ADHD Strategies - Organizing Tips & Tricks - Accountability Post

Hello! I was inspired to kick off this post the other day from @ouiCherie 's mention of the idea of gathering different ADHD Strategies. My hope is we can make this into an ADHD strategies series and this is the first post in the series.

Thanks for stopping by!

While medication can help some people manage the symptoms of ADHD, it is not a cure, nor is it the only solution. If it is decided it is needed, (between you and your doctor), it should be used in conjunction with other treatments or self-help strategies. Not much or nothing will change if we still approach tasks with neurotypical strategies. That’s why it’s important to get as many tools in our toolboxes as we can and try and figure out which strategies work best for us individually. What may work for you, might not work for me, and vice versa.

Some main traits of ADHD are inattention and distractibility. As you can imagine and most of us know first hand, organizing is probably the biggest challenge that adults with ADHD face. Just the idea of getting organized, whether at work or home, can leave some of us ADHD folks feeling overwhelmed.

By implementing various structures and routines, and taking advantage of various tools, we can set ourselves up to maintain organization and control clutter without feeling overwhelmed.

“People with an ADHD nervous system know that if they get engaged with a task, they can do it. Far from being damaged goods, people with an ADHD nervous system are bright and clever. The main problem is that they were given a neurotypical owner’s manual at birth. It works for everyone else, not for them.” Read more here from ADDitudeMag.

Please see below for 6 ADHD organizing strategies:

Develop structure

Start by categorizing your objects, deciding which are needed on a daily basis for easy access and which can be stored or discarded.

These approaches build on our strengths for lifelong help because it does not try to change our ADHD nervous system into neurotypical people (as if that were possible).

⭐️ Designate spots for items you use most frequently with easy access.

⭐️ If it takes less than 5 minutes, do it now.

⭐️ Handle the mail as soon as possible.

⭐️ Go paperless where possible.

⭐️ Come up with a file system.

⭐️ Keep in mind to continuously throw away things you don’t need.

⭐️ Tip 1. Create space: Think of what you use and need on a daily basis in different areas of your home. Designate specific spots in each area for those things. Examples:

A small table by the front door might be the perfect designated spot for a bowl for any loose items. Add a mail holder next to the bowl. Hang up some hooks just above the table for keys. Add a shelf and before you know it, you have this space that can also be used as a “launchpad” near the front door! Now this space not only acts as a place to stash things in their designated spots, this is also a place household members can have easy access to what they need to grab while walking out the door. Things like backpacks, purses, scarves, keys, etc.

⭐️ Tip 2. Deal with it now. If a task can be done in five minutes or less, do it on the spot, rather than putting it off for later. This helps avoid some stress of forgetfulness and it can help eliminate some clutter or piling up procrastination. Some examples could be:

Fill out paperwork so it’s done and out of the way.

Put things back in their spots as you make a trip past it.

Clean up the messes as they happen.

Return calls immediately.

⭐️ Tip 3. Stay on top of mail each day. If at all possible, as soon as you bring the mail inside, set aside a few minutes to deal with it right away.

⭐️ Tip 4. Go paperless To minimize the amount of paper you have to deal with, go paperless wherever it can make sense for you. Switch over to electronic statements/bills instead of paper mail form where you can. Also, worth mentioning, in the U.S., you can reduce junk mail by opting out of the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service. I did this and it helped some!

⭐️ Tip 5. File system For the records and other papers that you do need to save, use dividers or separate file folders for different types of documents (such as medical records, receipts, and income statements). Label and color-code your files so that you can find what you need easily. This helps put things away easier as well.

⭐️ Tip 6. Make time to get rid of things you no longer use. Have you worn that sweater that’s folded up in the bin in the closet within the last year? No? Is it sentimental? No? Donate it! Make a donation pile, load it up into the car right away, and plan to drop it off ASAP.

Ready to try it out? Let's use this post as an accountability thread!

Test out a week of entering 1-3 goals for the day. Stop back each day to reply to this post and let us know how your goal(s) went. While you're here, add in your new 1-3 goals for the following day. That's it!

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Today my goals are:

1.

How did yesterday's goal(s) go?

(If you have a tip or trick to share, please add that to your response as well!)

@intuitiveFig5483 @daisieslavendar @Sher217 @jovialButterfly6752 @ouiCherie