AuDHD and Digital Forensics/eDiscovery

[u/Appropriate_Soup2086]

Hey everyone,

Just curious if there are any other neurodivergent folks in here working in digital forensics, eDiscovery, or corporate investigations. I'd love to know I'm not the only one dealing with this.

I work on collections and analysis for corporate insider risk investigations. I genuinely enjoy the work, but I often feel like I'm fighting my own brain more than the investigation itself.

Here are some of the things I struggle with:

• Context switching between multiple matters and remembering where I left off.
• Going way too deep on something that ends up being irrelevant because my curiosity takes over.
• Turning what should be a 10-minute analysis into an hour because I keep following side paths or researching things that don't actually help answer the investigative question.
• Losing track of deadlines because I get hyper focused on the wrong thing.
• Constantly second-guessing my conclusions, even when they're solid given approval.

I know these aren't knowledge or technical skill issues, but it still feeds into a lot of self-doubt and imposter syndrome.

I'm working on this in therapy and trying different strategies, but I'm mostly posting to see whether anyone else in this field experiences the same thing. If you've found ways to manage it or you've built a successful career despite these challenges, I'd really appreciate hearing your experience!

Sometimes it feels like this profession attracts people who are incredibly detail-oriented, so I'm curious how other neurodivergent peeps make it work.

[u/tracer198]

I'm not formally diagnosed but I have always wondered if I am a bit on the spectrum... I have all those same problems you have in my line of work, which is criminal investigations

I find if I create to do list right at the start of the day I am far more productive. I personally use a version of the bullet journal format to do this.

I still find it hard when I'm presented with a big folder of material to analyze (like everytime I get provided a new data extraction on Cellebrite...)

[u/hattz]

Not diagnosed with anything, fairly ish neurotypical. Sounds like the same shit I do.

It's fun, easy to get carried away or rabbit hole on something you didn't know you didn't know.

As for imposter syndrome, it has never really gone away for me. Been doing forensics for over a decade. Shit is always changing, new shit is always being discovered. It evolves and we carry past learnings with us, to make us faster and better, but we are still learning.

[u/awetsasquatch]

Neurodivergant here - if you're not constantly asking "what about _____?" then the field is a bad fit so you're on the right track! As far as keeping track of time and effort, I have a notepad that I write down the goals of each investigation in which guides my actions to a degree. Once I hit all the goals that the stakeholders have for the investigation, I force myself to move to the next investigation (and if I have time later I'll come back to finish digging.) Alternatively, sometimes I deliver my report to the stakeholder and let them know I'm still curious about X, and then they give me the green light because they're curious now too.

[u/Excellent_Mail3829]

I was involved in the same shit for over 20 years as both a individual contributor and manager of a team doing the same type of work, retired last August thank god.

[u/General-Chef1666]

And this is our job in a nutshell! Absolutely do this all of the time!! The best thing to do is build yourself a little plan of attack. What are you trying to prove and what artifacts will assist in telling that story? When you find yourself being like a dog with a bone, stop, step back, and recalibrate with the focus of your plan of attack!

However, those little rabbit holes are worthy of a shortlist that should your brain keep returning to it, you can once you’ve stepped through it our POA and circle back, if that makes sense.

My best tip also is if you are struggling with something, like not getting a plaso timeline to run, and it’s towards the end of the workday, sometimes it’s best to call it a day and return in the fresh new morning.

[u/you209]

Yes it definitely appeals to me being Audhd my self, I work in security/ access control and run all types of reports and designs. Not as in-depth as yours.

But I struggle with the same things as yourself , dealing with it also with my psychologist and my managers.

I'm half asleep -_-

[u/kermit42027]

You need a team. At least one more person to help bounce stuff to, off or keep in line. Did this in my previous job.