After 4 years I want to leave law because of my adhd! I have been to 4 different firms and at each place I feel like I have been “found out”. At every place at least one attorney catches me about my attention to detail. I am so down on myself now. I can’t bring myself to care about small details that I know don’t actually matter. Sitting at a desk all day in word documents is the ultimate form of torture to me. My strengths are talking to people. I am super outgoing. Looking for a new career

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Have you ever thought about starting your own firm? Having more flexibility and less pressure from higher-ups has helped me tremendously. It's really not the ADHD - it's the work environment, for many of us.

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I look around the office and wonder how people just sit there unbothered all day so still and focused.

Go in-house. Billing by the hour is not a natural sensation for one with our proclivities…

I’ll go further. My job is to get things done on my own time regardless of how long it takes. If something on average takes an hour, it’s ok if I’m able to get it done in 30-40 min. Heck, I’m
incentivized to find ways to take a routine 1 hr task and turn it into a 30 min task. I can spend 10 hours finding a way to optimize it if I so desire.

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Sound like you definitely need a career that's a little bit more dynamic. Ideally where you work should not ever make you feel "found out." There are jobs where ADHD can be a superpower, maybe you just need to find the right one! I also don't think I'll be in LAW forever, I get bored so easily in the office.

Why don’t you get into litigation? You still have to prepare for trial, but at least you have constant deadlines and then the trial part requires you to be outgoing.

Or litigation. Constant “deadline mode” helps

Plus as you get more senior, more of your job becomes interacting with others.

I think it makes sense to develop some strategies to help with attention to detail. There are very few jobs where you can actually get away with not having an attention to detail.

Attention to detail is overrated. You can’t make yourself care about something you don’t care about. But what you can do: maintain routines and use checklists.

Just make it autopilot and you’ll be golden.

What about criminal?

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Additional Posts in Lawyers with ADHD

Does anyone freeze with deadlines, and if so what works for you? Whenever I have a deadline my brain freezes and refuses to work. It used to be that my brain worked overtime right before a deadline - now it refuses to work until after a deadline. I think this is because all of my deadlines are internal and I’ve never had a partner look at anything immediately after a deadline. This is affecting my work obviously - any tips would be useful and appreciated!

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What are your strategies for completing work efficiently? How do you figure out how long projects should take? A consistent piece of feedback on my yearly reviews has been that I over-bill & spend too much time on assignments. It’s something I actively work on, but I still have no concrete sense of how long I should spend on basic tasks (e.g., drafting a motion to dismiss). My firm is right to expect that I manage my time better as a mid-level associate. WFH has made my time management worse.

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I know I’ve seen a few similar posts before in the past, but do you guys have preferred/recommended apps to keep you organized and productive with work? I have my work calendar and synced through outlook on my phone, but just looking for suggestions to keep everything as organized as possible.

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Does anyone work in an area with lots of exterior environmental noise (traffic, concerts, trains, etc.) and have tips for not becoming overwhelmed and/or distracted by it? I’m finding that environmental noise has increased near my office now that tourism has picked back up in my city, and I’m struggling to block it out. I’ve tried earplugs but the noises tend to vibrate my office building so the earplugs don’t work well as an entire block.

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One of the things that my ADD coach helped me with was realizing that I wasn’t prioritizing activities that help me feel recharged. Between work and home responsibilities, I was just burnt out and overwhelmed.

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I’m one of the only attorneys in my Texas firm that had electricity, internet, and water this week. I was warm and comfortable but still could not get any work done because things going on in the outside world are distracting. When I try to work, I feel like I can barely hold a thought in my mind before I get the “wait, what am I doing again?” feeling. I just want to know, I’m not the only one that struggled this week to do any work, right?

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Does anyone else struggle with taking detailed notes during meetings and have tips for improving? One of the partners I work for demands that the most junior associate take detailed notes and circulate them after every call, but I have a hard time comprehending the call if I am taking notes because I’m focused on typing quickly. And my notes can be spotty when I get behind typing or get distracted.

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Anyone up for sharing your wisdom on preparing for the LSAT with ADHD?

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Started vyvance. I’m eating a lot, super hydrated, no caffeine and I still feel super weird. I’m calm and my brain feels great but physically my eyes are soo dry and my body just feels disassociated. It’s only been three days. Does this pass?

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Are people still live on here? I was diagnosed last year with ADD and I’ve tried two stimulants so far. I know they aren’t meant to be a magic pill but I’m still struggling with general tasks and feel like I’m doing the bare minimum. The Nurse has suggested I try non stimulants. What are peoples experiences with meds ? Did they work or not?

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My firm recently switched to a time keeping system that monitors everything you do on your computer. I have ADHD and often google random things (I.e. scores of games; actors in movies/shows; news articles; etc.) has anyone had a problem with AI monitoring and/or management getting on you?

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Has anyone figured out OneNote? I’m trying to get organized...again.

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I had one of those VERY nonproductive days today. I think I accomplished maybe an hour of billable work, even though I had a bunch of stuff to do. I just came off a 300 hour month, and unexpectedly got a continuance on a deadline on Wednesday, and it’s like all of my motivation leeched out of me at once.

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