Try Productive Multitasking
Low motivation can prevent you from tackling a simple task for weeks. You can trick your brain into cleaning by pairing your chores with an enjoyable task. For example, you might save a favorite podcast, album, or audiobook for cleaning time—if you want to listen, you have to clean!
People with ADHD who have a hard time keeping things tidy usually aren't being lazy or thoughtless. They have trouble with a group of skills needed to tackle cleanup tasks and stay organized. These skills are known as executive function.
Place a wastebasket in every room. Place a magazine rack in rooms where you read. Spend 15 minutes a day de-cluttering (throwing and putting things away, filing, if necessary). Designate at least one junk drawer in every room.
Researchers have found that adults with ADHD may have trouble with memory and organizational skills, which could impact getting the household chores done.
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.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can affect someone's ability to focus on their schedule, tasks involving organization, and ability to manage their time. In particular, chores with ADHD adults can be challenging. We might feel overwhelmed with tasks, which can lead to stress at the mere thought of them.
Research suggests that people who live with ADHD might have lower levels of dopamine – a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with pleasure, reward, and motivation. In addition to brain chemistry differences, people with ADHD may inherently view motivation differently than people who don't have ADHD.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
Key aspects of the reward system are underactive in ADHD brains, making it difficult to derive reward from ordinary activities. These dopamine-deficient brains experience a surge of motivation after a high-stimulation behavior triggers a release of dopamine.
INCUP is an acronym that stands for interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, and passion. The term was first proposed by psychologist William Dodson, who suggested that these five things are the top motivating factors for someone with ADHD.
Within-group comparisons showed that children with ADHD as well as controls walked with reduced velocity and a tendency toward increased stride time in the dual-task condition compared to normal walking, implying that in both groups gait requires executive functions.
Diagnosis of ADHD in adults can be difficult because certain ADHD symptoms are similar to those caused by other conditions, such as anxiety or mood disorders. And many adults with ADHD also have at least one other mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety.
For people with ADHD, tasks that need to get done can seem so overwhelming—the pile of laundry, the dusting, and mopping, the cabinet reorganizing. It often feels easier to do nothing. As more and more of these uncompleted jobs add up, tackling any of them seems to be an impossible chore.
Why Are People with ADHD Disorganized? The short answer: it's probably due to abnormalities in the frontal cortex. Many of the most common and disruptive symptoms of ADHD are related to cognitive functions that happen in that region of the brain. Organization is among the skills that would be affected by this.
Trish Buscemi, a specialist who creates calm interiors for those with cognitive learning challenges, recommends blue, green, and muted brown towns for bedrooms of children with ADHD. These gentle hues actually work well with people of all ages seeking a space that inspires rest and calm.