Hi everyone! In this week’s video I’m sharing 3 practical cleaning tips for people with ADHD — but they’re helpful for people who don’t have ADHD, too!
As someone who went decades without a diagnosis, I tried so many methods to keep my home under control. The printable cleaning checklists I developed, along with the tips I share on my blog and in this video, are the result. I guess you could say cleaning is my special interest — and that’s how I became a cleaning expert!
As far as the tips here, I first explain my daily process that gets me to notice the clutter — something difficult for us ADHDers. Then, I go over a few tricks I use to get my phone to act as a second brain, but one with a well-working executive function. Last, I cover the secret combination that makes routines less excruciating to follow, so you say motivated to clean and on track.
Don’t miss my blooper at the end, then grab my handy list of how often everything in your home needs to be cleaned:
See you next week!
Katie
#cleaning #cleaningtips #adhdcleaning #adhd #neurodivergent #neurodivergentcleaning #cleaningadvice #cleaningroutine #cleaningroutines #cleaningexpert
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Does your ADHD make routines fun or frustrating?
I am a visual learner and when you just talked about what to do with your phone reminders, if I don't see it I don't understand.
thank you soo much for this list I've been stuck in a cycle of mess and this is really helping me!
Thank you so much for this video. My problem is that I cannot find any motivation, I need to break out of this horrible cycle, because I am happiest when I have a clean home. I will try this grab bag idea and see if that is all I need to get moving around here. Thank you!
Lol you are funny. I like your personality and you kept my attention which is really hard. You didn’t have car chases, space ships or superheros lol. I watch your other post too. I feel better, because I just thought I was stupid, but you seem intelligent. Thanks for the hope 😀🤩
I can not focus on the video.
Very helpful and also entertaining, you got that like already 👍👍👍
Thank you so much for putting this together I hope this content gets to everyone who can benefit from it
Amazing!
Jokes on the folks who eat in bed and already have a mess of car 😂 im just a girlllll 😂
I have anxiety about cleaning but once I get started I need someone to tell me to stop because I can keep going I also had to put a ban on me buying storage boxes as I had a issue with buying them and not filling them lol 😂
What is the name of the app for georeferencing reminders? Thx!
What app do you use?
I was already distracted by another video and then i thought, no this is important! So i finished your video anyways 😂🎉
Thanks for the good tips😄
this helps a lot im always getting into trouble when i dont remember to clean my room or rule in the house and its hard for me to come up with ways to better myself thank you for helping im going to be trying all of this out
Reminders app in my phone???
Geo fence???
🤔
I appreciate the short intro I try to watch 2 other videos and lost focus within the first 30 seconds. Thank you!!!
1. righting the small wrongs – put small things away that tend to pile up away (bills, random clothes) helps to set reminders and perhaps write down what goes where to not need to think about where it goes.
2. use phone to replace executive function. set geo-centric reminders to do things when you're passing by places
3. pair routines with rewards. pretty self explanatory, tell yourself to do something before something else – ex. wash the dishes before eating dinner
this is for me but also for anyone that needs a reminder. thank you for your video!
I lost focus in the first 3 minutes 10 times. The sound is horrible. Video is not good, especially for people with adhd. I like that you're trying to help us all. Thank you. Keep trying. ❤
You are so frustrating. You are talking to ADHD people who have issues with concentration and you went on for the first 2 minutes about setting reminders on your phone
What is the geolocation app ypu mentioned? I've never heard of that, would live to try it ❤
If I dumped a load of laundry on the kitchen table at least it would hide all the clutter already on the table. It would also never get folded – not all at once anyway – and sit there for days while we ate our meals on the couch.
For putting away laundry, i put it away WHILE I’m getting dressed. Instead of digging to the bottom of a basket looking for something and just getting it into a bigger more wrinkly mess, I pick something off the top, see if I want to wear it, and if I don’t, I shove it in a drawer. Sometimes I food it nicely, sometimes I roll it up, sometimes I don’t fold it at all. I keep going until I’ve found a whole outfit lol, and sometimes I keep going until the basket is empty. It becomes something urgent and useful, it makes my life immediately easier, instead of being something that I dread, because I H A T E putting away laundry.
Adding tidying for 15 minutes every day and the one minute rule are really big for me!
You have such a warm and kind-calming presence… Needed when so many of us adhd ppl are treated like clowns. I appreciate your tips and your way of explaining things. I never even realized that's why I leave things out. They'll give you meds and have you talk about your family but nobody can explain it like someone who's living who has the gift of introspection plus presentation plus miraculously can complete a project to put on YouTube. Lol. Thanks so much!
1. Use your momentum. If you are getting up off the couch to get a drink or go to the bathroom, do something, anything, that takes one minute or less to improve your surroundings. For example, pick up all the dirty mugs and dishes and take them to the kitchen. Even if you feel too lazy to wash them up or put them in the dishwasher, you can stack them next to the sink, which is one step closer to dealing with them. Anything you do do is better than doing nothing.
2. Proximity. If you are in the kitchen making yourself a snack or drink, get in the habit of doing something, cleaning or tidying up, that takes one minute or less. As I’m British, while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil for tea, I will load or unload the dishwasher – I can do either in about one minute.
3. Aim for improvement, not necessarily completion, and definitely NOT perfection. Don’t make more of a mess when you are doing something because if you run out of time or energy, it will just be left there making you feel worse. For instance, when I tackle our jammed packed junk drawer, I NEVER pull everything out at once. All I do is take out a few things that don’t belong in there, along with some rubbish and deal with them. Then when I lose interest, I can just finish up quickly and close the drawer.
4. Find out what works for you because that is all that matters. If you force yourself to do something a certain way, then you are just stressing yourself out and making yourself miserable. Most people love to make lists, but I don’t like them. For me it is one more thing to do before I even start doing the things I need to work on, so I resent it, plus I don’t get a thrill out of ticking off the completed jobs, like I’m supposed to.
5. Prioritise. If I don’t do anything else, I try to get the dishes washed, and some laundry done, so I make sure I do these things first in case I don’t have the time or energy to do anything else.
6. Accept that your house will always be dirtier and more disorganised than you would like. It will always be a work in progress, so there is no point beating yourself up because you don’t have the time or inclination to do all that you set out to do on a particular day.
i tried with Alarms but i ignored them after a while. Then i have in my calendar everyday an other room i have to clean but no suprise it is just a nice option not to loose the complete fokus where i could start that day. Now i have a 3 step system wich works really good for me.
1. The laundry( just one a day id i don't feel energized so i am going to hang it up til the end of the day)
2. Tge dishwashes( i have maschine tvat makes it more easy but one time it was broken so i had to do it by hand and i did it bc everyday washing makes just a little dish mountain)
3. the garbage must be put together ( i don't want to have bugs)
evrything else is optional
and maybe the 80/20 method is nearly like what i do if you know that better
As i sit here and look around ny house looks like a bomb has hit it but i just dont have any motivation to do.
"Before we lose all focus, let's jump in" 😂😂 got me there, love it
It could be the adhd talking (ha) though I think this might be revolutionary for me, at least tips 1 & 3 combined.
This video is a good answer for those ignorant professionals who keep wondering whether getting diagnosis would actually change anything for me. Like really?? I typed 'adhd' and 'cleaning' and this was maybe the third result that popped up. (I'm self realized, peer rewied and undiagnosed)
I must use a kitchen timer, NOT my phone. I get the phone in my hand ( like it is now) and I start scrolling…gee where are my packages? Who called/texted/emailed? Can I find a video to clean to? And rhe hamster wheel starts again..
Thank you for this video. I am having a hard time getting my small person to help with her tasks. We both have it, her with ADHD and myself with ADD. So it can be hard to get both of us to do something. The grab bag reminded me about the dopamine menu that you can create for when you get board. I am going to try this. Thanks again
The only thing that has worked for me consistently is making my home pretty. I have to remove the clutter and keep everything nice. I still let my place get messy but after a little while I miss the prettiness. Lighting a candle, having essential oils diffusing, or a vase of fresh flowers are my go- to mood enhancers😊.
Tips 1 & 3 will fail for me. Already using tip 2, just in a bit different way, so video isn't helpful for me, but I'm glad it's here for anyone that does find it useful. Tip 1: I will then just work around stuff in the new dump location. Tip 3: Since there is no authority to tell me I can't get things from the reward bag RIGHT NOW, I will just go get it. I have to use other methods like listening to a podcast or audiobook while I work to entertain my brain.
It's hot that I leave stuff hanging around because they a reminder tk stiff I need too do more its the fact I can't be bothered to put them away 😂 Amd your right I actually dont notice rhem lol😂
I found this so helpful. Short and sweet, and I actually learnt some new tips. I've subscribed. (Also did you release a cleaning guide years ago, maybe Housewife How-Tos? I recognise your name.)
Clutter blindness is a thing?! I feel so seen. ❤
Great ideas, thank you. Quick question, what if the clutter in my home is already out of control? It weighs heavily on my soul and wreaks havoc on my mental health but it's completely overwhelming and I don't know where to begin.
You mean the apple calendar app because I didn’t know you could add tasks and remember everyday.
The biggest hurdle I’ve been struggling with…once I gather all the items from a room in a basket, that basket then sits. Even if I dump the stuff out – say, on the kitchen table…I will literally not make dinner or work around it just so I don’t have to put it away 😅 my brain says “nope…not doing it” and then it won’t get done until that wears off for that item. It’s like, it’s me holding myself accountable so I can just make an excuse..and if I do try and have my husband or my sister or someone be my “accountability partner” that doesn’t work either cause I really don’t care what they say and I know they can’t make me do it 😫😆 I’m laughing…cause it’s absurd to read that when I type it out…I’m even someone who likes to clean lol adhd is SO WEIRD! (I am also aware that my stubbornness as a first defense is possibly influenced from other issues/sources too (trauma,ptsd) so I end up stuck…I’m not sure how to get to the part where I can gather the clutter and then follow thru & put the clutter away. I will say one thing that has helped a little is when I have an item in my hand, saying to myself over and over “don’t put it down, put it away” as I go and put it away. I feel like I need multiple tricks and tools at my disposal cause I get bored with that option and then don’t do it 😂 oh lord, the struggle to do a simple task is real…cause it’s never simple…there are multiple steps and decisions just to lead up to getting the supplies out 🫠
I can't do the grab bag of rewards cuz my brain is like "who's gonna stop you from getting the reward, I want it now!" And before I know it the candy/cake or whatever I was saving for later has disappeared and I'm thinking "oh no..what have I done!?"
Its nice to have a candle burning while washing dishes. I have no dish washer.
I'm not diagnoses bit latley I wonder. But anyways I always feel like im drowning and digging my own grave ….or someone is
I have to reduce my possessions to an absolute minimum
People with ADHD, their house and their car looks like they’re homeless or a bomb went off
I can clean my whole house in, organize it perfectly, and destroy it within an hour
I could have a beautiful car and it will be full of garbage literally
Thank you for sharing your tips! I LOVE the grab bag idea- I have a feeling my ADHD brain will go crazy for that one ❤ and thank you too for the blog post. I have been searching for a comprehensive all-in-one list or instruction manual for house chores for a while now and this one is really helpful. I get so overwhelmed with the state of things I never know where to start or what to prioritize. Hopefully starting back on ADHD medication will help, but also hopefully these tips will help too.
Great Vid. Big ups to the Gen Z terminology as well #yeet! lol
New sub❤ first tip immediately followed. Recent ADHD diagnosis at age 39, but I always knew especially after having my 1st baby.