I don´t know how to get organized

[Biahzita]

Hi, my name is Bianca.

I am a woman 36 years old, mother and wife.

I was diagnosed and started treatment with Vyvanse two years ago.

I still don’t know how to live with ADHD. I always feel like I’m falling behind in my pursuit of becoming the best version of myself.

My biggest challenges are organizing my home, managing my schedule, and handling my time.

I would love to know what actions or strategies have helped solve some of these issues in your life.

Do you have any recommendations for books, websites, or apps that I could use as a resource for help?

[Chrissy7]

… I am the same.. only 60 years old… always losing things… sometimes in my own closet .. !

[LisethHIS]

Hello, Bianca,

Thank you for contacting CHADD National Resource Center on ADHD. Just know that you are doing the best you can. I know it can be challenging. When it comes to getting organized here are some tips, daily routine is key, break your task in small step- this should help you not feel overwhelmed, set a timer, limit distractions, and prioritize task. Here's a link to additional tips that can help you get organized and time management- chadd.org/wp-content/upload... and chadd.org/attention-article... If there is anything else you need, please let me know.

Best,

Liseth

Health Information Specialist

CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD

chadd.org

[CHADDMOM]

The most helpful advice to getting organized is to downsize whatever you have. The less you have to keep on top of the better. If you are already bare bones, then set up what might seem like "overkill" rules for yourself. I found that if I did this, I would come out of the situation where I wanted to. So for instance, allow two hours to get ready go to bed. This could, from start to finish, only take in reality a half and hour, but typical "half hour' is usually a two hour time period for us with ADHD. Lists can help at first, but I think allowing time is better.

[Prairiefrontporch]

hey, I’m a 38 year old wife and mom with adhd. The biggest thing that has helped me is to become somewhat of a minimalist. A capsule wardrobe of 10 items kind of thing. Downsize the kids toys 75%. They’ll appreciate them more and take better care of them I’ve found. I play a game every once in a while with the kids . If we can find x amount of things we can get rid of today in the house, we’ll get pizza for dinner. It’s great . Teach them this lifestyle too. And honestly I’ve never regretted giving anything away . It’s so freeing . That’s what worked for me anyway . Feel free to pm I’d love to help more if I can

[AuDHD3245]

To organise you have to sort. The easiest example is washing. Socks, t-shirts, jeans, jumpers, underwear are all sorted into different piles, and homed into their seperate places. Get everything that needs sorting into one room, and put them in to different piles. Example, paper, plastic, metal, tools, etc all into seperate piles. Then you have to sort the piles. example, paper, books, letters, bills... tools- hammers, screwdrivers, cutlery etc... Then, if you have to sort them again into their own department, and ultimately, you find them a home. Once you've homed everything you are then 'organised'

[Tigger4me]

Hi Biahzita, About the only period of my life that I've been able to set up some sort of organizational structure was about a 10 year period at work where the schedule for half of my day was fixed and I was able to put some order in the rest of the workday. That was about the only time that making lists really came through. Home life was a different matter. You (or someone) mentioned closets; I love to go shopping in my closet finding all the stuff I had forgotten I had.

However even when I was making lists, at the end of the day I still didn't feel like I had gotten much done . This made staying with my organizational lists difficult cause I didn't get much positive reinforcement from doing the list, even though I always made a big deal of scratching off every item. One problem was that as soon as I had scratched an item off my list, I would immediately go to the next item and so on and so on. I found that for me I had to go back over my finished list several times a day in order for me to feel good about what I had done. I had to sit with feeling good about finishing something in order to keep going. This in turn helped me feel more organized and therefore more likely to stay on task.

Last week I attended a virtual conference about ADHD for therapists even though I am not a therapist. Much was said by the presenters and by people on the chat line about how day planners may not work for a great many people with ADHD. Or rather it would work for a short time then ignored. One of the presenters, Dani Donovan (who has ADHD and a great website) makes and sells "The Anti Planner" to help us with organization and planning. I just bought two copies for Christmas, one for myself and one for our daughter-in-law who has ADHD I can't wait to get mine to try out. I'll let you know about it after Christmas.

[tdcolwell76]

I highly recommend the book ADHD For Smart Ass Women by Tracy Otsuka.