Tidying up with #ADHD is another level of a challenge. After trying to do it in several ways, none of which worked, I realized I needed to find my own way.
I'm a very inefficient cleaner, but it's effective for me. It takes me twice as much time, but at least I do it 1/n
I'm a very inefficient cleaner, but it's effective for me. It takes me twice as much time, but at least I do it 1/n
At first I tried to order stuff in a logical way: this bunch for the bathroom, this one for the kitchen, etc. But it required multiple processes and I ended up dispersing around and forgetting a lot, which stressed me out #ADHD #neurodiversesquad 2/n
My goal used to be tidying it all. Considering I'm terrible at trying to estimate how long a task will take, I entered an endless loop of cleaning and when I realized I wouldn't make it, I felt like a failure and stopped. So the first thing I did was change the goal #ADHD 3/n
Whenever I had a spare hour, usually before bed, I would set an alarm and just start cleaning. It didn't matter what I achieved, just doing it for that time. I started doing this every night after dinner, the cleaning hour. Slowly the mess became order #ADHD 4/n
Doing it one day and seeing result gave me motivation to do it the next day. I felt accomplished and not a failure for the first time. I gave myself the time I needed, at my own pace. Some days it looked more messy, but I knew it would be better the next day #ADHD 5/n
I focused on one particular item at a time. Once I made > 20 trips to the bathroom with the same drawer. When hyperfocused my mind works better with single tasks, so I would put each item in its place right it that second. Took longer, but time wasn't an issue anymore #ADHD 6/n
Eventually everything looked nice, and I set higher goals. Folding my PJs in the morning, making the bed daily, folding socks as soon as I took them off instead of tossing them. I still struggle with this, but I keep trying to turn it into a routine #ADHD #neurodiversesquad 7/7
