ADHD and Chasing Highs (Novelty)

"You need to give Parul MORE work not less work"

This is what my coach said in a co-coaching session with my line manager about a year ago. It sounds a bit crazy, but stay with me, and I'll explain why it made complete sense for me as an ADHDer.

For anyone not familiar with it, co-coaching is like coaching, but instead of doing it one-on-one, you do it with someone else, like your line manager.

So, in one of the sessions, my coach said to my manager, "When you see Parul losing motivation and momentum, you might think it's because she is overwhelmed or not interested, and your solution would be to reduce her workload. But it's actually because she's not getting enough dopamine and novelty from her projects and needs MORE work to help drive her motivation."

Cue a confused look from my manager...😳

She continued, "Parul's ADHD means she has an interest-based system, so you should try to help drive this interest-based system by giving her more projects and more variety, even if this means dropping her in to assist with other people's projects. This is where Parul gets her dopamine, and this is exactly how you can get the best out of her."

Disclaimer: I am not advising managers to give their ADHD direct reports more work out of the blue because this doesn't apply to everyone, and they might be very cross with you 😅. I'm sharing it because it shows the difference between what you think is happening behind the scenes and what is actually happening behind the scenes.

Why do ADHDers seek novelty?

This is a question that science can help us answer!

Dopamine and norepinephrine, as shown below, are neurotransmitters responsible for executive functioning, task initiation, focus, impulsivity, and more:

Experts believe that lower levels of both dopamine and norepinephrine are linked to ADHD:

This means that we seek stimulation either internally, perhaps through daydreaming, or externally. When mundane things don't appeal to or engage us, we can't force ourselves to do them; it feels like wading through mud.

(Also, thank god I am finally putting my Masters in Chemistry to good use by drawing things for my newsletter🥳 )

How might ADHDers lacking novelty present at work?

• Doing literally ANYTHING but their actual work
• Rushing through tasks and making silly mistakes
• Procrastinating till the last possible moment
• Starting conflict out of the blue (fun fact: I realised after my diagnosis that I was only starting arguments with my boyfriend because I was understimulated, poor bloke. Of course, after this realisation, I stopped starting arguments out boredom 😅)
• Overcommunicating

How to support novelty-seeking

Trying to understand someone's interest factors is key. No two humans are driven by the exact same things, but for someone with ADHD, using interest factors is ABSOLUTELY critical to help them be productive and happy at work, and get unstuck.

If you're worried about them spending time on other things, I want you to try to reframe this mindset; they're already losing time because of procrastination and being unmotivated. Addressing the lack of stimulation and novelty can massively help drive an ADHDer to perform well on critical tasks - so it is a good investment and a win-win!

Not long after the co-coaching session I mentioned at the start of this article, I was assigned to lead a project management migration for the team, as project management tools are one of my special interests. I spent a couple of hours a week on this project, which ignited my reward system like a pinball machine, enabling me to deliver the rest of my projects with ease.

Summary

• Seeking novelty and stimulation is common in ADHDers.
• When we're deprived of novelty and stimulation at work, it can look like a lack of motivation or being overwhelmed at work.
• We need the autonomy and flexibility to incorporate dopamine tasks into our daily schedules, or we'll be stuck in first gear.