Welcome to Simplicity 101: Organizing With ADHD

 

Welcome to Simplicity 101: Organizing with ADHD!  

My name is Shay, and I have ADHD, and I've lived my entire life believing I was a messy person.  But then I took the Clutterbug test (you can find it here at www.Clutterbug.me) and found out I am a Butterfly (with a little bit of a Bee in there, too).  I am a very visual person and found that my organizing style reflects that, too.  I had no idea that they were connected!  And with that, that means that normal types of organization do not work for me.  Which is why I've always failed at keeping an organized house (and when I was a kid, my room).  And I because I have ADHD, keeping up with a traditional organizing system has always seemed damn near impossible.  As an artist and creator, I always have lots of projects going on at the same time, and they used to take up all the space of my entire house.  But I've been on a journey since around 2016 (before I had grey hair!) to simplicity (my theme word that year) and since then, I've been (slowly) becoming more and more organized.  But now that I've found Cas's website (the clutterbug one), it has changed my life in a very short period of time!  

So I decided to make a blog series about everything I've learned and put into practice in my life since 2016, plus what I've learned about being a butterfly.  And my hope is that help out other people who are let me, those who thought they were a "messie" or whatever cute word people have come up for us (or as I used to call it, having a "CC" personality, which stood for "creative chaos").  Because the truth is, we aren't messy people, we just have no idea how to organize for our personality type.  

I am a butterfly with a bee rising (haha meaning I have a little bit of bee in me--and that perfectionism always messes with my ability to create).  My husband is also a butterfly (who used to be more of a ladybug).  My mother (who lives with us) is a ladybug, through and through.  My oldest son is a butterfly and my youngest son is a cricket.  So we have them all in this house!  Luckily, my kids have separate rooms and are much happier keeping their own spaces rather than having to deal with opposite organizing styles (though it's been a HUGE adjustment for all of us dealing with my mother's ladybug-ness).  

Butterflies are people who love to see their stuff, because if they don't, they will forget they own it (out of sight, out of mind).  But at the same time, we can't organize meticulously, because it's too tedious for us to keep up with.  If I have to put more effort into putting something away?  I will not put it away.  It will just go wherever it lays LOL  But to find out, there is a way to organize for us and a way to keep it clean!  Who knew?  

I owe Cas my sanity because she's changed my life (and she will change yours, too!).  So go visit her page and then come back here to check out my blog posts below on how to be more organized if you have ADHD, like me!  

First things first, do you want to know to get all your crap organized in your life?  Like when you pay bills?  Or a place to create a budget?  Or somewhere to keep track of important information?  Etc?  Then you need to check out my Household Organization Journal! 

Then, maybe make a list of what has not worked for you in the past, that way you know to stop trying to make something work that just doesn't (like trying to fit a circle into a square mold).  Here is my list of 10 organizational techniques that do not work for me, even though so many people swear by them.

Then we will explore what does work for me (and in turn, you can see see what works for you) and how to implement more of those things in all areas of your home in 10 Organizational Techniques for Butterflies (with pictures!).  

Then we'll move on to decluttering techniques for us adults with ADHD, because like everything else, we need our own system, rather than just trying to things like everyone else does.  I will outline how it works for me and hopefully you'll find it useful enough to get your extraneous stuff out of the house! 

Then we'll talk about my four-step process to getting organized with ADHD, which includes: 

1. Creating Rules 
2. Find What Works and Make It Easy 
3. Maintenance
4. Reapply & Reassess  

Simplifying your life sounds crazy hard when your brain is a little spastic like mine is, but in reality, it's a lot easier than you think.  It's all about changing your mindset, learning new habits, and having fun while doing so!  So are you ready?  Let's go!