7 Surprising ADHD Signs in Adults

Most people think ADHD means bouncing off the walls or forgetting your keys every five minutes. That’s not always how adults do it. In real life, ADHD shows up in ways that are sneakier, quirkier and a little more relatable (i.e. crying about Cass Elliot).

Here are 7 signs of ADHD in adults that don’t make it onto the typical checklists but might hit closer to home.

1. You don’t measure time in minutes

You don’t know what 20 minutes feels like. Things are either “right now” or completely irrelevant…the “not now.” This is called time blindness (or perhaps we prefer “time optimism”!) and it’s why deadlines, alarms and even dinner keep surprising you.

2. Boredom is beyond painful

Paying bills, doing laundry, calling the tax agency…your nervous system responds like you’ve been asked to sit with your hands folded listening to elevator music for the next year straight. ADHD brains aren’t lazy — they simply struggle to activate when the task isn’t interesting enough.

3. Intense emotions that feel like the MOST

You’re not just upset — you’re devastated. You’re not just excited — you’re over the moon. ADHD often comes with rejection sensitivity and emotional hyper-reactivity. It’s not weakness; it’s your nervous system on high volume. As I’ve gotten older I have started to level out, but this was definitely the defining story of my childhood and early adulthood.

4. You hyperfocus like a Lord of the Rings marathon

ADHD isn’t about “not being able to focus.” It’s about difficulty directing your attention where it needs to go. You can spend 8 hours reorganizing your bookshelf by color — but a boring 5-minute email can take just as long.

5. You have 1043 browser tabs open (in your brain and on Chrome)

1043 is my literal current count for phone browser tabs. Physical clutter? Sometimes. Digital clutter? Always. ADHD brains chase novelty, which often means tabs, half-read books, and three different hobbies all at once.

6. You’re a master of “masking”

Some of us are more successful at this than others, but the fact is we’re all spending energy over-preparing, overworking and trying to fake “normal” in order to keep up. It’s exhausting, but it also explains why so many adults, particularly women, don’t realize they have ADHD until much later in life.

7. You forget…until it’s tied to an emotion

Random grocery list items? Gone. Childhood embarrassment from 25 years ago? Vivid recall. ADHD memory isn’t broken - it’s tied to novelty, interest, and emotion.

The Bottom Line
If some of these hit close to home, you’re definitely not alone. ADHD isn’t about not caring or being lazy — it’s about a brain that’s wired differently. And once you understand the wiring, you can start to work with it instead of against it.

If you’re curious to learn more about your own patterns, I offer ADHD testing and assessment plus ADHD therapy and coaching for adults across Europe. Book a free consultation to learn more.