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
Consistency is key to cleaning with ADHD
Ever considered asking for a clean house instead of gifts for your birthday? That's exactly what I did for my 50th, and despite my mother's horror, those few hours of help made a world of difference. This deeply personal admission opens our conversation about why maintaining our living spaces matters, especially for those of us with ADHD.
The struggle is real—executive function challenges can make housekeeping feel like an uphill battle. But here's the truth: you deserve to live in a safe, comfortable environment. Throughout this episode, I share practical strategies that actually work with our ADHD brains rather than against them. From finding accountability partners to gamifying cleaning tasks, these approaches make maintenance feel less overwhelming. My "plus one" method—handling everything you used today plus just one additional item—can gradually transform your space without triggering avoidance.
When things get truly overwhelming, I recommend prioritizing health and safety first: clear pathways for emergency access, a clean shower to prevent mold, an uncluttered bed for quality sleep, and a safe kitchen to prevent accidents and illness. And don't miss my "one-dish solution"—the surprising approach that finally broke my endless dirty dish cycle and taught me that "the fewer things you have to take care of, the easier it is to take care of everything you have." This principle has revolutionized my approach to housekeeping with ADHD. If what you're doing now isn't working, don't give up—try something different. Your future self will thank you for the effort. Subscribe, like, or follow to catch new episodes every Tuesday!
When two of my best friends wanted to know what I wanted for my 50th birthday, I admitted that all I really wanted was a clean house and wondered if they could come over and help me make that happen. My mother was, of course, horrified and offered to take us out for a nice lunch afterward, so I only had help for a couple of hours, but I had a very clean kitchen and bathroom, and what was left over felt manageable on my own. It was so uncomfortable to ask for help, but really worth it in the end.
Alex Delmar:Welcome to Thoroughly ADHD. I'm Alex Delmar, a certified life coach and person with ADHD. I'm here to share what I've learned to help other people with ADHD enjoy better lives.
Alex Delmar:Why should you take the time and energy to clean up after yourself when it's just going to get messy again? Because you deserve to exist in a safe and comfortable environment. Unfortunately, for most of us, the only person who can make that happen is ourselves, and yes, there are some aspects of ADHD that make it hard to keep up with housework. But we can find ways to make chores feel new or interesting or urgent, and we can develop scaffolding, strategies or routines that help us maintain our living space, and we can ask for help when things get beyond us.
Alex Delmar:If what you're doing now hasn't worked well for you, don't give up. Do try something different. Frequency and consistency are key for keeping things in order, and you may find it effective to partner with a cleaning accountability buddy, or to use an app that gamifies cleaning or breaks down and tracks your cleaning tasks, or to follow a cleaning content creator.
Alex Delmar:One strategy to keep up a consistent effort to add to the solution is by putting away or cleaning up everything you took out or used in a given day, plus just one additional thing. To do that, every time you get up, take a pause, scan the room and ask yourself is there anything here that needs to go somewhere else? Then bring it with you.
Alex Delmar:If you live with others, have everyone participate in cleaning up and make it easy for them to do their part. For instance, anyone can get things back into the right place if the shelves are labeled, and even very little kids can help put away their own stuff if they have open baskets and hooks within their reach labeled with pictures. Remember to always give everyone credit for their efforts, including yourself, and remember to always take a moment to notice how nice it feels and savor the cleaned up
Alex Delmar:space.
Alex Delmar:If you are underwater, I think it's important to get health and safety issues under control first. Then you can add other items to make your environment feel nicer. Some examples are that you have an unobstructed path across every room, the stairs and the hallway, so you can get out quickly or so emergency personnel can get to you. The shower is clean and drains well, so there's no mold and it's piled up on the bed, so you have space for quality sleep.
Alex Delmar:The stovetop is always cleared off and grease free to minimize risk of a fire and and to avoid foodborne illnesses. You've tossed spoiled items and have clean prep surfaces and have washed cookware and dishes. There was a time I was working a lot and I could not keep up with the dishes. I was always too rushed or exhausted and the stack seemed never ending. I switched to paper and plastic while I caught up, but I felt guilty about the environmental impact. Finally, in desperation, I boxed up almost everything and moved it to the garage. I left myself essential cookware and one place setting. Cookware and one place setting. It forced me to wash dishes every day, but, more importantly, the pile of dirty dishes could never become overwhelming. That was when I learned that the fewer things you have to take care of, the easier it is to take care of everything you have. 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 that you'll come back next Tuesday. Thank you.