Question: [deleted]
Answer: Lots of related and good questions here.  And your concerns are very typical of the adults with ADHD we have studied in our clinical research and seen in the centers i used to manage.  First, the EF and self-regulation deficits inherent in ADHD make work as much a struggle as they did school, especially if the work is not intrinsically rewarding, and most of work isn't.  Second, ADHD delays the typical diurnal rhythm of the brain such that adults with ADHD usually report being more alert and attentive in afternoons and at night than in the morning.  Indeed, research shows that the clock gene is different in people with ADHD.  All this means that if you have a  typical day job, it is to some extent conflicting with your own natural diurnal cycle of alertness.  Some adults seek out more flexible work hours, second shifts, or even self-employment to allow them to work when they are most suitable to do so instead of just on the typical work day schedule.  As for jobs, Google ADHD Success Stories and you will see the sorts of nontraditional occupations that adults with ADHD have found better suited to their ADHD.  Also, my new book has an entire section on this issue.  And the new documentary, The Disruptors, is all about this pursuit of nontraditional routes to work and success with lots of cameos by adults with ADHD who succeeded.  See if you can find it on Amazon Prime, Netflix, PBS, etc.  Not sure who picked it up as it was just released this spring.  Its not hopeless but often adults we have known really had to go outside the box of traditional routes of occupations instead of business, medicine, law, desk jobs, etc.  They seemed to do better in the trades, as entrepreneurs, in performing arts as noted above, in athletics or teaching physical ed, in home building or destruction (Ty Pennington anyone?), in the culinary arts, as EMTs or in police or fire work, in the military, etc.  Notice they all involve movement, working at unusual hours and times, allow for inattention, focus on manual activities rather than extended forethought and planning, frequent social interactions with others (sales), etc.  Keep at it.  There are many roads to Rome, as they say, you just have to find the one that fits you.
content: Q: [deleted]
   Ans: Lots of related and good questions here.  And your concerns are very typical of the adults with ADHD we have studied in our clinical research and seen in the centers i used to manage.  First, the EF and self-regulation deficits inherent in ADHD make work as much a struggle as they did school, especially if the work is not intrinsically rewarding, and most of work isn't.  Second, ADHD delays the typical diurnal rhythm of the brain such that adults with ADHD usually report being more alert and attentive in afternoons and at night than in the morning.  Indeed, research shows that the clock gene is different in people with ADHD.  All this means that if you have a  typical day job, it is to some extent conflicting with your own natural diurnal cycle of alertness.  Some adults seek out more flexible work hours, second shifts, or even self-employment to allow them to work when they are most suitable to do so instead of just on the typical work day schedule.  As for jobs, Google ADHD Success Stories and you will see the sorts of nontraditional occupations that adults with ADHD have found better suited to their ADHD.  Also, my new book has an entire section on this issue.  And the new documentary, The Disruptors, is all about this pursuit of nontraditional routes to work and success with lots of cameos by adults with ADHD who succeeded.  See if you can find it on Amazon Prime, Netflix, PBS, etc.  Not sure who picked it up as it was just released this spring.  Its not hopeless but often adults we have known really had to go outside the box of traditional routes of occupations instead of business, medicine, law, desk jobs, etc.  They seemed to do better in the trades, as entrepreneurs, in performing arts as noted above, in athletics or teaching physical ed, in home building or destruction (Ty Pennington anyone?), in the culinary arts, as EMTs or in police or fire work, in the military, etc.  Notice they all involve movement, working at unusual hours and times, allow for inattention, focus on manual activities rather than extended forethought and planning, frequent social interactions with others (sales), etc.  Keep at it.  There are many roads to Rome, as they say, you just have to find the one that fits you.