Before

After

Today I had a little burst of lets organize and I completed the stack that needed to be filed! Pretty good for me.

Win for today!

Adult ADHD and clutter 

I am 58 yrs old and just now accepting the reality that I have adult ADHD

One factor that is affecting my life is my clutter!

Clutter is that pile of mail waiting for me.

Clutter is that stack of paper on my desk.

Clutter is in the laundry room, bedroom, and basement. 

Clutter is the struggle in my brain of where do I start? 

If you struggle with clutter like I do, you are familiar with the voices in your head that are friends of the ones in mine.

I can’t get rid of it!  I know I’m going to need it at some point. It has sentimental value.

And the pile gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

  

There is a bigger Problem though. I can’t make a decision to get the process of organizing started.  

Lets tackle the piles of paper.

Should I start with separating and the filing or just touch it once and file it?

Do I have enough room in this file.

Should I have 2 files one for business one for personal?

Should I do a keep pile and a throw pile? But if I throw it away I know I’m going to need it!!!!  

Forget it! I will figure this out later. 

And there it is, the procrastination. 

I get overwhelmed, I feel like I have a pinball game going on in my head. I get exhausted and I haven’t even completed anything.  And here I am taking a nap cuz my head hurts. 

My space does not inspire me. My space drains any energy I have.  There is so much STUFF competing for my attention I can’t focus on anything. 

Neuroscientists at Princeton showed that physical clutter competes for your attention, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress. 

Clutter fills our mind with excessive stimuli causing our senses to work overtime on unnecessary or irrelevant stimuli. 

Clutter constantly distracts us. 

Clutter constantly reminds us that our work is never done. 

Clutter, inhibits, creativity, and productivity by invading the spaces that allow us to think, brainstorm and problem solve.

Clutter makes it harder to relax, both physically and mentally

Where am I going with this? Honestly I don’t really know. Probably another facet of adult ADHD I need to research.  

I do know one thing…. my mind cluttered is always there. I have spaghetti brain. Some days is foggy spaghetti brain and other days it’s sunshine spaghetti brain. 

Here is where I am going to start. 

• Right it down. Hopefully this will free my mind of constantly repeating it in my head so I don’t forget but always forget. 
• I will set alarms to manage my time. 
• Small goals. I can put away 10 things. And then maybe 10 more. 
• Try the one minute rule. Take care of it immediately if it takes less then a minute. 
• 5 minute clean up at the end of the day 
• Focus on one thing at a time. 

It’s already getting overwhelming, so I will stop here and try and work on this. 

If you Have ADHD or suspect you do, what tips do you have?

I am not a doctor. These are my opinions. If you suspect you have ADHD talk to your Dr and see if he can help you