Adhd and Clutter

[itsme22]

Hi,I'm new here and thought maybe I could get some help. My issue is that I have an inability to get through my mess. For years I've been at it. I'm only going in circles. Too many distractions, overwhelmed. I'm a senior with disabilities. This has become dangerous and extremely urgent. Is there some org. or service that can come to my home and help?It's not throwaway but needs organization, structure etc.

[lemonspeaks]

I’m not sure of any organizations, but wanted to let you know you’re being thought of 🙏

[itsme22 in reply to lemonspeaks]

I'm appreciative.

[BlessedLady]

There are professional organizers. But I do not know how much they cost. Contact your local senior center. They might have information

[itsme22 in reply to BlessedLady]

I'll look into that. Thanks

[KarlaJo]

There may be less expensive services for senior citizens. I’m not sure how to find those services though.

I am interested in what you learn.

Wishing you success finding a helper!

[Jozlynn]

Hi itsme22! Welcome to the group!

You can contact NAPO (National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals at napo.net/. They might be able to connect you to resources in your area that would be perfect for you!

Wishing you all the best!

[Nick1913]

hi itsme22,

I understand your issue, you are not alone.

I don’t know about organizations that you can call or contact.

I have been doing the same thing with my stuff, keeping it. But now I reached a point that I don’t like everything everywhere. So I decided to do something about it. I looked around my number one room, and just looked at it. I asked my self fo I want to continue adding more stuff and paperwork? What am I going to do? Sitting there I popped in a couple cds in my player and listened to the music. Then I picked up a magazine, looking at it I realized it was from 2007. It’s 14 years old, I flipped through it didn’t see anything worth reading, put it through the shredder., then another and another. I picked up one and saw an article that peaked my interest, looked at the date, 2015 ok so not as old as 2007, but still 7 years old…. Ripping out the article I shredded the rest. I went threw more and more. My CD player. Stopped. Looking at the time I realizedI worked on it for almost 2 hours… I could see my floor, I took out 3 bags of shredded papers . I came back a couple days later, I still saw my floor, I popped in another CD and started again. Got halfway through when someone called me. I talked and chatted. The cd stopped. I said I had to go. Looking at the area, I cleaned up a section of my desk.

I asked each piece of mail,paper and magazine.

How old are you?

Do I need you anymore?

What help or service do you provide me?

Usually the answers were negative so into the shredder it went…

I managed to double the size of my path. And most of my desk…

PS: I found tools and papers that made my heart happy so those I put away. (Better than buying tools I already have).

Hope you can find something useful in my babbling

[emiL1234 in reply to Nick1913]

There's been a study to find out if ADHDers are more productive with music.

[trillium42 in reply to emiL1234]

I would believe it for sure. We have amazon music because my college kid gets it really cheap and I can have alexa (which of course we call 'computer' , being life long Star Trek fans) play any of millions of songs and it's a great help for cleaning up the kitchen, sorting clothes, and other mundane tasks.

[Tim_Othy in reply to Nick1913]

completely appreciate our challenge. Kudos to you my friend for taking action. I’m going to get rid of some stuff noe

[d_jemme]

Many of us feel your pain. It's brutal living like this.

I will say this: I'm a sufferer of chronic clutter myself, and also a writer. I'm currently working on a long-form journalism piece ABOUT living with chronic clutter and in the process of working on this the past few months I've talked to several organizers.

You might be able to find one in your area on findmyorganizer.com and ask if they have any discounts for seniors/disability - but be prepared for at least a $300 day otherwise, and get one that also coaches - it's not enough just to get the clutter out of our lives, we have to learn behavioral modifications or we'll be right back where we started.

My heart goes out to you. I am a third-generation chronic-clutter sufferer and I'm not where I want to be either.

[Boo0102]

Hi there. I feel your frustration with the stuff and your limitations in your body vs your desire for it to be better. I’ve lived with chronic clutter all my life. Last year I came across a blogger turned author who really resonated. Her name is Dana K White. I’ve had professional organizers to my house, and never with lasting results. This was the first person to actually confess to living with the problem just like me. Her story and methods come out of her journey. She has a lot of free content, but one of the best things is a course that she created with 2 other moms turned professionals in their own right, Cas from Clutterbug and Hot Mess House, and Dawn from Minimal Mom (don’t let that scare you - this is not about minimalism). The course is called Take Your House Back. Totally worth it. There’s also a course support group on Facebook (but I don’t do FB so no opinion). While I like the things I leaned from Cas and Dawn, Dana just hit the mark. A lot of people have publicly diagnosed her with ADHD, and she has worked with ADD organizations.

Her website is

aslobcomesclean.com

Please check her out. Her content literally has changed my life. I haven’t gotten very far due to family crisis this year, plus due to have 2nd hip replaced later this month. I will continue to use the methods and just plug along, because better is the goal, not perfection.

Hope you find the help you’re looking for, and if not, the help you need.

[diamondsinthewater]

A friend and I (both with ADD) call each other up with a conversation something like this: "I'm going to work on (some specific project) for one hour. Call me at the end of an hour." The other person sets a timer and calls the first person after an hour for a report on how she did. For some reason, this works for us--not only makes us accountable, but also gives us a time limit so we know when we can stop. Good luck!