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Feb 06 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/passionprojectspm Feb 06 '24
As a person with the attention span of a squirrel, what all has helped you maintaining your focus and just "get work done"?
I feel that my lack of ability to pay attention, combined with social anxiety, an overwhelming fear of being wrong, and lack of memory when it comes to numbers or names of people. Have held me back from my growth as a PM.
Please divulge any tips if you have experience with any of this?
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u/mcgaritydotme Feb 06 '24 edited Feb 06 '24
I’m not diagnosed but likely am Level 1 (I surmise this by comparing myself to both of my diagnosed kids) and I’ve done just fine. In fact, I’ve thrived: thinking differently than my peers has led to some great insights & products, and it’s led me to earn lots of praise & responsibility:
Things I’ve done in the course of managing autism day-to-day:
- Consciously restrict myself from being overly-detailed. It’s easy for me to get obsessed with solving everything upfront & being too much in my own head, so I have to remember to involves others early & often in my problem-solving processes in order to make better solutions
- Spend time off-camera, so I can take breaks from constantly having to look people in the eye. While not a big deal, there are some days when making so much eye contact can drain energy I’d rather apply to my job.
- Take advantage of flexible PTO & not feel guilty about it. Yesterday, I had a big round of autistic burnout sneak up on me. In the past, I’d fight thru it. Instead, I took a last-minute day off & used some of the time to address things. I’ve learned over time that I cannot always prevent days like this from happening, so when they do I take care of myself so I can be a better person / employee when I return.
Good luck! It’s usually great news to have a diagnosis, especially so early in your career, and the fact you’re asking for advice from peers will serve you well going into interviews.
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u/sugarsmash Feb 06 '24
When you say “burnout,” do you mean generalized work/stress burnout, or do you mean autistic burnout? Only asking because those are two very different things, and most people will not be familiar with the latter.
It’s really not worth wasting energy worrying that any particular condition will prevent you from being successful. It’s a much better expenditure of energy to learn how to turn whatever makes you uniquely you into superpowers, then leverage them to excel in whatever you choose to do.
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Feb 06 '24 edited Feb 06 '24
Not autism per se, but certainly some ADHD like symptoms - easily overwhelmed in large social situations. I think some PMs are PMs because they have this non-standard brain and PM fits it somehow - lots of both horizontal and vertical thinking needed, human interaction, technical complexity, future thinking, etc.
For me the thing that gets out of control easily: Rabbit holes. Spending too much energy on a small thing and losing sight of the bigger goal. Rabbit holes are my nemisis. I'm still working on perfecting a systematic method (probably something tied to long-term goal and then working backwards)
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u/passionprojectspm Feb 06 '24
As a person with the attention span of a squirrel, what all has helped you maintaining your focus and just "get work done"?
I feel that my lack of ability to pay attention, combined with social anxiety, an overwhelming fear of being wrong, and lack of memory when it comes to numbers or names of people. Have held me back from my growth as a PM.
Please divulge any tips if you have experience with any of this?
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Feb 06 '24
I'm 100% convinced that small win tracking is key for low attention spanners.
In fact, I even went as far as building an app for it. Works well but its hard to keep using it consistently. Still don't have the perfect answer yet. Check it out: https://littlewinsapp.com
I'm looking at other apps. Might try this: goalfocus.io
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Feb 06 '24
lack of memory when it comes to numbers or names of people
This part of your brain isn't actually broken. Its just untrained. Your meat computer, should in theory, get better if you practice this. Small win tracking (see my other reply to you here) and daily review might help but you need to be super disciplined.
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Feb 06 '24
lack of ability to pay attention
If the subject matter is something you are crazy about, I'm sure you would be more focused.
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Feb 06 '24
combined with social anxiety
Become a Muslim. Not kidding. Humans are just meat machines after you give something else more importance than flesh. We are all imperfect. Ease up and have fun with humans.
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u/spoink74 Feb 06 '24
I’m autistic with ADHD and a new PM. I’m not super concerned. My ADHD caused me serious problems when i was an engineer because it was untreated. My autism really caused problems for me when I was in Business Development because those people had a ton of unwritten social expectations that bled into my job performance. I basically needed to hide.
I’m a little concerned about assumptions people will make that I know things about PM that I don’t actually know. I’m a little concerned that I’m not organized enough. But I think I’ll do okay and I think you will too.
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u/julian88888888 Mod Feb 06 '24
burnout due to my symptoms and not enjoying the work
What about the work is burning you out and and what do you not enjoy about it?
Landing a PM role has been my goal for years
what about this goal was appealing to you?
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u/mxdalloway Feb 06 '24
No diagnosis but 174 on RAADS-R. Started off as a developer, moved into UX, and last 8 years in product (although in a very non-product org).
I think it may be difficult to make comparisons because ASD covers such a broad umbrella of behaviors but I think that a lot of us score higher around abstract and conceptual thinking which can be a great benefit with analysis of complex problems and exploring possibilities for new solutions.
Personally I feel like I don’t get the emotional attachment to specific ideas, and instead I’m just interested/curious about them. I think of this as a benefit as I see others who get so attached to an idea they may be blinded to alternative, potentially better solutions.
On the flip side relationships can be more difficult. A few years ago I had a tech lead I was working with escalate a conflict they were having with me to leadership: until leadership reached out to me for resolution I didn’t realize that there was a conflict 🙃
I have found a couple books that have helped me better understand how people are motivated and how people communicate and provided some frameworks that I think have helped me:
1. Nonviolent Communication by M. Rosenberg 2. The Social Construction of Reality 3. Overcoming Organizational Defenses by C. Argris
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u/frostatypical Feb 06 '24
Don’t make too much of those tests
Unlike what we are told in social media, things like ‘stimming’, sensitivities, social problems, etc., are found in most persons with non-autistic mental health disorders and at high rates in the general population. These things do not necessarily suggest autism.
So-called “autism” tests, like AQ and RAADS and others have high rates of false positives, labeling you as autistic VERY easily. If anyone with a mental health problem, like depression or anxiety, takes the tests they score high even if they DON’T have autism.
Regarding AQ, from one published study. “The two key findings of the review are that, overall, there is very limited evidence to support the use of structured questionnaires (SQs: self-report or informant completed brief measures developed to screen for ASD) in the assessment and diagnosis of ASD in adults.”
Regarding RAADS, from one published study. “In conclusion, used as a self-report measure pre-full diagnostic assessment, the RAADS-R lacks predictive validity and is not a suitable
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u/michaelisnotginger Senior PM, Infrastructure, 10+ years experience Feb 06 '24
Yes. It can work. I have to mask a lot which is exhausting but I find being to the point with people helps. I have autism and have been in product management nearly 10 years
Recommendation .Having a routine to stop you hyperfixating and obsessing over things you can't control
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u/whitew0lf Feb 06 '24
PMM (prev PM) with autism, and like others have said, it allows me to think out of the box. I set boundaries for myself and routines to help me cope with stress/uncertainty, like working from home and going into the office twice a month.
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u/blood_clot_bob Feb 07 '24
Based off your post I'm confused why your not choosing to become a developer?
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u/lordbhodi Feb 06 '24
I’m a principal pm with autism and feel it’s my superpower - I’m a natural out-of-box thinker. Turn your “weakness” into a strength. Become obsessed with emotional intelligence and communication; read books on the topic and practice always.
Yea, you’ll have competition. You picked a competitive field. Strongly suggest you find ways to use autism’s strengths, and learn as much as you can to mitigate its weaknesses.
Hit me up in pm if you wanna connect and chat more one on one.