Lydia: I feel so stupid when all of a sudden people in our meeting stop talking and I realize that they are all sitting there, waiting for me to respond.

I feel they perceive me as not being dedicated to my job, which I truly am.  In order to manage the situation, I’ve always produced a well documented agenda so that I can quickly tune into the meeting by referring to the agenda – that’s how I’ve survived many of these situations.

Inattention has its price, and I have to be creative in the corridors in order to quickly catch up on the discussion I’ve missed out on while I was day dreaming at the meetings. This is tremendously embarrassing because I often am the only one doing this again and again.

Advice: 1. If you can, tell your colleagues about your ADHD and give them a short article about it with positive attributes of that brain style to it, so you don’t get stigmatized.

2. Use a notepad or bring a computer that you can use to take notes to keep you focused.

3. Sit in front of the white board or take notes on the whiteboard..

4. Ask your colleagues to ask questions regularly to keep you focused and engaged.

5. Have the agenda, with some questions on it you’ve already written. This is especially paramount if the meeting is going to be lengthy but important.

6. Consciously fight back intruding thoughts or images and stay in tune.

7. If you’re excessively restless, buy a small ball, like a stress ball, that you can fiddle with your hands.

8. Have a meeting buddy and who also could go through the most important agendas items that have been discussed, and make sure you got them.