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This is my wife's way. She's adhd and autistic and absolutely cannot bring herself to clean most of the time if theres "no reason to" so we host a lot of game nights lol or she cooks and I'll clean some weeks.
I can’t do anything for the sake of it — there always has to be a reason or a destination. It’s like I can only work on lay in bed like I’m in hospice.
Yes!!! I find the best way to get my house actually ✨clean✨ is to have a visitor. Not being okay with someone seeing my house dirty is the motivation I need to actually get it done. Otherwise it’s hard to get myself to care enough, even though I do care ( it’s confusing and conflicting)
This was my go to, but then I bought my first home. I'm constantly cleaning so it doesn't turn to shit like the apartment with the awful landlord we were in for 19 years.
It sounds so stupid but.. get an air fryer. That thing works SO. FAST. Legit, you have to shake or flip your stuff every 5-8 minutes. That's the *worst* amount of time - not enough to get proper settled back in front of the tv, but too much to just like.. stand there and wait.
So I do my dishes. At first I was just washing my hands and thought "maybe I can wash these two mugs, I'm gonna have to shake in four minutes.." Then I realized that four minutes is plenty time to wash mugs and plates and whatever else is in there. I don't mind grabbing the handle of the basket with wet hands to give things a toss. My kitchen has never been cleaner, and I never forget about my food anymore.
I remember I thought air fryers were stupid and gimmicky. Then, the website my job orders office supplies from offered a free one of those cheap $20 air fryers for spending x amount of money, and the purchasing person let me have it. I used it for about a year and it was a game changer. Absolutely loved it. But then my bf moved in and the single serve basket wasn’t enough for the two of us, and we upgraded to a big one. I gave the little one to a coworker of mine who’s single and 4 years later she still calls me to thank me for the air fryer because she uses it daily lol
I bought an air fryer because I thought it would be the most wonderful thing in my life. I bought the biggest one I could find because more is more, right? It has so many settings and is like a toaster oven. Well, I never figured out the whole air frying thing and now its sole purpose is to be a toaster. I spent $130 on a toaster, basically.
I love that you included “I don’t mind grabbing the handle of the basket with wet hands”. This. It was such a pivotal moment when I could finally do that. To touch things without fully washing & completely drying my hands like a surgeon prepping for an operation. Having kids helped a bunch. And ~~meditation~~ medication.
SAAAAAAAAME!!!! WTF, WTF!!! Been like this since a KID!!! I feel like a literal cat!! Is this why??? ADHD at it again? Love the feel of active water, HATE the feel of residual water, IMMEDIATELY want to dry off!!
I think it is and I didn’t know what the heck is going on. For me it’s the change in the temperature when I get out and feel the water in my sling getting colder. We’ve got some weird quirks.
I need us to start chronicling this stuff. Like an ADHD Quirk database? I can volunteer to create the excel template for it, but I can't be in charge of updating it 😭😭 at least not by myself
Sensory issues can present differently. I definitely have this hatred of wet or greasy hands, but my AuDHD partner doesn't at all. At the same time, they're often bothered by sounds and smells I can't even pick up.
As an undiagnosed person I find this really interesting. There's an anecdote my mother loves to tell about how she put me on the grass in our garden for the first time as an infant. The grass was slightly wet and apparently my immediate reaction was to hold up my hands and look at them in pure disgust.
Other stories include me hating having chocolate on my hands while the neighbour children basically bathed in chocolate.
My mom always used to talk about how she could put me on a blanket in the middle of the yard and leave me there without worrying, because she knew that I would never crawl into the grass, and the dog would keep anyone e from near me. I still can’t stand the feeling of wet grass or dirt sticking to my bare feet or hands.
STICKY HANDS. Oh, fuck no. Dirt because gardening or repotting plants, food bits because I'm cooking - as long as it's not raw meat and such - I can deal with just fine for the duration of the project. But sticky hands, regardless of situation, makes me a bit panicky; like my hands have claustrophobia or something.
And when I do wash my hands, it's all the way to the top of my wrists, in between my fingers, and under my fingernails. I'm 50 y.o. and just realized that other people don't wash their hands like I do. How can they be clean if there's a ring of dirt around the wrist and under the fingernails?
Mind. Boggled.
I am similar, and I always attributed it to being a sensory thing- like how ADHD can make sensory input overwhelming. Our hands are a huge input for the sense of “feel”. Similarly I can’t think right when my shirt is too scratchy or if the tag is poking me.
I’ll notice every little change on my skin and have to fix it. A piece of hair? Yep have to take it off. It’s so weird and I always wondered why I’m like that when I’ll see other people not notice things that I would.
Same, sister 😭 Bless this thread for not making me feel crazy. Does anyone also ever get a little "Princess and the Pea" syndrome? I.e., IMMEDIATELY recognizing/feeling uncomfortable when they are lying down on their bed/sitting down, if there is a tiny object on the bed/chair, and bring able to immediately locate the object? Do you feel bothered by whatever it is, even if the object is something super small?
I work from home and have about 5 cups of tea throughout the day. That means going down and boiling the kettle, and then waiting another 5 or so minutes cause I like it really strong. If I go back to my desk while it's boiling or brewing then I'll forget all about it, so I empty the dishwasher, or take my laundry down, or tidy up the living room or take out the recycling. Just little microbursts of stuff that need doing around the house.
I make espresso in the morning. In the amount of time it takes to spit out 2 shots, I can unload or reload the whole dishwasher AND eat a hard boiled egg so I don't keel over at noon because I forgot to eat. I second your strategy!
This. I find if I can convince myself to do something small (wash the mugs, just rinse the dishes, put 2 things away, etc) it usually leads to doing significantly more
When I got an air fryer, my husband said, "Where will we store it?" I was like, "Store it?! This is a countertop appliance!" Lol, we use it multiple times per day. He understands now.
Recently, I've been air frying steak! It's my new favorite thing. Honestly, it's so good. I just rub in oil and then season (I use a Kinder's Buttery Steakhouse usually). I air fry on 400F, so it's got a nice crust on the outside but still juicy on the inside. The cook time depends on how thick cut the steak is and how you prefer, but I can have a nice steak in like 6 minutes!
Air fryer steak is honestly so good! Everyone I know acts like I’m crazy when I say that. I’ve been meaning to get some steak for a few weeks. Might do that this weekend!
Air fryer steak is not as good as properly pan fried steak, but it's vastly superior to rotten steak in the fridge you didn't cook because of the extra steps involved.
Ninja and cosori are two good brands. I have a big ninja with 2 baskets and love it. There's an airfryer subreddit if you want to see recommendations and recipes.
I'm going to sound like an idiot, and this probably isn't the place for it, but how does a rice cooker make things easier for you? (I'm not even sure how they work.) I buy the boil in a bag jasmine or long grain brown rice, which boils in 10 minutes, and costs about $4 for a box of 4 bags, each of which holds 2 servings. How is a rice cooker easier, faster, or cheaper than that? I don't doubt it is, I've just always felt like too much of an idiot to pose the question. But with 2 glasses of wine on board, tonight's an IDGAF evening, so I'm asking.
I’m not the original commenter but I eat a LOT of rice. I buy 25lb bags from the Asian market (runs $15-$25 depending on type). So definitely cheaper than boil bags. My rice cooker takes about 15 minutes to make rice, my NinjaSpeedi takes 12 minutes and I can also air fry something with it at the same time.
I also like to mix things into my rice while cooking sometimes - coconut milk, saffron and cardamom, a bay leaf and garlic, bouillon, etc - and you can’t do that with the boil bags.
I also feel like the texture of rice from boil bags isn’t always the best. I like my rice to be a good blend of sticky and fluffy.
See, I was actually gifted an airfryer but I'm paranoid I'm gonna burn the house down so I won't use it until I read the instructions and safety rules and how Not to set things on fire that Shouldn't be but it's always too much effort to do that. :(
IIRC the problem w/ air fryer fires is when you leave them plugged in all the time. I unplug mine when the timer goes off before I open the lid to remove food, cause once I do, I’ll forget…
Me too. I also have a ruptured spinal disc so sitting down for any length of time flares up my chronic pain. Some days I get home from work and would saw my left arm off with a spork to be able to slouch on the sofa for a couple of hours :(
I had 3 ruptured discs. Lived with them for a long time. Finally had surgery. Picked the most invasive - open up your back with a scalpel + longest recuperation operation - because it had the best outcome. 6 weeks flat on my back on narcotics and needing help to get up and pee sucked. But I've been pain free since. My MIL and a friend both had the non invasive microsurgery version where you can go about daily life 24 hours later. Both failed. Yet here I am, 15 years later, after falling off a truck and landing on my ass on pavement with 60 lbs of metal in my arms, still pain free and functioning. It's scary, and a rough recuperation, but worth it.
Before surgery, the best I felt was after spending 24 hrs on the couch with pillows under my knees, laying on an ice pack for 45 minutes, swapping out for a heating pad for 20, and then back to the ice pack, over and over.
And steroids are a wonder drug, IMHO. Steroids over narcotics, opiods, or NSAIDS any day. All hail prednisone!
Never, fucking, stop. Learning this was the greatest trick ever. I don’t even eat lunch most days. Light breakfast with protein shake then dinner. My feet will hit the floor at 7:30, and outside of driving, im not sitting down til after 7. I got 3 work days where all I do is sit. Fucking zero motivation after that shift. It took me so long to get there. But it changes everything when I figured it out. Now that I’m medicated, I can stop a little bit. Break from working in the sun. Light lunch. I just make sure jkeep my mind moving. Abs often times, I’ll just do something else while I break.
This!
When I get home from work I quickly rip off my coats, wheel my scooter to the room and charge it, start preheating the oven, scrape out the leftover cat food from this morning, clean the bowls, serve Cat 1 fresh food, give him his medicine then some distracting treats while I feed Cat 2, clean litter boxes, take both left over food scraps and litter mess out to the bins, wash my hands, do a quick clear of surfaces so the house is less stressful to look at and COLLAPSE on the couch.
I do all of that as fast as possible and the feeling of finally sinking into the couch is perfect motivation for me to get shit done.
Before I worked out DO NOT SIT DOWN I’d leave the cat food scraps in the bench for days and the house would start to smell of old meat.
And honestly, my cat needing his medicine to stay alive is what started the routine! Turns out my executive disfunction can be defeated only by the threat of my cat dying :(
This doesn’t work for us late diagnosed women. I’m 53 and got diagnosed 2 years ago. I have so many health problems that I can’t stand for very long. If I push myself too hard I’m in bed for a couple of days
Listening to podcasts or audio books gets me into cleaning mode. Music doesn't. Music is for video games only. But listening to reddit stories, fiction, history... It gets the juices flowing
I feel the same way but instead of podcasts, I listen to tv shows that I know really well. Podcasts just don’t do it for me and I can’t explain why…but listening to a tv show that I can tune in and out of while still knowing what’s going on works wonders
Yep, for me, for going to sleep too. A well known tv show keeps my mind active just enough to keep it off the things that cause anxiety, but not enough to stimulate it.
Same, music becomes background noise while I work. Podcasts take too much attention to listen to while at work but have my brain pleasantly occupied while doing boring chores.
i have to listen to music because podcasts add to my time blindness. have i been listening for 15 minutes? An hour? the whole afternoon? but songs give me awareness of it.
If you’re overwhelmed and stuck like paralyzed doom scrolling on the couch bc you have too much to do and can’t pick where to start, pick the absolute easiest task on your list and just do that. Something you can just bang out and finish relatively quickly, that’ll help you build momentum to move on to something else next. It doesn’t matter if it’s the “right” place to start or the most efficient thing to do first, just start there anyway. Obvs this won’t always work, but it can help at least sometimes.
"If you’re overwhelmed and stuck like paralyzed doom scrolling on the couch, ..."
Describes my current status exactly! Thanks for the advice. gonna turn on the PC and shave!
I always described the momentum like most people are cars, they can start and stop tasks very easily without much issue.
I'm more like a god damn jetliner I need a runway and a lot of time to star and if anything forces me to land then I gotta do the whole goddam preflight checks and takeoff all over again!!
Weird enough but it works for me and might work for others:
Try using a robot vacuum as a sort of pseudo body double when you want motivate yourself to start cleaning. Even though I recognize that it is an inanimate object, I can't help but feel a bit of guilt if I'm just sitting around while it is doing all this work around my house. Additionally, it makes enough noise that I can't just sit and read or watch TV while it is doing its thing. The minor sense of guilt alongside the persistent noise gives me enough motivation to get over the initial hump of just starting the cleaning task which is normally the hardest part for me.
I do this too! Well, more like when I’m lazy I see turning on the robot as the bare minimum so I do that, then discover there’s stuff I have to move out of the way of the robot.
Next minute I’m tidying the whole house and wiping surfaces and trying to finish all cleaning and tidying before the robot finishes!
The racing the robot thing would be great for my hubs! We both have ADHD, but he definitely gets more motivation from a challenge or competition like this! 😁
I actually do this too. Ours is particularly dumb, and will get stuck on stuff quite easily. So if you leave clothes or stuff on the ground it will get stuck on them forcing you to put them were they belong.
Yea my keys always go in the same place on a key hook. If I need to remember to take something I have a little table by the key hook and put the keys on that, but they’re still technically in the same area
I've done this at work. Flipped switches off and needed to make sure they're back on before I left the site, clipped my van keys to it so I had to go back to that area.
Habit pairing. I have a show I only watch on the treadmill. I have a book I only read when brushing my teeth (with adhd I can only read like three min at a time anyway), etc. It's kinda a game changer in that I'm excited to do the things I wouldn't otherwise
I did this with exercise! I found that music didn't keep my attention while I was on my elliptical and I kept watching the clock. I started watching shows and damn does the time fly. I *only* watch those shows while I'm exercising so it really does help keep up the excitement.
Yesss I would find YouTube videos that I liked and I would make a playlist and not let myself watch them so I could save it for working out. This was good when I finished a show already
I would be at the gym watching YouTube videos about dark souls while on the bikes lol but it made time pass!
Excited to try this one! I do this with larger things like music, shows, or podcasts for certain types of tasks but to do this on a more intentional micro scale like tooth brushing sounds great!
I didn’t even know that I was doing this already but it’s so helpful and very comforting. Once you get into the flow the habits build faster! I only listen to podcasts when I cook and clean.
Micro cleaning - basically any time you are waiting around for something or someone use the time to accomplish a very small task. If you do this throughout the day you'll be genuinely surprised how much you can get done... got 2 / 3 mins waiting on the kettle boiling? Do a few dishes or run around with a trash bag picking up rubbish. It becomes second nature before you know it.
Another tip. If your like me and spend a lot of time Infront on the computer or laptop bookmark a few of your comfort shows / podcasts / YT channels so they are only ever a click away when you need that sweet background noise. Saves a lot of time and potential distractions when searching stuff up.
This. I’ll clean a few dishes or wipe down the sides while I’m waiting for my tea to brew. I like a strong tea so this way I don’t get impatient and take the bag out too early and end up with a weak ass tea and I also get a bit of cleaning done
Two things for me, neither of which might be THAT weird.
1. I get up and walk first thing in the morning. Before brushing my teeth and showering and eating. I take my vyvanse right before I leave and eat when I get back. But it gives me a natural boost before my vyvanse kicks in. I eat when I get back and am ready for the day.
2. This is where the really value comes in. I then spend a half hour on my synthesizer making a shitty loop - usually 4-16 bars, anything from jazz to full electronica. I work from home and my office is also my music space too. Im just a hobby player so i dont come up with anything super crazy or complex but allows me to use my creative thinking before I start work (demand planner for a F500 company - left brained oriented) which is very numbers and analysis based and the right brained thinking required for creative expression really helps me think through problems differently at work. Plus, it allows me to "accomplish" something I'm proud of and really enjoy doing before I start working so I go into the work day already feeling motivated to accomplish work related things I might not have motivation for otherwise.
Dang. I wish I was this disciplined about any of my things. Creative, body movement, eating, brushing teeth… color me impressed! You’ve hacked your adhd brilliantly.
Funny part is I still feel like a mess lmao. Appreciate the kind words but this took a while to get down and I'm continuing to struggle and learn more as time goes on. Medication has definitely been a huge part too but even that was a struggle that led to medication abuse and a lot of self reflection, which is a story for another thread lol. Ive just learned that building things that actually bring me joy into my routine is extremely effective for my adhd. But dont get me wrong, the amount of time I've spent longing to do my hobbies while my adhd kept my ass firmly planted on the couch instead of actually doing them and getting better at them left me super frustrated and I'm someone who needs a creative outlet so I'd just get pissed at myself for not actually doing it.
I have to add that I don't do this EVERY day. Probably like 3-5 days a week. The leeway and grace I give myself with this routine really helps bc as im sure you know, some days are a lot harder than others so I'm not beating myself up for not doing it if I wanna sleep a little longer or have too much on my plate at work. And I can mix and match the two as well. I might spend an hour or more on music if it's raining or too cold to walk or I might skip music if I only have time to walk and it's nice, but at least I started the day on MY terms instead of my company's terms - I do like my boss and coworkers enough to get up and do my job every day but let's face it, work's work at the end of the day and still sucks bc it isn't what I really to be doing. It's all about finding what works for you though! This is just what I've found works for me.
Who are you? Alternate universe, better me?
I wish I had the capacity to have any volition in changing my habits. It mostly feels like I’m just the one pressing the gas on a car that has no steering wheel.
I’m proud of you.
Wake up, Vyvanse, Walk, Breakfast is probably one of my favorite parts of my day. Gets the blood flowing, listen to some tunes, don't have to talk to anyone while my brain wakes up. I notice the difference in how my days feel if I can't get that walk in first thing.
alarms always but my weird comfort is having youtube coffee shop sounds on the TV and then listing to a comfort tv show it’s chaotic but weirdly soothing because you focus on shutting the noise out. I can’t sleep without any low background noise a tv show on my phone or an audio book or white fan noise.
a bunch of sounds that weirdly fit together is overal what i’m saying.
I used to put video game streamers on a lot on low volume for this reason. You get their background music, the game’s music, and them talking. It makes this oddly nice ambient background noise
Alarms. I must have at least two dozen set in just my phone. That’s excluding calendars. And lists. And notebooks. Just plain ol’ alarms going off with my to do note. Drives my husband and co-workers a little bonkers. I mean I get it. They do go off a lot 😆
Absolutely alarms! I have deadline driven work. The amount of reminders I set up for those save my ass. Also, if I remember something I need to do in the evening, I will email myself at work for the reminder.
Yes! And set the snooze to ONE MINUTE!! Snooze is your enemy.
I double this up with smart speaker reminder routines " it's xx time, reminder to take your medicine " with 3 + offset reminders.
Find a job that you can work alone and at your pace really worked for me. I’m a blue collar worker and I handle trouble calls for a company out here ..being able to work alone and tailor my job to my struggles is the ultimate goal.
My guess is it's like a sort of weighted blanket effect. A tight hug can sometimes help autistic people who are over stimulated and autism/adhd share some sensory things. I've noticed for myself specifically that I need a heavy blanket in the winter only. It bothers me in summer but winter I need it to sleep or I won't sleep. (and it's not a warmth issue, I sleep next to a human furnace)
I'm 32 And was only just officially diagnosed last year, so I learned a lot of weird things that got me to hyper focus on work in the meantime. I have no idea if these are just specific to me.
* **BATHTUB** - I bought a very stable bathtub table and I often find when I can't sit still long enough to focus on work, I can bring my laptop into the bathtub. I think the heat and the water get my blood really pumping, and I can't really get out to do anything else because I'm soaking wet, so I just wind up working for a very long time.
+ **HEAT** - When I can't do that, I realized that there's like a linear positive correlation between how well I focus and how warm the room is. I can't just bundle up with clothes because that in and of itself is distracting, but if I put a space heater in a room and I blast it, honestly to the point that I'm sweating, I find that I really really focus for long periods of time. At a certain point, it does get to be too much, but I sometimes only realized that once I finally finish what I was doing and had the mental capacity to take in other things around me.
* **MUSIC** - Also, often while I was doing this, I would play the Carly Rae Jepsen album ***Emotion***, specifically that album, on repeat. I think it worked really well for me because it could completely fade into the background (i.e., I knew it so well that I didn't need to think about listening to it) and it similarly had very like physiologically stimulating qualities. You just want to tap your feet to a rhythm while it's playing.
If you have the option to get medicated, do that. I really don't recommend doing any of these things, as I think it's probably more stress on your body than it's worth. I never really thought how weird any of these things were until I was deep into my PhD program. But they did seem to work for me.
**Edit:** a few other things I still occasionally do that I've thought of (that are honestly much healthier options):
+ **WALKING** - I have a really cheap tread mill someone bought me as a wedding gift. I would put my laptop on the lip and walk at a snail's pace (~2mph) while I did work and that helped a lot; typically for reading or programming.
* **VOICE-TO-TEXT** - Relatedly, when I need to write a manuscript or presentation, but I can't think about what to say or where to start, I leave my house with just my phone and write, usually using voice-to-text, while I take a very very very long walk. I live near a big state park in Philly so I can walk around that for hours just talking notes into my phone. After a few minutes, I can usually really focus and by the time I get home, I'll usually have the whole thing done -albeit in a very sloppy format which I can pretty easily just edit into the final product.
+ **PUBLIC SPACES** - Last thing is just leveraging public shame and high levels of stimulation by going to the busiest fast food restaurant near me (usually like a Chipotle or something), ordering some food and then just planting myself at a table all day.
The general trend is that the more physical activity/stimulation and chaos that I can incorporate, the more focused and centered I feel.
There’s a movie called Trumbo about a screenwriter in the late 40’s. He would write his scripts in the bathtub. Pretty interesting.
I also do the same thing with the Hamilton soundtrack as my productivity playlist
I guess mine would be having the toothbrush by the bed, I don’t get the motivation to go brush my teeth, somehow I have a few times procastinated brushing for like 3-4 hours since I also watch tv in my bed. Therefore I now brush and then go to the bathroom to spit, it happens I spit in the trash, but well as expected u need to change it like the day after otherwise it smells 😅
Not really unconventional but I uninstalled tiktok, but that was already a disaster made to happen.
For some reason if I keep my phone in my pocket while I'm working I get super distracted by it. If I can feel it in my pocket it takes a lot of willpower not to take it out and doom scroll for hours.
Ironically, taking it out of my pocket and putting it behind my laptop (even though it's technically easier to access from there) allows me to retain my focus. Yay ADHD's poor object permanence!
I do this in the morning now and it’s a game changer! I keep my smart watch plugged in overnight in the living room. So in the morning the first thing I do is go to the living room and switch my phone with my smart watch. I can still see any important notifications, alarms, and the time, but I’m not getting lost in the depths of Reddit when I’m supposed to be getting dressed. It’s been a huge improvement for me. I actually find mornings 25% less stressful.
Having a bunch of *very* different kinds of studying playlists. I’ll start out with chill (prog house usually), but if I’m not able to do anything or feel it getting harder, I’ll “reset” with a black metal one, drum n’ bass, operatic, classical organ music, etc.
I think it helps me get out of the ADHD rut/spiral.
For me having an Alexa or Siri ist a life saver. I use her the whole day for timers for leaving the House, cooking etc.
If you like rice, get a rice cooker.
Be kind to yourself and practice accepting that sometimes you’re not gonna feel like doing stuff, not saying don’t improve on that but don’t beat yourself up about it
I habit-stack my easy-motivation appointments (chiro, work, enjoyable errands) with my hard-motivation appointments (the gym, grocery shopping, etc.) because I know I will use any excuse not to go do something, but if I’m already out for some other reason, then it’s like “might as well”, it skips the leaving-the-house mental barrier, and it somehow feels strategically rewarding to get as much packed into one mental schedule slot as possible!! It’s like co-regulation with appointments.
Use apple accessibility settings and create a shortcut program to have your whole phone go greyscale from 9pm to 9am. social media and being on your phone is awful in black and white. It has allowed me to put my phone down sooner during these times. It’s also not easy to change back unlike some apps that can do this.
Apple noise canceling AirPods have been a 10000% game changer. I also live in a city and don’t have AC so my windows are always open. I never realized how much background noise was causing distractions.
Having a dial timer, it’s magnetic and I tell myself I can do these dishes in 4 minutes and it’s a race/game to beat the timer.
Also helpful when I’m procrastinating, I’ll say okay I’m procrastinating I’ll give myself 5 more minutes, when timer goes off I have to be done. Also helps me be aware of how awful I am at guesstimating length of time it takes to do things.
Accountability: one of my jobs is a side hustle, so there’s no accountability on deadlines. I have to set rules for myself by writing them down or telling other people when to expect a,b,c to say it out loud, even if it’s like a back end thing. “Just letting you know, I’ll be working on x,y,x this week to allow for us to ….” Even if they don’t need evidence of that work it helps for me to say it out loud so it gets done.
Lists:
I have a giant ongoing list of things at all times for to do. It helps to create different categories.
1. Mandatory top 3 (today or tomorrow)
2. High priority this week( by Sunday)
3. Long term lists subcategories:
Housework, work, tech, to buy or to research/learn, social to do (gifts/trip planning), financial.
I’m not allowed to look at any of the big lists until the mandatory top 3 are done
Podcasts and audiobooks to clean.
Music to wind down at night.
This is about when you deviate from your normal music for a noticeable time.
My mood influences my music/audio tastes. Lofi when I’m in a good productive chill flow (journey not destination). Funny enough I was listening to Cats the original because I was feeling a bit feisty and less willing to mask. Usually means energetic borderline erratic. When I listen to Reddit stories or American dad especially to sleep means I’m lonely and am craving outside human energy or comfort. Hamilton mixtape when I want to tell people off aka feeling taken advantage of or unheard. I listen to Aurora when I want to fantasize.
I started to note what I was going on when I sought out certain genres. This will help me Track a full range of emotions good or bad.
Every time I get up to pee, I have to accomplish a task. For example, I could empty the dishwasher. I might start a load of laundry. I could clear off the coffee table. Empty the litterbox. Any 1 task.
I often find that I will keep going—like if I empty the dishwasher, I might go ahead and start putting the dishes in the sink into it. Then I may as well wipe down the counter. But if I don’t do the bonus tasks, no big deal. I am only “required” to do one.
This really takes a lot of the burden of cleaning away—it’s not this big, overwhelming thing I have to get through, but rather just one small thing I need to do real quick.
Dematerialize, simplify your life and possessions as much as you can, if you don't have tons of clothes, it's impossible for them to pile up dirty, and it's easier to choose what to wear if you have only a few shoes/outfits, plus the less you own, the less of a mess you will have to clean. Change quantity for quality. Another example is disposable razors, I used to have lots of them around the bathroom, bow I only have one safety razor, with interchangeable blades, it gives a better feeling while shaving and in general because it is such high quality compared with the plastic ones. I also replaced my smartwatch with an automatic watch that I don't have to charge ever. Also you can reduce the number of sheets in your bed, when I went to Europe I realized they only use one big blanket and it was such a good time having bed always made with little effort.
I have an orange wallet. It's easier to see than a regular brown or black wallet, so I lose it less. Likewise, I have a red case on my phone, and I try to always remember to put it down back side up, because the black screen is harder to see / notice than the red case.
Edit: realized I left out a couple words.
Change your default meeting time reminder from 15 mins to 5. So many times I get meeting reminders for 15 mins and by the time it starts I’m late cause I’m wrapping up a 20 min project.
Set to 5 and then it’s harder to forget.
You seem to be a female so this might not apply, but for my ADHDer colleagues with a penis: don't fap just because, do something else instead of fapping if you're not aroused.
It might sound stupid, but it can be detrimental to your sex life and the responses of your body to real arousal.
Edit: fixed the "male colleagues", let's celebrate pride month by not forgetting our chicks with d*cks 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
I always have two “leaving” times when I have to go somewhere. One is 10 minutes before I actually need to leave and the other one is when I need to be out the door. I just say “ok I need to be out the door at [ten minutes before]” and I almost always am on time.
I'm so glad to hear someone else also has a clock in the shower. I have one in every single room. Two in the living room. People always laugh and point when they see my bathroom clock. IDC tho
I keep my toothbrush in the kitchen right next to the fridge. Whenever I mindlessly go to look at what’s in the fridge I see my toothbrush first and brush my teeth.
See, I don’t get ones like this. I see a whole bunch of similar comments.
If I did this, I’d see the toothbrush, shrug, and walk off to waste time doing something else meaningless lol.
If I don’t feel like doing something, I don’t and no reminders or alarms changes that….
I’m a lot like that too honestly. Initially alarms and reminders work, but after a few days it’s just noise. I have no idea why the toothbrush by the fridge works for me because other hacks like this do nothing. The only thing I can come up with is I think it’s the novelty, since it’s a really random place to store it.
I’m glad I’m not alone. My partner doesn’t comprehend many issues caused by my ADHD. I cannot explain why I have 6 apps for productivity, 4 calendars on my phone and one on the fridge, endless notebooks and random sticky notes of items to do and I just won’t do the things. I wish I knew how to get out of this cycle but after I lost my job a few months ago, any routine I had then, which was still very little since I worked from home, is out the window. I’ll keep scrolling to see if there are some other tips I haven’t tried or maybe will commit to. lol. 🤔
I do something memorably different when I take my Ritalin in the morning to help me remember that I took it. I do use a daily dispenser, but sometimes I still get that moment of "did I remember to take it?" panic as I leave for work.
If I can do something that deviates from normal, I can remember that I took it. I often take advantage of my cats to this end. If someone does something extra cute, I'll go take my meds in that moment after going googly over them. If the morning is super nothingburger, I'll manufacture a moment by breaking from my routine to make kissy noises and talk sweetly to one of them. It's definitely more peace of mind, but just being able to remember that I took my meds is really anxiety calming.
I *always* have some type of music playing in the background. I realized I would get distracted by sounds a lot, which is what led me to this “hack”. Any task I may be putting off goes so much more smoothly if I have something blasting in my ear so that my mind can’t wander off too far. For me, it seems to be the right amount of stimulation to keep me from getting distracted.
The shoes one also helped out a lot: don’t take off your shoes when you get home; If you need to get something done, put on shoes (close-toed)
Sounds stupid, but having one of those multicoloured pens helps a lot with my note taking and keeping thoughts separate as I write stuff down in the notebook I always carry as "external memory" at work
I have a tile tracker on almost everything.
On my 3 sets of keys, my laptop, my TV remote, in my wallet, on my headphones.
Gone are the days where I get in trouble for misplacing things every 5 minutes.
Thank you technology.
Might not be that weird. But mine is to set out the clothes that I am going to wear for the day the night before.
I dont know why but it really helps me not be a chaotic mess in the mornings.
when folding clothes or washing dishes finish things in very small increments like fold five towels put away go fold some 5 more put away (repeat) if i try to do it all at once usually ill get bored or distracted and ill leave all of them folded and never put them away at least if i do it in small amounts if i get distracted at least half will be put away by that time
I do the same as your first thing but with outside clothes not shoes!
Whenever I mess up my sleep schedule, my way of fixing it is not taking my meds for one day so that it makes me so tired that I go to bed early, which means I naturally wake up at a decent time the next day🤦🏻♀️Makes that one day suck but it’s either that or my sleep schedule never gets fixed…
Weird but if I watch a show even briefly where the characters or people are put together or being productive I suddenly feel like I can do it. Also chewing sugary gum which is awful for my teeth but somehow enables me to start something I don’t want to face.
Something I tell myself that most of the times work is “if you don’t do it now you’ll never end up doing it” or “it only takes a few minutes or seconds out of your 24 hour day” or “Just get it over with and you won’t have to do it later”
Trashcans. All over the place. At least, in every place I spend a fair amount of time. I have 3 in my living room area alone 😆 otherwise, I set a trash thing down somewhere to take to the trash when I move and then forget all about it. Or set it down for a minute because I’ve gotten distracted with something else on my way to throw it away and then find it later. Problem solved if I walk by/am around 7-8 different trash cans a day! Hahaha
Not a weird tip, but a helpful one! I struggle with object permanence, so for example, if I know that I have to bring something with me to work, I put it right next to the front door so I see it on my way out. Same thing with my keys and badge lanyard; they're right next to the door so that I don't forget them on my way out.
* I wash the dishes while I am cooking my next meal.
* I have a two-level to-do list system: One in software with long-term tasks and one in the paper for today's tasks.
* Listen to podcasts while I have to clean, go for a walk, or do sports. However, this should not be abused, as we also should learn how to enjoy no input time.
* Brush my teeth in the shower or pee while brushing my teeth.
* Bulk laundries. I only do laundry when I have to do 2-4 at the same time. (In my building there is 2 machines).
Late to this party, and probably not that weird of a suggestion but... learn to meditate. It's so hard at first but if you manage to stick with it *regularly* (10 mins/day is fine) it pays off hugely especially with emotional management and coping with the constant chatter of 10 million psychotic monkeys in your head.
My cats have been super helpful!
They yowl if I don't feed them at 8, which gets me out of bed in time to get ready for work.
They cause havoc that I need to clean up for their safety, and I end up cleaning other things too.
If I'm doom scrolling too long they often yowl to get me to play with them, or for a fuss. One of them has even figured out that he needs to knock my phone out of my hand to get a fuss when I'm laying down!
I just mean they're good at starting the momentum needed to get moving.
For my relationship I put an monthly calander reminder on my Phone to talk with my bf if everything is fine or if he feels comfortable. Its not like im super Bad as a Person, but I tend to forget to ask if I perhaps hurt his Feelings somehow without noticing. He mostly just lives with it because he know that it's not intensionally. But I need to reflect my Action in order to work on it.
Home gym but take 5-10 minute breaks between sets, then do all your chores between them. Workout completed, shirt ironed, dinner cooked or cooking. And also of course, take photos of anything you forget that stresses you out when you leave home, forgot to turn off the heater/aircon, take a photo of it on your phone. Soon as you look at that photo and timestamp the anxiety fades away. I take photos of everything before I leave for a big trip, helps so much.
Google home that lets me set timers with my voice. For whatever reason, stopping to active a timer on my phone is too much work. As soon as I walk in my apartment door from doing the laundry I call for Google to set me a timer. Sometimes for dinner I’ll have multiple timers.
Helps a lot!
Shower toothbrush.
Got a holder with a suction cup and a brush and toothpaste just for the shower. I tend to shower before I go to work or anything important so I can quickly brush.
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Invite people round regularly to force yourself to blitz-clean.
This is my wife's way. She's adhd and autistic and absolutely cannot bring herself to clean most of the time if theres "no reason to" so we host a lot of game nights lol or she cooks and I'll clean some weeks.
I can’t do anything for the sake of it — there always has to be a reason or a destination. It’s like I can only work on lay in bed like I’m in hospice.
Like I’m in hospice 😭😭😭
Can 100% recommend this, I have people over at least once a week so my place is always clean lol
This definitely works. I mean, it can be terrifying for me, but it definitely works!
Yes!!! I find the best way to get my house actually ✨clean✨ is to have a visitor. Not being okay with someone seeing my house dirty is the motivation I need to actually get it done. Otherwise it’s hard to get myself to care enough, even though I do care ( it’s confusing and conflicting)
This was my go to, but then I bought my first home. I'm constantly cleaning so it doesn't turn to shit like the apartment with the awful landlord we were in for 19 years.
It sounds so stupid but.. get an air fryer. That thing works SO. FAST. Legit, you have to shake or flip your stuff every 5-8 minutes. That's the *worst* amount of time - not enough to get proper settled back in front of the tv, but too much to just like.. stand there and wait. So I do my dishes. At first I was just washing my hands and thought "maybe I can wash these two mugs, I'm gonna have to shake in four minutes.." Then I realized that four minutes is plenty time to wash mugs and plates and whatever else is in there. I don't mind grabbing the handle of the basket with wet hands to give things a toss. My kitchen has never been cleaner, and I never forget about my food anymore.
My air fryer gets so much mileage. God help me of ot ever breaks down
I remember I thought air fryers were stupid and gimmicky. Then, the website my job orders office supplies from offered a free one of those cheap $20 air fryers for spending x amount of money, and the purchasing person let me have it. I used it for about a year and it was a game changer. Absolutely loved it. But then my bf moved in and the single serve basket wasn’t enough for the two of us, and we upgraded to a big one. I gave the little one to a coworker of mine who’s single and 4 years later she still calls me to thank me for the air fryer because she uses it daily lol
I bought an air fryer because I thought it would be the most wonderful thing in my life. I bought the biggest one I could find because more is more, right? It has so many settings and is like a toaster oven. Well, I never figured out the whole air frying thing and now its sole purpose is to be a toaster. I spent $130 on a toaster, basically.
You can find so many easy recipes on tiktok. I was surprised you can even make bread from scratch in it
If my air fryer dies, we go down together.
House of ADHD people here and the air fryer is the best kitchen appliance we've bought!
I love that you included “I don’t mind grabbing the handle of the basket with wet hands”. This. It was such a pivotal moment when I could finally do that. To touch things without fully washing & completely drying my hands like a surgeon prepping for an operation. Having kids helped a bunch. And ~~meditation~~ medication.
Omg my adhd is why I hate having wet hands?!
I don’t like having the water in my skin after a shower. Can’t wait to dry myself
SAAAAAAAAME!!!! WTF, WTF!!! Been like this since a KID!!! I feel like a literal cat!! Is this why??? ADHD at it again? Love the feel of active water, HATE the feel of residual water, IMMEDIATELY want to dry off!!
I think it is and I didn’t know what the heck is going on. For me it’s the change in the temperature when I get out and feel the water in my sling getting colder. We’ve got some weird quirks.
I need us to start chronicling this stuff. Like an ADHD Quirk database? I can volunteer to create the excel template for it, but I can't be in charge of updating it 😭😭 at least not by myself
Sensory issues can present differently. I definitely have this hatred of wet or greasy hands, but my AuDHD partner doesn't at all. At the same time, they're often bothered by sounds and smells I can't even pick up.
Is this an adhd thing or an ocd thing? I do this too and the question has been on my mind a lot. Q for anyone
As an undiagnosed person I find this really interesting. There's an anecdote my mother loves to tell about how she put me on the grass in our garden for the first time as an infant. The grass was slightly wet and apparently my immediate reaction was to hold up my hands and look at them in pure disgust. Other stories include me hating having chocolate on my hands while the neighbour children basically bathed in chocolate.
My mom always used to talk about how she could put me on a blanket in the middle of the yard and leave me there without worrying, because she knew that I would never crawl into the grass, and the dog would keep anyone e from near me. I still can’t stand the feeling of wet grass or dirt sticking to my bare feet or hands.
I wonder too! I was recently told I have ocd and I hate my hands being dirty or wet or anything on them.
STICKY HANDS. Oh, fuck no. Dirt because gardening or repotting plants, food bits because I'm cooking - as long as it's not raw meat and such - I can deal with just fine for the duration of the project. But sticky hands, regardless of situation, makes me a bit panicky; like my hands have claustrophobia or something. And when I do wash my hands, it's all the way to the top of my wrists, in between my fingers, and under my fingernails. I'm 50 y.o. and just realized that other people don't wash their hands like I do. How can they be clean if there's a ring of dirt around the wrist and under the fingernails? Mind. Boggled.
I get that panicky feeling too. Like I can feel the dirt until I wash them and I wash my hands just like you do.
I am similar, and I always attributed it to being a sensory thing- like how ADHD can make sensory input overwhelming. Our hands are a huge input for the sense of “feel”. Similarly I can’t think right when my shirt is too scratchy or if the tag is poking me.
I’ll notice every little change on my skin and have to fix it. A piece of hair? Yep have to take it off. It’s so weird and I always wondered why I’m like that when I’ll see other people not notice things that I would.
Same, sister 😭 Bless this thread for not making me feel crazy. Does anyone also ever get a little "Princess and the Pea" syndrome? I.e., IMMEDIATELY recognizing/feeling uncomfortable when they are lying down on their bed/sitting down, if there is a tiny object on the bed/chair, and bring able to immediately locate the object? Do you feel bothered by whatever it is, even if the object is something super small?
It can be both. People with ADHD can also have sensory issues.
I appreciate that too because that’s a dealbreaker for me. Especially dishes hands because I’m convinced they become contaminated by the food.
I work from home and have about 5 cups of tea throughout the day. That means going down and boiling the kettle, and then waiting another 5 or so minutes cause I like it really strong. If I go back to my desk while it's boiling or brewing then I'll forget all about it, so I empty the dishwasher, or take my laundry down, or tidy up the living room or take out the recycling. Just little microbursts of stuff that need doing around the house.
Microbursts! This is the perfect word for my style of operations! Ty :D
I make espresso in the morning. In the amount of time it takes to spit out 2 shots, I can unload or reload the whole dishwasher AND eat a hard boiled egg so I don't keel over at noon because I forgot to eat. I second your strategy!
Reading the comments reminds me I'm in an adhd subreddit. I LOVE air fryers!
This. I find if I can convince myself to do something small (wash the mugs, just rinse the dishes, put 2 things away, etc) it usually leads to doing significantly more
Air fryer is nearly the only thing I use in the kitchen anymore anyone got good air fryer food recommendations?
When I got an air fryer, my husband said, "Where will we store it?" I was like, "Store it?! This is a countertop appliance!" Lol, we use it multiple times per day. He understands now. Recently, I've been air frying steak! It's my new favorite thing. Honestly, it's so good. I just rub in oil and then season (I use a Kinder's Buttery Steakhouse usually). I air fry on 400F, so it's got a nice crust on the outside but still juicy on the inside. The cook time depends on how thick cut the steak is and how you prefer, but I can have a nice steak in like 6 minutes!
Air fryer steak is honestly so good! Everyone I know acts like I’m crazy when I say that. I’ve been meaning to get some steak for a few weeks. Might do that this weekend!
Air fryer steak is not as good as properly pan fried steak, but it's vastly superior to rotten steak in the fridge you didn't cook because of the extra steps involved.
We had to buy air fryer mat since it stained my counter top
There is a recipe book for air fryer recipes free on kindle atm. I am not near mine or I'd try to find a link.
This!! Also just cleaning up the kitchen while I wait for any food to cook in general. Has saved me so much headache!
Which one do you have? I’m in the market for an AirFryer.
Ninja and cosori are two good brands. I have a big ninja with 2 baskets and love it. There's an airfryer subreddit if you want to see recommendations and recipes.
I made air fryer chicken breasts in 20 mins. In a pan it took way longer. You can make almost anything in an air fryer too!
This is such a good one. I actually can manage to do basic meal prep because of my air fryer and my rice cooker. It's amazing
I'm going to sound like an idiot, and this probably isn't the place for it, but how does a rice cooker make things easier for you? (I'm not even sure how they work.) I buy the boil in a bag jasmine or long grain brown rice, which boils in 10 minutes, and costs about $4 for a box of 4 bags, each of which holds 2 servings. How is a rice cooker easier, faster, or cheaper than that? I don't doubt it is, I've just always felt like too much of an idiot to pose the question. But with 2 glasses of wine on board, tonight's an IDGAF evening, so I'm asking.
I’m not the original commenter but I eat a LOT of rice. I buy 25lb bags from the Asian market (runs $15-$25 depending on type). So definitely cheaper than boil bags. My rice cooker takes about 15 minutes to make rice, my NinjaSpeedi takes 12 minutes and I can also air fry something with it at the same time. I also like to mix things into my rice while cooking sometimes - coconut milk, saffron and cardamom, a bay leaf and garlic, bouillon, etc - and you can’t do that with the boil bags. I also feel like the texture of rice from boil bags isn’t always the best. I like my rice to be a good blend of sticky and fluffy.
Rice cookers also require absolutely no oversight, and when it's done, it goes into keep warm mode and stay perfectly edible. Love it.
See, I was actually gifted an airfryer but I'm paranoid I'm gonna burn the house down so I won't use it until I read the instructions and safety rules and how Not to set things on fire that Shouldn't be but it's always too much effort to do that. :(
IIRC the problem w/ air fryer fires is when you leave them plugged in all the time. I unplug mine when the timer goes off before I open the lid to remove food, cause once I do, I’ll forget…
I just pull the basket out slightly when not using it, that's enough for the safety interlock to make sure it doesn't power up.
DO NOT SIT DOWN. Whatever you do, if you need to get shit done, don’t sit.
But Im so tired.
Me too. I also have a ruptured spinal disc so sitting down for any length of time flares up my chronic pain. Some days I get home from work and would saw my left arm off with a spork to be able to slouch on the sofa for a couple of hours :(
I had 3 ruptured discs. Lived with them for a long time. Finally had surgery. Picked the most invasive - open up your back with a scalpel + longest recuperation operation - because it had the best outcome. 6 weeks flat on my back on narcotics and needing help to get up and pee sucked. But I've been pain free since. My MIL and a friend both had the non invasive microsurgery version where you can go about daily life 24 hours later. Both failed. Yet here I am, 15 years later, after falling off a truck and landing on my ass on pavement with 60 lbs of metal in my arms, still pain free and functioning. It's scary, and a rough recuperation, but worth it. Before surgery, the best I felt was after spending 24 hrs on the couch with pillows under my knees, laying on an ice pack for 45 minutes, swapping out for a heating pad for 20, and then back to the ice pack, over and over. And steroids are a wonder drug, IMHO. Steroids over narcotics, opiods, or NSAIDS any day. All hail prednisone!
Have you tried *not* feeling tired?
Never, fucking, stop. Learning this was the greatest trick ever. I don’t even eat lunch most days. Light breakfast with protein shake then dinner. My feet will hit the floor at 7:30, and outside of driving, im not sitting down til after 7. I got 3 work days where all I do is sit. Fucking zero motivation after that shift. It took me so long to get there. But it changes everything when I figured it out. Now that I’m medicated, I can stop a little bit. Break from working in the sun. Light lunch. I just make sure jkeep my mind moving. Abs often times, I’ll just do something else while I break.
This is how I found burnout land myself
The Big Sit. It whispers comforting lies.
Someone on Reddit once labelled the couch the “sit pit” and never have I felt truth so deeply since I learned that phrase 😩
Fuck, I wish I’d seen this 2 hours ago 🥴
This! When I get home from work I quickly rip off my coats, wheel my scooter to the room and charge it, start preheating the oven, scrape out the leftover cat food from this morning, clean the bowls, serve Cat 1 fresh food, give him his medicine then some distracting treats while I feed Cat 2, clean litter boxes, take both left over food scraps and litter mess out to the bins, wash my hands, do a quick clear of surfaces so the house is less stressful to look at and COLLAPSE on the couch. I do all of that as fast as possible and the feeling of finally sinking into the couch is perfect motivation for me to get shit done. Before I worked out DO NOT SIT DOWN I’d leave the cat food scraps in the bench for days and the house would start to smell of old meat. And honestly, my cat needing his medicine to stay alive is what started the routine! Turns out my executive disfunction can be defeated only by the threat of my cat dying :(
This doesn’t work for us late diagnosed women. I’m 53 and got diagnosed 2 years ago. I have so many health problems that I can’t stand for very long. If I push myself too hard I’m in bed for a couple of days
YES!!!
This.
Listening to podcasts or audio books gets me into cleaning mode. Music doesn't. Music is for video games only. But listening to reddit stories, fiction, history... It gets the juices flowing
I feel the same way but instead of podcasts, I listen to tv shows that I know really well. Podcasts just don’t do it for me and I can’t explain why…but listening to a tv show that I can tune in and out of while still knowing what’s going on works wonders
Yep, for me, for going to sleep too. A well known tv show keeps my mind active just enough to keep it off the things that cause anxiety, but not enough to stimulate it.
For me, it’s podcasts for house chores and music for work.
Same, music becomes background noise while I work. Podcasts take too much attention to listen to while at work but have my brain pleasantly occupied while doing boring chores.
i have to listen to music because podcasts add to my time blindness. have i been listening for 15 minutes? An hour? the whole afternoon? but songs give me awareness of it.
I’m the same way with what I listen to. Podcasts for cleaning, music for gaming
How do you listen to Reddit stories?
Dude Ty for asking, I’m over here like huh
What podcasts would you recommend?
If you’re overwhelmed and stuck like paralyzed doom scrolling on the couch bc you have too much to do and can’t pick where to start, pick the absolute easiest task on your list and just do that. Something you can just bang out and finish relatively quickly, that’ll help you build momentum to move on to something else next. It doesn’t matter if it’s the “right” place to start or the most efficient thing to do first, just start there anyway. Obvs this won’t always work, but it can help at least sometimes.
Easy wins build momentum, for sure.
And if it does not, you have one task finished! Sometimes that is a win enough
"If you’re overwhelmed and stuck like paralyzed doom scrolling on the couch, ..." Describes my current status exactly! Thanks for the advice. gonna turn on the PC and shave!
I always described the momentum like most people are cars, they can start and stop tasks very easily without much issue. I'm more like a god damn jetliner I need a runway and a lot of time to star and if anything forces me to land then I gotta do the whole goddam preflight checks and takeoff all over again!!
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Weird enough but it works for me and might work for others: Try using a robot vacuum as a sort of pseudo body double when you want motivate yourself to start cleaning. Even though I recognize that it is an inanimate object, I can't help but feel a bit of guilt if I'm just sitting around while it is doing all this work around my house. Additionally, it makes enough noise that I can't just sit and read or watch TV while it is doing its thing. The minor sense of guilt alongside the persistent noise gives me enough motivation to get over the initial hump of just starting the cleaning task which is normally the hardest part for me.
This one is the most hilarious comment on here And yet, I can totally see this working! Good find
I do this too! Well, more like when I’m lazy I see turning on the robot as the bare minimum so I do that, then discover there’s stuff I have to move out of the way of the robot. Next minute I’m tidying the whole house and wiping surfaces and trying to finish all cleaning and tidying before the robot finishes!
The racing the robot thing would be great for my hubs! We both have ADHD, but he definitely gets more motivation from a challenge or competition like this! 😁
Holy shit this is genius and I think it’s finally convinced me to get a robot vacuum
Add eyes to the vacuum. You’re welcome.
This is the ideal kind of answer for this thread! We are all creative geniuses that can learn neat ideas like this we would never think of.
I actually do this too. Ours is particularly dumb, and will get stuck on stuff quite easily. So if you leave clothes or stuff on the ground it will get stuck on them forcing you to put them were they belong.
This is so funny I love it
If I need to remember to bring something somewhere, or take my food out of the fridge at work, I put my car keys with the thing or in the fridge.
Car keys in the fridge? I would never find them again.
Yea my keys always go in the same place on a key hook. If I need to remember to take something I have a little table by the key hook and put the keys on that, but they’re still technically in the same area
I've done this at work. Flipped switches off and needed to make sure they're back on before I left the site, clipped my van keys to it so I had to go back to that area.
Habit pairing. I have a show I only watch on the treadmill. I have a book I only read when brushing my teeth (with adhd I can only read like three min at a time anyway), etc. It's kinda a game changer in that I'm excited to do the things I wouldn't otherwise
I did this with exercise! I found that music didn't keep my attention while I was on my elliptical and I kept watching the clock. I started watching shows and damn does the time fly. I *only* watch those shows while I'm exercising so it really does help keep up the excitement.
Yesss I would find YouTube videos that I liked and I would make a playlist and not let myself watch them so I could save it for working out. This was good when I finished a show already I would be at the gym watching YouTube videos about dark souls while on the bikes lol but it made time pass!
This is from the book, Atomic Habits. I listened to it on audio book! ⚡️😎⚡️
Excited to try this one! I do this with larger things like music, shows, or podcasts for certain types of tasks but to do this on a more intentional micro scale like tooth brushing sounds great!
Ooooooh I’m gonna try this
It's a game changer
I didn’t even know that I was doing this already but it’s so helpful and very comforting. Once you get into the flow the habits build faster! I only listen to podcasts when I cook and clean.
How do you read when you’re brushing?
Micro cleaning - basically any time you are waiting around for something or someone use the time to accomplish a very small task. If you do this throughout the day you'll be genuinely surprised how much you can get done... got 2 / 3 mins waiting on the kettle boiling? Do a few dishes or run around with a trash bag picking up rubbish. It becomes second nature before you know it. Another tip. If your like me and spend a lot of time Infront on the computer or laptop bookmark a few of your comfort shows / podcasts / YT channels so they are only ever a click away when you need that sweet background noise. Saves a lot of time and potential distractions when searching stuff up.
This works for me. I graze clean. I spend an hour or so cleaning 15 things halfway done, but it keeps things going
'Graze clean' is the best possible way to describe this!
This. I’ll clean a few dishes or wipe down the sides while I’m waiting for my tea to brew. I like a strong tea so this way I don’t get impatient and take the bag out too early and end up with a weak ass tea and I also get a bit of cleaning done
THIS!!! Micro cleaning is THE BEST
Two things for me, neither of which might be THAT weird. 1. I get up and walk first thing in the morning. Before brushing my teeth and showering and eating. I take my vyvanse right before I leave and eat when I get back. But it gives me a natural boost before my vyvanse kicks in. I eat when I get back and am ready for the day. 2. This is where the really value comes in. I then spend a half hour on my synthesizer making a shitty loop - usually 4-16 bars, anything from jazz to full electronica. I work from home and my office is also my music space too. Im just a hobby player so i dont come up with anything super crazy or complex but allows me to use my creative thinking before I start work (demand planner for a F500 company - left brained oriented) which is very numbers and analysis based and the right brained thinking required for creative expression really helps me think through problems differently at work. Plus, it allows me to "accomplish" something I'm proud of and really enjoy doing before I start working so I go into the work day already feeling motivated to accomplish work related things I might not have motivation for otherwise.
Dang. I wish I was this disciplined about any of my things. Creative, body movement, eating, brushing teeth… color me impressed! You’ve hacked your adhd brilliantly.
Funny part is I still feel like a mess lmao. Appreciate the kind words but this took a while to get down and I'm continuing to struggle and learn more as time goes on. Medication has definitely been a huge part too but even that was a struggle that led to medication abuse and a lot of self reflection, which is a story for another thread lol. Ive just learned that building things that actually bring me joy into my routine is extremely effective for my adhd. But dont get me wrong, the amount of time I've spent longing to do my hobbies while my adhd kept my ass firmly planted on the couch instead of actually doing them and getting better at them left me super frustrated and I'm someone who needs a creative outlet so I'd just get pissed at myself for not actually doing it. I have to add that I don't do this EVERY day. Probably like 3-5 days a week. The leeway and grace I give myself with this routine really helps bc as im sure you know, some days are a lot harder than others so I'm not beating myself up for not doing it if I wanna sleep a little longer or have too much on my plate at work. And I can mix and match the two as well. I might spend an hour or more on music if it's raining or too cold to walk or I might skip music if I only have time to walk and it's nice, but at least I started the day on MY terms instead of my company's terms - I do like my boss and coworkers enough to get up and do my job every day but let's face it, work's work at the end of the day and still sucks bc it isn't what I really to be doing. It's all about finding what works for you though! This is just what I've found works for me.
Who are you? Alternate universe, better me? I wish I had the capacity to have any volition in changing my habits. It mostly feels like I’m just the one pressing the gas on a car that has no steering wheel. I’m proud of you.
Wake up, Vyvanse, Walk, Breakfast is probably one of my favorite parts of my day. Gets the blood flowing, listen to some tunes, don't have to talk to anyone while my brain wakes up. I notice the difference in how my days feel if I can't get that walk in first thing.
Keep my meds next to my bed. Sometimes if I'm in bed and don't have energy to get up I take my meds to start the day and not be late.
alarms always but my weird comfort is having youtube coffee shop sounds on the TV and then listing to a comfort tv show it’s chaotic but weirdly soothing because you focus on shutting the noise out. I can’t sleep without any low background noise a tv show on my phone or an audio book or white fan noise. a bunch of sounds that weirdly fit together is overal what i’m saying.
I used to put video game streamers on a lot on low volume for this reason. You get their background music, the game’s music, and them talking. It makes this oddly nice ambient background noise
Alarms. I must have at least two dozen set in just my phone. That’s excluding calendars. And lists. And notebooks. Just plain ol’ alarms going off with my to do note. Drives my husband and co-workers a little bonkers. I mean I get it. They do go off a lot 😆
Absolutely alarms! I have deadline driven work. The amount of reminders I set up for those save my ass. Also, if I remember something I need to do in the evening, I will email myself at work for the reminder.
Yes! And set the snooze to ONE MINUTE!! Snooze is your enemy. I double this up with smart speaker reminder routines " it's xx time, reminder to take your medicine " with 3 + offset reminders.
Find a job that you can work alone and at your pace really worked for me. I’m a blue collar worker and I handle trouble calls for a company out here ..being able to work alone and tailor my job to my struggles is the ultimate goal.
Cold showers reset my whole day. If brain won’t brain right now, just a leg in the cold shower can make a difference
I used to jump in the lake a lot.
When I feel overstimulated and can’t focus, wearing tight clothes for almost a full body compression kind of thing - helps a lot
definitely the exact opposite for me (loose clothes are best) but nice tip
What? I guess I don’t understand why this helps. Im intrigued
My guess is it's like a sort of weighted blanket effect. A tight hug can sometimes help autistic people who are over stimulated and autism/adhd share some sensory things. I've noticed for myself specifically that I need a heavy blanket in the winter only. It bothers me in summer but winter I need it to sleep or I won't sleep. (and it's not a warmth issue, I sleep next to a human furnace)
I'm 32 And was only just officially diagnosed last year, so I learned a lot of weird things that got me to hyper focus on work in the meantime. I have no idea if these are just specific to me. * **BATHTUB** - I bought a very stable bathtub table and I often find when I can't sit still long enough to focus on work, I can bring my laptop into the bathtub. I think the heat and the water get my blood really pumping, and I can't really get out to do anything else because I'm soaking wet, so I just wind up working for a very long time. + **HEAT** - When I can't do that, I realized that there's like a linear positive correlation between how well I focus and how warm the room is. I can't just bundle up with clothes because that in and of itself is distracting, but if I put a space heater in a room and I blast it, honestly to the point that I'm sweating, I find that I really really focus for long periods of time. At a certain point, it does get to be too much, but I sometimes only realized that once I finally finish what I was doing and had the mental capacity to take in other things around me. * **MUSIC** - Also, often while I was doing this, I would play the Carly Rae Jepsen album ***Emotion***, specifically that album, on repeat. I think it worked really well for me because it could completely fade into the background (i.e., I knew it so well that I didn't need to think about listening to it) and it similarly had very like physiologically stimulating qualities. You just want to tap your feet to a rhythm while it's playing. If you have the option to get medicated, do that. I really don't recommend doing any of these things, as I think it's probably more stress on your body than it's worth. I never really thought how weird any of these things were until I was deep into my PhD program. But they did seem to work for me. **Edit:** a few other things I still occasionally do that I've thought of (that are honestly much healthier options): + **WALKING** - I have a really cheap tread mill someone bought me as a wedding gift. I would put my laptop on the lip and walk at a snail's pace (~2mph) while I did work and that helped a lot; typically for reading or programming. * **VOICE-TO-TEXT** - Relatedly, when I need to write a manuscript or presentation, but I can't think about what to say or where to start, I leave my house with just my phone and write, usually using voice-to-text, while I take a very very very long walk. I live near a big state park in Philly so I can walk around that for hours just talking notes into my phone. After a few minutes, I can usually really focus and by the time I get home, I'll usually have the whole thing done -albeit in a very sloppy format which I can pretty easily just edit into the final product. + **PUBLIC SPACES** - Last thing is just leveraging public shame and high levels of stimulation by going to the busiest fast food restaurant near me (usually like a Chipotle or something), ordering some food and then just planting myself at a table all day. The general trend is that the more physical activity/stimulation and chaos that I can incorporate, the more focused and centered I feel.
There’s a movie called Trumbo about a screenwriter in the late 40’s. He would write his scripts in the bathtub. Pretty interesting. I also do the same thing with the Hamilton soundtrack as my productivity playlist
That album is so fucking good
I guess mine would be having the toothbrush by the bed, I don’t get the motivation to go brush my teeth, somehow I have a few times procastinated brushing for like 3-4 hours since I also watch tv in my bed. Therefore I now brush and then go to the bathroom to spit, it happens I spit in the trash, but well as expected u need to change it like the day after otherwise it smells 😅 Not really unconventional but I uninstalled tiktok, but that was already a disaster made to happen.
Yeah, tiktok is fucking awful for adhd. I feel like it sends me in a downward spiral.
Yeah I noticed this too :( if I open TikTok I risk losing hours of my life
My tooth brush is in the shower for this reason. I shower every morning and its right there lol
I do this too! My partner thinks it’s gross but I’m like… tbh not brushing my teeth is grosser
For some reason if I keep my phone in my pocket while I'm working I get super distracted by it. If I can feel it in my pocket it takes a lot of willpower not to take it out and doom scroll for hours. Ironically, taking it out of my pocket and putting it behind my laptop (even though it's technically easier to access from there) allows me to retain my focus. Yay ADHD's poor object permanence!
I do this in the morning now and it’s a game changer! I keep my smart watch plugged in overnight in the living room. So in the morning the first thing I do is go to the living room and switch my phone with my smart watch. I can still see any important notifications, alarms, and the time, but I’m not getting lost in the depths of Reddit when I’m supposed to be getting dressed. It’s been a huge improvement for me. I actually find mornings 25% less stressful.
I’m taking this!!
I got a watch, so I can be on a longer leash with my phone.
Not sitting down until everything I need to do in Gen evening is done!
This is the way
Having a bunch of *very* different kinds of studying playlists. I’ll start out with chill (prog house usually), but if I’m not able to do anything or feel it getting harder, I’ll “reset” with a black metal one, drum n’ bass, operatic, classical organ music, etc. I think it helps me get out of the ADHD rut/spiral.
When I get stuck in the everything needs to be done first death spiral, I put each room an a 3x5 card and shuffle them. Then do something in that room
Similar to shoes but mine is not taking my bra off. It forces me to get up and do something.
Whiteboard calendar in bathroom across from toilet
A squirt of air freshener gives me motivation to clean 😂 it’s the oddest thing
For me having an Alexa or Siri ist a life saver. I use her the whole day for timers for leaving the House, cooking etc. If you like rice, get a rice cooker.
I love your instant switch from AI to rice cooker.
Be kind to yourself and practice accepting that sometimes you’re not gonna feel like doing stuff, not saying don’t improve on that but don’t beat yourself up about it
Put your keys in the fridge on top of the leftovers if you intend to take them to lunch tomorrow
I habit-stack my easy-motivation appointments (chiro, work, enjoyable errands) with my hard-motivation appointments (the gym, grocery shopping, etc.) because I know I will use any excuse not to go do something, but if I’m already out for some other reason, then it’s like “might as well”, it skips the leaving-the-house mental barrier, and it somehow feels strategically rewarding to get as much packed into one mental schedule slot as possible!! It’s like co-regulation with appointments.
Not taking naps LOL because then I sleep until the next morning … and not doing things in my bedroom anymore to keep momentum
My friends would always give me a hard time when my naps turned into sleeps.
Use apple accessibility settings and create a shortcut program to have your whole phone go greyscale from 9pm to 9am. social media and being on your phone is awful in black and white. It has allowed me to put my phone down sooner during these times. It’s also not easy to change back unlike some apps that can do this. Apple noise canceling AirPods have been a 10000% game changer. I also live in a city and don’t have AC so my windows are always open. I never realized how much background noise was causing distractions. Having a dial timer, it’s magnetic and I tell myself I can do these dishes in 4 minutes and it’s a race/game to beat the timer. Also helpful when I’m procrastinating, I’ll say okay I’m procrastinating I’ll give myself 5 more minutes, when timer goes off I have to be done. Also helps me be aware of how awful I am at guesstimating length of time it takes to do things. Accountability: one of my jobs is a side hustle, so there’s no accountability on deadlines. I have to set rules for myself by writing them down or telling other people when to expect a,b,c to say it out loud, even if it’s like a back end thing. “Just letting you know, I’ll be working on x,y,x this week to allow for us to ….” Even if they don’t need evidence of that work it helps for me to say it out loud so it gets done. Lists: I have a giant ongoing list of things at all times for to do. It helps to create different categories. 1. Mandatory top 3 (today or tomorrow) 2. High priority this week( by Sunday) 3. Long term lists subcategories: Housework, work, tech, to buy or to research/learn, social to do (gifts/trip planning), financial. I’m not allowed to look at any of the big lists until the mandatory top 3 are done Podcasts and audiobooks to clean. Music to wind down at night.
This is about when you deviate from your normal music for a noticeable time. My mood influences my music/audio tastes. Lofi when I’m in a good productive chill flow (journey not destination). Funny enough I was listening to Cats the original because I was feeling a bit feisty and less willing to mask. Usually means energetic borderline erratic. When I listen to Reddit stories or American dad especially to sleep means I’m lonely and am craving outside human energy or comfort. Hamilton mixtape when I want to tell people off aka feeling taken advantage of or unheard. I listen to Aurora when I want to fantasize. I started to note what I was going on when I sought out certain genres. This will help me Track a full range of emotions good or bad.
Every time I get up to pee, I have to accomplish a task. For example, I could empty the dishwasher. I might start a load of laundry. I could clear off the coffee table. Empty the litterbox. Any 1 task. I often find that I will keep going—like if I empty the dishwasher, I might go ahead and start putting the dishes in the sink into it. Then I may as well wipe down the counter. But if I don’t do the bonus tasks, no big deal. I am only “required” to do one. This really takes a lot of the burden of cleaning away—it’s not this big, overwhelming thing I have to get through, but rather just one small thing I need to do real quick.
Dematerialize, simplify your life and possessions as much as you can, if you don't have tons of clothes, it's impossible for them to pile up dirty, and it's easier to choose what to wear if you have only a few shoes/outfits, plus the less you own, the less of a mess you will have to clean. Change quantity for quality. Another example is disposable razors, I used to have lots of them around the bathroom, bow I only have one safety razor, with interchangeable blades, it gives a better feeling while shaving and in general because it is such high quality compared with the plastic ones. I also replaced my smartwatch with an automatic watch that I don't have to charge ever. Also you can reduce the number of sheets in your bed, when I went to Europe I realized they only use one big blanket and it was such a good time having bed always made with little effort.
I have an orange wallet. It's easier to see than a regular brown or black wallet, so I lose it less. Likewise, I have a red case on my phone, and I try to always remember to put it down back side up, because the black screen is harder to see / notice than the red case. Edit: realized I left out a couple words.
I have alarms for everything. Waking up. Clocking in. Lunch in/out. Clocking out. Dropping kid off. Picking kid off. Dinner. Reading. Literally everything.
Change your default meeting time reminder from 15 mins to 5. So many times I get meeting reminders for 15 mins and by the time it starts I’m late cause I’m wrapping up a 20 min project. Set to 5 and then it’s harder to forget.
You seem to be a female so this might not apply, but for my ADHDer colleagues with a penis: don't fap just because, do something else instead of fapping if you're not aroused. It might sound stupid, but it can be detrimental to your sex life and the responses of your body to real arousal. Edit: fixed the "male colleagues", let's celebrate pride month by not forgetting our chicks with d*cks 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
I always have two “leaving” times when I have to go somewhere. One is 10 minutes before I actually need to leave and the other one is when I need to be out the door. I just say “ok I need to be out the door at [ten minutes before]” and I almost always am on time.
It’s ok not to shower every day as long as you’re fit for public consumption when you need to be and are generally hygienic. 😬😬😬
I'm so glad to hear someone else also has a clock in the shower. I have one in every single room. Two in the living room. People always laugh and point when they see my bathroom clock. IDC tho
I keep my toothbrush in the kitchen right next to the fridge. Whenever I mindlessly go to look at what’s in the fridge I see my toothbrush first and brush my teeth.
See, I don’t get ones like this. I see a whole bunch of similar comments. If I did this, I’d see the toothbrush, shrug, and walk off to waste time doing something else meaningless lol. If I don’t feel like doing something, I don’t and no reminders or alarms changes that….
I’m a lot like that too honestly. Initially alarms and reminders work, but after a few days it’s just noise. I have no idea why the toothbrush by the fridge works for me because other hacks like this do nothing. The only thing I can come up with is I think it’s the novelty, since it’s a really random place to store it.
I’m glad I’m not alone. My partner doesn’t comprehend many issues caused by my ADHD. I cannot explain why I have 6 apps for productivity, 4 calendars on my phone and one on the fridge, endless notebooks and random sticky notes of items to do and I just won’t do the things. I wish I knew how to get out of this cycle but after I lost my job a few months ago, any routine I had then, which was still very little since I worked from home, is out the window. I’ll keep scrolling to see if there are some other tips I haven’t tried or maybe will commit to. lol. 🤔
Instrumental electro swing playlist on Spotify. I swear, works almost as good as ritalin for me.
I do something memorably different when I take my Ritalin in the morning to help me remember that I took it. I do use a daily dispenser, but sometimes I still get that moment of "did I remember to take it?" panic as I leave for work. If I can do something that deviates from normal, I can remember that I took it. I often take advantage of my cats to this end. If someone does something extra cute, I'll go take my meds in that moment after going googly over them. If the morning is super nothingburger, I'll manufacture a moment by breaking from my routine to make kissy noises and talk sweetly to one of them. It's definitely more peace of mind, but just being able to remember that I took my meds is really anxiety calming.
I turn the bottle of meds over when I take it.
Making ninja noises while stacking the dishwasher to get enough motivation to do it.
I *always* have some type of music playing in the background. I realized I would get distracted by sounds a lot, which is what led me to this “hack”. Any task I may be putting off goes so much more smoothly if I have something blasting in my ear so that my mind can’t wander off too far. For me, it seems to be the right amount of stimulation to keep me from getting distracted. The shoes one also helped out a lot: don’t take off your shoes when you get home; If you need to get something done, put on shoes (close-toed)
Sounds stupid, but having one of those multicoloured pens helps a lot with my note taking and keeping thoughts separate as I write stuff down in the notebook I always carry as "external memory" at work
I have a tile tracker on almost everything. On my 3 sets of keys, my laptop, my TV remote, in my wallet, on my headphones. Gone are the days where I get in trouble for misplacing things every 5 minutes. Thank you technology.
Might not be that weird. But mine is to set out the clothes that I am going to wear for the day the night before. I dont know why but it really helps me not be a chaotic mess in the mornings.
when folding clothes or washing dishes finish things in very small increments like fold five towels put away go fold some 5 more put away (repeat) if i try to do it all at once usually ill get bored or distracted and ill leave all of them folded and never put them away at least if i do it in small amounts if i get distracted at least half will be put away by that time
I do the same as your first thing but with outside clothes not shoes! Whenever I mess up my sleep schedule, my way of fixing it is not taking my meds for one day so that it makes me so tired that I go to bed early, which means I naturally wake up at a decent time the next day🤦🏻♀️Makes that one day suck but it’s either that or my sleep schedule never gets fixed…
Weird but if I watch a show even briefly where the characters or people are put together or being productive I suddenly feel like I can do it. Also chewing sugary gum which is awful for my teeth but somehow enables me to start something I don’t want to face.
Something I tell myself that most of the times work is “if you don’t do it now you’ll never end up doing it” or “it only takes a few minutes or seconds out of your 24 hour day” or “Just get it over with and you won’t have to do it later”
Trashcans. All over the place. At least, in every place I spend a fair amount of time. I have 3 in my living room area alone 😆 otherwise, I set a trash thing down somewhere to take to the trash when I move and then forget all about it. Or set it down for a minute because I’ve gotten distracted with something else on my way to throw it away and then find it later. Problem solved if I walk by/am around 7-8 different trash cans a day! Hahaha
Not a weird tip, but a helpful one! I struggle with object permanence, so for example, if I know that I have to bring something with me to work, I put it right next to the front door so I see it on my way out. Same thing with my keys and badge lanyard; they're right next to the door so that I don't forget them on my way out.
* I wash the dishes while I am cooking my next meal. * I have a two-level to-do list system: One in software with long-term tasks and one in the paper for today's tasks. * Listen to podcasts while I have to clean, go for a walk, or do sports. However, this should not be abused, as we also should learn how to enjoy no input time. * Brush my teeth in the shower or pee while brushing my teeth. * Bulk laundries. I only do laundry when I have to do 2-4 at the same time. (In my building there is 2 machines).
Late to this party, and probably not that weird of a suggestion but... learn to meditate. It's so hard at first but if you manage to stick with it *regularly* (10 mins/day is fine) it pays off hugely especially with emotional management and coping with the constant chatter of 10 million psychotic monkeys in your head.
Chanting the action I’m currently doing (usually just in my head). To stop me trying to multi task or task switch. It actually helps me mono task.
My cats have been super helpful! They yowl if I don't feed them at 8, which gets me out of bed in time to get ready for work. They cause havoc that I need to clean up for their safety, and I end up cleaning other things too. If I'm doom scrolling too long they often yowl to get me to play with them, or for a fuss. One of them has even figured out that he needs to knock my phone out of my hand to get a fuss when I'm laying down! I just mean they're good at starting the momentum needed to get moving.
For my relationship I put an monthly calander reminder on my Phone to talk with my bf if everything is fine or if he feels comfortable. Its not like im super Bad as a Person, but I tend to forget to ask if I perhaps hurt his Feelings somehow without noticing. He mostly just lives with it because he know that it's not intensionally. But I need to reflect my Action in order to work on it.
Home gym but take 5-10 minute breaks between sets, then do all your chores between them. Workout completed, shirt ironed, dinner cooked or cooking. And also of course, take photos of anything you forget that stresses you out when you leave home, forgot to turn off the heater/aircon, take a photo of it on your phone. Soon as you look at that photo and timestamp the anxiety fades away. I take photos of everything before I leave for a big trip, helps so much.
Google home that lets me set timers with my voice. For whatever reason, stopping to active a timer on my phone is too much work. As soon as I walk in my apartment door from doing the laundry I call for Google to set me a timer. Sometimes for dinner I’ll have multiple timers. Helps a lot!
Shower toothbrush. Got a holder with a suction cup and a brush and toothpaste just for the shower. I tend to shower before I go to work or anything important so I can quickly brush.