ADHD lawyers: how much of a difference would it make for you if the firms you're picking between have: (1) a shared office with one office mate or (2) an open floor plan layout with unassigned desks?

I like the firm with the open floor plan better in terms of cultural fit and better alignment with my practice area, but I'm worried not having some privacy/quiet will impact my billables as someone with ADHD.

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Strictly from a game theory perspective- open layout is better here. What if the office mate sucks?

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Not seeing or hearing stimuli is ideal for me.

Maybe it's workable with the right setup. They said headphones were practically the norm and there were a few desks that face a wall when I toured. Thank you!

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Those both sound bad for adhd, a room full of people sounds like a room full of distractions. But a shared office, ugh what if they smell?

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I have ADHD and I did better in a shared office than in an open floor plan layout with unassigned desks. I found body doubling to be an effective strategy for me as I work much more efficiently with one person near me who is also working diligently. That said, I completely understand the concerns about having a single bad office mate.

I also worked in an unassigned desk situation for a different firm and I found that most people are creatures of habit. After about a week of trying out different spots, I picked my favorite desk in the office. I got my favorite desk about 90% of the time which allowed me to get into a routine which really helped me with focus. Of course there was an asshole who knew it was my favorite desk and he would sit there sometimes and change everything just a little bit.

Now I have my own office but all of our offices have internal windows that face the open space in the middle. Coworkers walk by multiple times a day. I’m constantly getting distracted when I see people walk by in my periphery vision.

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Same here. Body doubling is quite soothing for me and I don’t want to slack off in front of someone else

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As someone with ADHD, I would love an open floor plan. If you were someone that liked open floor plan libraries I imagine it would work for you.

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As someone with ADHD, I too liked open floor plans... for socializing not working lol unless I'm medicated, then it wouldn't matter

Are there other measures that help you? For instance, I do better when I can’t see stimuli (i.e. I sit facing a wall) or hear stimuli (i.e. have headphones on).

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Hard pass on both.

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there’s an ADHD law bowl if you want more targeted responses!

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I could not even handle glass doors. I fought tooth and nail for frosted glass as an accommodation. Will they allow you to wear noise cancelling headphones/ear buds at (2)?

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My order of preference would be solo office > open floor plan > shared office.

Solo office allows me to block off distractions, throw my papers around everywhere, move my desk up and down, and generally be fidgety and messy without annoying anyone. Open floor plan might be kind of like having background noise in the library, which works for me. But in a shared office, I’d be hyper-attuned to any noise from myself or my office-mate—really a bad middle ground.

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Can you get your own office? Or more flexibility with WFH? I was able to get my own office as an accommodation.

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Agreed for neither. I had decent offices all on my own at every role I had until going in house, then I had a cube for 2 years twice a week (WFH 3x). Now I have a decent office again. I’d hate to share it with another person and I’d definitely not want an open floor plan - I’m an attorney, not clerical staff.

Considering there are at least 3 different types of ADHD, each of which would likely have different challenges in the same environment, and considering there are a whole host of other things that can be relevant in either scenario (how chatty is everyone in either scenario/what are the rules on headphones/earplugs in your office/etc.), idk how anyone's really going to be able to answer this for you.

Imagine the best and worst case scenarios for both; which is the one you'd be able to cope with the best based on what you struggle with the most? Which would be the worst to cope with? Are there any that you couldn't cope with at all if you get the worst-case scenario?

Just get really senior.

Get your own office.
Have a EA sit outside and prevent annoying people coming in during focus time.
You can then walk the open plan when you feel sociable and because you’ve reached the heights of the C-Suite no one has the courage to tell you that their don’t have time to catch up on you telling them about your weekend in massive detail.

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