ADHD at Work

What’s the Secret to Thriving at Work? 5 Keys for ADHD Adults

How can you craft an ideal career that brings fulfillment and joy? Begin by sharpening the focus on these five ADHD assets and strengths.

By Mark J. Sciutto, Ph.D. Updated on May 7, 2025
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What does it look like when people with ADHD thrive at work? How do they craft an environment, or a career, that plays to their strengths?

As part of an ongoing research project, my college students and I have been interviewing dozens of adults with ADHD who are, in some way, thriving in their work lives. We focused deliberately on thriving and not “success,” which often has connotations of accomplishments, fame, or tangible rewards. Thriving has more to do with feeling valued in what you do, finding meaning in your contributions, and pursuing a trajectory toward optimal performance and engagement.

What Is Job Crafting?

We’ve interviewed individuals in many fields — professional sports, law enforcement, education, health professions, entrepreneurship, and more — and found at least one element that may be as important as treatment and environmental accommodation in determining whether an adult with ADHD will thrive. It’s their ability to actively seek and/or construct their environment to better align with their needs, skills, and limitations.

In some cases, the people we interviewed have chosen a discipline or occupation that aligns well with the characteristics of ADHD — jobs that reward creativity, problem-solving, or high energy. In other cases, those interviewed were able to shape their existing jobs by restructuring their day-to-day tasks to better match their strengths and manage their challenges. This is called job crafting.

The concept of job crafting in organizational psychology refers to a person’s self-initiated, proactive strategies to reshape or modify aspects of their work environment to align with their strengths, interests, and values. This, in turn, increases job satisfaction and improves performance.

[Download: The ADHD “Brain Blueprint” to Finding Your Passion]

Not all environments are equally malleable, but employees with ADHD can often find ways to adjust their tasks or schedule for greater satisfaction at work.

Aligning Environments with ADHD Traits

According to our interviewees, creating or finding a job that suits the traits associated with ADHD involved some combination of the following strategies.

1. Novelty

Individuals with ADHD generally do better in jobs that offer novelty, not repetitive tasks. One worker we interviewed settled on IT because it brought a steady stream of new problems to solve. He eventually started his own business and grew it into a regional leader in the field.

Other people found ways to create novelty within the boundaries of an existing job. One microbrewer described how she intentionally varied her day-to-day activities by experimenting with recipes, marketing, and managing the brewing process to regulate her interest.

[Read: It’s Borture! What ADHD Boredom Really Feels Like]

2. Flexibility

Many of our interviewees indicated that they had more difficulty when aspects of their work were rigidly defined or “curated” for them. Thriving, for them, involved seeking flexibility and/or finding ways to rearrange their work demands.

A teacher said she chose special education precisely because it allows her to adapt to the daily needs of her individual students, rather than strictly adhere to a prescribed curriculum as a general education teacher. A chief budgeting officer described how he deliberately sought ways to re-imagine and dismantle long-standing processes rather than simply follow them.

3. Distractibility and Hyperfocus

Many people with ADHD struggle to sustain attention amid distractions, but they also report intense periods of hyperfocus. Many interviewees said hyperfocus often powers their ability to solve stubborn problems at work. One worker talked about how, as a chef, he would lose himself in the creation of meals, even amid the fast-paced, chaotic environment of a restaurant kitchen. In some contexts, however, shifting attention might also be adaptive. One law enforcement officer described how his hypervigilance helped to keep him alert and attentive when on patrol.

4. Impulsivity

Underestimating risks and failing to consider consequences are sometimes the negative byproducts of an entrepreneurial spirit that drives innovation. However, many of our interviewees said their willingness to take chances was key to starting new ventures, even when others tried to dissuade them from taking a risky leap.

5. Urgency

High levels of energy are hallmark symptoms of ADHD for some people. Many of our interviewees said their energy helped generate a sense of urgency, or a need to act, that has helped them overcome important barriers in their work. One psychologist described how his boundless energy caused problems in some areas of his life but helped him push through the immense time demands of starting an early intervention agency.

For managers, understand this: Encouraging and empowering employees to reshape their environments to align with their strengths and preferences can create competitive advantages for the organization so long as the job crafting supports business goals.

ADHD at Work: Next Steps

Mark J. Sciutto, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and a professor of psychology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Special thanks to the students who collaborated on this project: Alexis Hall, Ashley Henry, and Sam Levin.

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