Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is poorly named. It does not necessarily imply an inability to focus. It's essentially a combination of impulsiveness and poor short-term memory.
A person with ADHD will have a tendency to get distracted from the task they're supposed to be working on, and will instead work on other things. That's not necessarily bad if those other tasks are important. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the lack of impulse control may even lead them to hyper-focus on a task... just maybe not the one they were assigned.
People without ADHD also get distracted, but they have the impulse control to better resist tempting distractions, and the memory to remember to return to their original task after unavoidable distractions.
My entire view of ADHD changed when I saw a video for parents of children with ADHD a few years back. This is one of my favourite HN comments of all time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17889156
A person with ADHD will have a tendency to get distracted from the task they're supposed to be working on, and will instead work on other things. That's not necessarily bad if those other tasks are important. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the lack of impulse control may even lead them to hyper-focus on a task... just maybe not the one they were assigned.
People without ADHD also get distracted, but they have the impulse control to better resist tempting distractions, and the memory to remember to return to their original task after unavoidable distractions.
My entire view of ADHD changed when I saw a video for parents of children with ADHD a few years back. This is one of my favourite HN comments of all time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17889156