quizzes.

Upon leaving school, a trait that had made me markedly worse than those around me shifted into a trait that made me simply different and sometimes superior to those around me. As an adult, I could build my own lifestyle and workflow to accommodate my neurotype as well as my working style.

As an entrepreneur, I can design my schedule and my systems in a way that works best for me. It has taken many years to find a good system, which will continue to evolve, but that tends to be the case for most people.

The most important thing, regardless of what acronyms and diagnoses a professional may use to categorize your brain, is to realize that you are unique, and the way you work, think, and function are also unique.

The methods and systems you use to get the job done are good so long as they work for you. There is no shame in any system as long as it works. Some people know they are bad at keeping appointments and staying in touch with people, so they might hire an assistant to handle that for them. Some are terrible at organization and filing, so they hire someone to do it for them. Some hate writing, so they hire someone to do it for them.

Do what you’re good at and hire the rest. Your value is in your strength. Anything that is not in your strength should be automated and delegated to the greatest extent possible. There is no honor in doing everything yourself when you could delegate and spend more time working in what you are truly gifted in.

Forget labels. Everyone is great at something, and success comes in spending as much time working in that greatness as possible.

Even if what you’re great at is chasing squirrels.
Michael Whitehouse is the author of The Guy Who Knows A Guy. He is a coach, motivational speaker, event organizer, writer, Toastmaster, Rotarian, and exemplar of the ADHD trait of not knowing when to say no to a new project. Michael can be contacted at www.guywhoknowsaguy.com