How to Be Organized with ADD/ADHD
Create eye-catching reminders and receptacles., Limit your options., Sort through your stuff regularly., Discard relentlessly., Focus more on the short term.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create eye-catching reminders and receptacles.
When you have ADD/ADHD, it can be easier to miss or forget about reminders.
Use colors, shapes, and placements to make sure that reminders catch your eye and hold your attention until the task is completed.
Interesting visuals connected to your actual organizational materials can also help keep your interest while you are in the process of organizing.For instance, purchase patterned, colorful folders.
Sorting out your clutter doesn't have to be boring; try buying bright, fun colored folders to make it less of a chore.
You could even try accessorizing the folders with glitter, stickers and shapes.
Don’t, however, get too caught up in perfecting the style and presentation of your organizational categories and materials.
Overly complex, detailed, or “bedazzled” filing and sorting systems can take time away from the actual process of getting organized. -
Step 2: Limit your options.
If you find yourself throwing hangers full of clothes on the bed each morning while trying to find a shirt and pants that match, you may be giving yourself too many options for your own good.
ADD/ADHD can, in some people, further enhance the “mental paralysis” that occurs when too many alternatives are presented.Narrow down the color palate of your wardrobe so that practically everything matches.
If you want to have a slightly larger clothing color spectrum, choose warm-weather clothes in one color range and cold-weather clothes in another.
And, would anyone at the office really notice if you rotate through the same seven outfits or so? Try to limit your options in other areas as well.
For instance, try to have as few bank accounts and credit cards as possible.
This gives you fewer statements and bills to try to keep track of.
Or, if you pack your lunch each day, have the exact same menu each Monday, Tuesday, etc. (and pack it the night before). , Have a set time (marked clearly on your calendar) every few weeks or monthly when you sort through all the accumulating stuff in your home or office.
Turn it into a habit, so that you would feel like something was amiss if you didn’t do your regular “weed out.”Sort through your piles of stuff and immediately place it into one of five (or fewer, but not more than five) groups:
Keep, Toss, Give, Donate, Recycle.
Do not let yourself create any “maybe” or “not sure” piles; make immediate decisions.
While it’s not ideal, if you simply can't muster the time or energy to organize clutter, try putting it into vague piles so they're easier to look through when you can do your full-on sorting.
You could dedicate a certain drawer or area to a specific thing, e.g. revision sheets in the wardrobe drawer. , When sorting through your stuff regularly, make it your default action to get rid of things.
That is, make it so that each item of clutter has to “prove” its continued usefulness in order to hang around.
If the stuff has potential value (but not for you), sell it, donate it, or give it away.Don’t ask yourself “Might I ever find this useful or necessary?” Instead, ask “Is this valuable enough to keep right now, in place of other useful things?” Again, while it’s not ideal, create a “ripening drawer” for things you can’t decide on.
If you think that there is a slight chance that you may need them, put items aside and out of the way instead of leaving them piling up alongside things you do need.
Once the ripening drawer fills up, force yourself to make a final decision on the contents., One of the frustrating things about ADD/ADHD is that it may spur you to have hyper-focus on the “here and now” in one moment, then have you getting worked up about things weeks, months, and years down the line in another.
Long-range planning is a good idea for all of us, but when it comes to getting organized and reducing clutter, narrow your gaze to the shorter term.Create a shopping list and shop for groceries only for the week ahead, not for weeks and months to come.
Keep a small basket for unread magazines, etc.
If you haven’t tried to read an issue by the time one or two new ones have arrived, assume you’ll never read it and recycle it.
Don’t keep it for that week at the beach six months from now.
Prepare for emergencies by having a first aid kit, adequate supplies of water, food, etc., but don’t create an “apocalypse bunker.” Emphasize resourcefulness (making due with the essentials you have available) above over-preparation (having a supply of everything you may possibly ever need). -
Step 3: Sort through your stuff regularly.
-
Step 4: Discard relentlessly.
-
Step 5: Focus more on the short term.
Detailed Guide
When you have ADD/ADHD, it can be easier to miss or forget about reminders.
Use colors, shapes, and placements to make sure that reminders catch your eye and hold your attention until the task is completed.
Interesting visuals connected to your actual organizational materials can also help keep your interest while you are in the process of organizing.For instance, purchase patterned, colorful folders.
Sorting out your clutter doesn't have to be boring; try buying bright, fun colored folders to make it less of a chore.
You could even try accessorizing the folders with glitter, stickers and shapes.
Don’t, however, get too caught up in perfecting the style and presentation of your organizational categories and materials.
Overly complex, detailed, or “bedazzled” filing and sorting systems can take time away from the actual process of getting organized.
If you find yourself throwing hangers full of clothes on the bed each morning while trying to find a shirt and pants that match, you may be giving yourself too many options for your own good.
ADD/ADHD can, in some people, further enhance the “mental paralysis” that occurs when too many alternatives are presented.Narrow down the color palate of your wardrobe so that practically everything matches.
If you want to have a slightly larger clothing color spectrum, choose warm-weather clothes in one color range and cold-weather clothes in another.
And, would anyone at the office really notice if you rotate through the same seven outfits or so? Try to limit your options in other areas as well.
For instance, try to have as few bank accounts and credit cards as possible.
This gives you fewer statements and bills to try to keep track of.
Or, if you pack your lunch each day, have the exact same menu each Monday, Tuesday, etc. (and pack it the night before). , Have a set time (marked clearly on your calendar) every few weeks or monthly when you sort through all the accumulating stuff in your home or office.
Turn it into a habit, so that you would feel like something was amiss if you didn’t do your regular “weed out.”Sort through your piles of stuff and immediately place it into one of five (or fewer, but not more than five) groups:
Keep, Toss, Give, Donate, Recycle.
Do not let yourself create any “maybe” or “not sure” piles; make immediate decisions.
While it’s not ideal, if you simply can't muster the time or energy to organize clutter, try putting it into vague piles so they're easier to look through when you can do your full-on sorting.
You could dedicate a certain drawer or area to a specific thing, e.g. revision sheets in the wardrobe drawer. , When sorting through your stuff regularly, make it your default action to get rid of things.
That is, make it so that each item of clutter has to “prove” its continued usefulness in order to hang around.
If the stuff has potential value (but not for you), sell it, donate it, or give it away.Don’t ask yourself “Might I ever find this useful or necessary?” Instead, ask “Is this valuable enough to keep right now, in place of other useful things?” Again, while it’s not ideal, create a “ripening drawer” for things you can’t decide on.
If you think that there is a slight chance that you may need them, put items aside and out of the way instead of leaving them piling up alongside things you do need.
Once the ripening drawer fills up, force yourself to make a final decision on the contents., One of the frustrating things about ADD/ADHD is that it may spur you to have hyper-focus on the “here and now” in one moment, then have you getting worked up about things weeks, months, and years down the line in another.
Long-range planning is a good idea for all of us, but when it comes to getting organized and reducing clutter, narrow your gaze to the shorter term.Create a shopping list and shop for groceries only for the week ahead, not for weeks and months to come.
Keep a small basket for unread magazines, etc.
If you haven’t tried to read an issue by the time one or two new ones have arrived, assume you’ll never read it and recycle it.
Don’t keep it for that week at the beach six months from now.
Prepare for emergencies by having a first aid kit, adequate supplies of water, food, etc., but don’t create an “apocalypse bunker.” Emphasize resourcefulness (making due with the essentials you have available) above over-preparation (having a supply of everything you may possibly ever need).
About the Author
Frank Price
Frank Price specializes in education and learning and has been creating helpful content for over 6 years. Frank is committed to helping readers learn new skills and improve their lives.
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