ADHD, Anxiety, and UX Writing
I did pretty well in school. I wasn’t at the top of the class, but I was a B+/A- student. I was on the honor roll and was in the advanced math class early on. I got a 4.0 in grad school and successfully completed an 80-page thesis.
Imagine my surprise when my therapist diagnosed me with ADHD (cue surprised Pikachu that adult women can present ADHD differently than expected). After talking with a psychiatrist about medication, she also diagnosed me with General Anxiety Disorder. I knew I also had social anxiety because I had been diagnosed in high school, but I had no idea about these other things I was also dealing with. So here I am, a person with a trifecta of social and general anxieties and ADHD.
However, I believe these “disabilities” have helped me become a successful UX writer. While there are definitely challenges in a role like this and places where it’s very difficult for a person like me to succeed (meaning it takes a lot of mental work for me to do very basic aspects of my job), there are some areas where I feel like I benefit from my differences.
In a world that’s not tailored to people who are neurodivergent, it feels good to know that there are spaces that can be carved out where we can succeed (and even thrive!).
How ADHD and anxiety affect me at work (and how they help):
Getting easily overwhelmed
Thanks to ADHD, all of my senses are firing pretty much nonstop all the time. I hear and see everything. While this can be extremely frustrating, (like when I’m trying to sleep and my upstairs neighbor’s AC is drip, drip, dripping onto my AC and it’s 4:00am and I’m not gonna be able to sleep for the rest of the night because of it, whatever, it’s fine) it’s also really helpful for being able to point out where something could be overwhelming to our users.
How it helps: I can look at a page of copy and have a pretty good idea if it’s too much for a person like me to read/scan/comprehend. Maybe it needs to be shorter, maybe it needs more headings to be organized and make sense, or maybe the formatting is wrong. I work on a mobile design team, where this kind of skill is essential for a good experience.
Having good ~intuition~
Because of my senses being cranked to 11 at all times, I get gut feelings about things. Those feelings are based on things I pick up that I might not fully be aware of, but can help me assess situations.
How it helps: While I don’t (shouldn’t) regularly base ideas on feelings, sometimes it can be helpful when I might not be 100% sure which direction to go in with my copy or what design decision to make. Don’t be afraid to use your intuition and gut feelings when you need them.
Noticing things that others might not
While I do struggle with silly mistakes, like being completely blind to a single small thing that’s pointed out by a teammate weeks later, I’m able to notice small details that other people may miss.
How it helps: The job of every UX writer is to notice the unnoticeable, but having an extra keen eye to spot things during design critiques or editing sessions comes in very handy.
Being empathetic
Thanks to social anxiety, I’ve always been hyper aware of the feelings of people around me. While this is exhausting and can affect my interpersonal relationships if I’m not careful, it can be a useful tool for a designer to have.
How it helps: Use these feelings to try and understand how certain copy might affect other people, other types of people. Imagine you’re reading from the perspective of many different perspectives.
Loving rules 💕
Hear me out on this one. I really love rules. Give me a good style guide or design system and I’ll be very happy. Rules are important to keep me from spiraling off into too many different directions or mental tangents.
How it helps: With rules, my brain can go on autopilot and I can focus on what really matters: the writing. Without rules, I’m having to constantly think about how to write a date, what gets capitalized, punctuation, etc., which can bog my brain down. Keep your style guides close and try to internalize as many rules as you can.
Needing all the info
If I’m starting a project and information is scattered or unclear, or if I’ve missed a bunch of meetings and I’m coming into the project later (classic UX writer probs), it’s very difficult for me to catch up.
Of course designers always need the full context of a project to design, but with ADHD, I need extra time (a day up to a week or two depending on the type/size project) to fully understand the complexity. It’s like I can only get small pieces of info to fit into my brain at a time.
How it helps: While I slowly gather info, this is a good time to make sure I’m asking my PMs and product designers every question that comes up along the way, that way I’ll help myself get the info I need quicker.
Also, this is standard practice for UX writers, but if I’ve started drafting copy, I’ll go back and re-read what I’ve written a few days later, when my brain has gathered more clues. There might be things that I didn’t realize before that will affect what I need to say.
Tips for managing your brain:
Get a task manager WITH notifications
- This is vital to getting everything done and not letting things fall through the cracks. I’m currently the only UX writer on mobile and I’m responsible for a lot of projects. I need to be able to outsource my tasks to something that can keep track for me.
- I’m currently using Todoist for this and it works great. I love being able to categorize things by project and it works well for what I need — a notification and a place for quick comments.
- If you need something more robust, where you store notes and more project information, I recommend Things (unfortunately there’s no free version of this).
Close Slack completely
- Notifications DESTROY me. This is why they’re so effective in getting me to do my work. But on my phone, at work, it’s hard to avoid the ones I don’t ask for.
- To help stay focused, my email notification noise stays off. I also close Slack when I don’t need it. Doing this help me focus and get things done, the difference is pretty astounding. Sometimes I think “I’m not that distracted by it,” but then I’ll close Slack and realize I’m much more focused on a task than I would’ve been with it open. I just make sure to check in on Slack and my email occasionally throughout the day.
Get rid of Slack on your phone
- If it’s possible, just remove your work Slack from your phone so you’re not tempted to check it. If you check a phone Slack message and can’t answer it right away, you then have to try and remember to re-check that message later, so it brings up a whole other system of trying to remember things. Give your brain a break and leave Slack off if you can.
Schedule lunch
- I’m serious, you need to do this. I wasn’t doing it, I was working through lunch and feeling guilty about taking this time off. I started scheduling my lunch breaks, thanks to my therapist, and it immediately changed my daily outlook. I wasn’t as drained and depressed at the end of the day. I was truly blown away by what this small change did for my mental health. Schedule your time, be on time, and physically close your computer.
Perfection is unattainable
- Trying to make sure everything is 100% perfect is a problem. But it will never be perfect. You have to (emotionally, mentally, and physically) walk away at some point.
Medication has also been a life saver for me. I know it’s not for everyone and I was skeptical about trying it myself, but I appreciate how it helps me get things done and makes me feel less anxious. It’s so nice to not have to work as mentally hard to keep up with my peers.
Thanks for reading
I understand experiences are different for everyone. Everybody comes from so many different circumstances and everyone’s brain is different, this is by no means representative of anyone else with ADHD and anxiety and is wholly based on my own experiences.
If anyone has ways their neurodivergence helps them out, I’d love to hear about it.
