Here are three ideas for thriving with ADHD in day-to-day life:
1. Individuals with ADHD may benefit from having important objects out in the open where they can see them (and not forget they own them).
2. It can also be highly beneficial to store things with the least amount of effort and fewest hand motions, to foster ease of putting an item away and the ease of its retrieval (multi-step actions have a much higher risk of not being completed).
3. Make life easy:
Reduce inventory (reduces visual chaos and decision-making on unimportant things)
Reduce visual chaos (have things that match and or many in the same color so that they're easy to wear, easy to identify across a room, and easy to decorate with--too many colors is visually overstimulating and chaotic).
Let's talk about these ideas, starting with #1.
Many individuals diagnosed with ADHD like having all their tools, supplies, books, papers, within eyesight because they often forget what they own. It's not laziness, it's a symptom of the ADHD brain.
But if everything is always within eyesight, then a home, office, closet, car, or storage space can look overwhelmingly cluttered fast.
Solutions?
- Place items face front.
- Open storage.
- Clear bins and files.
- Large calendar on desk top.
- Divided bin in the trunk.
Ok. Let's address #2: storing and retrieving things with the least amount of effort.
What we're looking for here is a one-step motion. ONE hand motion to put clothes away on a hook, vs. multiple steps to fold in sleeves then fold the shirt over then stick it back in a drawer; grab two socks, line them up, fold the tops together, THEN put them in a drawer; find the DVD case, open the case (then insert DVD, close the case, put it back on the shelf) etc.
Marie Kondo (bless her tidy heart) is the antithesis of ADHD simplicity: Fold your t-shirts? Fold your jeans? Not happening with ADHD. Sure, you might have a major folding session after reading one of her books, but then the system falls apart after just a few days.
Stop setting yourself up for failure.
ONE hand motion! Use things like
- Hooks
- Open bins
- Lidless hampers
- Lidless trash cans
- A dresser drawer or bin/basket in the closet in which to DUMP freshly laundered socks (don't bother matching them or folding them...see below)
- Open hanging file folders in an open file box (without lid)
- Open storage shelves in the garage
- Hanging shelves that you hook over the closet rod to increase shelf space and inspire quick sorting
For #3, we're literally going to make life easy (or, easier...some things we face or have to do ARE a challenge, but let's look at things we can do to make life easier now).*
Buy easy to use and coordinated objects:
- bed in a bag
- same color towels
- all socks (yes, ALL socks) the exact same color, brand, and style so that they match (and so you don't have to pair them up after washing them)
- matching end tables
- matching lamps
- matching food storage containers
- matching dishes
- limiting clothing to colors and styles that go with each other
And one of the best tips ever for ADHD? Reduce inventory!
If you're really looking to make life easy, attempt minimalism. You will have fewer things to keep track of, to distract you, to clutter your visual field, and to clean up which will equal a BETTER life with ADHD.
For example, one of my sons with ADHD moved house this year, from a small apartment, to a larger home which he shares with roommates. During this move, he made the decision that he wanted as BARE A BEDROOM as possible. He literally got rid of over half of his possessions, including several large pieces of furniture, clothing and shoes, books, papers, other media, and wall art. His room is a minimalist's (and gamer's) dream: a large closet for storage, a nice bathroom with plenty of counter and cupboard space for health and hygiene items, and his bedroom: high-quality mattress on a modern black frame (with coordinating designer-look linens thanks to a bed-in-a-bag where everything matches), matching black-out curtains for better sleep, big screen tv, table, gamer chair, and PS5**. He's living the dream with ADHD.
You can too! Try some of these tips, and make your life easier.
But go finish that boss battle first!
To your best health,
Teresa
Teresa Heald, LCSW
*Bonus tip for people with ADHD, depression, anxiety, or who are experiencing high stress:
Make, prepare, or purchase one-dish meals:
- stews/soups/chili/roasted meat with vegetables in slow cooker
- casseroles
- hearty salad
- burritos/tacos
- pizza
- Angel-hair pasta or gnocchi with canned sauce (these types of pasta take 2-5 minutes to cook, start to finish, and after draining them you can use the same pan to briefly heat up the canned sauce)
- stir fry with pre-cooked rice added (or egg roll in a bowl).
**Full disclosure: There's usually a pack of soda on the floor by my son's gamer chair, and empty cans surrounding it too, and sometimes a floordrobe, and his fully color- and pattern-coordinated bed is rarely made, you know. Just keepin' it real... But he can clean it all up in like 3 minutes.
