If you have ADD, you might be reading this at work because you hate your job. You’re easily distracted, so that’s not an unreasonable assumption. You’re not getting along with the people you work with. You’re miserable.

The 40-hour work week might seem like a strait jacket for you, and it might hinder that great ADD energy and creativity you have inside. But you also have the ability to hyperfocus and get things done, providing that they’re projects that interest you. You’re probably great at things like detecting and solving problems, but you probably shy away from the paperwork involved. It’s just too boring!

Don’t worry! The problem can be solved in a couple of different ways. You can adjust some of your work habits, or you can find a job with you love and that loves you in return.

Becoming an entrepreneur might be for you. You may want to run your own business. If you are able to organize and plan, great! That will help you. But if you aren’t into doing those things, realize that you’ll need to hire people to do them. Even so, running your own business is a great way to utilize and appease your ADD personality.

But adults with attention deficit love nothing more than action. Being in a fast-paced career, like police officer, fire fighter, or EMS technician, might be the ideal situation for you if you’re a high-energy person. But the truth is that adults with ADD are in countless number of jobs, and they have found ways to succeed.

Try to curb your impulsivity. Stop volunteering for every project, or when your boss wants to load that one more thing on you, be candid. Say that you have enough to do, and don’t take on another task. If you under estimate your time, you can always fill in with other tasks later on. The goal is to get your primary responsibility done within the appointed time. You can’t do that when you’ve taken on too much. All you’ll have is stress and unfulfilled expectations.

Distractions can be another issue for adults with ADD. Set a timer to remind you to stay on task, or better yet, rotate the things you need to accomplish daily. For instance, do a task that you really love for 10 minutes, then take the next 10 minutes to do something you don’t like to do. If you have six tasks, do each for 10 minutes to make an hour. Then, start over at the top of the next hour. Or if you only have 4 tasks and a 15-minute attention span, rotate four things per hour, and you’ll be amazed at what you’ve accomplished by the end of each day.

Boredom is the mind killer. When you’re bored, you’re just vegging out and you can’t help it. The rotating task system will aid you with this issue, but delegation of something that you really hate to do is a good idea, too, if it’s possible. Just don’t forget that you aren’t just getting rid of things you don’t want to do. Some people will love the things you hate and will be glad to do them for you. Maybe you can trade tasks with a co-worker.

But whatever you do, don’t procrastinate. Jump in and get the hard parts of whatever it is you don’t want to do done first. That makes the rest of the job easier in comparison. You have to realize that the quicker you get into something, the quicker you can forget about it instead of having it hang over your head. If you still can’t get into a job, find a good accountability partner, someone who will jump on your case if you don’t have something done on time.

If it’s people that you’re having trouble with, did you ever consider that your ADD might be the issue? If you constantly interrupt people who are talking, that could raise some hackles. When you find yourself doing that, stop talking and apologize. Learn to listen. Also learn to be more diplomatic. Honesty, though an admirable quality, isn’t always appreciated in social situations.

Any of these ADD-related situations can cause work problems. But don’t jump to another job, just yet. Try some of these strategies and see if they don’t help you to be more productive and more sociable. Yet, if you can’t, if you’re still that square peg, find a more flexible job that will suit your ADD abilities and make yourself a happier person.

About the Author:

Tellman Knudson, certified Hypnotherapist, is CEO of Overcome Everything, Inc. Stephanie Frank is an internationally known speaker and author of “The Accidental Millionaire.” Do you have adult ADD? Take the ADD test here.