Many adults with ADHD have cluttered workspaces and homes. If you work well in those surroundings, then it's time to make peace with your organized chaos. If not, learn how to prevent clutter from overwhelming you.
There's a strong connection between disorganization and ADHD. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) lists “often loses things necessary for tasks or activities” as one of the possible symptoms that can add up to a diagnosis of ADHD.
I don't mean to reinforce stereotypes, but it's true that many people who have attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) have difficulty with tasks like household cleaning and organization.
Clutter seems to come along with the experience of ADHD. Organizing belongings, keeping up with housekeeping, and maintaining the flow of family life can get complicated because of ADHD symptoms. Many families accept that clutter is just part of the equation.
looking for misplaced keys, papers, shoes, tools etc. trying to muster enough self-control to focus when you are too distracted by the clutter around you. spending time dealing with the fall out of situations due to your clutter and lack of organization, like not being ready for a meeting.
Some people are naturally neat. They keep their things fairly organized and try to avoid making a mess. But many kids and adults with ADHD are the opposite — they're messy most of the time. And it can cause problems at home, school, and work.
Researchers have found that adults with ADHD may have trouble with memory and organizational skills, which could impact getting the household chores done. These challenges, though, can be overcome.
Laundry rarely rewards with a sense of completion or accomplishment, which is why many people put it off until all the clean underwear is gone. It's also a chore of opposites – it takes sustained effort but not full attention and is, therefore, often “started” but left incomplete.
Adults with ADHD often have problems dealing with day-to-day tasks. They tend to be forgetful, disorganized, and messy. This makes cleaning with ADHD nearly an insurmountable task, especially since cleaning seems like such a chore to neurotypicals themselves.
In fact, while medication for ADHD often improves attention and concentration, it typically does very little to help symptoms of disorganization, poor time management, forgetfulness, and procrastination—the very issues that cause the most problems for many adults with ADHD.
Infusing energy and playfulness into your routine is a wonderful way to get your ADHD brain moving and motivated. Just remember that trying to organize everything all at once can leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Try specific daily intentions instead.
People with ADHD have a difficult time with many of the executive functioning skills most of us unconsciously use every day. These invisible skills are what enable us to plan, prioritize, manage our time, and get things done. A person without ADHD might look at a messy room and think, “Okay.
Having a messy room might be the result of a lot of factors. It might mean you are busy and have little time to clean and organize. It might be a sign that you have too much stuff. Or it might be the result of having young kids in the house who are usually not motivated to clean up after themselves.
One of the most common and debilitating symptoms for adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is severe and chronic disorganization. Needed items at work and home get buried in piles of clutter.
Task Initiation is harder when you have ADHD, because tasks take more energy to get started. While it's tempting to rely on urgency and deadlines, overreliance on urgency can leave us feeling guilty, ashamed, anxious, or overwhelmed.
While ADHD and hoarding are separate mental health conditions, research suggests that people with ADHD may be at an increased risk for hoarding tendencies. In fact, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA), ADHD is listed as one of the conditions most commonly associated with hoarding.
When you clean by junebugging, you pick a spot you want to clean and keep bringing yourself back to that spot, no matter where you wander through the cleaning process. The key is allowing yourself to wander but always coming back to your main spot.
People with ADHD tend to work better in places that are structured. An example of this is a classroom with a schedule written on the board and designated activity areas. This kind of environment helps children with ADHD stay on task. It also provides them with visual cues to know what to expect next.
For example, children with ADHD create far more demands on parents' time and attention. That can lead to relationship problems, less family togetherness, and more conflict. Research even shows higher rates of divorce and depression among parents of a child with ADHD, compared with other families.
ADHD does not get worse with age if a person receives treatment for their symptoms after receiving a diagnosis. If a doctor diagnoses a person as an adult, their symptoms will begin to improve when they start their treatment plan, which could involve a combination of medication and therapy.
Getting and saving an excessive number of items, gradual buildup of clutter in living spaces and difficulty discarding things are usually the first signs and symptoms of hoarding disorder, which often surfaces during the teenage to early adult years.