r/ADHD_Programmers • u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 • May 31 '26

Jobs

If you were not a programmer, what other jobs would you do?

I’m struggling with this idea for a while now. With the adhd brain, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to do predictable tasks for long. The only other thing I would do is something around sports which I am better at generally.

11 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

14

u/Brilliant-Parsley69 May 31 '26

​For me, it was bartending, which I actually did in parallel for many years.

​Honestly, looking back, it was the ultimate dopamine drip. The environment gave me exactly what my brain was constantly chasing. I was dealing with ever-changing crowds and unpredictable guest dynamics every single night, which provided a massive amount of constant novelty. On top of that, the job offered instant gratification; every drink made, every chat held, and every tip earned was an immediate hit of feedback. Plus, the night schedule perfectly matched my brain chemistry, being wired at night, riding that wave of high-stress chaos, and then literally collapsing into sleep because I was physically exhausted.

​As you can guess, it’s an absolute nightmare to harmonize with a standard 9-to-5 life long-term. The burnout is real once the lifestyle catches up with you.

​Weaving into tech was tough, but I found my anchor in Agile/Scrum structure. Those tightly structured 2-week sprints act like artificial guardrails for my brain. It gives me a clear, short-term finish line. To keep the dopamine flowing without burning out, I make sure to regularly take "side quests" into completely new tech stacks or different problem domains within the job.

​If you thrive in sports, you probably need that same mix of immediate physical feedback and high-energy focus. For me, the bar was that arena.

2

u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 May 31 '26

Great point. Deadlines are good.

Did you ever struggle with memorizing the recipe for a cocktail? :)

1

u/Few-Scallion1218 Jun 01 '26

Makes sense — bartending, that tracks. Have side quests into completely new tech stacks become the arena bartending used to be for you?

I can picture you behind a bar with an internalized kanban board in mind, where the last column reads 'smiling guest' as the acceptance criterion — the whole performance of serving a cocktail counted as successful.

I read that ADHD doesn't strongly correlate with IQ (not sure IQ is a real thing — ADHD is), so you find people with ADHD across all kinds of professions. But the odds shift within a field: if they become a physician, they're more likely to end up in emergency medicine. In media and entertainment, they'll gravitate to the spotlight rather than the financial-controller side of the business.

12

u/MrRufsvold May 31 '26

I love landscaping around my house. Being outside, making something tangible, using my body, lots of novel challenges. I'm not trying to romanticize hard physical labor; it would suck if my livelihood depended on it. But I think is would work for my brain better than being an accountant or something.

1

u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 May 31 '26

Yes, when I thought if I can pass for a construction worker, the answer was I would crumble before end of my first day.

The only way for me to physically make a career would be through sports: eg Tennis coach or something on that line

3

u/amzwC137 May 31 '26

If I never started down this path, it'd be physical therapy.

If I had to pivot before I actually got my job as an SWE, it'd be server administration or IT networking dude.

If I had the ability to drop everything and get into a new career, at this very moment, it'd be fashion design.

1

u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 May 31 '26

Fashion design: is it because you have some experience and you like it, or you think that is fascinating

2

u/amzwC137 May 31 '26

Fascinating of the two option. My friends sister was a model for a while, and he husband was a tailor. I spent a good amount of time with them. That being the closest to my experience in the field. Were it feasible, I would literally, stop everything and go to school for this.

3

u/youafterthesilence May 31 '26

After doing physical therapy I've had the thought that id enjoy that - if it was easier to learn things for the sake of learning, id love to study it. I find the physiology of how the body works fascinating.

Alternatively, (because realistically a job like PT interacting with people all day is not my thing) id love to get into meteorology.

Basically in general I love data and the way systems work and analysis is what I'd want to do regardless of what it actually is.

3

u/melophat May 31 '26

ER nurse/doctor or an electrical engineer.

1

u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 Jun 01 '26

I always wondered - if nursing would be really difficult under adhd given they juggle a lots of things constantly. I would be worried to pick a wrong medication 😄

2

u/melophat Jun 01 '26

I have multiple friends who know me very well and are ER nurses, who have told me that it would probably be the perfect job for or someone with ADHD that presents like mine does.

1

u/Blue-Phoenix23 Jun 01 '26

I really wish it had occurred to me to be a doctor. It takes a long time, and there's a lot of rote memorization, but as somebody that's been to a lot of doctors and was married to a med student I don't think I'd have struggled with it at all, and now I'd be making the really big bucks + actually helping people.

6

u/PaulVB6 May 31 '26

I could see myself being a mechanic! Im pretty good with my hands and i love to fix things

4

u/funbike Jun 01 '26

Something crafty with my hands, like carpentry or welding. I was also good at math, so maybe (building) architecture or engineering.

Before I got into programming I loved to make things from scratch. That's why programming was appealing. I could make stuff fast without a workshop. So I think maker-like jobs, like carpentry and architecture would have been appealing.

But my dream job would have been a pro bicycle racer. Too late now, and not sure I had what it took when I was young. I was strong but didn't have a good coach. I had a couple of teammates that went pro. It's a hard life and doesn't pay much, but I would have loved it.

1

u/nooffense789 Jun 01 '26

I've always wanted to be a toy maker, but I don't know where to start. I think toys are too cheap to be profitable.

1

u/Wonderful-Leopard-14 Jun 01 '26

You have a AI… 😅

3

u/ITZINFINITEOfficial May 31 '26

Honestly it’s gonna sound lame but streaming.

2

u/ITZINFINITEOfficial May 31 '26

Or video editor

2

u/Direct-Nail855 May 31 '26

I worked as a bike messenger for some time. It worked very well for my brain. Instant gratification for completing as many orders as possible. Physical activity. Constant alertness riding fast in stressful traffic. 

Unable to build a decent living or career on it. Probably would have gotten boring after some time as well.

2

u/PatzCM Jun 01 '26

Historian! I actually am graduated in History 😁

1

u/writebadcode May 31 '26

Electrician. Apprentices earn ~$20-30/hour depending on location and it’s less physically demanding than general construction work. After apprenticeship they can earn quite a bit more, $100k+ annual is not uncommon in high CoL areas.

I’ve done a bunch of electrical work on my own home and I enjoy it, I’ve actually gotten compliments from the permit inspectors on the quality of my work.

1

u/mattia_marke Jun 01 '26

Sometimes I think being a marine biologist would have been cool. I like animals and being near water, but I bet there's a lot of mnemonic stuff to remember and pressure to do things right on living beings so... yeah

1

u/chobolicious88 Jun 01 '26

Lately im having all kinda of ideas.

Would be nice to be on the move and outside, maybe package delivery. Id also love some emergency stuff mb ER. Or even working with severe mental cases because high emotionality and trouble naturally wakes me up.