Reflecting on the first year of my career in PR, two things jump out: I count myself lucky to have seen relatively few of those battlefield days, and I feel I’ve been doing a good job—but this has less to do with luck. From day one, I’ve made a concerted effort to set myself up for success. I do this by putting systems in place that make my life easier—something I’ve had plenty of practice at.
In my final year of university, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and almost everyone I knew had the same reaction: “Oh, that explains a lot”. ADHD means traits often associated with success in PR, like organisation, time management, and discipline, don’t come naturally. They’re still invaluable to me, though, and my diagnosis helped me understand how to overcome my innate struggle with these things: by putting systems in place that make it easier to be organised, meet deadlines, and direct my focus.
The most obvious way this manifests is by choosing the right tools. But, rather than listing a slew of AI agents and Chrome extensions, I want to focus on three core principles that should underpin these decisions, especially for those with ADHD.
Make it a habit
Anyone who tells you it takes exactly X days to form a habit is lying to you (or more likely misinformed). The speed of habit formation is dependent on a truckload of different factors, but something that I find to be true is this: if I did it yesterday, and I do it today, I’m more likely to do it tomorrow.
Baking things that make your life easier into your routine is a great way to make them automatic, helping you to focus on the PR battlefield on the bad days. If you always sheath your sword on your left side, you won’t have to think about reaching for it; if you do media scans at the same time every day, it’s less likely to slip through the cracks on the more hectic days.
Similarly, making a habit of following best practice, whether that’s saving things in the right place or formatting your measurement dashboards properly, can help make it automatic. If you always clean your sword after a battle, you’ll be safe in the knowledge that it’s ready to use when the next one rolls around.
However, it can be difficult to maintain habits, especially for people with ADHD, so it’s important not to beat yourself up if they break down. Habits aren’t rigid; they ebb and flow, so give yourself credit—any amount of flow is better than the stagnant pond of the habitless.
There’s no ‘right way’
We’re all different. But the narrow-minded among us are often convinced that there is only one right way to do things.
This is especially relevant to people with ADHD, whose thought processes and coping mechanisms can be a deviation from the ‘norm’ because of the different way our brains develop. Sometimes people tell me that I’m doing things the ‘wrong way’, simply because I’m doing it differently from them—but I just as often see people migrating to my way of doing things, because it works for them too.
No one should be made to feel bad about successfully completing a task in the way that works for them (as long as no one’s getting hurt or breaking the law).
However, it’s important not to close yourself off to learning new things. It’s very unlikely that you are the most knowledgeable individual in the world at any one (useful) thing, so it’s important not to shut down new ways of doing things without due consideration.
Don’t let anyone tell you the thing that works for you is wrong simply because it doesn’t work for them, but don’t become set in your ways, unwilling to consider a better alternative.
It’s not too late
Some people believe they’re too set in their ways for the effort of change to be worth it, that they’re ‘too far gone’. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You might have a decade’s worth of unorganised files, but putting one file out of thousands in exactly the right place can be the difference between meeting a tight deadline and missing it because you’ve spent too long wading through your Google Drive.
However, change can be tough, especially for those of us with ADHD. Our innate brain differences make it harder to smoothly shift gears, both on a smaller scale, like switching between tasks, and with bigger changes like habit formation or routine disruption. Change also gets harder as you get older.
It’s a common (and damaging) misconception that there are more people with ADHD than there used to be, but the truth is much simpler: we’re just better at spotting it. That’s not to say that every middle-aged executive who refuses to manage their diary effectively should be subjected to an armchair diagnosis, but it can be meaningful context.
All of this is to say: change can be difficult, particularly for ADHDers, so give yourself grace. But no matter what’s come before, the right change is worth the struggle.
Do yourself a favour
Setting yourself up to succeed, whatever that may look like, should be on everyone’s agenda. Some days it’s not the most pressing item, but when you next have ten minutes to breathe (luxury, I know), give some serious thought to how you can make your life easier in the long run.
And remember, a purposeful approach revolves around three core principles:
- Make a habit of making your life easier, so that success is automatic.
- Do things your way, but keep an open mind.
- It’s never too late to make a change.
But I suppose there’s also a fourth principle, common to the three I’ve outlined already: be kind to yourself. Especially for those of us with ADHD, putting these systems in place can be challenging, and punishing yourself for slipping up helps no one.
So, do yourself a favour; set yourself up for success. I think everyone, neurodivergent or not, owes themself that.
