These times are often when the person with ADHD is feeling inspired. The flip side of this is that there are times when they are actually quite good. Remember I said the executive functions are glitchy? This means they are inconsistent. Less conventional ways to approach decluttering and organizing: No wonder conventional organization is so hard for people with ADHD! Conventional approaches often don’t work. Estimating time – figuring out how long things will take so you don’t get in over your head.Emotional regulation – not getting carried away by memories, feelings of shame, frustration or boredom.Monitoring effort – thinking about what you are doing and whether you are doing the right things at the right time.

Sustaining attention – resisting distractions.

It also involves imagining the future and how you will use things.

Sequencing events – thinking about the different steps involved (uses working memory), and then figuring out what order to do them.

Breaking down projects – identifying the individual tasks involved in the bigger project.

This is important for sorting and creating categories.

Working memory – being able to recall the right information at the right time, and mentally compare and contrast information.

Executive function skills and how they can affect decluttering and organizing: For people with ADHD, executive functions can be glitchy and they also drain mental energy much faster than for people without ADHD. Executive functions are controlled by a part of the brain that is highly impacted by ADHD. These are the skills that help you execute, or carry out your intentions.

Physically putting things into their designated spacesĮverything listed uses the brain’s executive function skills.

Deciding on storage containers or furniture.

Doing physically demanding and mentally boring tasks.

Making decisions about how to discard or donate things.

Making decisions about what to keep and what to let go.Why is getting organized so hard for people with ADHD? Lots of reasons! Skills involved with organizing: The clients I enjoyed the most just happened to have ADHD. I became interested in working with people with ADHD when I was working as a professional organizer.

How to organize your life with adhd