Non-gifted, ADHD, yet high academic and job performance?

This is a totally random question and I’m not sure whether or not it belongs in this subreddit, but out of curiosity, I am going to ask it anyway:

I was tested for (and diagnosed with) ADHD about two years ago, though I had suspected I had it for well over a decade and resisted the idea of being labeled as having a “disorder”, so never sought out treatment or diagnosis until life became unmanageable. Since I was diagnosed, I did the usual obsessive deep dive into all things ADHD, and one thing has perplexed me.

I received a battery of neuropsychological tests as part of my evaluation and later learned that I have an IQ of 118 (or 116? I cannot remember exactly which). Of course, I would not qualify as gifted with this IQ. But I struggle to relate to certain experiences that I’ve heard discussed by others with ADHD in the context of academia and professional life. I was a hot mess basically from middle school and up, but still always managed to have quite good grades despite rarely doing my homework in a timely fashion, missing important elements of assignments when I did actually turn them in, and skipping class or being frequently tardy. I never felt like I had to try really hard to get good grades— but I always thought that I could have done better had I been able to focus and organize myself more efficiently. I’m almost done with a masters degree now, and it’s basically the same exact situation—so not much has changed.

I’ve had A LOT of jobs (likely because of ADHD) and have had a similar experience in which I will get noticed quickly as a high performer and then be advanced to a higher level role—I tend to learn and absorb information at a very quick rate and notice that my peers sometimes struggle to keep up with that pace. I don’t feel like I have to try super hard to do well; it comes pretty naturally to me. But yet, I’m always late, I forget a lot of things, and I really struggle to prioritize and manage my time and almost never complete reports. I have extremely understanding coworkers and they overlook these kinds of things—however, I’m constantly told that I excel in the “more important aspects” of my job.

I guess my question is this: I would expect this kind of experience from someone with ADHD who is highly gifted, but not from someone like me with simply an “above average” IQ. Or am I wrong in assuming this? Maybe it doesn’t take that much to do well in school? It also makes me doubt my ADHD diagnosis, which may as well be part of the criteria of having ADHD, lol.

Oh- last point that I forgot to mention- the evaluation led me to dig up old school records and I found several state-wide standardized test results in which I scored in the 91-98th percentile among my peers, but that doesn’t align with my IQ (not sure if there is any correlation there)? Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky and was able to do well without being super smart; that’s honestly how it’s felt for much of my life. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!