Cleaning with ADHD is a necessary evil most of us ADHDers avoid as long as we can. We’re known for mess and for good reason: the ADHD mind is a chaotic, disorganized place and it’s reflected in our outer worlds. Getting our living space tidy and organized is often about as hard as getting our minds settled and focused. But living in chaos can magnify our ADHD symptoms, and most of us hate the mess even if we can’t drum up the executive functioning skills to fix it.
And that’s the problem in a nutshell: executive dysfunction. Planning, preparing, organizing, prioritizing, getting started–all executive functions needed to get the house clean.
Thankfully, despite our struggles, cleaning with ADHD isn’t impossible, and it doesn’t have to be so hard, either. With the right tools, the right mindset, and strategies that actually work for neurodivergents, cleaning with ADHD doesn’t have to be so bad.
Cleaning with ADHD
Today we’re delving into all the difficulties cleaning with ADHD presents us and practical, concrete ways to overcome each. Use this guide any time you are struggling with the house–bookmark it so you don’t lose it.
Cleaning with ADHD: The ‘Before You Even Start’ Hurdles
Having ADHD means that no matter what we’re trying to do, there are things that trip us up before we even get started. Cleaning with ADHD is no different. Here are some of the biggest hurdles that get in our way from the start.
Cleaning with ADHD Hurdle #1: Adjust Your Expectations
ADHDers often struggle with perfectionism, time blindness, and unhelpful (not to mention often inaccurate) comparison ideas. All three screw with your expectations and can shut you down.
Time blindness gives us unreasonable productivity expectations. We think we’ll spend one day cleaning the whole house and get it done. Unless you’ve got a completely clear day and people coming over later that night, that’s probably unrealistic. Depending on the day and your energy level, you might accomplish half of what you expect of yourself. Some days it’s more like a quarter.
Perfectionism means that we can work so hard that we exhaust ourselves, only to have a bigger mess than we started with. One of my unmedicated friends spent nearly an entire day scrubbing the bottom of her cabinets with a toothbrush. By the time she ran out of steam, her still messy house now had dishes lining the kitchen countertops. Perfectionism will sabotage you.
That perfectionism also leads to inaccurate comparisons that aid the sabotage. I think most of us have this idea that neurotypical people live in HGTV houses that are so clean they sparkle. My husband used to work in and out of people’s homes all day. He told me everyone is messy. Well cleaned and kept homes were rare; most of the places he worked were somewhere between chaotic and lived in. There is something freeing about knowing that even neurotypicals have messy homes.
All of this to say, keep your expectations realistic. Lived in is good enough. You won’t be able to do everything you think you can, so set your sights smaller. Then, if you can do more, great. It’s more motivating for us to get more done than we expected than to fail our overly idealistic expectations.
How can you tell if your expectations are realistic or unrealistic?
If you can’t consistently meet an expectation for yourself, it’s probably unrealistic. This is the biggest way I determine if my expectations or too high or on point. If I keep setting the same bar for myself, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t reach it, the bar is set too high. It took me a while to realize that.
Start smaller. There is no harm in expecting less, especially when it often means we accomplish more. People have the idea that ‘lowering your expectations’ is a bad thing–like it’s giving up. I think that’s a faulty interpretation, especially when it comes to cleaning with ADHD.
Small steps build momentum. Small expectations can too. Don’t be ashamed to start small and build up.
Cleaning with ADHD Hurdle #2: Don’t Confuse Your Cleaning Categories
I wrote a post a while back about the role of overwhelm in zapping our motivation. In it, I mentioned that the ADHD brain sees things in big, vague categories that are too intangible to be useful or act upon. That trips us up with cleaning, too.
The ADHD brain tends to see one task: clean the house. Not only does that gloss over each individual task and what it takes to complete it, it’s also glossing over cleaning categories and lumping them all together. Part of our brain sees this and gets overwhelmed by it. The other part of our brain is blind to it and can’t understand why it overwhelms us.
What do I mean by cleaning categories?
There is an important difference between cleaning, tidying, organizing, and purging. When we think “clean the house”, that’s usually lumping all these categories together and expecting they should all be done (and done well) at the same time. That, my friends, is unrealistic.
Know which category you’re specifically working on. Organizing is its own endeavor and thinking you’ll reorganize, tidy, and clean all at the same time is probably too much. The ADHD brain needs tasks that are specific, concrete, and contained–if we start merging categories and expecting it all, we’ll end up overwhelmed and shut down.
I break each category down like this.
- Cleaning includes tasks like vacuuming, dusting, mopping, wiping, scrubbing, etc…
- Tidying includes tasks like putting things in their rightful place, picking up the floor, making the bed, making things look nicer, etc…
- Organizing is re-categorizing things and deciding how and where they will be kept and creating systems for storage.
- Purging is getting rid of things. That might be self explanatory, but generally purging requires throw away piles and donation bags.
Know which one you’re working on and don’t expect you’re going to do all four for the entire house on the same day. That’s masochism.
Understand the value of a purge
Every once in a while I go on what I call a “Great Purge.” That’s when the overwhelming amount of stuff becomes too much for me to continue trying to keep organized and I go on a rampage getting rid of it. It was in doing this that I realized something that is very, very important for cleaning with ADHD.
It is far easier to keep your home clean if you reduce the amount of stuff you have to keep organized. Every single thing you have in your home comes with an energy price tag you pay every time you need to use it and put it back where you go it. The more things you keep and use, the more energy it takes to consistently put them back where they belong. That sounds small and inconsequential until you add up all the price tags.
Overtime, I’ve learned that when I start getting overwhelmed by cleaning with ADHD, when the house seems to always and constantly need more attention than I have energy to give, it’s because I have too much stuff. After a great purge, things feel maintainable again. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful it is to keep less. It means cleaning less. Organizing less. Tidying less. I’m not saying you have to be a minimalist unless you want to, but less stuff means less work.
It’s important to note that on a great purge day, purging is the only cleaning category I’m doing that day. It’s a big task and I often can’t get it all done in one day. No way am I also getting to cleaning, organizing, etc…
Cleaning with ADHD Hurdle #3: Don’t Wing it; Go in With a Strategy
Remember how I mentioned that cleaning requires executive functioning skills that we struggle with? That means we aren’t good at ‘winging’ it. Neurotypicals can often function on the fly–we can’t. This is why I compare neurotypicals to automatic engines and ADHD brains to 5 speeds. We have to configure our approach manually, even when cleaning.
There are some cleaning strategies I use every time I clean. I always start with collecting trash. It’s a concrete task, and it removes some of the visual overwhelm in any room. Since this is always my starting place, I never have the ‘where the heck do I even start’ question tripping me up. It lets me see immediate improvement in the room, too, which boosts my momentum and therefore, my motivation.
From there, my strategy depends on what I’m hoping to accomplish. If my task is tidying a single room, I look for anything within the room that doesn’t belong there and I put it in an empty laundry basket. Then I move to whatever creates the most amount of visual clutter. If it’s clothes on the floor, I grab another laundry basket and start loading them in. If it’s dishes, I gather them up and take them to the sink.
If my goal is cleaning the room, it should already be tidy enough to clean without major issues. If it isn’t, shift your goals to tidying instead of cleaning. You can’t sweep and mop the floors if they’re covered with clothes and shoes. But remember to mind your expectations: if cleaning is what you really need to do that day, but you have to tidy first, progress will be slower. Cleaning and tidying the same room on the same day means you’re doing double duty. Each room will take twice the effort.
Cleaning With ADHD: Pitfalls and Tips to Avoid Them
Now that you’ve got your expectations in line and your strategy decided, you’re ready for the next set of pitfalls that trip us up. Are you celebrating yet? No? That makes sense.
Cleaning with ADHD Pitfall #1: No motivation
Let’s be honest: cleaning is boring. So, so boring. And there are a thousand better things to do with our time. Since ADHD runs off an interest based nervous system, it is particularly difficult for us to drum up the motivation to do things that are boring. Not unless we’ve got adrenaline or panic to keep it interesting.
Tips for Increasing Motivation
Sometimes low motivation is about the boring nature of cleaning. Sometimes low motivation is more about overwhelm and the various other things that can cause it. We’ll cover that in other sections. For this one, I’ll stick to tips for addressing the boredom aspect. Just know that if no amount of increasing interest helps, boredom might not be the motivation culprit.
To be fully transparent, I have not found a single tip that completely and consistently removes the boring part of cleaning. I’ve only found a series of things that help a bit and I usually need more than one to get past the boredom hump. So this is another place to check your expectations: if you’re looking for a tip that functions like a miracle, you probably won’t find it. Look for as many things you can find that help at least a little bit and Frankenstein them together. That at least inches me past the boredom pitfall, even if it is by the skin of my teeth sometimes.
Related: The Key to Getting Motivated When You Have ADHD
Tip #1: Hack Your Olfactory Sense
Use a scent that you associate with clean–that’s lemon for me. I’ve noticed that when the house smells clean, I feel a little more like cleaning. Doing this helps capitalize on the power of associations to shift our motivations.
Tip #2: Put on an HGTV type show in the background
Not for their advice. I repeat, you are not watching the show in order to learn and use the advice that they are giving. Because cleaning with ADHD is a wholey different beast, chances are their advice won’t help. I put on shows like this because seeing the nice looking houses and hearing someone else focusing on creating an orderly house makes me want my house in order, too. Combined with the smell of lemon all around me, sometimes this combination is the winning ticket for increasing my motivation to clean.
Tip #3: Gamify Your Chores
I personally don’t have the focus or desire to go too crazy with gamifying cleaning, so my personal methods are usually basic. When I let my dogs out for a bathroom break, I see how many dishes I can load in the dishwasher before they’re ready to come inside. If I have to leave in 15 minutes for an appointment, I’ll get ready early and use those last 15 minutes to see how much dog hair I can vacuum off the floor before it’s time to go. The time limited aspect and emphasis on being quick, help me get it done.
Besides this ‘race to the finish’ strategy, I also look for ways to clean more efficiently because that’s sometimes a ‘magic word’ for my brain. I found microfiber cleaning slippers on amazon and like to wear them while I’m doing other chores because it feels like I’m getting two things done at once.
There are many ways you could do this, and probably apps that help if you need more creative gamification strategies.
Tip #4: Motivate with Small, Limited Tasks or Short Periods of Time
When you’re cleaning with ADHD, big tasks and long periods of cleaning zap motivation instantly. If I’m dreading a cleaning task, trying to motivate myself to do the entire thing is futile. My brain responds like a three year old pitching an internal tantrum.
Instead, I have to motivate myself with much, much smaller tasks or time periods. If I’m only unloading the dishwasher, I can probably do that. Especially since I’ve timed myself and know I can get it done within 5-10 minutes. I can’t get myself to clean my entire bedroom, but I can usually convince myself to spend 5 minutes putting dirty clothes in a laundry basket.
Starting small like this usually gives me the momentum to keep going once I’m done. But if it doesn’t, it’s really important that you don’t force yourself to keep going anyway. If you do, your brain will not believe you the next time you try to motivate yourself with the small steps strategy.
If you get to the end of your small task and it still feels like pulling teeth to do anything more, let yourself be done for now. Do something interesting to build up your dopamine. Then come back to another small, time limited task. Your brain has to know and believe that your 5 minute task isn’t a trick or it will fight you anytime you try to use it.
Tip #5: Use Additional Forms of Stimulation to Increase Interest
Mentally focusing on cleaning with ADHD, while cleaning with ADHD, only makes an already boring situation feel even less bearable. Focusing on a really interesting audiobook while cleaning with ADHD, however, feels more tolerable. If I’m doing something I hate doing, having all my focus on doing that thing makes it feel more torturous. It’s like boredom surrounds you on all sides.
But adding additional stimulation helps shift your focus and add interest. It also helps occupy that part of our brain that needs to be constantly engaged in order to focus or function well. And it gives us something better to think about so our body can go on autopilot and at least our mind can have a decent time.
Sometimes I do that with cleaning shows or while I’m on the phone. Usually, though, I do it with audiobooks or music. If I’m in more of a ‘television over books’ phase, I’ll stick a favorite show on in the background. I’m not much of a podcast person, but if you are, that’s also a great option. Whatever you enjoy listening to or doing, if you can add it as an additional form of stimulation while you’re cleaning, it can help.
Tip #6: Use a Body Double
I won’t spend a ton of time here because you’ll find this piece of advice everywhere. Having someone there with you can be super helpful. If you don’t have anyone you’re comfortable asking for this kind of support, there are online communities like FocusMate you can use.
For a spin on this tip, you could consider structuring your cleaning time to align with a close friend’s so you can talk on the phone while cleaning together. That adds additional stimulation to the body double idea and reduces the likelihood of clutter shame getting in the way of using a body double.
Cleaning with ADHD Pitfall #2: Moving From Task to Task Without Finishing Anything
For many ADHDers, getting past the low motivation hump leads straight into the distracted cleaning method where we move from task to task, barely accomplishing anything. In the middle of cleaning the office, you notice the trash needs taking out. In the middle of bagging up the trash, you notice food crumbs stuck to the kitchen countertop. While looking for a rag to scrub that up, you end up on something else. Before you know it, you’ve spent the entire day scrubbing the bottom of your cabinets with a toothbrush and the house is a bigger mess than it was when you started.
Tips for Staying on Task
There are two major strategies for sticking to your task: minimizing distractions, and addressing forgetfulness.
Tip #1: Don’t Leave the Room Until the Task is Done
This strategy has helped me avoid distracted cleaning the most. If I’m cleaning the office, I close the door and I don’t leave until I’m done. Items that need to be returned to other rooms go into a laundry basket stationed at the door. When I’m finished in that room, I take the laundry basket around the house depositing each item within wherever it’s supposed to go.
I make sure I have everything I need already in the room before I get started. That way I have no reason to leave. Leaving means noticing all the other things I need to get to. Leaving drastically increases the likelihood I’ll get distracted by something. So I don’t leave.
Tip #2: Write Your Tasks Down and Keep That Handy
Even if I’ve locked myself in the office, there’s still a shot I’ll forget what I’m supposed to be doing. If have to leave the room for some reason, there’s an even greater shot I’ll forget what I’m doing. To help with that, I write down everything I’m planning to work on that day and I go down the list, crossing things out as I complete them. That means, at any given time, I can check the list and reorient myself to whatever task I need to be doing. Now that I’ve gotten into the habit of writing it down, I’ve also gotten into the habit of checking the list when I realize I’ve forgotten.
Writing it down also helps us get into a focused mindset and can even help increase motivation to do what is on the list. Not as a magic bullet or miracle strategy, but as a small motivational boost.
I like to use small, portable whiteboards for this. They’re fun to write on so I’m more likely to use them and less likely to misplace my list. Trash in my house is usually scrap paper, so carrying around a list of chores on notebook paper is easy to lose or overlook.
Cleaning with ADHD Pitfall #3: Sensory Challenges
It took me a long time to realize that sensory issues are one of the reasons I hate cleaning as much as I do. I hate having wet or damp skin, especially my hands. Whether it’s washing dishes, changing the laundry, or wiping countertops, that sensory challenge is a constant struggle while cleaning.
I hate when my hands feel sticky or dirty, but I also hate the feel of wearing latex gloves. I’m extremely averse to certain smells. That makes me dread cleaning the bathroom or the refrigerator. For other people, certain sounds present a challenge while cleaning with ADHD. Whatever it is, there’s often a sensory struggle wrapped up in our cleaning avoidance. If that’s part of the picture for you, it’s really important that you identify what it is and what tasks are affected by it.
Tips for Sensory Challenges While Cleaning
Since there are a million possible ways cleaning can provoke sensory issues, it’s really important that we get good at identifying them and put on our creative problem solving hats. If your particular aversions aren’t listed and addressed here, use the principles given for problem solving inspiration.
Tip #1: Strategies for Touch Aversion
Despite hating the feeling of latex, gloves are still important to have on hand. I have not found a pair of gloves that I love wearing, but I did find a large rubber pair meant for washing the dishes and I don’t hate wearing them for short periods of time. They double as scrubbers too, which feeds the part of my brain that likes efficiency.
Use thicker rags for wiping things down. I usually fold them over a few times so that cleaning liquid doesn’t soak all the way through to my hands. Use scrubs and brushes where you can–I like using them for the bathtub, for example. Then I just rinse the tub out when I’m done and my hands remain fairly dry.
Tip #2: Strategies for Smell Aversion
This one has been harder for me. Using a lemon or other clean scent can help mask some smells, but it’s far from foolproof. If a smell is especially bothering me, I’ll dab Mentholatum under my nose to get away from it. Sometimes I just work really hard to see how long I can hold my breath. If you don’t have psychological hang ups about breathing through your mouth around bad smells, go for it. Unfortunately, the neurotic side of my brain is worried I’ll taste the smell if I do that. So I don’t.
If you have other people in your household, trade tasks with them if you can’t find a way to get through a bad sensory aversion. My husband usually takes the bathroom because he knows I hate the smell. He prefers more contained tasks like that anyway, so it works for us.
Tip #3: Strategies for Sound Aversions
One of the most common culprits for this sensory challenge is the vacuum cleaner. It’s loud, the sound is grating, I get it. Use ear plugs or headphones to help dampen or mask it. Sounds related to cleaning don’t typically bother me, but I often use noise cancelling headphones anyway because they help reduce distractions. If your music is loud enough, not even the vacuum cleaner can break through.
Tip #4: Miscellaneous Sensory Aversions
For some people, the sensory struggle is more indirect. If cleaning works up a sweat and you hate feeling sweaty, you may need to take more breaks to cool down. Drink cold water, use ice packs and cool towels to help decrease your body temperature as it starts to rise. Getting overheated makes me feel dizzy and nauseous so I take frequent breaks and use a frozen head wrap meant for migraines to keep myself cool.
I also have stomach issues. Some days bending over too much makes me feel like I’m going to puke. On days like that, I’ll gamify cleaning accommodations to get myself through it. How many things can I pick up with my feet? How many tasks can I get to without having to move from a chair? What everyday objects can I turn into tools that extend my reach?
The bottom line is, take an inventory of any sensory challenges that cleaning may provoke, directly or indirectly, then find creative problem solving strategies to change it up.
Cleaning with ADHD Pitfall #4: Cleaning is Hard to Balance and Prioritize with Life
Having ADHD means constantly running from fire to fire, trying to put them out and get them done before we miss a deadline. Life is hectic and there’s a lot to balance–having an interest based nervous system means we follow the adrenaline. The problem with cleaning is it rarely has a deadline or an immediate consequence for not getting done. It’s one of those things that always needs to done and will always need to be done. Not only does that make cleaning with ADHD feel redundant or rote, it also means it rarely takes a high priority.
If you have two projects due at work this week, plus you’re expected to lead a social event in the community, and teach a sunday school class you still need to prepare for, the deadlines keep you hopping. No matter how dirty or messy your house has gotten in the time since you cleaned it last, if there’s no deadline and no crisis to create a fire in you, it’s probably not getting done. After all, it will still be there next week. You’ll get to it then, right? Unless next week more deadlines popping up on you.
Tips for Prioritizing and Balancing Housework
This has been one of my biggest cleaning with ADHD pitfalls. There are always so many demands on time and too little of it to get to everything. Even if I really want the house clean, it’s hard to prioritize it. There’s always something else that needs to be done first.
I’ve found a few strategies for this that help, but this is an area I’m still working on.
Tip #1: Get Comfortable with Small Steps and Use Them
If I have to convince myself to take an entire day off from everything else in order to get my house clean, it’s probably not going to happen. Not unless someone’s coming over. The house never feels important enough to take away from my work time. But if I only have to convince myself to sacrifice 10 minutes at a time, it doesn’t feel as problematic to balance.
If I’m just whipping down the sink after I use the bathroom, it won’t get in the way of my work. If I’m just picking one old or expired thing from the fridge to trash, that feels more like being efficient than giving up work time.
Not only do small steps help motivate us to get started, they also help us get the house clean while balancing other life needs and expectations. The ADHD tendency is to dismiss small progress as inconsequential and I think that is one of the biggest saboteurs we face. Small and steady is very effective for us. The sooner we embrace that and stop stripping them of their value, the better.
Tip #2: Create Habits that Help
Before you decapitate me for suggesting this, hear me out. Yes, it is harder for us to create habits and routines even though they are very helpful to us. Yes, it sometimes feels impossible to make a habit stick. But I’m not talking about full, daily routines. I’m not talking about big habits like washing the dishes and making your bed every day. If you can do that, awesome. I’m not there yet and frankly, I’m not sure I ever will be.
I’m talking about small habits for small steps. The key to making something like this stick is to pair it with something you already do consistently. Every time you open the refrigerator, find one thing to throw away. Every time you use the bathroom, pick one small cleaning task to perform before you leave. Rinse the sink or wipe the countertop. I like to keep windex wipes in the bathroom so I can grab one and clean the mirror when I get done brushing my teeth.
A small, battery powered handheld vacuum is one of the best purchases I have ever made. Dragging out the vacuum is a hassle when you have two dogs that shed as much as mine do. But a handheld is so freaking easy and quick. I keep it in the living room because that’s a central location, and that’s usually the exact place I find myself when the need to vacuum strikes.
Addressing Forgetfulness
The caveat with this tip is remembering to do it. We aren’t good at that. That’s why I make visual reminders for myself. I keep the windex wipes right next to my toothbrush to remind me to wipe the mirror. I keep a white board on the fridge and add reminders to throw something away while I’m there. The longer we do this, the more automatic it becomes. But in the process of turning it into a habit, you may have to vary your visual cues to keep them noticeable.
Creating small habits like these helps us get more done without having to take extra time or build up any additional motivation or momentum to get them done. That makes balance easier.
Tip #3: Tie Your Cleaning Routine to An Outside Reinforcement
You can do this the high adrenaline way or the no-panic route. For the no panic method, talk to a friend and decide on a day you’re both cleaning. Then talk on the phone while you clean. If you have someone expecting you to clean and waiting on a phone call, their expectation helps us stay focused. We will give it a higher priority precisely because someone else will know and get thrown off if we don’t.
The high adrenaline way, on the other hand, involves regularly inviting people over so that the deadline will make us prioritize cleaning. I’m too much of a homebody introvert to use this one frequently, but if you’re more outgoing, it’s an option to consider. Having a specific ‘deadline’ increases the priority put on cleaning and doing it regularly means that priority stays heightened.
Cleaning with ADHD Pitfall #5: Cleaning is Overwhelming
As I mentioned before, cleaning with ADHD involves a number of things that lead us to overwhelm. For me, visual clutter alone can automatically trigger it. If I let myself think too much about everything that needs to be done, it will trip me up before I’ve even started.
But having tasks that are too vague is one place where I fall victim to overwhelm most. I’m notorious for thinking I’m going to tidy the living room today, only to stand in the middle of the room like a deer in the headlights. Funny that I still do this when I know how important it is for us to have specific, concrete tasks instead of broad, vague ideas of what to do.
We get overwhelmed by the number of tasks we need to do, the unending number of steps involved in each task, the vague ideas we have of what to do, and some of the habits we engage in while cleaning. There’s more too, but these are the biggies.
Tips for Fighting Overwhelm
The first step is figuring out what exactly is overwhelming you. Specifically. Yes, cleaning is overwhelming, but that’s too broad and vague to be helpful. Do you know where to start? Did you create a strategy? Are your tasks ambiguous or broad? Is visual clutter too overstimulating? Once you’ve isolated the specifics, it’s easier to problem solve.
Related: ADHD and Overwhelmed: How to Stop it in its Tracks
Tip #1: Make the Vague Small and Ultra Specific
When you are creating your strategy for what you want to get cleaned, tidied, or organized, make sure the tasks you identify on your agenda are very specific. Don’t fall prey to the ‘clean the living room’ nonsense. On a good brain day, maybe that will work for you. On a bad one, it probably won’t.
Instead, break that large, vague idea down into small, specific, concrete tasks. On my better brain days, tidying the living room might break down into 1. Throw away the Trash. 2. Take all dishes to the sink. 3. Take all discarded clothes to the laundry room. 4. Put the art supplies littering the table in the craft closet. 4. Put the dog toys in their bin.
The more specific your task, the better. ‘Pick up the stuff on the floor’ may not be specific enough. Instead, that might break down into a few different, more specific tasks like ‘put the pillows back on the couch’ and ‘take all the shoes back to their respective closets.’
If a task is already specific and concrete but it’s still overwhelming, check to make sure there aren’t any pre-requisit tasks in the way. You can’t vacuum the floor if it’s covered in toys. You can’t wash the dishes if they need to soak first. And you can’t put something away if you don’t know where it’s supposed to go or have a place for it.
Tip #2: Do Not Create More Mess in the Process of Cleaning
One of the absolute worst things you can do is create a big pile of stuff in the process of cleaning with ADHD. Do not empty all of your cabinets in order to clean them. Do not pile all of your clothes on your bed in order to go through them. Do not remove all the books from your bookcase to reorganize them. Please, for the love of ADHD, don’t do it.
Big mounds and piles are overwhelming to look at. You run the risk of overwhelming yourself so thoroughly that the temporary pile becomes a permanent one. Plus, the nature of ADHD is such that we often don’t get a warning when our energy is about to vanish. It just happens, seemingly out of the blue. If you approach cleaning by making a bigger mess first, the chances of losing steam mid pile is very high. Spending hours trying to reduce the mess, only to have doubled it by the end of the day, is incredibly demoralizing.
Go through things where they are. If you are trying to get rid of things like clothes, don’t pile them on the bed. Go through the ones hanging in your closet, only removing what you want to get rid of. Then go through the dirty piles or laundry baskets. If you’re cleaning something like cabinet surfaces, only do one at a time. If the cabinet is particularly packed, you might break it down even further. Remove only half the items, clean, then put them back. Repeat for the other half. That may seem annoying, but you are much less likely to get overwhelmed or to end your cleaning streak with a bigger mess than you started with.
Tip #3: Keep a List of Recurring Tasks that are Small, Concrete, and Specific
I keep a list of household chores that frequently need doing. Each item on that list is small, specific, and concrete. I have things like ‘load the dishwasher’, ‘wipe the kitchen countertops down’, ‘collect all dishes scattered through the house and bring them to the sink’, stuff like that. When I’m struggling to think through concrete tasks or stuck in decision paralysis, I grab that list and pick something from it.
I made that list on a good brain day and I use it on bad brain days. When every other strategy feels overwhelming in a way I can’t figure out how to navigate, that list helps me get something done. On bad brain days, it’s really hard to look at mess and find concrete and specific tasks I can do to change it. Having a list that already outlines some of those steps is a huge help.
Tip #4: Limit Your Focus to One, Small Area
If visual clutter has me particularly overwhelmed, I narrow my focus. The entire room is too overwhelming to approach all at once if it’s really messy. Instead, I pick a corner. One, small corner of the room and put on my blinders for everything else. You can also narrow your focus by starting with an area that’s already separate and contained, like the bathroom.
Whether it’s the visual clutter or I’m just in a particularly overwhelmed headspace, narrowing my focus has been the best strategy I’ve found for helping me get something done. You might start with just a table, or just the desk. Whatever it is, pick something smaller and more contained, then zero in on it and nothing else.
Final Notes on Cleaning with ADHD
There are a few other things I have found really helpful when it comes to cleaning with ADHD.
- Using the right tools helps a lot. We do best with tools that cut out extra steps. That’s why the handheld vacuum has been so helpful to me. It’s the same with organization methods. We do best with open containers because lids are one more, unnecessary step that likes to trip us up.
- ADHD friendly home organization strategies can help reduce how much we have to clean. Those strategies are not the same as advice you’ll hear from organizational experts. Neurotypicals can balance function and beauty just fine, so expert strategies generally empasize both. We cannot. ADHDers need efficient, low energy organization methods or we won’t consistently use them, which means more mess.
- Related: 7 Devastating Organizational Mistakes You Are Making if You Have ADHD
- Related: The Most Genius Tips for Organizing and Cleaning with ADHD
- Related: How to Organize the Kitchen and Keep it Clean When You Struggle with ADHD
- Related: The ADHD Speed Cleaning Checklist
- Related: The ADHD Kitchen Organization Guide
That’s a Wrap!
Cleaning with ADHD requires a battle strategy. If you’ve struggled to keep a reasonably clean house, just know you’re in good company. There are a lot of things that make it harder for us, but with the right approach, it doesn’t have to be impossible.
What strategies do you use most to tackle house cleaning? Leave a tip or two that you swear by in the comments, then see if you can find a new one to try.
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