Unattentiveness at work is getting me into trouble 3 months in

On the outside, the description fits ADD / potential ADHD. No harm in speaking with a dr about the troubles of focusing since it's now impacting your job. As someone who has ADHD, I didn't start on medication until my senior year of college. It's easy to skim by when you have easy access to lecture materials, classmates, and a fail-friendly environment, but having an intense job that requires you to be "on" all the time is incredibly difficult if you can't manage your ADHD accordingly.  

As a side note, Adderall will not be the perfect solution. Yes, it will help, but you also need to take other initiatives outside of medication to control it. 

Came in here to give advice but but it’s hard to add anything useful that wasn’t mentioned in those two great comments. Only thing I’ll add for you OP:
 

I went through a similar situation. Always had symptoms of ADHD growing up. I refused outright to be evaluated and didn’t want to be dependent on any medication. During my first years out of college I realized that the same coping mechanisms that worked in HS/College simply didn’t work in the corporate world. I ended up speaking to a professional and was diagnosed. But even if you go that route, no medicine is going to “fix” things. It’s 90% about forming habits like the ones outlined above. I promise you that if you start doing those organizational things (tracking tasks, making lists, etc.) it will pay massive dividends in your performance, and also your mental health. 

Work on your self control. I have a ADHD and anxiety but stopped taking medicine in middle school due to weight loss and loss of personality. Long term adderrall abuse is horrible. Besides increasing the rate at, which you age, it will leave you senile by the time you turn 60

Don’t turn to drugs in times of stress, you have to get a control of yourself and follow through with your responsibilities.

Hope this gives you some perspective.

Same situation bro - heading to get myself tested for ADHD next week. I am worried it'll affect my performance kinda in the way u are experiencing it - honestly if Adderall is the solution i don't really mind it. 

Nothing special to add but will say the following

1) In terms of specifications for a task I always tend to forget something if going off of memory. I switched to writing every point down and after I finish reading off the points to the superior to make sure I have it down. Then I go through and highlight each point when making changes. This has been a game changer for me in terms of work product

2) I create “meetings” on Outlook to remind myself of deadlines and progress points when I have a lot going on with the title being the task. This has really helped me to make sure I get work done on time and remember all the deadlines necessary.

Just so you know -- it's "inattentiveness."

I also used to be a daydreamer in elementary/middle school, but realized during college that it was probably due to a lack of sleep that my brain was unable to concentrate on things. Once I started sleeping 8-9 hours/night consistently in college, I was really able to pay attention/excel in my classes.

So a few things:

• Might be ADHD/worth seeing a doctor about, but I would also try to sleep more if possible. Like I will sacrifice going to the gym in the morning to get an extra hour of sleep because I know that I won’t be able to concentrate otherwise.

• I also have a bad habit of forgetting super simple things and almost fucked up a few things during my first month or two on the desk (like an MD telling me to remove a page and then I forgot to remove it when I sent it back). Keeping a notebook/writing down lists and crossing off changes as you go will help immensely. When I get sent a PDF markup, I check/cross off changes as I complete them, so that I make sure to capture every edit. And then I double check before sending back, because sometimes I miss 1 thing or remove the wrong word in a sentence.

• Also on that note, double/triple/quadruple checking things is super helpful. It takes more time but I have a tendency to miss small things so I try to check multiple times when possible. And over time you will have a better idea of the things you tend to mess up/what you should double check. If you notice yourself repeating a certain error (e.g. not double checking logos after price refreshing), then write it down so you can remember it until it becomes habit. I didn’t double check my work at first but over time it will become habit.

• Another random tip is to paste edits as text. That way you will copy the edit word for word (if they type it out). I had a few times where I just retyped an edit and wrote it the wrong way, or was copying a number and mistyped it. Copying and pasting as text will help avoid this.

I actually used to be really good at remembering everything I was told and doing everything, details and all. 

But, lo and behold, COVID-19 sent everyone virtual, and that all went out the window for me. I'm easily distracted by the technology in front of me and doing literally all of the things you list. 

Here's what I've done to correct this:

1. Become best friends with Outlook (or Google Calendar or whatever you use)

• Literally just plan out your entire day. It's simple, but include deadlines and times that you should check on something (make it just like a typical appointment). Include in the appointment or meeting the details of what you need to do. If you use Jira, Slack, or another task management system, connect it with the Outlook task list. IncomingIBDreject mentioned this idea too.
• It's a really simple one, but organize your email-box. You will still forget things, and this is a major time saver. Use various mailboxes to organize mail by type, subject, sender etc.

2. Do some general "stupid-proofing." Again, acknowledge that you're going to forget things if doing things mentally. How can you fix points that you forget most?

• Taking Notes on everything and reading them back to superior (again an outstanding point mentioned by IncomingIBDreject)
• If you struggle to check your email, set a timer to check your email at least hourly (or however much you need to)
• Try to get a sense of when, how often, and what causes you to be daydreaming so that you can catch yourself or plan around it

To remember things like completing projects and long-term goals, try using some sort of to-do list app. Personally, I use this free service called Notion. Really helps to stay organized as you can set due dates and such to keep things in mind and have some kind of timeline. If you can get into the habit of using it every day it could help a lot with this sort of issue.

(if you go with Notion, look up "Notion GTD dashboard" to get a sense of how it could be set up)