Authentically ADHD

1. Make your bed.

If just the thought of trying to keep your bedroom clean 24/7 is enough to send you into an anxiety spiral, commit to a smaller task like making your bed every day, suggests Fleming. That one action feels a lot more manageable, and once you solidify the habit, you can move on to another small step to make your space feel a bit tidier. When you have ADHD, it’s easy to feel like your home is just destined to be messy forever, but creating small helpful habits will help you challenge that mindset and start to feel more in control, says Fleming. Before you know it, you’ll have a mini cleaning routine going. But don’t stress if you fall out of practice every now and then.

2. Break organizational tasks into chunks.

A lot of people who have ADHD struggle to “activate,” or start tasks, so breaking a to-do down into smaller steps can make it easier to get started, says Dr. Frank. It also helps decrease overwhelm, which people with ADHD are prone to, she adds. Let’s say you want to organize your inbox at work. Rather than going through all 500 of your unread emails and sorting them into appropriate folders, start with the first 50 messages (or whatever number feels doable). You should give yourself permission to stop and come back to the task the next day so that you don’t feel overwhelmed, says Dr. Caraballo. The same goes for decluttering your house; you’ll have a much easier time if you focus on one room at a time and break it down into areas within each room instead of trying to tackle the whole thing in one day. 

3. Do a start-of-day or end-of-day clean.

You’ve probably seen the satisfying morning and evening cleaning videos on TikTok, which some users call their homes’ opening and closing shifts. And it turns out they’re onto something. Cleaning a high-traffic area of your home, like your kitchen or office, for 10 to 15 minutes every day can ensure that the mess doesn’t get out of hand, says Dr. Caraballo.

This can be helpful for people with ADHD because it’s small and simple and it creates a regular routine. “ADHDers have a tendency to let things build, build, build, and then they’ll spend all day cleaning,” explains Dr. Frank. If you try this hack, just be sure to give yourself a time limit and move on once it’s up—otherwise it can feel like a daunting, never-ending chore. 

4. Find a permanent home for the things you lose.

If you’re always misplacing your keys (like Fleming says she used to), put a hook right by your door and try to get in the habit of hanging your keys there every time you come home. Having designated areas where important items like your mask, phone, keys, and wallet live can be a great strategy if you feel like you’re constantly looking for those things when you wanna get out the door.

This strategy can be helpful because it supports working memory, aka the ability to hold information in your head and use it to solve a problem later, which some people with ADHD struggle with, says Dr. Frank. If you create a permanent home for your essentials, then you don’t have to waste brain power remembering where you left them.