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
Don't Limit the Launch Pad to the Front Door
Ever felt the frustration of searching for everyday essentials when you're already running late? That's where the magic of launch pads comes in – but not just by your front door. As someone living with ADHD, I've discovered that expanding this simple organizational concept throughout my home has revolutionized my daily functioning and dramatically reduced my executive function demands.
In this episode, I reveal how I've implemented specialized launch pads in multiple areas of my home – from my zombie-state morning coffee station to my streamlined getting-ready space that eliminates decision fatigue.
The beauty of the launch pad approach lies in how perfectly it addresses executive function deficits common in ADHD. By creating external structures that compensate for difficulties with planning, organization, working memory and time management, you're essentially designing your environment to work with your brain rather than against it. These designated spots encourage returning items after use, building muscle memory that becomes increasingly automatic over time. The result? Less frustration from constantly misplacing things, improved efficiency, better time management, and significantly more mental energy available for what truly matters. Whether you're diagnosed with ADHD or simply seeking practical organization strategies, these launch pad principles can transform your relationship with your living space and daily routines.
Join me each Tuesday for more practical strategies to thrive with ADHD. Like, follow, subscribe, and share your launch pad successes – I'd love to hear how these ideas work for you!
You may have heard or experienced for yourself the benefits of having a launch pad by your door, a place where you keep everything that you need to leave the house, such as keys and coats. I've got some ideas for how you can expand this concept to other areas of your home and why you should bother to do so. I'm Alex Delmar, a certified life coach and person with ADHD. Welcome to Thoroughly ADHD, where I share what I've learned to help other people with ADHD enjoy better lives. This idea of having everything you need and only the things you need kept at the point of performance, apart from the rest of your stuff, worked so well for me at the front door that I started using it in other rooms. For instance, there are two in my kitchen, because I'm a zombie in the morning, I have a launch pad for making coffee and I have one on the island for mealtime, with salt and pepper shakers, napkins, scissors, hair ties and everything I need to label food storage containers Basically, items I use frequently but won't bother to go look for in the moment and will be annoyed later that I hadn't. I have a launch pad for bedtime and one to pay bills. I have a washing up slash, getting ready launch pad, a basket containing just the daily essentials, like my toothbrush and moisturizer, and a small lucite tray that holds only the makeup I wear on an average day. This way, I can see everything at a glance, so I don't get frustrated looking for things, I don't have to make any decisions about which products to use, and I can get everything out on the counter at once and put it all away again in an instant. I recommend using a tray, serving platter or decorative plate just the right size for the number of items you're going to keep there. This makes it look like an intentional collection instead of looking messy. It makes it obvious when something is missing and it inhibits the tendency to leave things there that don't belong. I suggest using trays because you probably already have some on hand and, while there are tons of products designed specifically to help people stay organized and reduce clutter, if you have ADHD, many of them are not going to work well for you. Remember, it's best if you can see everything at once and you can put things away without any extra steps.
Alex Delmar:The Launchpad helps people with ADHD, especially because it addresses executive function deficits that impact skills like planning, organization, working, memory, attention and time management by creating an external structure that compensates for difficulties in these areas. Specifically, it combats out-of-sight out-of-mind the ADHD characteristic that if something isn't visible, it's easily forgotten. By keeping essential items in a designated, visible spot at the point of performance, you ensure you have everything you need to complete an activity before beginning. A launch pad minimizes the mental effort required to gather necessary items, reduces decision fatigue and the stress of trying to remember everything you need. Trying to remember everything you need.
Alex Delmar:This home base for frequently used objects helps physically contain things, preventing them from being scattered throughout the house and becoming a source of visual and mental distraction, and it saves time that would be wasted otherwise searching for essential items. Having a designated spot encourages the habit of putting items back as soon as you're done using them. This builds muscle memory, making it more automatic over time and lessening the reliance on executive function to keep things in order, and reducing the frustration of constantly misplacing things. Knowing exactly where everything is increases your efficiency, improves your time management and can significantly reduce instances of being late. In short, launch pads help you be on time, keep your house tidy and conserve your mental energy. 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, subscribe and come back next Tuesday for more ways to thrive with ADHD. Thanks for listening.