If you’re neurodivergent and looking for good jobs for people with ADHD, we have some creative ideas for you!
Although inattentive attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has always been a part of life for every member of my 100 percent neurodivergent family, there was a time when we didn’t understand why things that came easily for other folks were harder for us.
It was only after transitioning to a more flexible work environment as self-employed freelance workers that we finally realized we weren’t working in the best jobs for our particular neurodiversity needs, and now we’re happier than we’ve ever been with our work lives.
Whether you have a diagnosis of ADHD or you’re undiagnosed but have symptoms of ADHD and you find traditional career paths to be a bad fit for your needs, you might find reframing your work life as transformative as we did. In this post, I’m breaking down some of the best remote jobs for ADHD (and some other neurodiversities) and why they might be a good fit for folks with ADHD brains.
How ADHD Can Sabotage Your Work Life
Let me start with the caveat that neurodivergence doesn’t limit everyone in traditional workplace environments. I’ve known folks who were diagnosed with ADHD or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who absolutely excelled in corporate environments. But I’m guessing you’re here because you’re not one of those folks.
Both my husband and I excelled at wowing our employers with our creativity and ability to problem solve, but struggled with time management, boredom, and workplace burnout in structured job environments, particularly the corporate kind.
We’re the kind of people who are always coming up with big new ideas, but absolutely loathe the monotony of workplace routines. We love to hyperfocus on our passions and interests, but tend to zone out in meetings. Sound familiar?
Escaping Traditional Work Roles
There are plenty of traditional jobs that fit well with ADHD, depending on your personality and lifestyle. I have a relative who was diagnosed with ADHD back when it was rare for adults to get diagnosed for the first time, and he had a long, happy career as a firefighter and small-town volunteer police officer.
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) jobs, nurses, emergency room doctors, and other fast-paced healthcare worker roles can also work well for some ADHDers because they offer a chance to think on your feet and don’t tend to be mired in routine. But all of these jobs tend to have three things in common: high stress, long hours, and physical strain.
Similarly, my husband and I have always worked well in jobs with a fast pace that required high energy levels and quick thinking. We were working as restaurant servers when we met and spent years in the restaurant and bar scene, with my husband going on to spend several years working as a sushi chef and restaurant manager.
While both of us enjoyed the pace and the social aspects of those jobs, as we got a little older we started to not love the toll they took on our bodies, the high stress levels, and the way our unconventional schedules often interfered with our family time, so we tried to shift into more structured professions.
But none of those more structured jobs, particularly the desk jobs, were ever a good fit, and it took transitioning into a 100% remote work lifestyle for us to find the job satisfaction we’d been missing all those years.
Finding the Remote Job That Works for You
Everyone is different, and that applies to folks with ADHD and other neurodiversities. In other words, what works well for one person might not work well for someone else. That’s why it’s important to spend some time thinking about the type of work that best suits your ADHD traits.
My husband and I prefer having flexibility to work on our own schedules and more specifically, to manage our own workflow. We both freelance in multiple roles; I work as a writer, editor, and wedding officiant, and he works as a writer and small engine mechanic. Because we’re completely freelance, we are able to better work around our ADHD symptoms and take a step back or shift gears when we need to.
Here’s a list of remote and work from home jobs for people with ADHD:
1. On-Call Electrician
Anything that combines mental and physical work is a plus for us ADHDers, and electrician work fits the bill on both counts. Depending on the local ordinances where you live, you’ll likely need to check into licensure and insurance.
But electric work can be a solid gig that allows you to make your own hours, and more companies are turning to remote on-call workers to gig out their electrician jobs to. It’s also a job you can typically get into with less than a year of courses at your local vocational school.
2. Handyperson
Handywork is another one of those mind-body magic jobs. In terms of insurance and licensing, handyperson work can also vary depending on where you live and the type of work you’re doing. And it’s always a good idea to check your local ordinances before putting out an ad on Facebook.
But if you can line everything up, you can bring in a solid income installing appliances, repairing drywall, replacing faucets, updating ceiling fans, and performing other minor household jobs. And with the advent of YouTube, there’s really nothing you can’t teach yourself how to do these days.
You can easily connect with clients who need your skills using third-party platforms like Angi, TaskRabbit, Handy, and Thumbtack.
3. Mechanic
If you’re an ADHD girlie who loves thinking about how things work and diagnosing problems, this could be your dream career path.
My husband first learned to do mechanic work way back in high school vocational classes, and he swears to this day it’s the most useful thing he ever learned in his life. These days, he uses those skills to repair small engines like lawnmowers, chainsaws, and Vespa-style motor scooters to help supplement our income.
He loves the mental stimulation of diagnostics and the chance to take a break from typing articles for SlashGear to perform physical labor. And there almost always seems to be a demand for this type of work, especially in the spring through late fall.
Recently, he’s stumbled onto another type of freelance mechanic gig performing warranty assessments for a national chain. It pays pretty well, and so far, he’s had the opportunity to scale his workload according to what works best for him.
4. Freelance Writer
My brand of ADHD is the kind that works best when there’s a little fire under me, which is why I love the pressure of meeting deadlines that goes hand-in-hand with freelance writing. But it’s not just about that sweet, sweet pressure of burning down the clock on a 24-hour deadline — it’s also about the autonomy.
I love the fact that when I’m given an assignment or my pitch is approved, I’m completely on my own to work through it. When I’m finished, all I have to do is upload. There are no pointless meetings with a supervisor droning on about KPI (key performance indicators) or other mind-numbing corporate jargon, and there are no forced social interactions. It’s just me, my keyboard, and the pure joy of hyperfocusing on whatever topic I’m writing about to the tune of my work focus playlist. Ah, bliss.
5. Online Reseller
For some ADHD folks, getting out to browse yard sales, thrift stores, and bin stores can be preferable to remaining stuck behind a computer all day. And the good news is that you can actually turn this into a fairly lucrative career or, at the very least, a decent side hustle by flipping your thrifted items on Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, Poshmark, or other online stores. It’s something my family enjoys doing to get a break from the routine and make a few bucks at the same time.
6. Copy Editor
If your brand of ADHD loves really focusing on details, freelance copy editing is another great job that lets you work at your own pace. There are plenty of sites like Upwork and Fiverr that attract clients looking for gig workers. But I’ve had good luck picking up freelance editing clients through Facebook groups and subReddits in the past as well.
7. Graphic Designer
Many of my ADHD artist friends and relatives have kept the lights on for years, working as freelance graphic designers. I’ve got an in-law who made a decent living designing websites for years, and I have friends who design and sell the kind of geek-themed merch and stickers you’d pick up at a comic book convention. But there are also loads of other ways you can translate your graphic design skills into profit, like designing logos, signs, business cards, newsletters, promotional flyers, or even complete branding packages for clients.
Conclusion: ADHDers Make the Best Entrepreneurs
We might not always thrive in a desk job, but ADHD folks are responsible for some of the best businesses because we tend to live (and thrive) outside the box, where all the fun ideas are.
And take it from someone who has been in a rut: taking something you enjoy doing and turning it into a freelance or business opportunity can completely transform your life.
Do you have a favorite job for navigating ADHD or other neurodiversities? Let me know in the comments! I look forward to reading about your experiences.
I rarely respond to emails but this one regarding ADHD helped me understand all the unease Ive felt with loving the creativity and fast pace of working with organizations while setting my own schedule. In my first job I was so stressed with dealing with people and mundane activities that I would hide in the bathroom until I had to complete a task. I never associated these feelings (minus the bathroom hideaway LOL) with ADHD. Thanks for this article.
Glad you found the article helpful, Jacqui.