What jobs actually suit people like us?

I need to reinvent my life, because my current one isn’t working.

- 33F
- Been working in climate after training first as an engineer. Got a good paying job that’s a bit technical, a bit commercial. The “commercial” part keeps it paying well, of course, but business development absolutely sucks.
- Had a big burnout 3 years ago, took a year off.
- Diagnosed ADHD, Autistic and Gifted Child Syndrome this year in March. Wowza that finally made sense of a few things.
- Started ADHD medication (methylphenidate) this year. First months felt life changing, albeit confronting.
- Relief/grief/becoming aware of masking has caused a big dip in my capacity to work. Struggling very hard to do even the most basic of things.
- Have taken some burnout leave again. This time I at least have a framework for what’s happening. And I can see my “panic attacks” are more like autistic meltdowns and my executive function freezes are very AuDHD coded.
- The therapy sessions from my ADHD specialist have now run out.
- On the waiting list for a formal Autism assessment. It will take a year or more. More support will come via that, eventually.

On the job front:
- I was always “purpose driven” but I gotta say it’s very hard to work in climate when we run ourselves in circles to prove impact actually happened and then they just start wars and blow up oil tankers and energy infrastructure. Feels very futile.
- Climate is very abstract. You can’t see it. A lot of work we do is standards and methods and audits. Timelines are long. I feel like I’m enabling corporates to outwardly “do the right thing” while they fuck the planet up more.
- Being commercial, technical, abstract and self driven all at once is killing me. Expectations, KPIs, and the wasteland of LinkedIn is killing me. It’s basically non-stop masking, whether on meetings or at conferences or even on LinkedIn, and it feels so fake.
- I’m already remote. Task switching, showing up to meetings on the minute, sending emails, maintaining timelines when I’m time blind— all while I’m struggling to care and connect with the job— I’m functionally paralysed.
- Any other job in my niche seems wholly unappealing, like I’m just trading the problems of one company for another.

I need to start again. I love the idea of being my own boss, but have no idea where to begin. Or I’d love to find a job that suits people like us better, where the pay doesn’t suck.

Please give me some inspiration 🙏🏼 I need to climb out of this hole!