These are my issues with work. So, I am curious how many people here have experienced the same circumstance. I am curious how many people have worked through the temps for an extended period of time. I went to a group once where everyone talked about how they liked temping because if they made a mistake, they didn't have to face the music the next day and because they liked moving around from job to job (as they got bored easily.)
I was also wondering if anyone is like me and very perfectionistic, almost obsessive about the kinds of jobs they go after and are willing to take and are always looking for the "perfect job." I think I've spent so much time wondering if there's "something better out there" I failed to recognize the exceptional opportunities in front of me and ended up going nowhere. I think I did this because I'm a perfectionist but also because I battle anxiety about my inability to make the grade at work. I was just wondering how many are, or have been in a similar boat.
I have also gone for long periods of time without working because of this anxiety and because of my perfectionism.
Now, I'm working but I am underemployed (employed at a lower level than I should be) for someone with my skills and education. Anyone else been in a similar circumstance that came out of it? Or is in that circumstance now? I'm wondering how common this is among ADD'ers on this board.

While I'm not into the temporary work scene, I can assure you that the anxiety about making the grade at work and feeling like you could be doing better is quite common among the ADD crowd.

I'm a school teacher and my own biggest critic. Despite having had glowing reviews for years, I can't help but worry if I'm not actually a giant fraud. It all ties into the negative effects ADD plays on one's self esteem and self image. A case in point would be asking me to make two lists, one of my successes and one of my failures. While a non-ADD person could fill both lists easily, an I would have a much easier time filling up the list of failures than the list of successes. To further complicate matters, the accomplishments list would contain items that the I might not feel that I earned, but bestowed by others.

ADD also can lead people to put more weight in one failure, no matter how insignificant, than all of the accomplishments in the universe. In my case, one student (or parent) stating that I'm a rotten teacher rings louder in my consciousness despite the countless people that have said exactly the opposite.

Over the years, I've learned how to compensate for this, but once in a while, it sneaks up on me when I'm not looking.

I hope that this helps.

David

I am in the same boat. I have gotten jobs that are permanent, but deep in my heart, I was hoping that they could somehow become temporary.
My last job when I worked with the finance company wasn't so bad...
This one, with repetitive and tedious tasks and lots of paperwork is killing me on the inside. I get dinged for the classic ADD characteristics..paperwork a mess..etc.I was able to exceed the expectations for my position this past year, but I still feel like they are considering me to be non-promotable due to my ADHD characteristics/traits. I need to get a job that doesn't require paperwork...

Oh, could I fill a book on this. But I will try to be brief. The last job I had lasted 20 years. I could maintain this because there was just enough different things going on to keep my interest. When the new owner took over, he brought in several "friends" to help. And I, as somewhat anti-social, took offense, and things kinda snowballed from there. I am now seeking a job that is actually beneath me, but it intriques me because of the variity of it. IE, would not be doing the same thing everyday, no social games, etc. I have always felt that I was not doing what I was destined to do, and I keep thinking that someday, I will find it.

These are my issues with work. So, I am curious how many people here have experienced the same circumstance. I am curious how many people have worked through the temps for an extended period of time. I went to a group once where everyone talked about how they liked temping because if they made a mistake, they didn't have to face the music the next day and because they liked moving around from job to job (as they got bored easily.)
I was also wondering if anyone is like me and very perfectionistic, almost obsessive about the kinds of jobs they go after and are willing to take and are always looking for the "perfect job." I think I've spent so much time wondering if there's "something better out there" I failed to recognize the exceptional opportunities in front of me and ended up going nowhere. I think I did this because I'm a perfectionist but also because I battle anxiety about my inability to make the grade at work. I was just wondering how many are, or have been in a similar boat.
I have also gone for long periods of time without working because of this anxiety and because of my perfectionism.
Now, I'm working but I am underemployed (employed at a lower level than I should be) for someone with my skills and education. Anyone else been in a similar circumstance that came out of it? Or is in that circumstance now? I'm wondering how common this is among ADD'ers on this board.

wow when was this post written in 2005?? well I'm on that same boat now in 2008..... I'm a perfectionist who is soooo not perfect. it's a nightmare actually. and I worry 300% of the time about making the grade at work too, and was also offered a job that was lower level than I should be and didn't take it. Its like both sides of me are fighting constantly the smart side and the ADD side

BTW, I did the temp agency thing too when I first graduated a 6 month computer course. It was horrible. You never knew who you were going to meet next, another phone/name extension you had to learn, people didn't bother being nice cuz they knew you were leaving soon enough, everything is unpredictable, every employer had "their" way of doing things, so every time you switched gigs you had to re-adjust to everyone else... no way - it was bad

I think we should have the acronym "ICSR" for "I Can So Relate." I have a feeling I'll be saying that a lot on here.

I was an IT (Information Technology) contractor (consultant, if you want to be snooty) for twelve years. It was awesome being a serial super hero. I would come in, fix some big problem, then leave after a few months when the project was implemented. The only administrative thing I had to worry about was a weekly time sheet. (That was enough, though!) All my clients LOVED me. My self-esteem soared.

Then, I took a regular full-time job in Corporate America. What a drag. :( Now, the work that I love makes up such a significantly smaller percentage of my time. There is just so much peripheral drudgery -- meetings, conference calls, development plans, mandatory web training when regulations change. It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it.

AND, all of a sudden, everything I did when I was a super hero is not enough. Everyone needs to line up in the career development line and have "stretch goals" or look to become something different. For the first time EVER, I got a "meets" review, or the equivalent of a "C." They sell it as, "Well Meets is actually really good because our standards are high, blah, blah..." And most everyone does get meets. But, this nearly sent me into clinical depression. I am not a "C" type of girl! I'm a super hero, right?

WRONG. I am not enough of a LEADER now. What the...? I don't want to be a leader!

Meanwhile, to everyone else, it seems so appropriate to say, "Oh, congratulations on going full time!" Yeh... congratulations alright... All of a sudden I feel like a really cool tropical bird who has been trapped and put onto a shelf with a bunch of parakeets, while everyone looks at me and frowns because I'm not a parakeet. :(

ugh corporate work

they want people to change, grow...be leaders, mentors, group talkers, team players...


F^ck that. I do this one thing and it's all I want to do, and I do it really well, so glad I don't have to go to meetings or explain myself or fill out papers to talk about my "goals"

my goal is to be really good at this. isn't that enough? It should be.

I work for a large company - it was bearable when I was in an independant team that was essentially unsupervised, but the management changed and micro-management is IN. That means planetdave is OUT.

They made me watch a corperate video.

We were given a questionnaire asking, amongst other things, 'what three positives have you taken from this video?'.

ROFPML (I had to throw it away, it was 90% swear words)

It was all top management sitting on the edge of their desks being all matey and 'one of the guys'.

My favourite part had to be their environmental director talking about how they had nearly achieved 'carbon neutral' status. Nice.

It's an airport. They don't run the airlines but I looked out of the window to see a Jumbo taxiing leaving a plume of heat haze behind it as it used six tonnes of fuel just to get to the runway.

Anyway I'm not going back to that job - I'm long term sick (micro management for you!) and they know that I'm not returning. I might have to punch the guy from HR if I see him again (he was insulted when I called him a layman in medical matters. He said 'I am insulted by being called a layman. I am highly trained and understand a lot more than you think'. So which medical school did you go too and did you specialise in an obscure branch of psychiatry? My brother is a doctor and I was insulted on his behalf).

Am I rambling? :D

I've done temp work. I hated all that new bearings crap and not knowing who did what and where the best sandwich shop was and what the wrinkles were and how the organisation functioned.

I've had my own business. That rocked. No boss is a good boss. Trouble is that I thrive in a small group where my competitive streak can be exploited, on my own I tend to procrastinate (how odd!).

So my best job has to have been in bands. I played for a while and roadied after that. It ticked all the good boxes - a stable group of peers voyaging into new waters every day with food n' booze thrown in.

I'm now thinking of writing (factual) and have designs on film making, though I can't see that being a cash cow.

I work for a large company - it was bearable when I was in an independant team that was essentially unsupervised, but the management changed and micro-management is IN. That means planetdave is OUT.

They made me watch a corperate video.

We were given a questionnaire asking, amongst other things, 'what three positives have you taken from this video?'.

ROFPML (I had to throw it away, it was 90% swear words)

It was all top management sitting on the edge of their desks being all matey and 'one of the guys'.

My favourite part had to be their environmental director talking about how they had nearly achieved 'carbon neutral' status. Nice.

It's an airport. They don't run the airlines but I looked out of the window to see a Jumbo taxiing leaving a plume of heat haze behind it as it used six tonnes of fuel just to get to the runway.

Anyway I'm not going back to that job - I'm long term sick (micro management for you!) and they know that I'm not returning. I might have to punch the guy from HR if I see him again (he was insulted when I called him a layman in medical matters. He said 'I am insulted by being called a layman. I am highly trained and understand a lot more than you think'. So which medical school did you go too and did you specialise in an obscure branch of psychiatry? My brother is a doctor and I was insulted on his behalf).

Am I rambling? :D

I've done temp work. I hated all that new bearings crap and not knowing who did what and where the best sandwich shop was and what the wrinkles were and how the organisation functioned.

I've had my own business. That rocked. No boss is a good boss. Trouble is that I thrive in a small group where my competitive streak can be exploited, on my own I tend to procrastinate (how odd!).

So my best job has to have been in bands. I played for a while and roadied after that. It ticked all the good boxes - a stable group of peers voyaging into new waters every day with food n' booze thrown in.

I'm now thinking of writing (factual) and have designs on film making, though I can't see that being a cash cow.

Very similar to my working life Dave, except I never give HR people the time of day and I'll walk out of a job before I completely lose my temper with management rather than go off sick.


I'd rather not work in an office again if possible, but there's not a wealth of options when most of your career has been wasted moving around - or so it looks to recruiters expecting a steady career path with no unexplained gaps.