People with ADHD can have difficulties in work due to the impact of their ADHD symptoms, the working environment, and because of the specific tasks required of them.
There can be a lot of external factors that can make a person’s difficulties with concentration and focus worse. People with ADHD can be easily distracted by, or feel over stimulated, and even stressed, by noise, lights, movement, smells, clutter, and more within their environment.
Noise within the working environment can come from a range of sources, machinery, people moving around, sounds of furniture being moved, office chatter, phone calls, bleeps and pings from notifications and reminders; and music.
Working within a noisy environment or where there are frequent changes in the noise level can increase mental fatigue due to the increased effort needed to filter this out.
Background conversations and noise that consists of words can be particularly difficult as many people think in words, especially when carrying out cognitive tasks like Admin work. This this can disrupt their ‘internal dialogue’ (own inner thinking voice) making them lose track of what they were doing, or they may find it harder to think through the task in hand.
For example, how often do we hear people say, “be quiet for a moment because I cannot think”.
You may find it helpful to have a desk that is in the corner of an office or workspace, providing a wall behind you and a wall to one side. This can help reduce the direction that noise and movement can come at you. Some people prefer to sit facing a wall so there is nothing in front of them whilst others find noise coming from behind more unsettling.
Bright office lights can add to sensory overload in people with ADHD and other neurodiversity. It is important to avoid intense, harsh, flickering, or overly bright lights that can cause distraction and discomfort. Newer LED lighting offers less flickering compared to traditional fluorescent lights.
Keeping your desk and working environment clear of clutter – piles of papers, boxes, work materials, or tools boxes, et cetera., helps to reduce visual noise, improves organisation and productivity, and reduces stress.
Clutter can overwhelm the brain’s ability to organise and focus. It can make it harder to know where items or belongings are, for example, forms, records, or tools, which can overload your working memory, leading to forgetfulness and difficulties in recalling what stage you were at and what needs to be done next.
Within a formal working environment, it can increase the perception of being less organised than others, or not as efficient or as capable as others. In addition to increasing pressure for time lost looking for things.
Clutter can be distracting and reduce your ability to concentrate by providing visual cues of other projects or tasks to be completed, or things that need sorting out. This can lead to flitting between tasks or failing to finish a task due to being drawn to something more interesting or easier. People with ADHD can be good at procrastination and often if there is a difficult project or less desirable task, they can suddenly find the need to sort the garage or clear out the cupboards.
Having piles of stuff stacked up around you can increase stress by creating a visual reminder of unfinished tasks, adding a sense of “piles of work that needs to be done”.
