Hey everyone!
@Shaz51 @hanami @greenspace @Malus @Evier @AFK @R2RSD2
I thought I'd pop by today and talk about some favourite ADHD hacks!! By hacks, I mean the little things that can make things easier on us in our day-to-day.
Please feel free to share any of your own!!
Alarms and timers - for everything.
Pot boiling on the stove? Timer. Feeding the pets? Alarm. Leaving the house? Both. Because of my time-blindness, I cannot discern the difference between 5, 10, 15 minutes. If I need to leave the house within 20 minutes, I set a timer for 15. Then I can get lost in whatever I'm doing - whether that's scrolling my phone or running around like a headless chook getting all my things together - and I will not have to get distracted by checking the time constantly; or worse, forget to check the time and end up running late because I got caught up in something for half an hour. I even set alarms for stuff like sending a text (often because I thought of it at 2am but didn't want to send it at that ungodly hour, aka the hour when my brain is most active and creative 😅) or putting the bins out each week.
If you need to remember something, put something distinctive somewhere weird (and in line of sight)
Need to remember to grab your scripts out before you leave to go to the chemist? Need to remember to call the doctor when you get home from work? Need to remember to grab your headphones from their charger before catching a train? Grab something distinctive from its usual spot and put it somewhere it looks out of place. For instance, you could grab a plate, or a towel (or something even more random like a whisk), and put it next to your key dish to remind you to grab the thing you need
when you go to grab your keys. Put a stuffed animal in the hallway so you see it as soon as you walk in the door. Take a bit of décor from where it usually sits and put it somewhere near where you know you will pass by later. Just don't leave it there! Our brains will eventually filter out the novel information and stop 'seeing' the thing (which is why post-it note reminders don't always work for me).
Struggle with mess? Get a mess tub
My loungeroom coffee table is always piling up with stuff (just like every other surface in my house) - stim toys, spare cables, books, bits n bobs of whatever creative project I'm working on, and a whole mess of random crap. When a space gets too cluttered my brain does the filtering thing like mentioned above. So I got a couple of those small felt box/tub things and now keep them under my coffee table and at the end of the day or week I will sweep everything into the tub - except stuff that has its own spot, like keys, mail, or empty cups. It helps give my space that feeling of clarity that comes with a clear surface - but all the stuff is still in one place so if I don't know where something I use semi-regularly is (like nail scissors or a unique charging cable) I check the tub, and most of the time it's there. Then once every couple months (or if it starts overflowing) I'll upend the thing and sort through the piles.
Stim toys are your friend
I take a stim toy with me everywhere. They've become such a staple for me to get through the day so having at least one on my person at all times has been a life-saver. They help get me through meetings, sitting on public transport, waiting rooms, and random, uninteresting conversations (like the kind where you bump into an old acquaintance who insists on engaging in lengthy small-talk). There's heaps of different kinds, they're not all just fidget spinners! My favourites are the Tangle and the Ono hand roller.
Take lots of breaks and sip something sweet
We have dopamine issues. Our fuel tank runs out really quickly - sustained focus on an uninteresting task can be excruciating to try to maintain. Dr Russell Barkley is a leading expert on ADHD and he recommends refuelling frequently - some ways to do this is to take lots of short breaks, and keep a sweet drink next to you to sip on. The glucose will actually stimulate dopamine production, giving our brains that little bit of reward to help us stay on task. Just be sure to sip it! You can see his explanation here (and I'd also recommend watching the whole video, it's super interesting).
What are your best hacks, work arounds, and/or coping strategies gang?
