ADHD tool box

For the tools and tricks to make ADHD just a little easier

[adhdtoolbox]

This blog is to store all the things I've found that work or might work for my ADHD.

It's public so that I actually feel some obligation to write it. :) Because ADHD.

[painted-bees]

A quick, sloppy little comic about Magritte

[annies-scrapbook]

i have no idea who these characters are but damn does this ever resonate

[rox-and-prose]

I'm reblogging this again because I just noticed the use of color in this monochromatic comic. I have no idea if it was intentional but....the white at the start fades to purple which gets darker as Magritte sinks into a spiral. When the other person talks we get a one panel shot of the white past the window before we switch back to all purple as that comment is swallowed by her continuing to spiral. When he starts talking again the perspective doesnt change right away and we still have all that purple, but then as it sinks in we have that window again and this time it sticks. Theres an out. A little hope. Idk maybe I'm overanalyzing it but hey if overanalysis isnt welcome on tumblr then where is it welcome

[lycanthology]

i think one of the most important things you learn about making connections with others is that a significant portion of the time people just do not know theyre doing what theyre doing

[lycanthology]

sometimes someone is acting selfish because they just didnt think you had any interest in what theyre hogging. sometimes you dont get invited to the movies because your friend could have sworn that you said no. sometimes you think someone is mad at you because theyre bad at hiding how little sleep they got. we are all like little worlds that briefly crash into one another from time to time and we just arent physically capable of seeing the whole picture at once in those moments. and learning that really changed everything!

[pixiemage]

Do other ADHD folks struggle with just getting out of bed in the morning, or is that just a me thing? Like - legitimately, it's the first step, the very first step, and it's always the hardest. Once I'm on my feet I can be ready in under an hour, maybe even 30 minutes if my clothes are laid out and if I'm not planning on doing much makeup that day.

But actually getting out of the bed?

Dude. I have spent over an hour some mornings laying in bed, staring at the wall, not even falling asleep, just - screaming in my head that I need to get up and I'm gonna be late, but nothing seems to happen for ages no matter how stressed out it begins to make me.

I've been struggling with that since I was a kid, except now I'm "an adult" and "shouldn't need someone to hold my hand" so I no longer can rely on someone else waking me up every morning. Which honestly is fine with me! I'd rather be independent! Except I haven't found a method that works to help counter the problem besides having someone else hold me accountable.

(Today, my dog wanted into my room so I finally got up to open the door for her, but Ellie is a terrier and therefore refuses to be trained for that kind of thing lmao)

Basically, I'm sick of hearing people say "Well just get up, it's not that hard. Just do it. Just get up." when I've been actively struggling with that very thing since I was old enough to realize it was a problem.

...how do you handle it?

[adhdtoolbox]

Alarm clock across the room, for me. I want the noise to stop? Up I get.

When I was really struggling, I bought a second, more annoying and louder alarm clock that went off 5 minutes after.

[thehumantrampoline]

Okay, new cleaning strategy.

Bad at self-discipline, good at acts of love through service. So I'm gonna clean my house pretending it is the house of someone I love who's been too depressed to clean. She's gonna be so surprised.

[thehumantrampoline]

I cleared the whole counter that hasn't had space to set a plate down in weeks, at least, so it would be easier for her to cook instead of just eating snacks. I put away everything on the sofa that wasn't a blanket or stuffed animal so she could stretch out if she wanted. I SWEPT and everything looks less lighter and less grungy. There were a bunch of sewing pins spilled to one side of the coffee table that I still hadn't picked up because whatever, I'll get to it, nobody ever walks on that side of the table anyway, but I picked them up because I was worried about her feet.

...I should be a good friend to myself more often.

[thehumantrampoline]

Okay since this is going around a bit today and everyone's adding their very sweet nice versions while I am spending my day off once again Cleaning For My Sad Friend, I wanna add to this a little bit.

my usual method has been to invite people over so I Have to clean, but this has... stopped working. mostly because it is KIND OF guilt and shame motivated, for me! I don't want my friends to see my house like this, so I have to clean, but then I just feel gross about it and it saps my energy.

turns out it is imperative that this is 1) not my mess and 2) not for me. Because if it's my mess, I just end up thinking how did I let it get like this, why can't I just keep my house clean, and if it's for me once all the bad feelings bog me down I inevitably go eh, it's good enough, it's better than it was, I can live like this.

If it is someone else's mess, I'm not judging them for a second. I look at it and think damn, they're going through it. This must be rough to live around. And every time I feel like stopping I look at what's left and think nah, this isn't good enough for my friend, they deserve a better head start on their mental health than this.

This probably says concerning things about my self-compassion, but hey! easier to work on that part in a clean house.

[adhdtoolbox]

Things allowed during meditation

I lose focus on breathing exercises and meditation. Just... straight up forget that's what I set out to do.

Here are a list of some things that are explicitly ALLOWED

humming as you breathe in and out (there's a REASON some Buddhists chant - It WORKS)

drumming

listening to more active/dynamic music rather than 'meditation' music

pacing

fidgeting

yoga

walking

grounding (observing physical sensations as a PART of meditation)

having off topic thoughts. observing them. letting them pass.

looking at something (I'm a fan of flickering candle flames, personally)

watch a video of a craftsman constructing something, sound off or quiet (teapots or victorian skirts or find something on r/ArtisanVideos)

[hgsn-moved]

sometimes you have to be a bit mentally ill to get mentally well so if thinking naruto would be proud of you for brushing your teeth is what gets you to brush your teeth well grab that toothbrush dattebayo

[hgsn-moved]

stop complaining about my word choice‼I made this post while being unabashedly mentally ill, and I’m going to call it as such. and now a word from our sponsor

[biceratops7]

Life hack for getting things done with adhd: pretend like you live in ancient times. Idk what it is about this daydream but it just flips some switch in my brain. Like “I must nourish the cattle (my dog and cat) to ensure a good harvest (snuggles and kisses).” or “I must keep my home tidy, lest the mischievous spirits be displeased and my wife and children (fiancé and pets) fall ill.” Besides needing to clean your clothes to “prepare for the coming frost” sounds a lot more urgent than “you’ll smell bad and Tiffany from work will judge you”

Having a hard time fitting prescriptions into this? Modern medicine is basically magic, so congratulations, you are literally a witch. Drink up Queen.

[soshhy]

I was just reading an ADHD post about breaking tasks up into smaller chunks, and I wanted to share something that helped me.

Once upon a time, I was sitting at my desk at 3am, having procrastinated all day, and finally got to the stage where I was so desperate to meet my 9am deadline I made an itemised list of every single thing I had to do, to the level of "1) Open this document. 2) Open this web page. 3) Arrange the windows so you can see both at once... Etc." It took me hours, and I was beating myself up the whole time because I knew I was spending three times as long making the list as I would doing the task, good god, what's wrong with me, this is so stupid...

I finished the list. I went through it step by step. And then I was done.

It was a revelation. It was so incredibly easy, once the list was there.

Since then I've thought: so what if making the list takes three times as long as doing the task? That's what it takes. That's PART OF THE TASK. It's the most important part, because it's the bit that means you can start at all.

Now if I'm struggling I give myself permission to use the most time consuming strategies, to hold my own hand like I'm a two year old, to guide myself through the tiniest of baby steps, because that's a skill I've fought for and it works.

Maybe this is obvious to everyone else. But if there's anyone out there like me, perhaps not yet diagnosed, beating themself up for not being able to just get things done like a normal person, I want to say this: make that list even as the clock ticks down to your deadline. Its not a waste of time. It's part of the task.

[veetvoojagigthemagnificent]

Does anyone have advice on learning HOW to break down tasks? I have trouble seeing the steps in between.

[soshhy]

Okay so! I saw this reblog in my notifications and thought ...uh, sorry, can't help you there. But then I thought, you know what? I do have strategies for this. I've just never laid them out in my head. So here's an attempt.

A task to me has a bunch of parts - they don't necessarily go in order, but I'll list them in a rough order here.

1) define the task

2) identify what's difficult

3) arrange the workspace

4) assemble the equipment

5) work through the task list

Let's take the task of tidying a messy room as an example.

So, to tidy your room you'd start by grabbing yourself a piece of paper and making your plan using these parts as your inspiration.

Definine the task: look around the room. What's going to have to change for you to consider the task done? I alway do this by listing surfaces that have collections of stuff on. Looking around my messy living room right now, that means: coffee table, side table, dining table, kitchen counters, bookshelves, floor. Once there's no longer random stuff on any of those, my living room will be tidy. So that's the main part of the task list written, but you can't just dive right in. You'll get in trouble. Let's do all those other parts!

Identify what's difficult. In my messy room there's a bunch of stuff that I don't know where it goes, and there's a bunch of places where things are supposed to go that are already covered in mess, so I can't put things there. This makes me think: ugh, don't wanna. Fortunately most of this can be solved in the next step - and you'll find it's the same for all kinds of unexpected tasks, including essays, as I'll get to later.

Arrange the workspace. So we've identified "stuff I don't know where it goes" and "stuff I know where it goes but the place is too messy to put it there". My workspace needs areas for me to put those things! I will also need a place for trash, a place for dirty dishes, and a place for stuff that actually belongs in the bathroom or my bedroom. That's my workspace!

Assemble the equipment. So thinking about my workspace has helped me identify the equipment I need: a trash bag, 3 cardboard boxes or bags to put my categories of stuff, and one sink or piece of clear counter space for dirty dishes to form the areas of my workspace. I don't need much else for this particular task, but others will have much more extensive lists.

Work through the task list. Thanks to the steps we've just been through, we can refine the task list a bit. For each area i will need to: throw away any trash; Put away the stuff that can be put away immediately; put everything else into one of my workspace areas. Once that's all done, I'll have to tackle my workspace areas: wash the dishes, put away the things that can be put away now the place is tidy enough, find places for the random stuff, take the stuff that doesn't belong to my bedroom and bathroom. So that's my list! All the surfaces, all the tasks. Write it down, work through it step by step, tick it off as you go.

And this approach works, with a little tweaking, for all kinds of tasks. I mentioned essays. Your workspace for an essay or other piece of writing is the document you're writing in and all the sources you're using. ARRANGE IT before you start. I use 3-column tables in word for this. One small column where you put the header of that section of what you're writing, one large column to dump notes and cut and paste text from sources, and another large column to actually write in. Then you know that once you've filled in all sections of the table, you're done.

Does that help at all? I have no idea if it will, but it helps me!

[adhdtoolbox]

Make your computer start the task for you

If timers don't work and getting started on something is hard, maybe having your computer launch the program you need will help.

(This tip works for Windows only)

Search for Task Scheduler from your Start Menu

Click on Create Task

3. It'll start you in the General tab. Give your task a Name.

4. You'll need a trigger. Go to the Triggers tab and click New

5. Schedule it!

6. Go the Actions tab and click New

7. In the window that pops up, leave the action on "Start a program" and click the Browse button and go to the program you want to open automatically for you.

Post-it note blindness? Have it launch your sticky notes program only when the task would become available.

[adhdtoolbox]

That's great and all but what if you want it to open a specific document?

Let's do it.

A quick warning: we're going to be using PowerShell, a command line shell. PowerShell can be used to really, really screw up your computer - accidentally if you don't know what you're doing or maliciously. Do NOT just run scripts on your computer that some rando on tumblr hands you. Have a sysadmin friend verify them or learn about the commands yourself (Microsoft has pretty good public documentation and the one we're using in this post is a single command - it's beginner friendly) . Do not run any part of any script that you don't know FOR SURE EXACTLY what it does or that comes from a trusted source. I'm not going to give you anything that will break you computer or hand me access you don't want me to have but YOU DON'T KNOW THAT. Make sure! /warning

-

Windows has come with PowerShell installed by default for since Windows 7. If you're on Windows, you already have it installed.

Launch PowerShell ISE

2. Type into the top part of the window (aka the script pane):

start-process "[file path for document including document name and file extension]"

for example:

start-process "C:\temp\myWIP.docx"

3. Save this script.

4. Refer to the above post about scheduling, but instead of scheduling a program, schedule this script - your document will open on its own when it's time.

[adhdtoolbox]

The Microwave Rule

You know full well you're not going to do anything fun on your phone in the 2 minutes it takes to heat something up.

Don't wait on the microwave. Instead, pick a task and do it til the microwave beeps:

Do the dishes

Clean the counter

Prep some food for the next meal

Clean out the fridge

Sweep the floor

Clean the oven

Take out the trash

[adhdtoolbox]

Make your computer start the task for you

If timers don't work and getting started on something is hard, maybe having your computer launch the program you need will help.

(This tip works for Windows only)

Search for Task Scheduler from your Start Menu

Click on Create Task

3. It'll start you in the General tab. Give your task a Name.

4. You'll need a trigger. Go to the Triggers tab and click New

5. Schedule it!

6. Go the Actions tab and click New

7. In the window that pops up, leave the action on "Start a program" and click the Browse button and go to the program you want to open automatically for you.

Post-it note blindness? Have it launch your sticky notes program only when the task would become available.

[adhdtoolbox]

A strategy for getting to bed on time:

Programmable lightbulbs that get progressively dimmer, then shut off.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

[adhdtoolbox]

Build in room for Blockers on your To Dos

Photo by lucas souza from Pexels

You go to do the thing before before you can do that thing, you have to do something else. Before you do that, there's another thing...

Every time you come back to a to do list, you can't remember WHY you can't start on the thing yet, but you have work your way backwards through perquisites every time.

What if you left room in your to do list for blockers?

Start on the right side of the page, right your to do list like you're used to.

Now, when you start the task, your goal is EITHER to cross it off OR write down what blocked you. Why can't you sew a button back on?

You don't know where the button is. Okay.

Next time you come back to the task, your mission ISN'T to sew the button back on it's to find the button.

Ah, the button was on top of your dresser. Well done. Cross it off, note it down.

Shit. Where's your needle and thread?

You get the idea. As you discover why you can't do the chore, shift your focus on the to do list.

If you spot a circular dependency (it would be easier to clean out my closet after sorting my clothes... but I don't want to sort my clothes until I have somewhere to put them...) then DECIDING which goes first is your next step.

This will also make it easier to spot a huge jump in the size of the chore. If you set out wipe down the counter, but five steps later you're researching contractors to remodel the kitchen - draw a line between blockers where you actually CAN start and make the big chore its own thing.