Creativity and ADHD: Name a More Iconic Duo
So it’s no secret that 'creatives’ are prone to ADHD. There are so many things about having a unique brain that are beautiful and helpful and sometimes, we’re just trying to not get fired. I was formally diagnosed when I was a teenager but didn’t start really investigating my own lil flavor of ADHD until adulthood. It can be hard to manage sometimes and there will always be some challenges…
But what if you could work with your sweet little neurodivergent brain and not against it?
After some conversations with design students, I offered to give some tips about what I’ve found works for me in the design world. Let’s get right into it.
Set yourself a deadline that's at least a week before the actual client deadline.
This means that even if you miss your deadline, you won't miss the client one. It gives you a buffer to make those important last-minute shifts, and a rebound period if you get a little stuck. Try as hard as you can to forget that you’re tricking yourself.
Or, you can outsource this to other people, in some cases. If you have the luxury of having an account manager or partner, kindly ask them to lie to your face on a regular basis.
Lists on lists on lists.
I use Google Keep to organize my to-do lists by day of the week.
I have any firm deadlines at the very top, so I never miss it.
Then, I have a backburner list at the bottom
We use Dubsado as our project management and have 2 big-picture check-ins every week, where I’ll adjust these lists. We work with anywhere from 5 to 15 clients at a time which I thrive on but organization is so necessary.
A "get it done" vs. "get it perfect" mindset.
I can get really hung up on getting something perfect or sticking to the exact plan that I had set out for myself. This doesn't mean to present something that sucks, but if you get hung up on making sure it's absolutely perfect, especially before showing a boss or mentor, you can endlessly extend the project. I like to give myself a super-tight timeline (like an hour) to get it done and just crank through it - worry about perfecting later. I have a friend who jokingly says he has to "get something to the editor" which I also like, it takes some of the pressure off of you.
Okay, this is the biggest one: mindfully and carefully figure out how you work best.
This will be different for everyone so it would be helpful for you to figure this out for yourself and use it to your advantage. Here's what I've learned about myself:
I've realized there are 2 different kinds of work I do: creative and production.
For creative work, I need a lot of free time in my schedule, a lot of what I think of as 'mental deadspace,' where I can create space for coming up with creative concepts and ideas without forcing it. For some people, sitting down and powering through works, for me, it does not. If I give myself enough space, the ideas come more easily. For me, this means walking, yoga, listening to music, sitting down to sketch with no agenda, cooking, whatever.
For production work, the strategy is very different. I have to sit down and pound it out. I give myself an exact timeframe with a reward at the end (four hours and then I can go to goodwill and stare at a bunch of weird cups). Figuring this out is Step 1.
Step 2 is figuring out how to work it into your schedule in a way that makes sense. I have the luxury of being self-employed and can do that pretty easily. When I was working 8-5 at an ad agency, I would take 2-3 15-minute walks every day (smokers get smoke breaks, creatives should have brain breaks), go get feedback from people, and spend my lunch breaks doing whatever I felt like would be most helpful to carry me through to the rest of the day.
When you feel that push of "go work on this," do it.
Not everyone would agree with me here but when I feel motivated to work, I will. Which means I'm working at odd hours sometimes but can be done. This also means I will occasionally throw out my intended plan for the day, in favor of the project that won’t leave my mind. As long as you know your deadlines, you can allow some flexibility in your actual day-to-day schedule.
Be upfront with clients, bosses, etc.
If you have a boss, let them help you set the framework so you can hold yourself to your expectations. As soon as you know what your needs are, you should start requesting them. In college I had a professor who would ‘banish me from the classroom’ when he knew I’d hit capacity. At my first job, my boss knew that I needed to literally exit the building to concept and would cover for me. Not everyone is that kind, but if I were to find myself back in a larger agency setting, I’d be advocating for my own needs.
If you’re working directly with clients, get your communication skills in tip-top shape. If a deadline is getting close and you're afraid you might miss it - push the deadline ahead of time and prioritize it. Communicate that you’re working on the project and need some extra time to do it justice. Unless there’s an event, external factor, or print deadline, most people will be understanding of a minor timeline shift. But don’t miss it again!
I’d love to hear from you! Have you tried any of these and they’ve worked for you? Do you have other tips and tricks you’ve picked up? Let’s hear ‘em.
