How to Create ADHD-Friendly Home and Office Spaces

In this engaging episode of "Thriving with ADHD," we delve into the art of designing ADHD-friendly home and workspace environments. Joined by Maddison Henley, Associate Director of Clinical Operations and Clinical Education at Animo Sano Psychiatry, the discussion highlights practical strategies for enhancing focus, productivity, and organization for adults with ADHD. Throughout the episode, Maddison shares tips on reducing distractions and creating structured routines tailored to individual needs. Listeners will gain insights into using sensory inputs effectively and employing technology and task management tools to maintain ADHD-friendly spaces. Whether you're working from home or managing daily tasks, discover how making small, thoughtful changes in your environment can significantly impact your ability to thrive with ADHD.

Main Topics Covered:

• Importance of decluttering and creating organized spaces
• Managing sensory inputs like lighting, noise, and color
• Utilizing task management tools and apps for improved productivity
• Establishing structured routines in home and work environments
• Personalizing workspace setups to match individual preferences
• Incorporating flexibility and adaptability into daily habits
• Exploring the role of technology and smart home accessories

Tune in to learn how these strategies can support an ADHD-friendly lifestyle.

Thank you for listening to Thriving with ADHD. This show is produced by Animo Sano Psychiatry. For more information about our clinic, please visit animosanopsychiatry.com.

Animo Sano Psychiatry has introduced new services for enhancement of our patients' mental health - ASP Concierge and Health & Wellness Program. Please visit our website to learn more.

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Transcript

   📍     Welcome to Thriving With adhd, a podcast we'll share every day practical tips to thrive in life as an adult with adhd.  This podcast is brought to you by Animo Sano Psychiatry, a behavioral health practice with a specialist ADHD clinic based in North Carolina. And this is your host Nada Pupovac.

Welcome to Thriving with ADHD, dear ADHD community. This month, we talk about how to create ADHD friendly home and office spaces. Animo Sanos, Physician Assistant, Madison Henley is our guest, and she will share more details about this important topic. As always, we will learn more about Madison before we start our conversation with her. 

Medicine is a dedicated physician assistant with a passion for mental health care. She is a former student of Mercer University, where she obtained her  degree and completed physician assistant studies. She has worked in outpatient behavioral health care since 2021. Her commitment to providing compassionate and comprehensive care is evident in her approach, ensuring that her patients feel heard, understood, and supported.

As a result of her commitment to our patients and keen interest in mental health education, Madison has been promoted to Associate Director of Clinical Operations and Clinical Education at Animo Sano Seikaichi

 medicine. Welcome back to Thriving with ADHD. I am really happy to have you back. And this month we will be talking about organizing our home and workspace to help us with ADHD.  So yeah. Happy to have you back. Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm excited, um, to be here and discuss, uh, this topic today.

Yeah. I'd say it's, it's a biggie for people with ADHD  and, uh, yeah. So let's, , jump right into the first question. So what are some key  , environmental elements that people with ADHD should consider when designing their home and office spaces to enhance focus and productivity.  Yeah, um, so it's really important to create an environment that minimizes distractions and also promotes organization. 

Um, that can be really crucial for individuals that, that have been diagnosed with ADHD. Yeah. Some of the key elements to consider include having a decluttered space. So a lot of times it's hard for us to focus if we have a really cluttered desk area or home office or work environment. Um, so just trying to keep like, uh, our area tidy and clean and removing unnecessary items, uh, cause that can reduce the number of visual distractions that you have and help you maintain focus and also just make you more comfortable to not have  All of the clutter in the way that that might be increasing some of that anxiety.

Um, organizational systems can be really important. So implementing different easy to use storage solutions. Um, maybe even considering labeling those those different like containers or folders or things like that to make things easier to find, um, and reduce the amount of time that you're, you know, Spending on searching for items or, um, or looking for things when you need them.

Um, a lot of times having a minimalist design can be really helpful. Having like a simple, clean design that is beneficial, but, um, simple enough to not be distracting or overstimulating. Um, not taking away from concentrating on, on what you need to concentrate on. Um, I also usually tell patients that it's really important to have dedicated work spaces, especially if you're in like a home office or, um, or home work environment.

Um, so having like a clear area where this is where I do my work. Um, this is my desk. This is where I work and get things done. Um, and then having separate areas for where you relax or do other activities. Um, same can be said, I usually tell people, like, don't go do your work in bed, don't sit in your bed with your laptop, because your brain needs to associate your bed with sleep and not with work, um, to even help with sleep hygiene.

Um, that's a whole other topic, but kind of same thing with, um, work environment, so. Um, like your desk is where you work and not where you do gaming or other things so that your brain kind of associates like me sitting in my office right now is as when I'm working and I'm in kind of my work mode and not in my leisure mode. 

The same thing with having kind of comfortable environment, comfortable furniture, like making sure that you're investing in.  Chairs that support good posture and that keep you comfortable because if you're not physically comfortable, that can kind of exacerbate some of the restlessness that we can see with ADHD and kind of keep you there for longer periods of time versus feeling like you need to get up and move around. 

keeping the things that you need in your work environment so that you're not frequently having to get up and search in a different room for what you need.  Because that can also lead to kind of unnecessary distractions or  interruptions in your, your workflow.  Yes. And, uh, thanks for mentioning this. We talked before in some previous episode about decluttering, but I also, really like that you mentioned these associations with certain things that you're doing with certain spaces that can help you to, , get into the mood, uh, sooner rather than later and just get on with the thing.

So that's, that was really great. And let's talk about, uh, sensory inputs such as lightning, noise, and color that can impact people with ADHD. And, Uh, how these factors, uh, can be managed or optimized even in home and work environments?  Yeah. Um, so sensory inputs obviously play a significant role too. Um, they can be both, uh, distracting for individuals with ADHD, but there's also certain things that you can do to like help enhance focus with those, uh, sensory inputs too.

Um, so kind of starting with lighting, um, natural light is usually the most beneficial. You don't want something that's  Super harsh or flickering lights or things like that that are going to be distracting. Um, considering like adjustable lighting options that have dimmable options or things like that, that you can adjust if you need it to, um, warm tones are usually better than those kind of cooler, harsh, um, lighting options.

Um, so kind of helping that to create a calming atmosphere. Um, noise is one of those things that I get. Uh, a little bit of back and forth on with people. So I have a good number of patients who are like, Yep. If I have background noise, it's completely distracting to me. If there's something going on outside or if.

Um, my roommate's playing music or something like that. Um, so in those cases, using noise cancelling headphones can be really helpful or I have some patients where we have them get a white noise machine or even play white noise on their phone so that it kind of rounds out some of that outside noise, like maybe in another room or another office next to you.

Um, I have other patients who are like, if it's too quiet, I cannot focus at all. And then I get distracted more easily. Um, so it actually helps them to have something on the, in the background. That's obviously not something super distracting, like, like a TV show or something, but maybe just something like some instrumental music.

Uh, in the background that can kind of help keep them, um, concentrated and focused. So you can kind of go either way in those cases, but either way, not having excessive background noise. And if you are having something on in the background, making sure that it's not something that's distracting you from what you're doing.

Um, so yeah, that that's kind of how noise usually goes. Um, colors definitely can affect mood and, um, can affect, uh,  Kind of our focus to you. I mean, usually we would recommend doing like calming colors. Um, not anything that's too bright or, um, distracting or overstimulating. Um, Usually kind of using colors to kind of balance your environment.

So so picking things that  are going to help create a happy environment for you. Um, I do, though, have kind of on the other hand, some patients that, like, really like having different colored pens or different colored sticky notes or things like that that help keep them engaged because it's exciting for them to have all the different colored pens.

And so, I mean, if that works for you, great.  But like in terms of like furniture choices and. Um, like wall colors and things like that, not picking something that's. That's that's too over semi leaving for you.  Um, sectors sense that kind of thing. Um, I mean, just be mindful that you're not picking like fabrics that are uncomfortable, um, or like your chair that you're sitting in and, um, if you are going to have like a candle on making sure that it's not something that's Like overly distracting and maybe something that's more of like a comforting, um, like low, low level, I guess.

And, um, and, and just, again, kind of making sure that it's not taking away from your focus on, on what you're trying to do with work or school or whatever.  I like that. And we'll touch later on, on the personalization.  Like individual approach to each of these solutions and that there is no one size fits all.

Uh, yeah, uh, yeah, we'll, uh, we'll talk about, I like that. And, uh, we'll talk about that a bit more later, but, um, let's maybe touch on some specific tools or apps or technologies that you can recommend for those with ADHD that can help in task management and just maintainance of ADHD friendly space.  Yeah, um, I feel like there's new ones that come out every single day as I'm sure this isn't a exhaustive list.

Um, and, and there's a ton of options that you can kind of search out there, but, um, there's a ton of different task management apps that can be really helpful. Um, some of my patients really like, uh, Todoist, uh, Trello, Asana. Those are some of the big ones that, that I've heard a lot of people use and, um, see some benefits with, with just helping organize your tasks.

Um, setting deadlines for things that you need to get done, breaking down projects and to kind of those smaller, more manageable steps,  I think that I typically recommend both a digital calendar and, uh, personal, like, uh, handheld calendar or one that you can leave on your desk, uh, for patients, but the digital calendars really can be beneficial because, um, if you're on the go and don't have, um, That paper calendar with you, you can add things, um, and, and take away things from your calendar on the go.

And, um, I even have some patients that, that use Google Calendar and they share it with their spouse so that they can both add and take away and they're kind of always on the same page with. Obligations that they might have as a family. Um, so the digital calendars can be really helpful to, um, there's a lot of different focus enhancement apps.

Um, forest, uh, gamifies focus periods. That's that's one focus at wills. Another one. Um, that I've I've had some patients use. Um, there's, uh, Yeah, there's a lot of different ways where you can have, um, like music tracking your, uh, ability to stay on track and, um, like having set periods of time to do things, um, that kind of makes a game almost out of, uh, those, those small chunks of time that you're using to focus.

Um, the different, uh, digital assistance. I mean, AI is, uh, crazy and expanding so much that, um, a lot of the like voice activated assistance like Siri, Alexa, Google are really, um, helpful. Um, and, and just, uh, I mean, you can literally be in the middle of cooking. And if you have, um. Like Syria or Alexa close by can tell them to add something to your list so that you don't forget.

Because I mean, we know forgetfulness is a huge thing with you can literally in that moment while you're still doing something else to have one of those digital assistants kind of help you out with. Um, like adding a timer, adding an alarm or  adding something to your calendar to do list for you. Um, so that you're not forgetting and 30 minutes later when you're done cooking, forgetting to add that thing that you needed to do.

Um, so those can be really helpful as well. Um, kind of going back to timers and alarms. Um, I, I stand by timers and alarms as being something that's a really. Easy, but super beneficial for people when, like, even if it's just remembering to take your medication every day, like having a timer set, but it's not a timer, but like, a recurring reminder that pops up thing, like, take your medicine.

It's 8 o'clock or whatever.  Same things with alarms, like, if you do need to have a period of time where. You really need to get some work done like using the Pomodoro method with timers and alarms and setting yourself like 20 minute intervals of time and then taking a break after that alarm goes off and just using different  kind of time blocks like that that can be really helpful for  sustaining focus in that time and then rewarding yourself with a little bit of a break.

Um, there's also a ton of different, like, uh, smart home accessories that can be used, like, with the smart lighting, um, could control the lighting on your phone, um, or change something there so that you're not having to get up and, um, distract yourself by, uh, turning the light off or changing the settings on something like that that can be done, um, with something while you're sitting at your desk.

Um, so those are just a few, I'm sure that there's a ton of other options out there, but, um, some of the ones that, that, uh, some of my patients have seen are really helpful. I, I love some of these and it seems like  it's almost easier to manage these days with technology than maybe it used to be. So, uh, why not take advantage of it?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And, um,  you , touched on it previously on. Specific zones in the home, but maybe we can talk more about, uh, setting up a structured routine, uh, within your home or workspace to help you manage your tasks and generally enhance productivity.  Yeah, um, I think structure is super important. 

For everyone, but especially for people with ADHD, just because having that structure, structure creates a lot of predictability and, um, like routines are really helpful for kind of keeping you in that, that focus mode for those times that you have set aside for, for different tasks. Um, having consistent routines reduces like that mental load of decision making too, because you're, you already have it penciled and then like this time to this time, I'm going to do this this time of the summer.

I'm going to do that. And so you don't have to decide. Oh, when am I going to fit this into my schedule? Because it's already there. Um, And so it allows you to kind of focus your energy on the tasks instead of the actual logistics of scheduling everything and  deciding when you're going to do each task.

Um, I like to have people, especially students, they're like, well, I never leave enough time to study and then I don't, I wait till last minute, I don't have enough time. And so I tell them to like pencil it in the same way that they would a class. So You have class from 8 to 9 30 or whatever. Um, maybe in the afternoons, like, have yourself an hour or two block where you're like from 3 to 4.

I'm going to study from 4 to 5. I'm going to clean up a little bit from 5 I'm going to focus on getting some food and eating dinner and unwinding a little bit and kind of having like, even just those everyday things like penciled into your calendar so that you know when you're doing what. Um, and so that you're leaving your time yourself time to do those things to, um, because I, I think that that's important so that you're not, uh, putting everything off until last minute.

Like, we see a lot of times with procrastination and and, um, even kind of going back to, like, sleep. I have a lot of, um, ADHD patients who will. put everything off until right before bedtime. And so then they end up going to bed really late because they put everything off for the day until right then. And then they feel like they have to do everything before they're able to go to sleep.

And so like having these set times of like every Wednesday afternoon, I'm going to clean the bathroom and, um, things like that to just keep yourself in a good routine. Um, and obviously routines. be flexible to it. It doesn't have to be something that's set in stone, um, and like inhibitive of doing new things, but, um, can be really helpful just to have like a good backbone in your routine.

Um, again, with the like designated areas, kind of having those specific areas of I'm going to do work or, or studies or, you know, And then I'm going to have my, um, like business tasks in this, this one room, my office room or my office corner or whatever.  And then I'm going to have, um,  like my living room or my, um, gaming room or my bed for like leisure activities.

And so that you're not kind of intertwining the two and signaling to your brain when it's time for work and focus and when it's time for relaxation and unwinding. Um, the visual cues kind of going back to that. Um, having visual cues and organized spaces like even, um, visual cues for like keeping your workout shoes, um, in one area so that you see them and you're like, Oh, I need to remember to work out or keep a consistency with my workout routines and, um, kind of having those visual cues that help too.

Um, I even sometimes have some patients who will leave sticky notes on their doors, like if they are worried that they're going to forget something for work that next day, that's important. Um, like having a sticky note on the door so that you make sure that you get that one thing that you need, um, before you leave.

Uh, what else? Um, again, kind of those reducing the distractions that are in your environment, um, minimizing like different options that might cause interruptions so that you can kind of keep your attention and focus on the tasks that you're trying to do.  Yeah. That's, that's, yeah, that's really great. I suppose  whatever works and reminders and you can literally use your home and your environment  As a playground for reminders or what, uh, whatever can help you to stay focused and organized.

So  why not? And, uh, yeah, and, um, related to that and what we, uh, talked about earlier, um, Some people prefer, uh, one set of, uh, lights, colors, or noises. And then, uh, to other patients, , something different,  is better and works better for them. So let's talk a bit more about those, um, personalized approaches, uh, in setting up our environment so that caters to our unique needs and preferences.

  Yeah. Um, yeah, I think it's really important to personalize things to make your task management and productivity effective for you. Um, obviously, there's a lot of different ways that you can customize like organizational methods. So choosing.  Things that align with the way that your brain works.

Um, like if you're a visual person, maybe having open shelving that you can see where everything is at would be more beneficial. Um, other people might like things organized differently or tucked away in like a drawer or things like that, or a closed closet. Um, so kind of taking organization to a way that works for you.

Same thing with, um, like studying or if you're working on a big project, like If you're not somebody who can just sit in front of a computer and like read off of a screen like printing things out and highlighting and writing notes and using the colorful pens and different things like that that might work for you.

Um,  I have some people feel like if you're better with like audio stuff like you can look into a lot of different resources out there that can do like the text to speech and having like your computer phone read things to you instead of having to read it yourself so that you can listen to it instead of  reading it  yourself.

And so that could be different ways that you can, um. Have things like that done, but that works for kind of what type of where you are to, um, obviously, like, again, incorporating personal interests, like making your, uh, before something that is like, maybe inspiring to you or or, um, visually appealing to you, but also making sure that it's not too distracting because I mean.

Personal touches can definitely make it a lot more, uh, inviting and comfortable and, and, um, make you feel like more at home in those settings, but not to an extent where it's taking away from your focus and concentration, um,  having. Flexibility in your workspace, I think, is good, too, for people with ADHD, um, like, just allowing yourself to, like, move things around if you need to, or having a desk that can go from the sitting to standing, or maybe having a different seating option that you can switch out, or, um, different things like that, um, because that can help, too, with, uh, like, managing some of the restlessness, uh, making sure that you're not, you know,  Feeling kind of unsettled in that space or have the ability to move things around if you need to, or give yourself a little bit of change, um, every now and then, um, same thing with like adjustable sensory elements, like being able to dim the lights or adjust the curtains or have a speaker on when you want it to, or, um, kind of modifying those things based on like your needs at that time.

Um, And maybe what type of task you're doing, um, whether it's something that you need to study for, for like a big test, or if you're just kind of going through emails, like, might be different for, for those different settings, uh, for those kind of things, too. Um, and then just regularly, uh, regularly reevaluating, like, what works for you and what doesn't, so.

Um, you might try something and it doesn't work well, and you can be flexible with that and change it. And if you do find something that works really well for you, kind of looking at other ways that you can implement things that are similar, um, to kind of maintain that environment that's working well for, for your focus and functioning well for you as an individual. 

That's, that's really great. I think you gave us lots of ideas and how things could be adjusted. Thanks. Based on individual needs, even for a single person, uh, depends on where we are and how we feel. Uh, we could really just change things around. So, yeah, that's really great. Thank you so much. And, uh, to finish this conversation,  if there is one thing that we That you would like our listeners to take away from everything we talked about, what that would be. 

Yeah. Um, I, I think like you said, like, most importantly is you have to create an environment that works for you and is tailored to you. Your individual needs, because that can really, um, enhance the way that you focus and your productivity, um, with ADHD, having small, thoughtful, um, like, touches and your personalization in a space can really make a big difference.

Um, obviously, the way that you have those things set up can either kind of make or break your ability to focus and concentrate in those settings. And really set you up for success if you're doing it right, and it can be kind of harmful if you're having a more distracting environment that's not kind of working for your learning type or your ability to focus and things like that.

Um, and again, like, being flexible with it. Don't hesitate to. Um, kind of experiment with things that, um, might be different just to see what kind of what works best for you, um, because it is a personal journey and just getting kind of an environment that is organized and works well for your individual needs. 

Yeah, I think that's, that's really great advice. Um, I mean, trying things out, learning along the way, maybe not beating yourself off if something is not working for you. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. That's, that's, that's great. Thank you so much, Madison. Yeah. Yeah. This, this was a great conversation. We learned a lot from you and, uh, I really can't wait to have you on another episode. 

Yeah. Perfect. Thank you.



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