Is 9-5 Why Your Career Feels Soul Destroying for Your ADHD Brain? Why Quitting Is Not for Losers With Dr Miguel
ADHD UntangledShow Notes
I’m yet to meet an ADHDer who isn’t deeply affected by meaningless work. When there’s no meaning, it can feel like trying to run on empty you’re pushing, pushing, pushing… and then wondering why you’re burnt out and blaming yourself for it. This week I am back with everyone’s favourite neuroscientist and mental health expert, Dr Miguel, to untangle ADHD in the workplace, purpose, meaning, job hopping, and why quitting is not a character flaw. Together we untangle: 🧠 Why 9-5 can feel genuinely soul destroying for an ADHD brain, from masking to boredom to open-plan overload ⏰ ADHD time, “BBC clock” culture, and why being ten seconds late can trigger a full body stress response 🌙 Chronotypes, delayed melatonin, and why so many ADHDers get a second wind later in the day 🔥 Hyperfocus productivity, burnout, and the truth about “inconsistency” when you are actually running on nervous system fumes 🧩 ADHD and autism together, how they can clash, how they can support each other, and what it can look like to build a work life with more space Why listen? If work has left you carrying that deep, sticky shame… this one’s for you. Maybe your CV looks like job hop after job hop, and you’ve been labelled a “jack of all trades” because you can’t seem to settle. Maybe you’ve started things, stopped things, restarted… and blamed yourself every time. Or you’re constantly caught up in workplace drama, politics, misunderstandings… and it always somehow ends with you feeling like the problem. Over time it’s so easy to start believing the story: I’m lazy. I’m inconsistent. I’m too much. I’m not built for adulthood. But this episode is here to pull that story apart. To de-shame the patterns. And to help you see what’s actually going on when an ADHD brain is trying to survive inside systems that don’t fit. Because you’re not broken. You just need a way of working that works with your brain… and feels meaningful to you. Want to dive deeper? 🧡 Join the free Untangled Community → click here 🎓 ADHD Coach Training → click here 🧘 Retreats → click here ✨ Follow us → @adhd_untangled 🧠 Follow Dr Miguel → @drmiguelmateas
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How many times have you thought about closing down your business this month? This week? Today?Every single hand went up when I asked four female ADHD founders that question. Because here's what nobody posts on Instagram: running a business with ADHD is the quickest way to figure out how your ADHD shows up as both a struggle AND a strength.In this raw, honest, and hilarious live panel, I sat down with Jess (Sacred and Wild), Cat (Yogi Bare), Katie France (Love Bomb Bags), and Natt (Waking Dreams) to talk about the reality of being a female founder with ADHD.We talk about people-pleasing that nearly cost Cat her entire business, Katie's struggle with posting out the right bags to the right people (executive function is REAL), why having two ADHD brains in business together means you might "accidentally commit fraud," and how Jess's perfectionism has kept years of work hidden from the world.But we also talk about why none of us go back. Why the 9-5 isn't an option for brains wired like ours. Why freedom matters more than money. And why, despite everything, we keep showing up.Natt drops the mic with: "Your ADHD would not even be a talking point without capitalism."And Jess reminds us all: "I see the work people put out into the world and I just think, bloody well done. I don't judge it. I just really respect people trying and just being out there doing it."This one's for every woman who's ever felt like giving up but keeps showing up anyway.IN THIS EPISODE:✨ Why we all threaten to quit (regularly)✨ How people-pleasing can cost you everything✨ Executive function struggles are not stupidity✨ The reality of working with other ADHDers✨ How perfectionism keeps you stuck✨ Why we can't go back to corporate burnout✨ The real reason we keep going (it's not money)✨ Why capitalism makes ADHD "problematic"✨ Taking a day off is productive, actually✨ Giving yourself the same grace you give other womenFour incredible women. Four thriving businesses. Four ADHD brains refusing to dim down.Generator. Alive. Colourful. Chaotic.Not broken. Not struggling. Not failing.Bloody well done for just doing it.