Source
r/ADHD•
staticrank

ADHDers in IT, how do you manage keeping up with your technical knowledge?

Hi, I work in IT and I am burning out basically from what my company expects. I need to become cloud certified, so on top of my current work I need to study for my certifications (outside of work). I also need to learn a stupid amount of tools (currently in Ansible training) and honestly I just feel like I’m back in high school (eg dumb).

What do y’all do to keep up? Even with meds and therapy and getting enough sleep I just feel straight up overwhelmed. My manager insists I’m doing fine, but recent layoffs have me terrified I will be next if I don’t stay up to date on my skills.

Ahhhh!!! Can anyone relate?

Posted Nov 13, 2018, 9:46 PM UTC

319
mouseaswADHD & SO•

They're expecting you to do a significant amount of work off the clock. If you have to study more than an hour or so a week* for work, it needs to happen on paid time. If you're working full time and studying in addition, they're getting more than the 40 hours of work they're paying you for.

Make no mistake, studying and learning IS work. It takes mental effort, and it costs you both time and energy. You're no doubt experiencing the effects of extended over-exertion if you've been doing this for very long.

My recommendation? Realize that your employer is not treating you fairly, and start looking for a better employer elsewhere. IT is in high demand right now, and for the moment you're not in a rush or desperate for work.

* (in other words, more than a trivial amount of time)

5
staticrankOP•

Hm...I am in the situation where the company claims that we can use company time to study/learn, but everyone is suspicious of that. The company is in a sort of transition. Maybe I can ask my manager for clarity on how much work time we can use to learn/study. I was skipping lunch to use it to study T_T

1
UnstoppableMigraine•

I had this with one of my old employees and we agreed I could work remotely for a half day a week to focus on study.

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At my current job I can block off as much time in my diary as I want.

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If you have to bust your balls working overtime for certs then just leave for a better employer when you pass :)

1
obrseamus•

Put it on your calendar
Do it.
Maybe chat about interesting tidbits you learn.
Make it very clear that you're doing it, and that everyone is gaining value. If they disagree they'll tell you.

1
myro80•

100% relatable. Same situation here. I think in many of these cases it is not ADHD that is the problem it is unreasonable expectations from the employer. How about your colleagues at work? I bet it is not easy for them either.

3
staticrankOP•

So there’s a few types of colleagues: Those who are leaving or retiring Those who are on performance plans Those who are contractors, and so were hired for a specific skill for a set time Managers And then this weird subset that I’m a part of, where I feel super paranoid I don’t have enough certs.

It’s frustrating because I really struggle with the in class training. I have hearing difficulties and the adhd makes it worse, and I have a hard time keeping up and will miss a lot. So then I need to put in more time...

1
Thisisntsobad123•

The Cisco/juniper certifications are the bane of my existence. I got this job just basically saying I was testing for the first. 2 years in and 2 promotions later I'm asked to continue towards the next level. Well boss I don't have the first. :( Unable to look at that book or videos for more than 5 minutes. It's like it's killing me.

Had my first ADHD appointment Monday. She offered me some meds, Wellbutrin, but I asked to talk to a psychiatrist she agreed and that appointment is a month out.

2
staticrankOP•

Oh I “should” have my CCNA and JNCIA lol. But omg! I’m kind of glad cloud is huge now because that’s got more weight than getting Cisco certs.

1
Thisisntsobad123•

Yea I work at a massive isp. I do routing changes and troubleshooting for Enterprise customers. A lot of 10g data center links, mpls everything, VPN tunnels. Everything is bgp so mostly I mastered that. Idk what's on the ccna is not really related but it's what they want.

The amount of python Ive pieced together to do my "routine" things is nuts. Basically for making sure I don't miss things.

I'm just starting to dive in to this ADHD possibility after a clinical psychology PhD friend of mine mentioned that I exibit a lot of the signs.

1
UnstoppableMigraine•

I failed my CCNA by a couple points right before my first full time tech job 10yrs ago. Was told not to bother resitting as they were a citrix and MS shop. I was so relieved !

1
UnstoppableMigraine•

Get that exam booked.

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We thrive under pressure!

1
Thisisntsobad123•

I do thrive under pressure. Pretty much zone out and end up going on a 3 hour tangent in the middle of the day if it's boring or repetitive.

1
sparse-dense•

I book study time in my work calendar. Also do udemy courses & gns3 labs at home a small bit at a time.

2
UnstoppableMigraine•

This man knows.

Do not disturb in Skype is a godsend too.

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1
madkimchi•

I can relate. There's no easy answer. Personally I only started taking steps in getting diagnosed after a not so good performance rating, which is very unpleasant.

Have you identified what's holding you back? Does your employer know of your ADHD? Are you on medication?

Make peace with yourself knowing you did your best and use your knowledge to be better prepared for a new opportunity in the future, If all else fails.

1
staticrankOP•

Yeah I’m on medication. I actually got diagnosed this year too lol after struggling at work. I have learned a lot of strategies to cover up my adhd, and for some reason my manager assumes my disinterest, tiredness, and distractability is just a millennial thing lol.

What do you mean what is holding me back?

1
Neal_Patrick•

This thread and more I’ve seen recently around IT don’t make me feel good about trying to learn for CCNA by myself lol. I won’t go back to school because they charge crazy amounts and I don’t learn the way they teach most times. I’m a huge IT nerd like I love networking, servers etc but I hate dealing with people lol.

1
staticrankOP•

I think certs hold more weight anyway, the bachelors degree just helps to get more money.

I am the same way where I don’t learn well in a classroom, even online classes. I just need to go at my own pace.

2
UnstoppableMigraine•

I have put off my Microsoft certs for almost 10years now but guess who I work for despite having none since server 2008!?

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I have to act as a subject matter expert for around 30 clients at a time all with different needs and with a product with 100s of features changing weekly. The admin work alone can be soul destroying!

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It's so fucking hard! I need to get a good sleep, medicate and then I can attempt to watch training videos and read blogs/documentation but I'm still behind.

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Try not to over do it and commit to something achievable like 3 or 4 20minutes of self study a day in blocks with rests on between.

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Sometimes you just have to be in the zone and that time is 3AM but whatever.

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Pluralsight and YouTube have been amazing to me for the cloud work I do. Just starting to get involved in the twitter and local communities too.

1