I may not have known what ADHD was doing to my brain in my younger years, but there’s one thing I did know: “I cannot work with people, I cannot study with people.”
During my firsts group assignments in Primary school, I reacted like the good girl that the army, the “comes from money” ladies and the nuns (daddy, mother and my educators) wanted me to be; it was an unknown territory, and a dangerous one; I could almost say I remember how I freaked out when I heard, “We’re going to try something new; we’re going to work in groups.” You know the feeling, right?
By the time I got to High School, I had already learned my lines, “Girls, I got this; you can all sign up your names when it’s done;” and then, when I had to choose a “parented imposed” career, I aimed for at least a “non-boss” type: a lawyer.
I used to say I was a loner, but I was also very aware of that, “I cannot find anyone who can keep up with me;” now I know that’s ADHD, to the core. (Honestly, I thought people was dumb, but I understand that I’m not supposed to say that; so, I won’t)
Eventually I became a freelance-writer, and then a blogger; I became my own boss doing what I love! Being stuck in a job that doesn’t meet our ADHD requirements can ruin our professional life, and I was able to I avoid that by blogging and coding… but, it’s been a hard-long road.
However, if I had known what ADHD was doing to me, I would have saved a lot of time, frustration and money; and I would have earned more money!
And that is why I want to share these two series with you: [1]
- because blogging and coding can save your professional life, or give you a new one!
- and because even though there are a lot of tutorials out there, for us with ADHD there’s another way to do it, and no one is talking about it. (Spoiler: funny as it may seem, people are doing it “the other way around.”)
How I Got Here
Long story short! I got a few degrees, gave them to my parents to … frame them, and I began working as a freelance-writer, researching and writing thesis (hundreds of pages, for professionals of all sort of fields) in a month, sometimes two at a time, with an untreated ADHD. You can imagine how that turned out …
I burned my brain! So, without being able to work, I opened a blog to start – finally – sharing my writing and to feel I was doing “something;” then I opened another one (because it was so much fun!) And then, I wanted them to look different, to have different colors, things flying all over the place! But, since I had no budget: I learned how to code on my own. [2], [3]
For years, blogging was a hobby and coding was this… “abstract safe space,” where my worries and wild thoughts had no room; a playground for my creativity; but eventually, it all turned into something greater.
As I mentioned before, my brain shutdown completely in 2017; I thought I had Alzheimer’s when I went to the neurologist. Since the doctors didn’t offer me proper help to “fix the broken connections in my brain”, I recurred to what I knew it would work: to study, to exercise my brain.
Therefore, I signed up to learn online how to code “professionally.” The outcome? From being able to focus 15 minutes per day, coding helped me to reach two sessions of 45 minutes, in just a few months (without doing sports, without a healthy diet, without ADHD meds; just coding)
Was that short enough?
What is Blogging, and Why is a Great Career Path for People with ADHD?
Chances are your ADHD has given you a creativity you absolutely need to share. How could we have a career doing what we love and keeps us interested, and with our own ADHD ways? By blogging about it!
Blogging is like running a magazine, on the clouds …, but with all the elements, people and tasks a magazine has: think about writers, editors, people pitching ideas, photographers, an advertisement department, a printing machine!
It’s a lot… But who multitasks like we do? Plus, it can give us a lot too:
- no bosses; our own rhythm;
- a playground for our wildest thoughts and creativity;
- total control over our career; money.
- No deadlines but our own, no commitment but our own;
- no freaking boxes.
If you look for the best jobs, career paths, for people with ADHD, you’ll find advices such us:
- “aim for originality”[4] (artists, inventors, all things creative) And how do you put yourself out there these days? With a blog!
- “work for yourself”; ditto
Additude Mag[5] published a list of professions that “make the most of ADD attributes like empathy, energy, enthusiasm, and hyperfocus under pressure;” and most of those professions, can be practiced by oneself. What would these professionals do to promote their enterprises? They would open a blog / website.
There is a lot written out there[6], but you know it and I know it: we need to let loose our creativity, take risks; we need pressure, to learn new things; and running a blog – to do what we love – gives us nothing, but that.
What is Coding and Why is it a Great Profession for People with ADHD?
Bring that “blogging is like running a magazine” thought back, and add the following: besides the people and tasks a magazine has, it also has “a place, an structure, a design;” all of this falls into the “coding” field.
Coding is like writing in different languages to the people who build your magazine’s building: you write in HTML and PHP to the architects; you write in CSS to the designer who paints the walls and puts cute accent pillows and chandeliers; you write in Java to the magician. (Yup, there’s a magician up here)
Actually, you write to “the browser.” When you look at a website, there are tons of ‘letters’ written in those languages (and hidden from the mortals!) and the browser goes like, “Ok, I’ll show people what you’ve written and keep hidden the duct tape you used on the plumbing.”
Do you get the picture?
So, languages to learn! Isn’t that tempting? Have you ever considered it? At Study.com[7] we can read that, “working with computers is a detail-oriented job that requires the ability to hyperfocus on the task at hand, which is a skill those with ADHD tend to possess.”
Blogging and Coding With ADHD: The Other Way Around
Blogging, has given me a platform to do what I love and the chance to work from home, under my own ADHD ways; but there’s another benefit I didn’t mention: sociability.
We struggle a lot with our relationships, with relations overall, and some of us even choose to remain as far as we can from “people, TALKING;” with a blog, we can express ourselves and engage with people at our own pace (just bear in mind not to post anything during an impulsive meltdown or a smashing strike of your meds… Things can get pretty weird…)
Coding, has given me an exercise for my brain, it challenges me and it’s a lot of fun; and regarding to blogging: it helped me to save a lot, a lot of money and headaches.
So, now that I got you thinking that doing this might help you take over control of your professional life, I beg you please not to google how to do it, because the tutorials you’ll find could lead you to hate blogging, coding, and me for suggesting it.
I’ve found we need another approach, and that’s what I’m gonna share with you, step by step. This is my contribution to the ADHD community.
Besides, we own the clouds; you should totally claim your space up here.
[1] You’ll find the two series at #BloggingWithADHD and #CodingWithADHD
[2] My first blog, was where I began sharing humor monologs in Spanish and some dramatic essays; is at bubblesandcheese.wordpress.com (now closed)
[3] I have another blog, about the first pop band ever, the New Kids On The Block, at nkotbtheblog.com.
[4] WebMD. Best Jobs for People With ADHD [Last visited: February 2020]
[5] ADDitude Mag. 16 Good Jobs for People with ADHD [Last visited: February 2020]
[6] Check out more at: Green, Rick. What’s the Best Career for Someone With ADHD? [Last visited: February 2020] HealthLine. Best Jobs for People with ADHD. [Last visited: February 2020]
[7] Tustin, Rachel. Jobs That Might Be a Good Fit for Your ADHD Child [Last visited: February 2020]
