Untangling ADHD Disorganization

by | Apr 18, 2014 | ADHD Symptom Control, Organizing ADHD | 2 comments

You want to solve your ADHD disorganization. You want to do it fast. I get it. 

You’re tired of living in the clutter. You’re tired of battling the chaos your ADHD disorganization brings. You want life to be simpler, more organized, less stressful, and you want it now.

You wish you could get organized fast – maybe in one day or one weekend. Essentially wave a magic wand and make it all better. Well, I’ve got some bad news.

It doesn’t work that way. In fact, that’s probably what you’ve been doing your whole life. Quickly getting organized and then quickly getting disorganized over and over again. Doing what I call riding the organizing roller coaster. 

Getting organized so you stay organized is a process. You have to untangle the clutter and chaos one little bit at a time. 

It took me two years to go from disorganized to effortlessly organized. Sure, as I worked at it life got less cluttered and easier to manage. But it took two years for how I was organized to be effortless and sustainable. 

Before that I’d done what you do now, ride that continuous loop of getting organized and disorganized over and over again.

Not everyone wants to do the work to get effortlessly organized. Not everyone is ready to change their relationship with their stuff and how they handle it. 

If you choose not to do the work and would rather stay on that organizing roller coaster, I’m not the right person for you to listen to. This is not the blog for you to follow.

Sure, tips and tricks are cool, and they do play a minor role in learning to be effortlessly organized. But, tips and tricks aren’t what’s really going to get the job done. They’re not what will keep you organized for the rest of your life. 

Have you ever tried to untangle anything – fishing line, a jewelry chain or a matted wad of yarn? If you have you know you have to unravel it slowly. Pull one strand here; one there. If you pull too fast it just makes the tangle worse.

Instead of looking at your disorganization as something you can banish waving a magic wand, I suggest you look at it as a big matted tangle. The tangled parts of your disorganization are probably massive and complicated.

To be effortlessly organized with ADHD for the rest of your life you need to learn how to:

  • Decide what to get rid of and what to keep.
  • Stop bringing things that cause clutter into your house or office.
  • Create just the right homes for the stuff you keep so you can quickly find things when you need them.
  • Set up effortless storage systems.
  • Create routines you can actually follow.
  • Manage your energy and your mindset.

This is not something that’s going to happen sustainably in one day, in one weekend, or in one month of coaching. 

Your tangled mess grew over time. You didn’t get disorganized intentionally, but because you didn’t know another way to live. And if you want to untangle this mess so it no longer haunts you then it will take energy, time, and a better way of doing things.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s the way it is. If you realistically face untangling disorganization with your eyes open and the right mindset you can learn to get organized so you stay organized.

The Last Word in ADD Success…

Last week I got a scathing email from a guy who’d signed up to get ADD Success.

He was frustrated with “his hell of ADHD disorganization” and angry that ADD Success didn’t give him the information he needed to immediately solve his problem.

He wants a magic wand and he wants it now.

He’d be much more successful if he’d face the fact that the only way he’ll get out of his ADHD organizing hell is by untangling the disorganization. Until he does, he will continue to ride the disorganization roller coaster up and down in a continuous loop.

If I can do one thing, it would be to help you realize getting organized so you can stay organized sustainably, for the rest of your life, is a process; not a weekend project.

2 Comments

  1. Nicole

    Great advice, thank you.

    Reply
    • danarayburn

      Thanks, Nicole. Glad you like it. Getting organized so you stay organized takes time. Especially with ADHD in the mix!

      Reply

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