BY ADRIANNA SCHMEICHEL
For most of us, our bedrooms are our safe place. It's where we sleep and a sanctuary for us after a long day. Sometimes, our safe space can be invaded by an army of dirty mugs covering your desk or the overflowing mountain of clothes in need of washing. Cleaning and organizing your room can help ensure your space remains your place of calm instead of chaos.
Tackling the task of organizing your room can feel impossible for the ADHD brain. Cleaning is never anyone's favourite activity, but ADHD can make the experience overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Just know YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Sometimes it can feel like there's something wrong with you but understanding how your brain works can help take away some of those feelings.
Why organization is hard for me?
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Difficulty with organization is one common trait in ADHD. One reason behind this is impaired working memory, which is responsible for holding information in your mind - it's the shortest short-term memory. Alterations to the reward processing system in ADHD can also get in the way of organization. From a cognitive perspective, completing any task requires motivation and reinforcement to keep going. Deficits in reward processing, like in ADHD, interfere with motivation and can make it extremely difficult to complete a task.
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Task paralysis is another common experience in individuals with ADHD, when you have difficulty knowing how to start a task or feel overwhelmed when a task feels too big or has too many steps.
My Favourite ADHD Organization Tips
With all these things at play in the ADHD brain, it is no wonder that room organization can be challenging! Now that we have a better understanding of what is going on – what can we do? Here are some tips to help overcome task paralysis and conquer the beast of organizing your room!
Break up into small chunks of tasks or time, whatever works best for you!
Set a timer to 5 minutes and see how much you can do! Or start by picking up 5 things off the floor. Starting is the hardest part! Once we jump over the mental hurdle of starting a task it is usually much easier to keep going.
Start with the easiest and quickest tasks
Let's hack that reward system! Completing a task will give you a sense of accomplishment and motivate you to keep going.
Make it fun!
Putting on a song you like, your favourite true crime podcast, or listening to your comfort show in the background can help make the process more enjoyable.
Consider an open organizational system
Clear containers for makeup and skincare or clothing racks for hanging clothes ensure you can always see everything, so you don't need to empty your drawers whenever you are looking for a shirt or dump your makeup bag on your desk to find your favourite blush.
Be kind to yourself!
If you bring one glass out of your room, you have already succeeded. Celebrate your little wins and try not to be too hard on yourself.