Messy Room Practical Solution #1

If you're a parent with ADHD trying to solve the problem of the messy room of your ADHD child might seem impossible. Especially if you have your own messy room. The first practical solution I would implement is one for both of you.

• Take Things One Small Step at a Time

Individuals with ADHD find large tasks overwhelming. When something feels like too much to handle, or we don't know where to start, we are more likely to procrastinate or avoid it.

Researchers have found that if you can break things down into smaller steps, it helps give a clear and more manageable starting point.

In my room I have a bunch of doom piles. This acronym was coined to represent the common ADHD tendency of "Didn't Organize, Only Moved." At first when I looked at my doom piles, I felt paralyzed and full of shame. Neither of those feelings were helpful.

What I have had to do is set a goal of organizing a doom pile for ten minutes a day. That is it. It doesn't matter what pile. It doesn't matter if I finish. I just have to work on one for ten minutes a day.

That clear, small goal has helped me to remain consistent and chip away at a problem that would probably only get bigger if I kept trying and failing to tackle all of them at once.

This principle of taking one small step at a time is why I am breaking the practical solutions for messy rooms into several small blog posts. Don't move on to the next solution until you've practiced this first one.

And be nice to yourself! If you miss a day, that's okay. The important part is to keep trying.

Sibley, M. H., et al. (2016). Task initiation and organization in children with ADHD: A comparison with typically developing peers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(9), 1054-1062. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12564