Organize Your Chaos To Find Calm
If clutter and forgetfulness are ruling your life, then it’s time to take action. Find out how organizing your closet by color, writing tasks on sticky notes, and a bit of quiet time can help you find a calmer lifestyle.
Organizing and Cleaning
Organize your closet by color (red shirts together, blue sweaters and jackets together) — and by season.
Place every “out of place” item in each room in a separate garbage bag. Label each bag “living room,” “master bedroom,” “family room,” and so on. Line up the bags in the hall. If a family member is looking for a particular item, have them search the bag for the room where it was left. Items remaining in the bags after one week should always be thrown out.
Minimizing Forgetfulness
Put an extra set of bed linens inside a pillowcase, and store it in the bedroom in which they’re used. Then, adults with ADHD won’t have to search through a disorganized linen closet when changing the sheets.
Keep an extra set of keys in your wallet — one for the house and one for the car. Fasten them together with twisters from bread loaves, and they will lie nice and flat. (Adults with ADHD should just be sure to keep track of their wallets.)
Put everything that needs to go out of the house in one place. Then, take the items to the car as you head out the door, even if you aren’t going anywhere, so you don’t forget to do so later.
[Free Resource: 22 Clutter-Busting Strategies for Adults with ADHD]
Write tasks on sticky notes that you keep inside a folder — one note per task. Throw each note away as you complete the task. It feels so good to trash them.
Organize your desk by keeping papers you’ll need “this hour” in the middle of the desk, papers you need “this day” on the outer edges of the desk, and everything else on a credenza apart from the desk.
Use a four-by-six-inch index card to list each day’s chores on, instead of carrying around a heavy day planner in your purse. Write all appointments on the top third of the card; write “to-do’s” on the middle third; and phone calls you need to make on the bottom third. At the end of the day, transfer any items that still need to be done to the next day’s index card.
Feeling Good
Pleasure first, duty second! Each morning before you do anything else (even return calls), walk through your garden, visit the goldfish pond, and/or sit in the prayer garden in the woods. It’s not procrastination; if adults with ADHD start each day with calm rather than chaos, they’ll be better able to stay on top of things.
[Perfect Is Pointless: 16 Organization Rules You Can Follow]
