ADHD-Friendly Organisation Hacks

As ADHD impacts executive functioning, organisation does not come naturally to us. I like to think of it as organised chaos'. It's my 30th birthday in 2 weeks, and my book ADHD: an A to Z comes out in 1 month, but every time I try to organise something for these events my brain starts shutting down.

Living like this can be SUPER frustrating, so here's some ADHD-friendly organisation tips from chapter 'O is for Organisation' of ADHD: an A to Z. Above all, the secret is making the things we don't want to do easier, and the things we do want to do harder.

Organising your home

• Check out the advice I gave Stylist Magazine on the 'Cluttercore' trend here
• Have pretty washing baskets & boxes EVERYWHERE - perfect for scooping mess into!
• Have giant water bottles in every room to avoid bringing cups in.
• Get groovy cleaning equipment and ideally sell it on after you lose interest: I am currently obsessed with my new cordless hoover (having given my robot hoover away...)
• Ask friends & family for help. My sister Verity Maskell literally made me a cleaning product list as I got so overwhelmed!
• Set yourself cleaning playlists and try to get as much done as possible in 5 minutes.
• Build homes for your belongings, like certain bowls or hooks for keys!
• Use whiteboards and other visual reminders (such as photographs of loved ones!) - we tend to be very visual people.
• Give a spare set of keys to someone you trust!

Organising your health

• Get an alarm clock & charge your phone outside your room. Literally life changing.
• Get a slow cooker, and cook gigantic meals (like lasagna) in them on the weekend. Yes, I may eat lasagna for most meals this week, but no, I have zero problem with that.
• Exercise first thing in the day, and got to sleep in your gym clothes. Works every time!
• Have snacks out to remind you to eat.
• You can also get water bottles with GPS trackers inside them, that flash up and remind you to drink. I LOVED mine but I left it on a plane!
• Buy pre-chopped and frozen healthy food, like fruit and vegetables. Pre-chopped garlic is one of the best inventions ever!

Organising your work

• Set yourself calendar reminders for everything!
• Pick ONE objective per day. Ideally, do this (or something else you don't want to do) first.
• Put your phone away - whether that's in another room, a draw, wherever - just make sure it's out of sight.
• Use apps like Freedom if you want to concentrate.
• Identify 'dopamine seeking' activities (like me writing this on social media) vs those that are less interesting but more important (like invoices!). Try to ensure you swap these around.
• Get a virtual assistant like Beth Lewis and/or coach like Jacqueline McCullough (or myself!) to help you stay accountable and break work down into chunks.
• Do body doubling, such as with Focusmate, or join a community such as Ellie Middleton 's (Un)masked to help with accountability.
• Set up routines, like doing accounts on the 1st of the month.
• Use password holders such as LastPass.
• Use only ONE system or 'to do' list: simplify your life and decisions as much as possible!
• Remember, if it's not a yes, it's a 'not now'.
• Plan out your week every Sunday, and your day every morning. Try to identify things you DON'T need to do!

To join the ADHD Course in November, head here.