You can see just by the description of Marco’s life that he has multiple streams of income which require a wide variety of skill sets and activities that keep him busy.  True to ADD form, his work day is never linear.  For example, he makes lists of what needs to be done, and instead of going down the list, skips around so he’s doing the tasks that he enjoys the most first, and hopefully getting to the least enjoyable tasks later on.   He is very much aware of his nature, and although he has not been formally diagnosed, he embraces his idiosyncrasies and exclaims to his wife, “If I weren’t like this, our life would be boring.”  She agrees.  This is key.  She is very organized and absolutely thrives on the details.  Marco, on the other hand loves to throw out the task at hand as if it were as simple to accomplish as a smile.  Although this has been a source of some irritation for her as well as mild arguments, she willingly helps him to manage it all in both businesses! 

I have often thought that those of us with ADD should be born with a personal assistant to take care of the details…but I digress.  Not bad if you can find that in your life partner or maybe just hire someone.

Marco explained that he uses a timer every day.  He understands that he can spend more time on tasks that are not profitable just because they are fun, and less time on those that require a bit more focus.  The timer helps keep him on track and also allows him to get up and take a breather so he can return refreshed and ready to tackle another task.  Notice I didn’t say “the next task.”  Try as we might, this is almost impossible for those of us with the distraction factor wired into our brains.  Even now I am tempted to switch activities and am amazed that I’m still writing this article without getting another cup of tea.

One of the key factors in Marco’s success is that he LOVES and THRIVES on the variety in his work.  “I never do the same thing every day.  It is always new and fresh.”  He enjoys traveling to new places.  When he comes back to his home office, he is ready to throw orders out to his wife to take care of the details.

Marco’s office is something to behold.  He has a desk piled with papers (disorganization is something that is part of our make-up – the key is knowing where to find everything).  But the most surprising and key element of his office are the two drum sets in either corner.  One is so that he can get up and break the day up with a completely new activity that is somewhat physical.  The other is for when his son comes home from school and they can take a break and play together.

It was so fun to get caught up with Marco, and so enlightening to finally understand our connection.  He wholeheartedly labels himself as ADD, although he’s never had a true diagnosis.  However, he embraces his finely tuned brain and uses it to his benefit to live an amazing life.

Tips to Embrace Your Gifts:

1. Love what you do by working in a field that allows you to switch activities often and offers enough variety in your work to keep you from getting bored.
2. Define and design your workspace so that you maximize your day (cubicles don’t general work well for folks with ADD).
3. Consider work that allows for independence and does not require a great deal of organization, or
4. Hire or marry someone who can help you manage the details,  or bribe someone with chocolate chip cookies.
5. Use a timer so that each of your tasks are given the attention they need, allowing for min-breaks throughout the day.
6. Don’t expect yourself to follow the tasks you list for the day in a linear fashion – it’s ok to skip around.
7. Embrace your gifts – you tend to think bigger and more outside the box than most – you are ten steps ahead of everyone so let them catch up and be patient when they don’t get it right away.
8. Most of all, HAVE FUN!  And, when you need help defining work  that you can feel passionate about, call a professional career counselor who understands your idiosyncrasies and get started today.