Cleaning with ADHD

[MuffyFluff]

Please help a girl out.

My living room (in fact all rooms) is a state! I have piles of clean washing everywhere that I haven't put away and it just keeps growing. I have toys everywhere, shoes, carrier bags that's I've just chucked odd bits in placed in the corners of the room.

I need to clean up! But I walk in and there's so much to do that I have no idea where to start, so I sit down and think about it instead.

Any tips for a neurodiverent struggling with everyday house chores?

Join us on the Rock the Housework chat.

The guided cleans are basically "mirroring" which is an ADHD friendly strategy to help with focus. Some sessions are more focused and go through a job task by task, some more "keep me company" with a looser theme

https://open.spotify.com/episode/37fHsmbhwUxnBmKGX96csY?si=x8GVp_IAR4urP3vpHVSifg
There's still a few originals freely avaliable on Spotify; the collection is a subscription (£3.60 per month through Patreon or The Organised Mum app)

There's several laundry sessions there from 10 mins to 30 mins that are great for chipping away at it and stopping it mounting up. Something I need to do myself!

Thank you for this! I will check it out

I started by watching Cass from Clutterbug on YouTube. She also has ADHD. From there I've found other YouTubers whose style matches my needs. More often than not, I'll watch Clutterbug or MinimalMom. They have collaborations too

I’m struggling in a major way too. I think I just need to get rid of around 70% of our stuff 😩

Oh no! Not Bags of Doom! I have them too.
I also have adhd.
It sounds really cliched but set yourself a timer up to 25 mins (no longer) and say to yourself you'll tackle one bag or one pile of washing.
Very often you just carry on doing it. Then, when you've had enough celebrate your progress however small.
I find listening to an audiobook or podcast on headphones helpful as it keeps me company and distracts me from the boring task.
Another thing I like to do is boil the kettle for a brew and see how much I can do in the time it takes for it to boil. Usually it's unloading the dishwasher. But it's another task done and then I get a nice tea or coffee to celebrate 🤣

Good luck op I feel your pain.

Just here to let you know you're definitely not alone. I honestly spend hours and hours thinking about tidying and cleaning, then am exhausted and just sleep and do everything but. The guilt is atrocious.

I agree with @Dr13Hadley tips - that's what I do. When I'm not watching cleaning reels on Insta and feeling jealous and inferior...! 🤣

Yep. This. We recently had a new kitchen so were forced to get rid of a load of shite. Still have various boxes of doom to sort though but can't find any time/energy/motivation...

5 things...
I read on here a while ago a poster who said they do 5 things. You can make those 5 things as big or as small as you want e.g. put a cup in the kitchen, empty and reload the dishwasher, clean the toilet, pick up 5 toys etc but it means that you achieve something little by little without it feeling overwhelming.

Are you medicated? I feel SO much more competent at housework now I'm medicated! Still definitely need a huge cull of all the junk we've accumulated - will definitely be looking to schedule some time for a huge clear out and I think it will be even more manageable then.

Check out YouTube: Midwest Magic Cleaning and Remi Clog

I love Remi, her voiceovers feel like we're just having a chat whilst she's cleaning her house.

I watch all the youtubers mentioned above.

Dana K White is another good watch

One tip I learned from Remi Clog is the https://wheelofnames.com/ spinner. Put your tasks in and spin and do them one by one. The house was in a generally cluttered state that I was struggling to click in with, so I put a list of rooms in the spinner and used an interval timer set to 2 mins work, 30 secs rest to get around multiple rooms and make them 2 mins tidier which is enough to make a general difference. Much more stimulating and interesting than plodding through a long list! Dyslexic DS (11) has chosen to use it to tidy his room today. His executive function only does one thing at a time and he struggles to work through lists.

Thanks for the YouTube recommendations - I watched a few Remi Clog and Midwest Magic ones last night/this morning (mostly the shorts/shorter ones) and they inspired me to get cracking!

I agree re: Remi's voice/nature - she seems sooooo lovely, and love how she shows her own house looking a state and her/her husband tidying and cleaning.

Anyone else managed to get anything done today? Helped that my kids went out for a really long walk yesterday, and the weather is pants today, so I'm happy for them to have plenty of screen time whilst I blitz the bathrooms :-)

Oh yeah, and I reminded myself of some of my tips...music! I'm into dance music and tend to work to the rhythm/beat.

Also take short breaks but set a 5 mins timer on my phone so I don't stop forever.

I would start with clothes. Get rid/stash away all clothes that will not be worn in next couple of months. Organise clothes storage, so absolutely everything has a home.

Put away clothes - maybe some every day.

Build a habit - have somewhere where all dirty laundry goes. All of ours goes in bathroom into separate bags for darks, whites and others. Only do a load when you know you will have time to wash, dry, fold (and iron if you do) in the same day or next day at the latest.

Don't do another load until first is away.

Even if whole house is messy, try to have kitchen and one room to sit in clear. Our 'dining room' often gets trashed to achieve this, but at least we can shut the door on it.

How's it going OP?

I've just watched this Remi Clog video on TikTok and it made me cry! I relate to her so much (I have suspected ADHD).

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGecUK9Wm/

Loved that video!! May need to watch a few more of her lol.

In terms of how it's going... it's just not going. I feel like I'm stuck in a massive rut that I just cannot get out of ATM. I have zero motivation for anything that isn't a necessity, but I'll get there. I have these "ruts" a lot.

@MuffyFluff I have those ruts a lot, too. I try to remind myself to speak to kindly to myself in my head, give myself grace, look after my health and be patient as know my motivation will come back again one day. Life, energy, motivation and moods etc naturally ebb and flow.

This just popped up on my Facebook memories...very apt for this thread I feel!

That made me laugh 😂 that's just become my new life motto.

Make a list and put a song on. Try to get as many jobs done from the list while that song is on. Rinse and repeat, when it's tidy take photos to reward yourself and remind yourself where stuff should go when you are feeling unmotivated

These are fab kindle books

I'm half way through the cleaning one after seeing your recommendation, I am so far loving it and can't wait to put it into practice when I get home (been visiting a friend for a few days). Thank you so much for this.