Ten Good Professions For People With ADD

Bartender

Natalie Walsh from the New York City bar The Scratcher says that bartending involves keeping track of ‘a whole lot of things at once and keeping the thread going.’ Attention needs to be split between the customers at the bar and the wait staff, and ‘you don’t need a long memory for it.’

Photojournalist

‘You’re making a new instantaneous decision every time you press the button,’ says Christopher Smith, who often shoots for The New York Times (NYT). Smith adds photography can be ‘an incredibly improvisational medium and you have to be hyperaware of everything around you.’

Sous Chef

Josh Jones, the Sous Chef of Chicago’s Spring Restaurant , is always on his feet and he loves it. Growing up he had a hunch that he had ADD because he felt anxious sitting in classrooms, but he only got diagnosed in culinary school. His kitchen is ideal because it involves ‘running around instead being restless in a seat.’

Public Relations Executive

Emily Heyward, who co-founded the creative consulting firm Red Antler, says ‘the jobs where you're working for multiple clients’ are best for ADD types because ‘every hour you could be dealing with a completely different industry. Within one day I might be working in beauty products, vitamins, an Internet company and sports.’

Teacher

Brooke Heiser, a middle school teacher, explains that in the field of education ‘you are on all day’ and ‘you have to know what’s going on with all of [the students] all the time.’ The kids are continually asking questions and the teacher has to ‘constantly meet their needs in many different ways.’