Job longevity issues not related to being let go

I wonder if anyone else has these issues I’ve had the hardest time keeping jobs all my life with my longest tenure being about a year and a half. Most of my working years my adhd wasn’t truly treated however I was self medicating during that year and a half I was on lamictal and Wellbutrin because they thought I was bipolar exercising regularly had no wife or child or real outside stress and I still left. My issue is not related to performance or being let go in fact except for one weird situation I’ve never been let go from a single job and as sad as it is to admit I’ve lost count of my jobs but know it’s north of 18 different jobs.

I always seem to start out motivated and positive then typically it drains out I lose all motivation and start having these feelings of I have to leave and go somewhere else etc and I keep trying to force myself to stay then I usually start calling out and then usually the situation speeds up very rapidly to where I either put in notice and don’t complete notice and quit or on the worst times just call out and say I quit. Kind of depends but no matter the situation it feels almost like an impossible to stop compulsion for me.

This current job seems to have only gone on so long due to my adderall because any time I don’t have it I almost quit but I can feel the expiration date for this job approaching.

Most days I have no motivation and the only reason I make it is the adderall once it wears off around 2 I don’t want to do anything for the rest of the day it’s terrible.

I don’t think like mentioned all over the place I have the fear of failure and typically in all the jobs I’m usually exceeding standards so I don’t think it’s quitting before I get fired. I do think I might get burnt out but I don’t know why

How do you keep a job?? Nothing can seem to stop me from quitting not even knowing I have a family and daughter to support it’s sad and very frustrating because obviously I can’t keep this up forever my resume is now starting to have serious issues because of how long I’ve been in the workforce with no serious experience anywhere.

I’ve tried many different industries and job types and nothing seems to stick.

Hey @Adhdandthensome are you or have you taken adhd meds specifically? Do you see a P-doc regularly?

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Originally Posted by Adhdandthensome I wonder if anyone else has these issues I’ve had the hardest time keeping jobs all my life with my longest tenure being about a year and a half. Most of my working years my adhd wasn’t truly treated however I was self medicating during that year and a half I was on lamictal and Wellbutrin because they thought I was bipolar exercising regularly had no wife or child or real outside stress and I still left. My issue is not related to performance or being let go in fact except for one weird situation I’ve never been let go from a single job and as sad as it is to admit I’ve lost count of my jobs but know it’s north of 18 different jobs. I always seem to start out motivated and positive then typically it drains out I lose all motivation and start having these feelings of I have to leave and go somewhere else etc and I keep trying to force myself to stay then I usually start calling out and then usually the situation speeds up very rapidly to where I either put in notice and don’t complete notice and quit or on the worst times just call out and say I quit. Kind of depends but no matter the situation it feels almost like an impossible to stop compulsion for me. This current job seems to have only gone on so long due to my adderall because any time I don’t have it I almost quit but I can feel the expiration date for this job approaching. Most days I have no motivation and the only reason I make it is the adderall once it wears off around 2 I don’t want to do anything for the rest of the day it’s terrible. I don’t think like mentioned all over the place I have the fear of failure and typically in all the jobs I’m usually exceeding standards so I don’t think it’s quitting before I get fired. I do think I might get burnt out but I don’t know why How do you keep a job?? Nothing can seem to stop me from quitting not even knowing I have a family and daughter to support it’s sad and very frustrating because obviously I can’t keep this up forever my resume is now starting to have serious issues because of how long I’ve been in the workforce with no serious experience anywhere. I’ve tried many different industries and job types and nothing seems to stick.

I have off and on seen a pdoc and therapist regularly depending if I had health insurance or not currently I don’t have health insurance so I haven’t been in a while.

I’ve been on strattera and it didn’t work then there was another I don’t remember. Other than that the first adhd med I tried was adderall xr and that’s what I currently have and have been taking regularly to keep my job though unfortunately lower levels than I should the xr seems to drop off in about 6 hours for me so when I had health insurance I was on 20mg xr twice a day.

I’m just trying to figure out how to keep a job and of course if maybe my job issues may be just the wrong job though other people can keep jobs they’re not interested in long term so I’m not sure what my problem is

I get fired constantly. I work really hard, too, and I don't make too many mistakes, but my social skills are horrible. I can't seem to get along with people; it's not easy for me to make small talk. I get really nervous and overshare, and that's what usually ends up sealing my fate.

Sometimes it may be an issue of not having a good fit with the job. Sometimes we take jobs because we feel obligated to have "any" job and not the job that is right for us. Dr. Ned Hallowell says that it's important for us with ADHD to find a job that is something we enjoy, something we're good at, and something we'll get paid to do. Not everyone can have all three, but it's important to have at least two.

Second, what have you learned about yourself from these past jobs? Are you someone who hates a desk job? Are you someone who needs to be constantly moving? Are you someone who needs deadlines? Do you need close supervision or more independence? What are some of the things that make you angry at work? How often do you interact with peers? It's likely that you've learned a lot about what your work style and needs are. It can be helpful to write those down, reflect on them, and then meet with your supervisor to talk about what helps you work best.

Lastly, it may be that the ADHD or other mental health conditions are under treated or that other life issues are going unaddressed. Are you seeing a therapist? What kind of self care do you do outside of work? It could be that there's more stuff to take care of personally that is having an impact on you professionally.

Bottom line, it's not that you're bad or that there's something wrong with you. Finding the right job and staying in a job can be hard for most people. Changing jobs isn't necessarily a bad thing unless it interferes with other parts of your life. I'd be interested to know more about what makes you leave jobs, and also what makes you take a new job.

A lot of the people I have met with ADHD find they prefer to have a job where they can move around and have different customers/jobs, they are often in sales or construction and even in the fishing industry where they go different places to fish. My husband is in construction and he likes it because he works on a job and finishes it than goes someplace else. It's very similar to the pattern you describe only where you get bored and quit, and go someplace else, he doesn't quit, he just finishes a job and goes someplace else.

The thing with ADHD is not lack of intelligence, often many even have genius IQ's, what it is is lack of patience to focus on one thing over and over again. They literally get bored, they like motion and change.

Yea lack of intelligence has never been the issue currently though I’m doing better with my own research on coping mechanisms and as much as people sometimes say there are way around meds for me specifically by some miracle I’ve been in my job now for 11 months around month 8 ish or so I came very close to quitting due to not being able to get my Normal amount of meds for 2 months ever since about a month and a half ago I was finally able to get my normal level of adderall and tried effexor for the first time for the anxiety and OCD I have and between those two I believe they may have saved me in conjunction with coping mechanisms, research, and my slightly nonstandard sales job. Though truthfully I am afraid to trust it because after so long of doing this kind of thing even I know I’m not reliable and it could change between one week and the next even if I don’t want it to

I respect the fact that you keep trying to figure it out. Does your wife work/have a career?