Today I am thinking about what an ADHD friendly household looks like. A lot of people think that should look like these images, but in fact this kind of stuff often doesn't work for people with ADHD

One of the pillars of ADHD is how hard it can be for us to get simple tasks done. We can't easily break things down into steps, and if it takes too much thinking about it, it probably won't get done. Here's an example...

Growing up, most apartments I lived in had a "coat" closet, and after reading Marie Kondo's book, I tried to make myself always put my jacket in my closet. However, this took the steps of "take off jacket>go to closet>open closet>get hanger>hang" etc. TOO MUCH WORK

On the surface this sounds so easy like...just put the jacket in the closet Michi. But in practice I'll put the jacket neatly in the closet on Monday, and throw it on my couch the rest of the week, which adds visual clutter, which stresses me out. It just doesn't work for me.

Instead we just have a coat rack right as you come in, easiest thing in the world, I don't have to think.

Going back to the images in the first tweet: stacked containers and closed containers don't work for the same reason. Even drawers sometimes.

Growing up, all my mom did was try to organize my clothes and art stuff like those pictures, and it lasted for maybe 2 weeks before going back to disarray. If I have to unstack things, open boxes, or put things neatly inside, it's just not going to get done!

If I am in my own home, why should I have to increase my mental load? All my storage for things I use often looks like this now: open and tossable. Also we don't stack anything.

It's not the same for all ADHDers obviously, but my universal advice for making your home ADHD-friendly is this:
1- what's the trouble spot?
2- what's your instinctual action?
3- what can you do to work WITH the instinctual action?

Example in motion
1- My trouble spot is all the clothes on the chair
2- My instinct when I get home is to take my clothes off and just toss them on the chair
3- I could get an open basket to just toss my clothes into

If you want you could do even 3 baskets? Dirty clothes, clothes that can be worn again (they're already getting wrinkled on the chair anyway, let's be honest), and pajamas (I always toss my pajamas instead of fold them under my pillow)

I actually went way more in depth with this on Reddit about a year ago, so if you'd like to read a bigger post with more disclaimers and examples, here's the link! https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/a675jk/the_house_that_adhd_built_how_to_set_up_your/

Honestly, I think other neurodiverse people, people with mental illness, and even neurotypical people could benefit from this. There's a permeating, very ableist concept of what organization looks like that simply doesn't work for everyone.

It's also not going to solve all your problems, clearly, because there might be other problems. If you just never have the motivation to put things in their place, it could be depression. It could be a lack of dopamine. Try approaching the problem in different ways.

Also I know people hate reddit, but I highly recommend clicking through to my post! I link to a blog by a successful ADHD man, and people in the replies recommend books and videos that are very helpful!

Some more fantastic advice!: https://twitter.com/MonsterDove/status/1280538530268110848?s=20

Hi everyone! I honestly did not expect this thread to get so popular and I can't keep up with the comments or questions anymore, so I'll just leave you with a few things

1- Unless you have OCD, stop bringing up OCD for the first few images. Not everyone with OCD has this sort of compulsion. My husband has both OCD and ADHD and the stuff in the first image doesn't work for him. It's a harmful stereotype.

2- If you are AFAB and/or not white and reading some of the experiences here makes you wonder if you have ADHD, it's worth checking! Many AFAB people and POC are severely under diagnosed.

3- I'd like to thank everyone who brought up object permanence issues! however this thread isn't about that, it's about minimizing mental steps. People who don't have object permanence issues are talking about how labeled closed containers work for them, and that's fine?

But this is about those of us who struggle to put things away because unstacking boxes or opening a lid/drawer/door is too much mental load. Not object permanence.
Simply put, if you don't struggle with this, good for you, but many others do.

4- Lastly, if you are recently diagnosed I'm so happy for you! I know it may feel really hard, and even depressing, but you should see this as a way to truly understand what you need. Diagnosis has made my life so much better.

Good luck everyone!