Thoroughly ADHD
I'm Alex Delmar, a certified ADHD coach and person with ADHD. I'm here to share what I've learned so other people with ADHD can enjoy better lives!
Thoroughly ADHD
Everything in its Place
If you have ADHD, your struggle with clutter probably isn't laziness—your brain works differently and needs systems that accommodate your unique processing style. I share my personal journey from a space so chaotic I couldn't let friends use my bathroom to developing sustainable ADHD-friendly organization strategies.
• Traditional organization methods often fail for people with ADHD because they don't account for executive function challenges
• Every item needs a designated spot that's visually accessible—use open shelves, clear bins, and labels
• Organize by three principles: point of performance, keeping related items together, and minimizing steps
• Having multiples of frequently used items in different rooms dramatically improves tidiness
• Customize your space based on your specific challenges—my bedroom reorganization solved my lifelong clothing chaos
• Use the "scientific method" approach: try strategies, observe results, keep what works, and discard what doesn't
Join me next Tuesday when I'll talk about strategies to get control over your belongings.
Why can't you keep your space clean, making even more of a mess every time you look for something? Don't want to let people into your space because you're too embarrassed and anyway there's no spot for them to sit down, even if you did let them in. I've been there Once. My place was so out of control with clothes and papers and plates stacked everywhere I couldn't even let my friend in to use the bathroom because I was too ashamed to let her see the chaos. I'm Alex Delmar and this is Thoroughly ADHD. I'm a certified life coach and person with ADHD and I'm here to share what I've learned to help other people with ADHD enjoy better lives.
Speaker 1:If you have ADHD, you're probably not just lazy or messy or a bad person. Your brain works differently and you need to make accommodations for it. Adhd increases the likelihood that you have too much stuff. You don't even see the mess until something draws your attention to it. Cleaning is boring and you just can't get motivated to do it, or the situation has reached overwhelming proportions and you're not sure where to start. Today I'm going to talk about where to start, and next week I'll go over how to get your stuff under control.
Speaker 1:Most people with ADHD have at least a few mainstream books on getting organized. I have half a dozen on my shelf right now and we feel like failures because the recommendations often aren't sustainable for us. Chances are you've tried to follow the advice of a popular organization guru and got as far as piling all your stuff in the middle of the floor, where it remains to this day, because in order to put things away, you need to know where they go. That means every single thing you own needs to have a designated spot and, because of memory issues related to ADHD, you need to easily see where that is. So open shelves or baskets or clear bins with see-through lids are best, and you should put labels on drawers and boxes with lids. When deciding where things belong, try to keep things that are used together close to each other and close to the point of performance that's where you'll use them, such as putting your coat and keys near where you come inside. Also, try to figure out the fewest number of steps possible to put away things you use frequently. It is much easier to throw your coat over a coat tree or a hook by the door than to open the closet, find an empty hanger. Put the coat on the hanger. Put the hanger back on the rod, make sure the coat isn't crumpled up and close the closet door. Visual reminders are also helpful, such as seeing the hook will remind you to hang up your coat, whereas the closet door probably won't have the same effect.
Speaker 1:I am a big fan of having multiples of things if they are likely to get regular use in different rooms. Stuff like scissors, alligator clips or cleaning supplies, because the farther you have to go to get something or put it away, the less likely you are to complete the trip. I have a ridiculous number of waste paper baskets. Because I have one everywhere, I'm likely to produce trash. I rarely need to take a single step to throw something away, so I actually do throw stuff away immediately. It's crazy what a difference it makes.
Speaker 1:But my worst problem was definitely trying to keep my clothes in order. I just could not keep it under control. You cannot imagine or maybe you can if you have ADHD the amount of time and energy I've wasted looking for a particular item or rewashing things because I couldn't remember whether they were clean or not, or they were just too wrinkled from being thrown on the floor. To solve the issue, I had to take a hard look at what was actually going wrong for me and, after some trial and error and using all three strategies of fewest steps, keeping like things together and point of performance, I realized I had to rearrange my bedroom. I ended up with both bureaus in one corner, right next to the closet, and got hooks to hang clothes I've worn but that aren't dirty, like jeans or fleeces, because I have this irrational fear that they will somehow contaminate my clean clothes if I put them back in the drawer.
Speaker 1:On the bureau there's an area to fold clothes and a basket for clean stuff I didn't have time to put back right away. I also put the laundry hampers right there where I change, and I switched from using just one hamper to multiple so I can sort the clothes immediately when I take them off, instead of having to go through a mountain of laundry later. To go through a mountain of laundry later. I had a really small room, but having to walk across it every time I needed to access a bureau drawer or hang something in the closet was just too much for me.
Speaker 1:This is a great example of how I was able to use the scientific method of ADHD symptom management to solve a problem that I had struggled with well into middle age. I tried different strategies. I paid attention to the results. I kept the things that worked, I tweaked the ones that got me closer to my target and I dumped the techniques that were not helpful. I'm Alex Delmar and this has been Thoroughly ADHD. I know your time is valuable, so I hope you found something useful here and that you'll like follow or subscribe and you'll come back next Tuesday when I'll talk about some strategies to get control over your belongings. Thanks,