Get Organized by Sam

Swipe to organize this dining room ➡️

Do you have a room that turns into a catch-all? Art projects, donation items, laundry, travel, etc can all pile up when you’re busy with work, school, or just giving your kids a fun life!

There’s no shame in making the mess, and no shame in needing help to clean it up! It’s why professional organizers and cleaners exist 🥰

At this point, you probably know that there are a few different kinds of ADHD! 🧠

One of them is hyperactive, which sounds like what it is: can’t stop, won’t stop!! This means that staying in one spot is probably challenging, you can get burnt out from a task or situation quickly, you are always thinking and strategizing but have a hard time with the ex*****on, you may have anxiety, you might be impulsive with spending or decisions you make, etc. 🤪

This is the most commonly diagnosed form because it’s pretty easy to pick up on the hyperactivity that you experience! Of course you’d rather be doing something more fun, and it’s hard to maintain or build the discipline needed to stay on top of a schedule or task list when they’re so repetitive. 📋

Body doubling, stacking habits or pairing things you already do every day with new tasks, making the task itself much smaller (like: rather than cleaning the entire kitchen, I’m going to wipe down the cabinets and counters today), and using timers, large pictures, white boards, or something like sticky notes to remember the tasks that need to be done are good ways to get your home organized and clean quickly! Just like any new habit, it takes time. ⏲️

Remember that you’re more than your diagnosis and that you’re still amazing even if your home isn’t as clean or organized as you’d like. None of us are supposed to be doing life like this alone and you deserve love and support even when your home is messy! 🥰

🏫 A current work in progress for a young woman who’s leaving for college in fall! Her mom knew she needed some extra help getting her things pared down to basics and with knowing what she should keep or bring with her. We’re working on her room, bathroom, and closet. The closet is looking much better! The large furniture will be out soon since it’s broken and it’ll look even better after it’s out.

We’re boxing up winter clothes, decor, books, and anything else that she knows she can’t bring with her and thankfully she’ll have somewhere back home to keep it in the meantime! I’m helping her stay on top of her laundry (I am SO excited to post before and after pics of her room, it’ll be a huge difference!) and I think she’s enjoying going through her room and has even found some cash and a few gift cards 🤣 I always tell people it literally pays to get organized!

This year has been really travel heavy and I love that I’ve gotten to go to so many places and see so many friends! 🥹

Some things that became important were to make sure my laundry was done more often, for my necessities to be easily packed to go, and to do the task we all hate: to unpack the suitcase in a timely manner.

I’m definitely not perfect when it comes to doing those things all the time but I did try some new ways to prepare better for a trip! The first solution was to tackle laundry. I have a 2 basket system. I limit myself to 2 baskets but I don’t limit myself on what goes in them. This means that sometimes I have 2 dirty laundry baskets, sometimes 2 clean ones, and sometimes one of each. For me, having a mix of hard rules with rules that are more flexible helps to have a diverse or more novel experience with my laundry. It certainly doesn’t work every single day, but it does motivate me to at least put one basket of clean clothes away and make space for the dirty ones to get off the floor and doing one basket is easier than two lol.

Next, I made a small to-go bag for travel needs. This usually means my meds, a charger, a menstrual cup, toothbrush and paste, jewelry, nail file, and sometimes other items. This is what most people do when traveling BUT 👏🏼I also hung the travel bag in my bathroom so that I’m in the habit of using it daily rather than only when I travel. This helps me keep it stocked on everything because I can see what my needs are before going out of town. I know when to add meds, or if it’s for a particular event, then I can go ahead and put items in that I know I’ll need for that trip ahead of time. This helps me remember particular jewelry, makeup, and other small things Id forget if I waited until the day of to pack.

I’ll be honest, I’m still figuring out how unpack my suitcase in a timely manner 🤣 But it helps that I will do all of my laundry if there is onsite washers and dryers, or I’ll keep my dirty clothes and clean clothes separate inside of it before leaving to come home. That way, I just pull them out and throw them in dirty clothes or the washer when I get home. (Or really, the day or two after I get home lol)