“Oh how I dream of the day I’m organized”, or “the only way I’ll ever get organized is if we add hours to the day”. I know we’ve all uttered these words at least a couple of times in our lives. Or, “ if I could only get organized I could___________”. Well, for those of us with ADHD, we seem to catch ourselves saying that even more than others. We know something needs to be done, yet don’t write it down, so we forget it, and then the anxiety sets in as we see it on the to-do list for the next day-ugh! What a vicious circle we live in.
But, I’m learning to overcome that feeling by spending the time to get organized . Today, while talking to my therapist about my progress, I mentioned a cool little stat I learned on YouTube from a professional organizer: in the time it takes to watch 2 tv shows, you could totally declutter the average room. For example, let’s say you sit down one night after work and watch NCIS and NCIS: LA (yes, 2 of my favorite shows). Instead, you could record the shows for another time, and clean out one room of your house. If you did that 5 days a week, that means 5 rooms would be organized and clean come the beginning of the next week. Do that for 1 month and you’d have 20 rooms clean- that’s a good size house, no?
And the cool part is you only have to work for 1 hour- that’s not that long. Use the Pomodora Method to keep yourself on track. I’ll come back to keeping it clean, but another question I typically get is, “where do I start?”. Pick a corner of any room and just get cleaning. I create piles: to keep (in another room), to keep (in this room), and trash (which I go ahead and put in black trash bags). I sort through everything and by the time I’ve worked through the room it looks 10000% better, and I feel so much better myself. I work for a total of 45 minutes then spend the last 15 cleaning up.
After totally finishing for the day, I look at my handiwork and pat myself on the back (I need some love too sometimes). I only work on this 5 days a week so I have 2 days to enjoy my handiwork and to do things I enjoy (hiking, spending time with my buddies, spending time with friends, or playing with the dogs in my life).
I almost forgot (that darn ADHD showing out again), I spend 10 minutes every night putting things back in their assigned place before I head to bed. That way, I come downstairs every morning to a clean house which makes me feel good, and puts me in a better mood.
Please give this a try, and let me know if this works for you! And, how do you stay organized?
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NotAChevy
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Someone once said to me 'come on, mate, it only takes an hour to sort your head out'... He was on about the mess, and I didnt quite understand what he meant by 'head'... It's not my head, it's the mess that's unorganised. After thinking about it, as it resonates over and over, he's right. Sort the mess out and it sorts your head out. I always thought it was abit to childlike to use stickers on boxes and sticky notes for reminders, but they're actually very common, and designed to organise things. Think of an office with paperwork all over the place. It all goes back into it's correct place at the end of the day. Why? how? because there's labels and colour coded stickers to show you where it all goes. Also, great advice from the ADHD team... voice notes. A sound recorder on your phone, every idea is a good idea, record it, forget it, and it'll be there when you listen back. This way you are allowed to forget your thoughts. It takes practise because, obviously, it's ADHD, and no doubt you'll forget where your phone is, but, it works. I got a dictaphone, sound recorder and microphone for my PC, and you'll be amazed how much you can talk instead of write.
I def understand it being the mess that’s screwing with your head. I was that way, and once I cleaned out my house, I was much calmer, and better functioning. That's what I was trying to say with my post. It's not easy, and it does take dedication, but life will be so much better once it's done, and we’re able to maintain it. Sorry I didn't convey that super clearly.
Question. How long have you been doing this and is this a pattern yet? The reason I ask is because it takes a normal person about 4 weeks for something to become a pattern. For someone with ADHD, it takes a longer period of time. I've attached a screenshot of "regulation of neurogenesis." for visual effect. Most people with ADHD won't get this far unless they are able to find a way to switch to hyperfocus or are able to get rid of some of the stress and anxiety in their world. I find it very important to have regular therapy sessions with someone who is an expert in ADHD. Most experts in ADHD won't advise you to write lists or take the organizational path that you've taken. The reason why is because that's not really a symptom of ADHD. It's a result of ADHD. I'm hopeful that they are treating you for the symptoms and this is the result.
What percentage of patients does your therapist see that have ADHD? I would ask that question to better understand if they are just pushing tasks to make you feel better or actually treating what you have. It's not that you can't get to this place, but the reality is for those with ADHD is that an organized life is a pipe dream that takes years and years to accomplish.
Keep on doing what you are doing for as long as you can if it's working and come back and let us all know your progress. It's not easy and for us to see success is very promising.
The length of time it normally takes something to burn into your memory.
hey! For me, a lot of the stress and anxiety was caused by the clutter. My therapist mainly works with teens & adults w/ADHD, after a career as a Special Ed teacher working with teens with extreme ADHD.
We work on strategies to help me, but some of what I've learned, I learned by my own research.
It's taken me years to get to this point, and I can feel the anxiety & stress increase if things get out of place. Between my psychiatrist & therapist we’re working hard on helping me out and I'm so grateful for both.
Take a DNA test to figure out what medication will and won't work for you. I'm surprised your psychiatrist didn't do that. Ritalin doesn't work for me, but Adderall does. For my son it's the opposite. Just because one doesn't work, it doesn't mean another one won't. This is why you take the DNA test. It prevents years of trial and error.
It’s called a gene site test. I’ve been in line for one for 6 months…. My partner got one and it’s been a great blessing. Not sure why it’s so hard to get though.
One hour?! Maybe for a NT…lol. To be honest, it takes me 2-3 hours to just declutter a room. Deep clean takes 1-2 days! That’s even with hyperfocusing. Instead of doing work after working all day, we choose to do most of our cleaning the first day of our weekend, and the whole family pitches in. We list out chores that need to be done and each member picks 2 or so of the chores, including the weekly ones. My partner and I have a non verbal contract that I do the bathroom and he does the vacuuming because the other doesn’t lake that chore. We try to do one deep cleaning job a week but it depends on what else is going on.
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Clutter and messiness
WHEN NO ONE UNDERSTANDS A SCHEDULE IS MEANT TO BE KEPT 
Putting the Pieces Together
Do you have support at home?
