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ADHD and Work – job searching, interviews, staying in a role, and knowing when to move on

Olga Karolyi

Psychologist & Behaviour Analyst

ADHD & Work  

If you have ADHD, it can be hard to realistically gauge your own capacity in the moment — and long-term planning can be hard too. That sharp interest, that burning need to focus on whatever sparked your curiosity, can easily get labelled as a “calling”. So career choices can end up being very situation-dependent, impulsive, and made in the moment. 

At times it can feel like: “Right — I’ll definitely be able to handle this, because I’m so interested.” 

And right at that peak, it’s very easy to overestimate your energy and your resources. That can pull you into highly demanding commitments that become genuinely hard to carry through later on. In other words: it can push career choices in the wrong direction. 

When you’re integrating into a job, you might struggle even with learning basic rules and instructions. It can be hard to read job descriptions properly, and to apply internal policies. Very often, the “in-between steps” get skipped. You might be driven by the expectation of fast, brilliant results — the kind that let you overtake colleagues around the bends. And then, almost overnight, you can find yourself in a place where doing the job becomes impossible — unbearable. 

We’ve already published a lot of articles here about why this can happen for people with ADHD, and which mechanisms “help” it along. Have a browse. 

In this article, we’re going to talk about work from the angle of how you can live with this in a big, neurotypical world. Let’s start with a definition: what is paid work, really? Because we live in a world where our wellbeing, our quality of life, and so much else depends on whether we can swap what we do for resources — and, more specifically, for money. 

So, from a neurodivergent experience — our own, and many other people’s — problems can show up at two levels: 

  • you might not really know — or not really understand — exactly which activity you could convert into resources, or more precisely, into money; 

  • and you might also struggle because the whole system around that activity doesn’t fit you, or you don’t know how to handle it. 

  • How can you make the job search process easier for yourself? 

  • How can you stay in a workplace? 

  • Or how can you recognise when it’s time to move on? 

ADHD and Work: Core framework 

We need some kind of framework for what work can mean for us. Technically, paid work is when we put in our effort, our skills, and our time — and swap that for a universal resource: money. 

The first thing worth saying out loud: work is not the meaning of life. It doesn’t have to be about a “calling”, and it doesn’t have to be some huge destiny task. It’s simply a concrete method that has worked for us personally — a way to convert what we can do into resources we can spend to make our lives better. 

The second important point: this exchange always happens within some kind of structure. We agree on how much effort we put in, and what we get in return. There are routines and repeated actions — for example, pay arrives each month or on a specific day, and we go to work at a certain time each day. 

So: there’s the activity itself, and there’s the system around it — the context in which that activity exists. 

The three parts of “working life” 

There’s also a system-level reality we need to name. In general, any paid, employee-type work has three big “connection” types: 

  • Doing the job — and continuing the work. 

  • Job searching and interviews. 

  • Closing the work relationship — resigning. 

Overall, our working life is made up of searching and interviewing; then being in the job and trading our time and skills for money, within a workplace system; and then closing the relationship and leaving. 

Now let’s talk about what we can do at each stage. 

ADHD and Work: Job searching  

So the first stage is job searching. 

What kinds of challenges tend to come up for adults with ADHD — and what practical tips can help?  

1) Know who you are — and who you’re not  

It really matters to understand who you are — and also who you definitely aren’t. It helps if you know your strengths. It helps if you understand what skills you already have, and which skills you could realistically build. 

This narrows the search straight away: where it makes sense to go, and where those skills can actually be used. 

2) Research, ask questions, ask for help  

It helps to get good at finding information about which companies or workplaces might suit you — and where you could actually be useful. 

Most of the time, this happens through real-world trial and error: googling, doing your own research, asking people you know. Choose what works best for your brain. 

And there’s nothing embarrassing about not knowing where to go — especially when your needs and preferences aren’t fully clear yet. Sometimes you don’t even know what you want, and sometimes you don’t really know what job searching is. 

There are professionals who can help with this. And there are people who’ve done it before and can give you practical tips. So: ask. 

3) Use your network  

It’s worth saying out loud: you don’t have to search only through formal channels. 

If your network works well and you have enough contacts, you can simply ask around: what’s it like to work there, and is there an open role you could apply for with a recommendation? 

In those cases, the interview is often “softer” — and people can be more loyal to you, because you’re not just a random applicant. This is a simple “life hack” lots of people use — not only neurodivergent people, but neurotypical people too. 

4) Transition without burning everything down  

If you already have work experience and you simply don’t like something about your current role, you don’t have to quit instantly and leap into a new job. 

No one says it has to be sudden. 

If you have the option, you can reduce the load step by step in your main role, and redirect your energy into looking for something new — or preparing the switch once you’ve found it. That can make the transition calmer and more manageable. 

5) Part-time is a valid strategy  

You don’t have to start by working full-time. 

You can choose a role and try it part-time — especially if you can already feel you won’t cope with a full day right now. 

Or you can take on multiple smaller projects across different places: a bit here, a bit there. If you like variety and it works for you, that genuinely might be your path. Don’t get stuck in the idea that there must be “one workplace”. It might be that one workplace fits you only partly — and the other part doesn’t. Or the pay isn’t what you want. Keep looking. 

Sometimes it’s the combination of several projects that gives you what you’re actually aiming for. 

6) Look for “your people”  

Another option: look for work in your own circles — including within neurodivergent communities. 

More and more neurodivergent organisations are showing up now, and they often need moderators, content writers, and other support roles. Sometimes it’s not a one-off or volunteer role — it can be an ongoing need. 

That can be a good space to show your skills, meet people, and say clearly: “This is what I can do. If you ever need me, here’s how to reach me.” Even if the social side is hard for many neurodivergent people, we can’t fully escape it. At some point, we have to talk about ourselves. Conferences and community events can be useful because what you can do becomes visible quickly — and sometimes the next step isn’t even an interview. They just contact you and invite you into paid work. 

7) Collaboration  

A natural follow-on from that: collaboration. 

If something doesn’t move when you’re alone — not enough energy, not enough motivation — the whole thing can stall. 

Here’s a helpful shift: you don’t have to carry everything by yourself. 

You can find a partner, build a project together, and do it as a team. And then, at some point, the idea can start to run. In that case you’re not limited to what the market “happens to offer”. You can create something with another person who’s just as interested as you are. 

8) Inclusive studios and workplaces  

It’s also worth talking about inclusive studios and workplaces. 

This direction can be genuinely promising, and these places are starting to appear more and more. Designers, content creators, and creative people can often find roles there — and you might find something that fits. And that’s just one example. You can look for other spaces too where inclusion isn’t just a buzzword — but something that’s actually alive, and where they’re genuinely glad you’re there. 

9) Become visible  

One more practical idea: owning who you are — becoming visible. 

If you’re already in the neurodiversity space, you’ll have noticed that many neurodivergent people run channels. The bigger the channel, the more likely it is that the creator eventually needs help — with content, admin, moderation, or something else. 

It’s worth paying attention. Sometimes creators look for professionals inside their own audience — which makes sense, because those people are more likely to understand them, and you’re already part of a loyal community. And if you run a channel, you can also post openly: “This is what I can do. If anyone needs that, here’s how to contact me.” 

10) Turn down the inner critic  

Sometimes we let critical voices move into our head. 

When you’ve had repeated experiences of failure; when you tried to fit into a group and it didn’t work; when you couldn’t maintain connections — there are often people and narratives around us that judged and shamed that: 

“Again? Of course… anyone else would manage…” and so on. 

If you’re reading this, these lines probably aren’t unfamiliar: 

“Here we go again… Where do you think you’re going? Who would want you like this? You’re not good at anything. Who would want you at all? Who would ever be interested in someone like you? You don’t deserve anything…” 

But if you’ve read through our resource articles, I hope you already suspect this isn’t true — and it never was. 

  • You’re okay. 

Your task — as an adult — is to be on your own side and say: “It will work out. We’ll sit down and untangle this.” 

  • If something doesn’t work, we can learn it. 

  • If something doesn’t work, we can try again. 

  • And if something truly doesn’t fit, we can stop — and choose something else. 

In summary: you experiment — and not only by uploading your CV and waiting for “a job to fall on you”, because you might wait for years that way. 

You stay active, even if it’s hard, because somehow you need to step into contact with people. If in-person is too much, then at least through text, video, or some kind of signal that says: “I’m here. This is what I can do.” That gives you a much better chance of finding work that’s good for you — without being permanently overstretched, burnt out, and stressed — and a place that genuinely needs you too. 

Now imagine you’ve found a workplace you like. They’ve accepted your CV, and you need to move to the next step. 

So let’s talk about the next part of work: the job interview. 

 

ADHD and Work: Job interview  

First, a reminder: it’s not only the employer choosing you — you’re choosing the job too. When you show up from that equal position, people can feel it. An employer who dictates the terms and doesn’t want to hear the employee’s needs — that’s not your employer. 

Of course you won’t know every condition straight away. The truth is: the employer is uncertain too — they’re not fully sure you’ll accept. We also know that many adults with ADHD can make a strong impression and create high expectations. But even if they like you, they still don’t know in advance. They’re people. Uncertainty sits on both sides. 

And yes — there are employers who won’t tell you everything. But there is something you can do: ask questions, and look into the company or organisation beforehand so you have at least some sense of what they’re like. 


1) Prepare in advance 

Don’t rush into an interview “on impulse” — especially because it might be a multi-step process, and in the first round you may not even meet your direct manager. You might only speak with HR. 

That’s why it’s worth using that meeting to understand as much as possible about whether this role actually fits you — or whether it doesn’t. 


2) You need to ask questions 

Asking questions matters — and talking about yourself matters too: what works for you, what you need. 

Be honest about what support measures you might need, and ask whether they can provide those supports — and what options exist. Because if you don’t ask in this early stage, later you often have nothing to refer back to: you didn’t ask, you didn’t flag it, and it becomes easier for the employer to say no. 

They might say no anyway — but at least you’ll find out early, and you can keep looking in time for a place that’s more workable for you. 

Your questions could include things like: 

  • How much do I need to be onsite — is there a remote work option? 

  • How many hours per week do you expect from me? 

  • Are there breaks during the day — is there a quiet space I can step into if needed? 

  • Can I take leave days, or unpaid days, when needed? 

Because a job that runs five days a week, 8 to 5, isn’t always a good fit for adults with ADHD. Ideally, it might work better for you to be in the office on some days and work remotely on others; to start earlier sometimes, take a longer pause in the afternoon, and continue later in the evening. 

Your productivity windows need to be taken seriously in professional life. 


3) Get a feel for the place 

If you’ve done even a little bit of research — at least what the company does and what field they work in — and you’ve looked at reviews and feedback, you can orient yourself more purposefully. Even with HR, right in the first round. 

Here it’s important to find the balance between who you actually are and where you can function comfortably — and, at the same time, how you still get the job. 

Nothing stops you from borrowing other people’s strategies — including neurotypical ones. And just because something is on a company website doesn’t mean they truly operate that way in real life. But it can still show where they’re heading — or where they want to be seen heading. 

If HR behaves like a “gatekeeper” from a bad movie stereotype, that’s their issue. But if you genuinely run into a “security guard” type in the HR role, then the workplace may not be a healthy environment — and it may not be a good long-term fit for you. 


4) The weird HR questions 

Often the first meeting doesn’t say much about your competence. And it doesn’t say much about the employer either — except that they may have an “old-school” HR person who asks loaded or strange — to you, even “strength“— questions. 

Two classic examples:  

  • “Where do you see yourself in five years?” 

  • “What are your weaknesses?” 

That still doesn’t automatically mean the workplace itself is bad. 

It’s a kind of game where you need to answer in a way that’s honest enough, but also gives them what they want to hear. If you want to handle this well, you can look up interview videos on YouTube where experienced people explain useful ways to respond. 

For example, you might be advised to reframe a “weakness” as the shadow side of a strength. You could say something like: 

“I’m very honest, and sometimes that can make work harder, because I’m not always as flexible as I’d like to be.” 

That’s just an example — you can find your own version. It’s not lying. It’s a response that’s close enough to who you are. And if you’d never say something about yourself unless you were asked — because the question feels odd to you — you still don’t have to “make things up”. 

At this point, there’s a lot of information out there — and you can prepare for interviews. 


5) Stress and decompression 

No matter what: even if you’re well-prepared — sleep. 

The key thing is this: you’ll be nervous either way. Your neurotype doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether you have a neurodevelopmental condition, personality-related symptoms, or you’re that mythical, perfectly calm neurotypical person — you’ll be nervous, because it’s a new situation. 

Anxiety is a biochemical mechanism: your brain tries to generate as many possible scenarios as it can, so you’re ready for anything. The recommended basic kit is simple and standard: sleep, food, water — and logistics. If needed, leave earlier and build in some “transition time” so you can settle. 

And remember: you can bring your questions on paper. If HR reacts badly to that, that’s also information about the place you’re applying to. 

After the interview, it’s completely normal if your brain automatically replays your sentences: 

“I could have said that better…” 
“Did I answer that well?” 
“I messed that up, didn’t I?” 

Your inner critic gets especially loud — but it doesn’t necessarily tell the truth. This is where conscious decompression can help: rest, noticing your body, and letting your system come down. It might also help to talk it through with people close to you. 

The interview is not an exam. And remember: communication can misfire between any two people at any time. Yes, this conversation had a purpose — but the core of every interview is simply to meet, “look at each other”, and decide together whether you want to enter into a working relationship. 

Now let’s imagine the interview went well — you liked each other, your skills fit the role, and you got the job. Let’s move on to the next part: the work itself — and how to make workplace life more manageable while you’re in the job. Here we’ll assume employee work — an employee role — because self-management and “working for yourself” is a separate topic.  


ADHD and Work: Staying in a job  

Unspoken expectations  

We could start with one key thing: it matters to consciously realise that there will be expectations of you — and not all of them will be written in the offer or the job ad. And there will likely be expectations that, as a neurodivergent person, you might not automatically pick up.  

For example, a situation can happen where you’ve done your tasks, there were no complaints, and yet you haven’t been promoted for a while. When you ask why, they say: “Because you’re not proactive.” 

But nowhere did it say you had to be proactive. It said you had to do these tasks. Your manager expected more than that. Often, the only option is to clarify what’s happening again and again — and to ask early. For example: 

– What do you expect from me? 
– What kind of worker do you want to see here?  

Just like in interviews they ask us odd questions such as what kind of person are you? — you can ask the same back to the employer, but for a practical purpose: 

– How do you imagine the tasks being done? 
– What are the criteria? 
– What soft skills are needed here? 
– What does the ideal team member look like to you?  

The same principles can help you in the work process too. It’s worth making a plan and writing down how you intend to do the tasks — then taking that plan to your manager and asking: 

Social rules  

The next area that can be affected is the social side: you didn’t rush to build relationships with colleagues too quickly. The point is this: be ready that you’ll have to deal with it — not just swallow it or avoid it. Because if most of the job fits you and you want to stay, you’ll need to untangle what’s happening — together with the possibilities and limits of neurodivergent people.  

Because no matter how we say work is work and people are people — we can’t fully separate the two. People will still see you as a social being, and they may expect unwritten rules that “everyone knows” — except no one realises you might not know them.  

Of course you won’t ask everything. But the basic things that matter most to you are worth asking:  

– How do you communicate as colleagues? 
– Do you eat lunch together? 
– Do you do coffee breaks together? 
– What are meetings like here — what’s the vibe? 
– Is there a speaking order — who talks when? Can you ask questions in meetings, or not?  

Until you ask, you won’t know. Even if there are general “neurotypical rules”, they can differ in every small group. In one place colleagues get together and celebrate events; in another, they don’t. Somewhere people don’t do birthday acknowledgements; elsewhere, they do. These can feel like small things — but they can still throw you off: because you might not always want to join in, or you don’t see the point, or it simply feels draining.  

It’s in your interest to tell people as honestly as possible what you’re like — that alone can prevent a lot of misunderstandings. So early on it can help to keep tuning yourself in to the team. Your main tool is asking and clarifying.  

A go-to person in the team 

It’s understandable if constant questions tire someone out. In that case, you can look for someone in the team who’s more open towards you — more on your side, more willing. You’ll notice it because they answer more readily: not through clenched teeth, not turning away, not brushing you off. Your task is to “find” your own person — not to dump everything on them, but to spread your questions out: who it’s worth asking what. And with the more vulnerable questions — the ones that are harder to ask others — you can go to this person.  

This is big work, and it doesn’t happen in one rush. Sometimes it takes three months, or even half a year. Luckily, there’s that common three-month probation period where you can start to understand what’s happening around you.  

Think about it: when you enter a new social environment — and work is usually a new environment — there are new, unfamiliar people. They already have relationships with each other; you don’t yet. And it’s true: people often have automatic expectations about what “others” are like. Some people notice that; some people don’t.  

Overload and self-regulation  

In previous articles we’ve repeatedly talked about self-organisation, resource management, and ADHD-specific difficulties. It’s worth paying attention to that here too. For example, at the start in a new team we can be very enthusiastic, quickly build lots of surface-level connections — then everyone messages:  

“You should reply — why haven’t you checked in?”  

And you’re simply not ready to respond yet.  

Or someone asks:  

“When will the task be finished?”  

And as a person with ADHD, you may have past experiences of deadlines slipping, handing things in at the last minute, after the deadline — or sometimes not at all. The ADHD nervous system can easily read these questions as pressure — even though very often that’s not true. With new people in a new situation, a deadline question is often just checking where things are at. Those automatic interpretations are worth filtering.  

Also: everyone has their own resource cycle. Sometimes we get overloaded within a single workday. A new job — while it’s still new and unfamiliar — is extra stress by itself. And sometimes it’s the opposite: a new job can feel like a resource at first, then become stressful after six months.  

It matters to notice when you’re tired — when you need to step outside, go for a walk, sit in the bathroom for a few minutes if there’s no separate room. When you need to put your headphones in. When you need to say: 

– Guys, I’m not joining you for lunch today. I’m glad you asked, I appreciate that you’ve included me — but I can’t today.  

Nothing breaks because of that. Anyone can have a headache. Anyone can have a bad day. Anyone can be sleep-deprived. If we can’t keep up the same level of communication and social involvement that we started with, we’re not deceiving anyone. We can simply say it out loud. We’ve collected lots of practical tips for this in earlier articles — have a look.  

When is it time to move on?  

In any job, it really matters to understand when these relationships get depleted — and why. From time to time, it’s worth checking in with yourself:  

  • Is this “social contract” still comfortable? 

  • Is it still okay how much energy, time, competence, attention, focus, and emotional capacity I’m putting in? 

  • And is what I’m getting in return still okay?  

Because the baseline can change. Maybe the pay used to be good a few years ago, but it hasn’t increased — while the cost of living has. Maybe the team or management changed, and suddenly everything feels different. These shifts matter, and they’re worth noticing.  

And it’s also worth talking about how to end these relationships.  


ADHD and Work: Ending a work relationship  

Here’s something you need to say to yourself clearly: you can leave these relationships at any time.  

This matters because sometimes we become strongly attached to the community, we get deeply involved — and when leaving comes up, our brain starts running a story like: 

“But how could I leave them? I’ve got a six-month plan! How do I say I’m going, when they’re counting on me?”  

We’ve already compared workplace life to an exchange-based relationship — a financial relationship. And if something breaks in that relationship, if one side stops putting in effort, the other side is usually the one motivated to end it.  

So what might the process of closing a work relationship look like? 


→ Your decision  

First: sometimes it’s worth thinking your decision through. If you decide to reflect, give yourself time. Set a boundary: how long you’re willing to tolerate things as they are.  

Next: it helps to know your own red flags. For example — especially when we’re talking about money: how many times can a bonus or salary be late? If it happens once and then gets fixed, that might not be a reason to resign. But if it’s the tenth time — or if they say there won’t be a bonus this year when you were counting on it — then you need your own limit, your own criteria for when you end the relationship.  

And if you feel like you’re “working for the job” rather than doing something meaningful — that alone can be a reason to ask yourself: do I really want to stay?  


→ A hostile environment  

A situation can develop where colleagues aren’t openly doing anything to you — but they take on an excluding stance, as if they’re pushing you out of the group. There can be gossip behind your back, hostility, little jabs — and you can’t “prove” anything, but you can feel it happening around you.  

Even then, you don’t have to slam the door immediately. It may be worth speaking to your manager first: what’s going on? Clarify the situation. It’s possible your manager doesn’t even know. But it’s also worth remembering: expecting comfort from people who don’t want to give it — who are actively hostile — is a strange expectation.  

And if in the morning you simply can’t pull yourself together to go in; if you feel sick even thinking about it; if you’re nauseous, your stomach hurts, your eye twitches — it’s worth considering whether you missed the point where your system can no longer carry this level of stress.  

Your body sends signals. Pay attention.  


→ Body signals  

Your body can signal that this isn’t your place. That can look like discomfort and a kind of internal “pressure” — as if everything is forced. You go home and you can’t switch off; you keep spinning on work. You’re constantly tired. You’re continuously overloaded — and you know it’s because of the job. You’re afraid of your boss. You’re afraid you’ll be fired all the time. Communication with colleagues is difficult — and you’ve already tried to fix it: you went over, you asked questions, you tried to build connection and workable communication, and it still didn’t improve.  

Neurodivergent people often see very clearly what isn’t working and what would need to be corrected. And that’s more than enough reason to ask a hard question:  

– What am I doing here?  

And it becomes important to build this sensitivity further:  

  • Where am I? 

  • What’s happening to me? 

  • Do I really want this? 

Of course, none of this means everyone has to do things exactly this way. These are simply suggested proactive directions — the rest is our responsibility. What decisions we make, where we go, where we stay, and how it affects us: that’s ours to decide.  

ADHD and Work: Closing 

When it comes to accepting your own state — and building skills for coping with ADHD patterns — the first step is a clear understanding of your ADHD profile. You can start by trying a free self-report screening test (not a diagnosis — just a quick self-check): Free ADHD test → If several statements feel familiar, it may be worth speaking with your GP.  

And remember: whatever your interests and skills are, they can be genuinely special and unique. A lot of good things have been built in this world from exactly that. And your ability to build a system of supports around yourself — checks and balances, external scaffolding — can strongly influence the outcome of productive, planned work too.  

Important: This article is for information only. Diagnosis and treatment must be assessed and supervised by a qualified clinician. If you feel affected, talk to your GP. 



References: 


New Zealand — Clinical Guidelines 




Further reading  

  • Amoadu, M., Ansah, E. W., & Sarfo, J. O. (2023). Influence of psychosocial safety climate on occupational health and safety: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 23, 1344. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16246-x (A scoping review mapping what research says about psychosocial safety climate—how strongly organisations prioritise psychological health and safety—and how it relates to employee well-being, safety outcomes, and organisational practices. Useful for linking “culture + safety” to real workplace health outcomes.) 


  • Barkley, R. A. (2022). Taking charge of adult ADHD (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. (A practical handbook by a leading ADHD researcher, focusing on how adults can manage attention, motivation, time, and daily functioning. It combines evidence-based explanations with concrete tools, self-management steps, and structured strategies.) 


  • Doidge, J. L., Flora, D. B., & Toplak, M. E. (2021). A meta-analytic review of sex differences on delay of gratification and temporal discounting tasks in ADHD and typically developing samples. Journal of Attention Disorders, 25(4), 540–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054718815588 (A meta-analysis examining whether sex differences appear in reward-related decision-making tasks (delay of gratification / temporal discounting) in ADHD versus non-ADHD samples. Useful when discussing impulsivity, reward sensitivity, and how these patterns may vary across groups.) 


  • Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons. (A widely cited book introducing psychological safety—the shared belief that it’s safe to speak up, ask, and learn without humiliation. It explains why this matters for learning and performance, and offers practical guidance for leaders and teams to build it.) 


  • Frederick, D. E., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2020). Longitudinal meta-analysis of job crafting shows positive association with work engagement. Cogent Psychology, 7(1), 1746733. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2020.1746733 (A longitudinal meta-analysis summarising evidence that job crafting—proactively reshaping tasks, relationships, or meaning at work—is associated with higher work engagement over time. Useful for arguing that “environment-shaping” can improve fit and energy.) 


  • Juutinen, S., Sjöblom, K., Dollard, M. F., & Mäkikangas, A. (2023). Psychosocial safety climate: Measurement and relationship with well-being in a four-wave longitudinal study during remote work. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 64(4), 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12917 (A four-wave longitudinal study during remote work, focusing on how psychosocial safety climate is measured and how it tracks with employee well-being across time. Relevant for “new context/new rules” thinking in changing work environments.) 


  • Kolberg, J., & Nadeau, K. G. (2017). ADD-friendly ways to organize your life: Strategies that work from an acclaimed professional organizer and a renowned ADD clinician (2nd ed.). Routledge. (A practical organising guide tailored to ADHD/ADD challenges—systems for time, clutter, paperwork, routines, and follow-through. Strong for concrete workplace-adjacent habits: prioritising, scheduling, and reducing friction.) 


  • Lauder, K., McDowall, A., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2022). A systematic review of interventions to support adults with ADHD at work—Implications from the paucity of context-specific research for theory and practice. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 893469. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.893469 (A systematic review of what interventions have been studied to support adults with ADHD in the workplace, and what gaps remain. Useful to justify “what we know vs. what still lacks strong evidence” in work-focused recommendations.) 


  • Maskell, L. (2023). ADHD works at work. ADHD Works. (A workplace-focused, practical guide written from an ADHD coaching perspective, centred on how ADHD shows up in day-to-day work (attention drift, overwhelm, time blindness, communication friction) and how to build workable systems. It offers concrete strategies for workload design, prioritising, meetings, email/admin, and self-advocacy—useful for turning “ADHD-friendly work” into actionable routines.) 


  • Ministry of Social Development. (n.d.). Reasonable accommodation. Retrieved March 4, 2026, from https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/lead-programme-work/information-and-support/reasonable-accommodation.html (An official guidance page explaining reasonable accommodation—what it is, why it matters, and how adjustments can be implemented to support disability and participation at work. Useful for the legal/rights-based framing of workplace adjustments.) 


  • Roczniewska, M., Rogala, A., Marszałek, M., Hasson, H., Bakker, A. B., & von Thiele Schwarz, U. (2023). Job crafting interventions: What works, for whom, why, and in which contexts? Research protocol for a systematic review with coincidence analysis. Systematic Reviews, 12(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02170-z (A research protocol describing how a systematic review will test which job crafting interventions work, for whom, and under what conditions, using configuration-focused methods. Helpful for explaining that the field is moving toward “which components matter” thinking.) 


  • Sun, S., Chen, H., He, Y., Yu, F., Yang, Y., Chen, H., & Tung, T.-H. (2025). Workplace bullying and turnover intentions among workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 25, 2394. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23339-2 (A systematic review and meta-analysis linking workplace bullying to turnover intentions—why toxic environments push people toward leaving. Strong support for the “red flags + leaving as legitimate self-protection” framing.) 


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