Designing an ADHD-friendly home is essential for individuals with ADHD to streamline daily life, increase productivity, and reduce stress. Experts have shared eight techniques to tailor homes to their needs, emphasizing organization, sensory-friendly elements, and a calming atmosphere. This blog post delves into the concept of an “always visible” design and shares more helpful tips from both a design and professional organizer’s viewpoint.
Creating an ADHD-friendly home requires patience, listening to your body, and accepting what you can and can’t do. Bright colors and plenty of art can stimulate the mind. Architects are building calm, thoughtful retreats that cater to the needs of the neurodiverse.
To create an ADHD-friendly home, consider minimalism, creating a place for everything, making space visual, and making the home visually appealing. Eliminate clutter by keeping walls mostly empty and embracing alternative storage options. Use soft colors and consider hang-up jobbies with clear, see-through pockets for shoes, sweaters, or scarves.
Incorporating home design solutions for common ADHD symptoms like working memory, executive function, and concentration issues can help create a more efficient and relaxing space. By incorporating these strategies, individuals with ADHD can create a more productive and relaxing space that caters to their needs.
📹 What Makes Something “ADHD Friendly”?
We live in a world designed for those who are Neurotypical, but when designing a world for those of us who have ADHD, we need …
How to design a room for someone with ADHD?
Trish Buscemi, a specialist in creating calm interiors for children with ADHD, suggests using blue, green, and muted brown towns as a color scheme that inspires rest and calm. She suggests hanging artwork representing nature, but if there is a study area, the wall directly in front of the desk should be bare and subdued. A bedroom with ADHD should be divided into various spaces without creating awkward separation, with the desk and its contents not close to the bed.
A “quiet corner” should be created for reading or playing with toys, overlooking natural scenery. Distractions from one activity should be out of reach of the tools and equipment required for another activity. A study of over 400 children diagnosed with ADHD found that those who regularly play in green or outdoor settings had milder symptoms than those who play indoors. Ideally, a bedroom should overlook calming scenery, such as a garden, or incorporate nature imagery through stickers, paintings, or murals. Interior design should be designed around the person’s specific needs and preferences, making it a purposeful place of rest.
How do I make an ADHD friendly planner?
A calendar is a useful tool for individuals with ADHD, as it helps them remember deadlines, appointments, and events. It can also serve as a daily timeline, allowing for easy tracking of goals. However, ADHD does not necessarily mean being lazy or irresponsible. Instead, a planner can help individuals stay organized and focused on their goals, ensuring they don’t miss important details or forget important tasks.
How do I set up an ADHD-friendly home?
To create an ADHD-friendly home, evaluate each component of the space and eliminate potential distractions. Consider soundproofing elements and materials to minimize external noises and ensure a room separator to eliminate outside distractions. Blend aesthetics with function by selecting furniture, storage solutions, and decor that promote relaxation, organization, and focus. Integrate visually appealing yet practical storage solutions, opt for stylish furniture that offers comfort and promotes good posture, and choose decor that serves a purpose, such as a chic end table with a container for keys, wallet, and phone. This balance ensures your living space is not only organized and ADHD-friendly but also a reflection of your personal taste and style.
How to design an ADHD-friendly home the times?
Biophilic design, which aims to bring people closer to nature, is a popular aspect of neuroarchitecture, particularly for ADHD-friendly aesthetics. Studies have shown that time spent in green spaces can reduce ADHD symptoms, including better impulse control and concentration. Maia Lemlij, a founding partner at XUL Architecture, discovered her ADHD symptoms after reading a newspaper article about the disorder.
Now studying for an MSc in applied neuroscience, she is fascinated by neuroarchitecture, which refers to the application of interior design and architecture through a neuroscientific lens. Her newfound awareness has influenced her design approach, including the integration of warm white bulbs in her home.
How to create an ADHD-friendly environment?
To create a supportive at-home learning environment for children and teens with ADHD, it is essential to create a weekly family meeting, create a daily routine, name a personalized study space, foster time management, and practice empathy. Hybrid and remote learning can be challenging for these students, as they may be multitasking and switching between school and social media or gaming. To help them thrive with at-home learning, it is crucial to establish a designated study space and provide a supportive environment.
Establishing a thoughtful daily plan and creating a home study spot can facilitate academic focus and participation. It is crucial to clarify what it means to be working versus off-duty and where this activity will occur. When kids with ADHD and learning challenges have routines and dedicated areas for learning, it is easier to begin and stick with academic tasks. By fostering empathy and providing a conducive environment, parents can help their children thrive with at-home learning with ADHD.
What colors are good for ADHD?
Choose a peaceful color scheme for your child’s room, as white walls can cause anxiety, red can increase stress and aggression, and orange encourages creativity. Warm earth tones are recommended for reducing anxiety, while blue hues help slow down heart rate and promote calmness. Avoid primary colors and muted or pastel shades.
When having a conversation, reduce abrasive background noise to compete for foreground noise. Classical music or nature sounds can help. Play water music or buy a table fountain to soothe kids and parents by promoting positive physiological reactions and reducing breathing. The sound of moving water can also help break the cycle of anxiety by cleaning the air and slowing down breathing. Additionally, a table fountain can block out buzzing noises from appliances with a plug.
What is the best color for a ADHD room?
Parents of children with special needs often struggle with color choices, as they believe color affects neuropathways in the brain and triggers a biochemical response. Trish Buscemi, a color designer, has found that blues, greens, and muted brown tones are great choices for both adults and children with ADD and ADHD. She has been helping transform spaces for people with cognitive learning challenges for four years and finds it rewarding and transformational when rooms are working.
To select colors, Trish asks dozens of questions, including space usage, lighting, and a child’s interests. For example, a boy with Asperger’s wanted a soothing blue with a yellow stripe in his bedroom, but knew it could cause undue agitation. Instead, she suggested a soothing blue with a yellow stripe, and red was used in accents. The result was a comfortable space for the boy to play, read, and sleep.
How do I create a structure for myself with ADHD?
To stay organized and stay on track, use calendars and to-do lists to create a comprehensive list of tasks at work, school, and home. Track your progress and check off each task completed, as no task is too small to write down. The ADHD Iceberg provides a comprehensive understanding of the condition’s visible and invisible symptoms. Dating someone with ADHD involves embracing your partner’s unique habits, behaviors, and strengths to navigate ADHD together. In therapy, explore common topics and suggestions to make sessions more productive.
What does an ADHD bedroom look like?
The bedroom of a child with ADHD should be primarily used for rest and sleep, with a comfortable bed and soft bedding. Distractions such as desks, gaming systems, televisions, and toys should be kept in other areas of the home. Many kids have desks and computers in their bedrooms, but this can hinder optimal sleep. To improve learning and engagement, families can provide a dedicated space for school work, such as a small desk or table facing a bare wall with good lighting in a quiet part of the house.
If the child needs to move while working, a stand-up desk might be worth trying. Organizations like Stand Up Kids in California are promoting the benefits of stand-up desks in the classroom, making it an ideal option for home environments.
What is the symbol for ADHD?
The official ADHD Awareness Symbol is the rainbow butterfly, representing the rapid mental movements and adaptability of individuals with ADHD. The rainbow colors symbolize the diversity of thinking and potential in people with ADHD. ADHD affects up to 5 of the adult population and 7 of children, impacting executive functioning, working memory, organization skills, and emotional regulation. Symptoms include hypersensitivity to social situations, sensory overload, and emotional outbursts.
The symbol raises awareness of ADHD challenges and showcases positive support for those affected. The monthly newsletter for neurodiverse professionals provides more information on this important symbol.
Is there an ADHD Foundation?
The ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity is a comprehensive health and education service that provides assessments and prescriptions for individuals with ADHD. In its programme “Private ADHD Clinics Exposed”, the BBC’s Panorama series examines three private clinics. Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month is observed from May 15th to June 15th.
📹 Building your home to support your ADHD & Autistic needs🏡
MY ETSY SHOP♡ Transition Techniques neurodivergent-friendly Guided Workbook …
Oh wow, something that came to me as I was perusal this article (and as you were talking about what’s “YOUR ADHD FRIENDLY”) is that one of the biggest accommodations I want to make for myself is my own self-talk… recognizing that something that makes everything I do so much easier is when I myself am being “ADHD Friendly” – when I am friendly to my ADHD and kind to myself. 🥰 When I talk to myself in a way that suggests my interests and behaviors (or the things that I struggle with) are synonymous with “failing at life” (sadly that’s a phrase I’ve told myself way too many times- “I just feel bad at life”), it’s just so hurtful and doesn’t take into account all the things (that are even very measurable!!) that I am wildly successful at! This narrative is one I’m really noticing more and more, and getting better and better at letting go of… but whew! 😥 That failure narrative is strong in me. So again, I want to be kind and compassionate with myself as I continue to feel it come up and release it… Also, your recent article about being a bit “able-ist” when you started your website had a HUGE impact of me, and I’m so appreciative that you put those thoughts out there. I think one of the most amazing things you do, Jessica, is challenge the notions that have been prevalent for so long, that make those of us with ADHD measure ourselves against things that aren’t FOR us. And those years that so many of us (with or without ADHD!) have attempted to measure ourselves against impossible standards have taken such a toll!
I’m a software engineer, and I’ve recently started realizing that my ADHD is a big asset when I’m thinking about user experience. Because my brain is so much more put off by bad UX, and due to my lifetime of experience finding shortcuts to make my environment more ADHD friendly, I’m actually really good at spotting steps that aren’t necessary and finding ways to bypass them, which usually ends up improving our UX for all users
I really like the analogy of the tall shelf. It’s a great way to visualize the limitations. A tall shelf does not mean that a person is unable to grab the thing on it, but it does mean that there is a barrier to the actual act of grabbing. Likewise, people with ADHD are certainly capable of doing things…but the ADHD is a barrier just like height.
ADHD Friendly: any audio app that lets you easily rewind to hear the bits your distractible attention just missed. For podcasts on my Android I use Podcast Addict, which lets me tap the earbud mic thingie twice to go back 15 seconds (the length of time it rewinds is customizable in Settings). Most other audio apps force me to take my phone out of my pocket and tap the screen to rewind, which means I have to stop whatever else I was doing–especially cooking or baking when my hands are messy. 🙃
When I was first diagnosed, I just thought “Oh ok, I just have issues focusing sometimes and that explains things like why my room is messy”. And I didn’t really do much research into it. But over time I’ve come to find so many things I’ve struggled with is because of my condition and things I didn’t realize were related to ADHD. It felt like such a relief knowing it’s not my fault. Thank you for what you do.
Adhd friendly for me usually means: 1) it’s engaging on multiple levels (visually, audibly, tactile) 2) it doesn’t limit my movement in an uninteresting way. (Listening to work material with headphones is very helpful for me, sitting down for a meeting is boring) 3) it draws my attention without wasting it. (Reminders for things that I can act on immediately are way more impactful when compared to things that I’ll have to act on later on) 4) concise, clear instructions/ or concise, clear desired outcomes are very useful to me. Anything that’s too open ended leads to analysis paralysis
I really benefit from “point of performance” (which I learned from one of your articles) and physical reminders. For example, I have a small paper plate and an empty dryer sheet box near my bed. When I get home and am about to start laundry or dishes I first put the reminder on my bed (when I’m changing out of my work clothes). That way I can’t go to bed and forget to start the dishwasher or put the wash in the dryer. 😊
I’ve worked hard to make my space as ADHD friendly as possible, but despite what the ableist world outside tells me, it’s definitely not enough. Making things disability friendly, whether it’s a physical or mental disability, is usually beneficial to abled people too, and it also increases the productivity. It’s so frustrating when some abled people act like us getting minimum accommodations ruins the countless systems that are built around them, and it’s somehow our fault for having it harder.
The “ADHD friendly is everyone friendly” thing is so true! At work I’m always trying to streamline tasks so I can finish them more easily, and documenting what I’ve done and still need to do so I don’t forget things, but my boss also loves it because having things clearly documented helps improve communication with our team, and streamlining tasks helps everyone else to be more efficient as well 🙂
One thing I found to be ADHD friendly is my tile. I attached it to my keys and it has made such a difference. My husband jokes that it has saved him literal hours of searching for my phone or keys. If you lose your phone, you can push a button on the tile and your phone will go off. If you lose whatever you attached the tile to, you can use the app on your phone and the tile will make noise. It is so nice!
One thing that helps me is intrusive reminders. Sticky notes, journals, and menus don’t do anything for me; a reminder really has to interrupt me. This can be in the form of notifications, alarms, or most effectively, an actual other person who can remind me I need to work and keep me on task. That’s why online school’s been so hard for me, since I have to make all those reminders myself.
If you ever do a follow-up about things that aren’t ADHD friendly, I think getting medication deserves a spot. Obviously a lot of the roadblocks in place have their purpose, ADHD medication is a popular one to abuse. But when your prescription can’t be refilled, when it doesn’t give you a reminder when your next fill is ready, when the pharmacy hours clash with the hours you’re awake, etc, that can be an awfully tricky situation to sort out. Especially if you only made steps to refiling your prescription after you ran out, like I may or may not have done just yesterday. I have nobody to blame but myself for being left high and dry until Thursday or so, but it’s still going to be a rough few days.
It’s a struggle to figure out how much I need to bend to the world or how much I need to ask the world to bend to me. I’ve been conditioned to think it’s mostly my responsibility to adapt. And advocating for myself is somehow admitting I am not as capable. Ego, pride and prejudice are constantly getting in my way. And I’m already in my way enough. So I go on you tube.
One of my goals the last year or so has been to drink more water. I find the bottles that have time increments work waaaaaaaay better for me than saying I will fill and drink this other water bottle this many times in a day. With times listed right on the side of the bottle, I can tell at a glance if I’m on track rather than trying to remember and log how many times I filled up a bottle.
Saving this article for when I start working in my college’s disability services department – ADHD isn’t the only condition that will benefit from things like this: the “executive functioning not found” one is rather poignant for so many different disabilities, like you mention, and something some of my former professors really need drilled into them.
A task having fewer steps is definitely a big help to me – where I live we used to have to separate recyclables into separate bins and then take them to a place where we would dump them in different larger containers but now, the city has a truck that comes by and they send out a list of what can and can’t be put into your bin and so there’s a lot less sorting and no extra trip to move things from one place to another other than to take the can to the curb!
Appreciate your articles again. I have worked in customer service and tech support for over 10 years. Even before my official leadership position, people came to me in explaining things to customers and staff. Through language barriers, physical disabilities, and difficult people… The explanations helped.
Friendly reminder to Brains and Hearts – something that’s “ADHD friendly” one day may not be as helpful on a different given day! Be gentle with yourself, be gentle with those around you – this is an ongoing journey and sometimes there’s no clear “explanation” for what does or doesn’t help in a given moment 😊
The boy I love shows several ADHD symptoms and although I’m not trying to diagnose him, I’ve been researching it a lot recently in order to help and become less judgemental (I’m hypervigilant and guilty of not always being considerate when it comes to his symptoms). If he indeed has ADHD, he needs my unconditional support. Sooo this website helps.
OPTIONS. Options make things accessible for ADHD. Because no two ADHD brains are the same, and even a single brain might have different needs on different days. The App “Sweepy” is an amazing cleaning reminder app. Truly fantastic. But it has gamification elements. Point accumulation, streaks, cheat days, etc. Which is great for some folks, but those things don’t work for me, and can actively feel like a burden. But guess what? The app allows you to completely turn those things off! It was a revelation when I saw those options. (commenting before perusal the article, because with ADHD comes poor impulse control. 😂)
You know what would be really cool? A article going over tips for creating YouTube articles for people with ADHD! I don’t know if that’s too niche, but I love the idea of making content for YT or TT – I’m just not great at sticking to projects long term or through the boring parts, and I start and drop project ideas all the time, mostly forgetting I ever had the idea by the next day (for a certain article topic or etc.)
Things that are friendly to my ADHD are things that either make something I struggle with easier or play into the ways I naturally process & move through the world. A microwave with reminder beeps at 1 minute intervals after it’s finished cooking something so I don’t forget my food & leave it in the microwave forever! A craft project that I can spend tons of time on for a few weeks, then put down for months, then pick up again without ruining it or needing a lot of time to get back up to speed on what I was doing! I’m working on noticing those things that are friendly to my ADHD and trying to find more things like them to add to my life.
I’ve learned that people have such a huge range of how they function that it’s really not possible to have things always easy for everyone involved. I don’t think that making things easier for me and my ADHD really does make it easier for others ( neurotypicals or others like my Aspie husband) all the time. It’s great when it does, but you have to consider what you’re going to do when it doesn’t. I think that it usually works best to cater to the one having the most difficulty, if you can’t find some way of providing for everyone at the same time. Sometimes the one who’s struggling the most is me, and sometimes it is someone else. Empathy is so important, and it’s a really healthy skill to accept more of a challenge or inconvenience in order to care for someone else. It goes both ways, so I think it’s important to remember that even though I have struggles, everyone else does, too. Just my thoughts, haha, thanks for the article! I love your content ❤️
Making things easier (in a productive way) can be a lot more ADHD friendlier than we can think actually. Like parting things in section or maybe like rewarding yourself for tasks (like you mentioned in one of the 2016 articles) or maybe end up doing something you like (like you mentioned here) can be really helpful a lot. The more barriers we remove, the better it is for everyone (especially in a workplace). I think I should be knitting now. I have to go hehe.
i love it when tasks are chunked up like a quest in a game. My peers call it Gamification and I love it. I do it on my own tasks. I also use these so-called “virtual post its” its really important when you want to remember things. Trello is a good place to do such things. I do remember you mentioned this in your articles too. Really, your articles are really helpful for us neurodivergents. Please keep it up!
I watched this article a couple days ago, and I was trying to think of a example in my life of something being ADHD friendly. Well, I just got an email from the arboretum near me that I’m a member of that they are going digital with their membership cards. I haven’t been to the arboretum lately partly because I don’t know where my physical membership card is and didn’t want to search for it or call them for a replacement (just one more task in the sea of to do’s). So having a digital card is going to remove that barrier and encourage me to visit!! It seems like a small thing, but I just got the biggest sense of relief reading their email 😊
Not sure if I have ADHD, but if I do, this is what really helps me: – Minimize steps needed to do a task (ex: moving my filing bin from the garage to my bedroom) – Dedicated spaces for projects/subjects (going from elementary school to Jr. High did wonders for my focus in each subject) – Making things part of my routine (becomes automatic… but this one can also be a problem if I ever have to do something outside of my norm) – Doing the hard work of making systems up front (I’m a teacher, and I spend TONS of time prepping my stuff/systems in the summer because I know I won’t follow up later on)
As an ADHD software engineer brain (why are there so many of us?), I’ve found that PROPERLY RUN agile sprints are very helpful for me to harness my creativity and get things done in short bursts. Give me a list of broken-down tasks and two weeks to do them. I might get half of them done in one day, but struggle to finish the rest (no matter how much time they were estimated to take). A good-length sprint and well-groomed tasks allows me to ride the dopamine to actually get the work done on time. It also makes expectations very clear so I can get immediate feedback when my distractions are getting too distracting.
It may be better to speak of “ADHD Freindlier” – acknowledging that “Your mileage may vary”. However, because of the way I’m wired between being ADHD and a Kiersey-Bates NT, I’m really good at grasping how systems fit together and identifying potential failure points. I’ve spent most of my careers developing processes and procedures that minimize errors or make it easier on everyone else. Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious to others why I say “do it this way” until they do it their way and something breaks down…
The thing I find most helpful with my ADHD is “switching”. If I have to do a task, I like to have other tasks that I can also do, so I can “switch it up”. Like, if I have a lot of repetitive work to do I tend to fall asleep mid task, but if the “deadline” is taken away or made flexible then I can switch from the repetitive work to, say, work that gets me up and about, then to work that deals with interacting with people, and then back to the repetitive task for a while, before switching it up again. This way the long, boring, repetitive work gets done (eventually, bit by bit) while my brain stays engaged instead of wandering off or falling asleep on me. Unfortunately most jobs require continual focus to meet deadlines and don’t allow for much variation. So to have a boss who understands and gives me a little leeway with the timing (or lets me have a crack at something beforehand) makes a HUUUGE difference to my potential and capability. Also being tied to a chair for hours drives me insane (and due to my Spinal Nerve Damage – a whole lot of pain), so the ability to take a 2-5 minute walk every half/quarter hour makes a big difference too. 🙂
In the past having multiple trains of thought has been distracting at my jobs. Now I have a job where multiple trains are thought are basically required to keep up with everything going on in my department. I went from brand new employee to supervisor in 7 months and I’m already implementing ideas and making the workflow easier and faster months before the busy season! Adhd is my superpower; at old jobs i wasn’t the problem, I just was in a workplace that wasnt accommodating
My school recently added a feature ( or maybe it was the first time my teachers used it) but it orginized our online classes into checklists that were super easy to just go from one task to the next and track our progress on things that aren’t graded but still need to be done. So i could check off chapters i read and assignments as i completed them and it kept all my deadlines in one place instead of the reading being in one place, the assignments in another and the tests listed on a calendar.
For me, there’s something very “ADHD Friendly” about your articles. The way you talk in them, and the way you present the information, feels like it’s already shaped for my brain. This isn’t a time of day I’m great at describing why. But it’s so much easier to absorb, even than some of my other favorite youtubers. Something about the energy, and the pacing. Sure, there’s still times I have to use the left-arrow-key to skip back a few seconds when I didn’t notice I’d tuned out. But it feels like it happens less often than with some other things. And it feels like I don’t need to do as much processing in order to feel like I’m actually absorbing the information. Because it’s already the right shape–I don’t have to do as much re-shaping of it first. On the fly… in realtime…
Hello, I’m seeking some advice. I’m a little desperate and this community is the only place I can turn to at this point. I’ll try to keep it brief: After finding this wonderful website, I started to question if I have ADHD. After learning more about it, a lot of my habits and behavior fell in line with symptoms and everything started making better sense. So I started talking to a doctor. We started sessions this past February and I see him every 2 months. However, we have gotten nowhere. After the initial appointment, we only meet 15-20 minutes each session. I answer his general questions and his advice so far is “create a better sleep schedule, ideally 7-8 hours a night. Until you’re motivated to be consistent with this, then we can move on.” I understand doc wants to rule out lack of sleep, but I feel like there is so much more to it than that and more to his general questions. We don’t even get to the parts about impulsivity, or the random urges to clean my bedroom when I’m stuck at work, or any other issues that may be underlying. Even if I mention them, there isn’t time to dive deeper into them. I’m just really frustrated at this point and want to give up therapy. Now, I’m just trying to tweak my life so that it can work around my brain. If anybody wants to share their own experience or have encouraging words, it would be greatly appreciated. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and I truly hope you enjoy the rest of your day <3
My cat is ADHD friendly. When it’s bedtime, he hops on my desk and starts knocking things down and either miews or glares at me. This prevents me from reading stuff on the internet till 3 am and thus I get enough sleep 😂🐱🏍 He also demands food on a schedule and is very persistent, so I remember it’s time for me to eat when he does.
Tragically, the process of getting an ADHD diagnosis is one of the most ADHD unfriendly experiences. Here, fill out this 25 page form in 30 minutes and include your entire life history of ADHD symptoms, especially when you were a child. You remember exactly when you were born, right? And the name of the 3rd grade teacher that wouldn’t let you go to the end of the year party because you didn’t have time to finish writing and drawing your book? The details are very important. Keep in mind that you have to convince us that you really have ADHD and aren’t trying to score some drugs. Oh you didn’t finish the life-history form in half an hour? Just take it home and mail it to us when you’re done: I’m sure that won’t be a problem. We wouldn’t dream of contacting you or following up: you’ve got this sorted, right? There’s no way it would sit in your backpack for years, taken out and attempted to be completed every so often, but never fully finished. Always on your mind but only when you can’t work on it. The repeating reminders going off every day, then every week; always at the top of the to-do list: taunting you, mocking you. A miasma of bad memories, past and present failures, swirling together. Ironic, isn’t it? Despite having a “bad memory” (short term), your brain remembers each negative incident with breathtaking clarity. Yeah, that a pretty ADHD friendly process, right? 😜
The #1 thing that makes things ADHD friendly to me is the ability to stop paying attention to do something more enjoyable for a second and then be able to pick up where I left off. Something can be any amount of boring, but I think the ability to break it up into chunks of my brain’s choice plays the key role.
Dr. Russel Barkley had a really good way of stating what makes ADHD difficult (if I remember correctly and paraphrasing:) in life you have a lot of Es, Rs and O’s event-> response -> outcomes. for example in a article game you see an enemy, you respond by shooting and the outcome is they die. The EROs are very close together in this example and so are very easy for an ADHD person to deal with, however if you were for example assigned to read 10 pages before next week that’d be much more difficult, the event starts a week before the outcome and so your ability to plan around and act within that week is hanpered when you have ADHD, when those EROs start to drift apart an ADHD person will struggle more and more. “When those EROs are close together you don’t need a frontal lobe”. This is why Dr. Barkley (and imo anyone talking on ADHD worth their salt) is so in favour of more accountability for ADHD people not less just because they struggle. You need to brimg the consequences/outcomes closer in time, sneak more deadlines in or whatever you can to bring those EROs closer together.
I’m waiting on an email to start getting my assessment for ADHD. I’ve been perusal your articles for a while now and so much of it hits home for me. I’m just so scared that the results of it might not but ADHD and that I wont know what’s making it so much harder for me to do the things the rest of my family does easily. My sister told me that people make up their diagnosis because they “want something to be wrong with them” and I’m scared that if I get the diagnoses and it’s false then I’m just ‘looking for something to be wrong with me for attention’ or something 🙁
You know what is NOT ADHD friendly? Two factor authentication for your freakin passwords! I would really enjoy knowing how you deal with passwords, Jessica. I have a hige wall of awful in front of this! :/ I actually get a weird feeling in my gut and immobilized when told a password I think I know, is wrong. Now they wanna validate through TWO ways?! I. Just. Can’t.
I like the thought of ADHD friendly for me. I don’t often think about how my tendencies may be more unique or specialized than I realize. On top of ADHD, I also have sensory processing disorder, so some symptoms I live with show up in more unique ways. For example, I stim to handle energy or mental processing in ways that also stimulate my senses, like tapping with nails instead of fingerpads or pressing into a surface of something I’m rubbing or manipulating. In these ways, I am hearing and feeling more than what “simple” stimming would provide for me. One strange result of this stuff is I dislike many ADHD fidget toys I’ve tried up to this point. In my case, I’ve used fidget toys as sources of sensory stimulation more than as a kind of background noise to help with focus. As such, I’ve had to learn other ways to keep myself on topic or to harness my energy, which has been a neat experience. Thinking about what’s friendly for me personally in even one aspect of my life gets me reflecting on other things in my life. Maybe that can be useful in helping other people find what makes things more or less accessible for them.
Sometimes its a bit difficult to navigate and find the “right” solution when you are in a position where ADHD is the dominant one some days and Asperger is the dominant one other days. And you never know which one will be in focus that day. Thats how it is for me. Some days its my ADHD that dictates the day and other days its the Asperger who dictates the day. You have to try every possible tool recommended by others with ADHD and/or Asperger. Sometimes they wont work, sometimes they need to be tweaked and sometimes they work as is.
I needed to make my life much easier by starting my own business! I’d been fired from so many jobs, and the ones I stayed at I eventually quit. My solution was starting a pet care business, so I’m always doing something outside, and usually excerising and getting into the fresh air. Dogs don’t care if I’m distracted because they probably are, too! I have my paperwork set up so it takes me no longer than 5 minutes per client. And my boss is extremely understanding and kind 😉
I think its important to remember that something adhd friendly doesnt mean it automatically works right away. Like …the Hero’s Journal. I went back and forth not using and using this tool and eventually what it took was using the tool in little bits to help me see the bigger picture. And omg error tolerant and speed. Internet speed can be a pure hinderance sometimes at work… because yes i get bored the 2.3 seconds it takes to upload something.
Color coding makes things ADHD friendly for me. When I set-up my bullet journal, I use a specific color for each day or the week. If I have an appointment on Monday the 28th, I put a star on that calendar date, then write the appointment details in the same color I used to write “Monday” and “28”. This system has almost irradiated my tendency to double book appointments.
I’ve decided to mostly remove “cleaning” and “organizing” from my internal dictionary. Instead, I’m now “creating workable systems”. And this all started when I hooked up my old 32″ tv to my computer as a second monitor, got a decent webcam, and moved my Blu-Ray player from the living room to this space (since computers are no longer built with discs in mind, and I have a PS5 that can play movies in the living room, so why not repurpose the tech?). I call it my Communications Hub. I’ve since gone on to reclaim my living space by continuing to build these systems. Rather than “cleaning” or “organizing”, I make things that work for me. My next project is to get better tupperware for my pantry and fridge. I’m really proud of how things are shaping up so far!
A tool I use to get tasks done around the house is use YouTube, podcasts, or anything that is interesting to me to listen to while I complete a task that is hard to organize or hard to get through. The trick is to be able to only listen and not have to watch whatever it is that’s on. Sometimes it’s the only way I can do that really long boring task. At this point I’ve watched so much of the Peoples Court, Ted Talks and StarTalk while doing laundry or dishes hahahahaha Anyone have any other ideas or suggestions on what to listen to now?
I would need checklists and daily goals (already ordered by priority) to get going. I wanna avoid situations in which i’m going blank and/or getting extremely slow, when i couldnt figure out what’s a doable pathway to get those goals finished. And then i can randomly think in loops for quite a while (~1h) like being unable to not repeat the same thought or word for myself. The looping can also appear without any thought, which is kinda weird because it feels like meditating without wanting it to happen.
I think a very ADHD/everyone friendly accommodation is when you’re doing anything electronically with money (depositing, withdrawing, transferring, etc.) and the platform asks you “Are you sure you want to transfer $___ amount?” That one fail-safe checkpoint has rescued me so many times from transferring too much money! Another thing for me is having less meetings. It’s hard for me to transition between tasks, so meetings at work throw me off for a bit. It turns out, most people prefer less meetings, go figure! Oh! Another ADHD friendly thing is automated appointment reminders or flight reminders texted right to your phone! Who doesn’t love those?! The concept of universal use/accessibility truly is how society propels into a more innovative future!
I took graphic design in college and I kept having the worst time trying to remember to bring my flash drive with me to and from the classroom as I went about my day. I got in trouble for leaving it behind so often, that my teacher actually recommended something that stayed with me to this day: I attached a teddy bear to it with a bell around its neck. 🧸🔔 It sounds ridiculous but it works SO WELL. Because it was so BIG it was a lot harder for me to overlook as I scrambled to get out the door. And as I was about to leave, I’d always give my backpack a good shake: if I heard the bell, I was good to go! As an added benefit, I could snuggle the bear whenever I was stressed 🥺 I do this now with my housekeys, it has literally changed my life. 😌💖✊️
You know what it’s absolutely ADHD friendly? YOUR articleS. It’s crazy how I find myself glued to the screen as things keep popping in, grabbing my interest all over again. I can tell the editing process has A LOT of thoughts put into it. Thank you for making such informative articles so accessible to all of us.
I would love for stores to become more neurodivergent-friendly. I’m autistic and have ADHD, and something like clothes shopping is a nightmare to me. There are so many things going on, that I’m usually overstimulated within minutes. I’d love a sensory-low morning in the week, or something like that. Because, you know, I like to feel what my clothes feel like before I buy them. (And buying online usually means that returning stuff just has too many hurdles). Bit rambly maybe, but you triggered my thoughts with this article 😀
This is exactly the kind of article I have needed for a while. Really enjoying the recent content. I would love a follow up article specifying what work accommodations might be worth considering to ask for that are not beyond the realms of being reasonable. (maybe that “reasonable” bit is the shame I feel from my learnt “ableism” sneaking through) ….as an example, I asked for a small note pad that I can write customers orders down on as I definitely have short term memory and/or working memory issues. I work at a bar. People often don’t even ask why I do it and think it makes me look more professional strangely. I also tell regular customers that I trust about my ADHD and ask if they can give me two or three items max from their order at a time as it gets difficult holding more than that in my head. Most people are happy to accommodate if you are polite about it.
i really enjoy body doubling. i have trouble cleaning but if theres someone else just there it helps. it also helps if they help me break down cleaning, instead of “clean the kitchen” its wipe the counters, now unload the dishwasher, ect. that stuff slips my mind when cleaning by myself because my minds racing
I paused @3:30 to read this 😂 Error Executive Function Not Found If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your brain. If this screen appears again, follow these steps: Check to make sure any new accommodations are properly installed. If problems continue, disable or remove any newly acquired executive function blockers. I love how this closely matches real windows stop codes (blue screens), it asks to restart if that’s the first time, otherwise uninstall newly installed drivers 😁
One of the things that I’ve learned to try and FIND during, for example, training sessions, is to find out WHAT the person is trying to teach me when they are talking about the HOW, so that “steps 1, 2, 3” actually become second nature pretty quickly. Instead of “hey, you need to click here, then here, than fill in that info here, then click here” I try to process it as “this person is trying to do a login… and to do a login we need to get to that screen and fill the login information… okay that makes sense”. The example I gave is pretty superficial, of course, but this does happen a LOT when working with teams that have been working on the same thing for years.
Brains, I need help. I never trust what I’m doing or feeling because of my adhd. Actually I don’t trust myself entirely and today I just want to say happy birthday to the boy I liked. He don’t know the fact that I love him. And I was anonym because I don’t want him to know me. Unfortunately he find out and I don’t know what to do. I just can’t do anything except thinking everything. My mind feels like blowing up. I hate myself for every move I did or said. I just can’t control my brain.
My mind immediately started trying to think of counter examples to “ADHD friendly is everyone friendly” just because I can’t help my ADHD curiosity! Here are a couple I can think of: 1) The “horizontal filing system” ADHD people tend to use where everything is visible and has “a spot where I put it” similar to how corvids make little stashes for everything. This is incomprehensible to NT people, and it is very space inefficient, so it makes for conflict over office space. 2) ADHD brains tending to work well at night and poorly in the morning can help cover time gaps for a team, but my experience is that it leads to a lot of conflict with NT coworkers over scheduling meetings. I get a lot of passive aggression for being different in my preferences on scheduling, causing difficulties for everyone else. 3) This is an iffy one because I think it might actually benefit everyone, but the recent trend towards replacing car dashboards with big flashy screens is a huge driving hazard for ADHD brains. NT people seem to like the cool factor, but I’ve also seen many turned off by it. 4) Seatback screens on flight are literal torture to me because they’re so attention grabbing, and sometimes I don’t want to watch three movies at once. I suspect they’re also bad for other ADHD brains. However NTs like the convenience. Any others people can think of?
For articles it’s being fast, short, not boring, relying on different ways of giving information (voice, text, pictures, moving pictures), having correct subtitles available, not making dizzying moves like shaking in the article, same for the sound, background music not too loud, better without background noise. I usually have to rewind every time the numbers are spoken and not written, or look into the subtitles. For interfaces usually the ability to reduce motion and Enlarge Everything. And switch the sounds off. Amd not requiring to call ever.
Hyper focusing on tasks (seriously, like, any task) can be a huge challenge for me. So for me, structured routines are really helpful. Because I often miscalculate how long it will take me to complete a task (which is sooo different from how long I THINK a task should take to complete), it can be really helpful for me to set timers and alarms. Sometimes, when I’m really struggling in some area, I’ll time myself doing certain tasks. Not necessarily for the purpose of doing it faster the next time, but just to give my brain a more accurate picture of how long I’m tending to spend on a task, and how much extra time I may want to allot myself to do certain things. That way, other parts of my day aren’t getting disrupted or thrown out b/c I’m taking twice as long to make the bed or cook dinner.😅
Soup is the most ADHD friendly thing I know how to cook. You can be creative and improvise as you go. You can use things you generally always have on hand (leftover pasta or rice or potatoes, leftover or frozen vegetables, canned beans, etc). Once you’ve gotten a basic soup formula down (there isn’t much to it), you can kind of take it from there and not screw it up. (My “basic formula”usually starts with sautéing a few cloves of garlic & 1/2 or whole onion in olive oil & then adding ingredients from there. But I’ve also used powdered onion/garlic when I’ve been desperate and it works ok!) You can add different things for variety (grated cheese! stirred in egg! etc) very easily. If its “off”, the mistake is generally fixable-too salty, add water; not salty enough, add salt, and so on. Let’s hear it for soup, the most legit-seeming thing I can cook on even a “bad brain” day. (Do not underestimate regular ol’ ramen with a bunch of stuff thrown in there!)
The best thing for me is my cordless vacuum cleaner. I detested getting the other one out, untangling the flex, finding an outlet to plug it into. And then having to plug into a different outlet for different areas. Not to mention getting tangled up in the flex. Ugh! It was all too much trouble and my carpets suffered. Now, my carpets and floors get vacuumed every day. Result and I think ADHD friendly.
I definitely find having things at Point Of Use is very ADHD freindly for me. Sometimes this means I need multiples of the same thing. I have scissors that live in different rooms, I have an upstairs/inside hammer and an outside/garage/downstairs hammer lol. I have 2 toothbrushes. One for my bathroom and one that lives in my travel bag. Etc
My biggest challenge for my ADHD, is phone calls. eek! Texts are easy, email works really well, in person is tough but can be done. But, making phone calls is the worst. I often forget what I wanted to say, miss some points, and have to make people repeat themselves. I also tend to get pressed for answers or decisions without the needed time to really process the idea. This is actually a tactic by some people, into getting you to commit or agree to something under pressure. They purposely word questions to get immediate answers and quick decisions from people. That is one of the most ADHD unfriendly things for any company to be doing.
Probably the most “my ADHD-friendly” thing for me is immediate feedback. The faster I can perceive the effect my actions are having, the easier it is for me to stay motivated. Waiting for results really sucks. Did I do the thing correctly? It’s apparently a secret! (I know that can’t be avoided sometimes, ’cause it might actually take a while to check whether I screwed something up, but when it’s done on purpose I really Don’t Like It. Just tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it! Jeez!)
I get bored quickly doing repetitive tasks so I like to automate things. By doing so I have improved my own processes in my job as well as for others in our company. I’m learning programming to help with this but staying focused on learning programming is a challenge as well. I’d love to hear from ADHD programmers who found ways to keep engaged while learning.
What works for me is that I volunteer with a first responder group and also work in childcare. The first responder work allows me to think outside the box. I also have to make decisions fast, less time to think about things. Working with children, there is no box to think inside of. I run with them and imagine with them. In my opinion, that’s the ideal environment for me.
I don’t know if I have ADHD but I have a lot of the symptoms and I also learned to mask those symptoms as I got older. Thanks to seeing your articles pop up every once in a while, I’ve now decided (as I surf the internet when I should be asleep) to get tested. I swear, if I have ADHD, everything would make sense, lol.
Thank you for this article. Iam now going through the process of asking for accommodations at my office job. For me, the best accommodation would be a remote schedule, since my time managment is one of my biggest barriers, it takes me longer to get task done. Sometimes i stay after work and take calls after hours leading my work life to run into my personal life and feeling overwhelmed. I feel a remote schedule will allow me to do things on my owntime and help me be an efficient worker. It will give me the time and freedon i need to work with my therapist to come up with a schedule and model for my life that fits me and gets my job done. I just hope the ADA sees it that way when our meeting comes up. I had ADD when i was younger and assummed i grew out of it, even though i struggled through college and jobs. It wasn’t untill i decided to take control of my life and youtubed ADHD and watched your articles that i knew i now have adult ADHD and i recently started getting therapy and help for it. I have so many big dreams and goals i want to accomplish and now i feel like i finally have the know how and tools to do so….Thank you ao much! You are amazing!!!!!👏
The article buffering whole time is not ADHD friendly couldn’t pay attention and it barely let me like it could be my internet and I’m also uploading my article while sewing a skirt. I multitask a lot I have to have something in the background while I’m doing art such as doing sewing or drawing. But yeah when things go wrong and frustrating to me I’m going to start saying “this is not ADHD friendly!” tried to make it so
so many things I use to make things ADHD friendly. At work, my excel spreadsheet (to do list) I have added extra columns of dates – one is the due date, another is the date I want to send it out, and the 3rd is the date I should begin working on it. seeing that earliest date is frequently enough adrenaline to get around time management / procrastination issues and get me focused. I also use Alexa / echo dot for music – changing type and volume of music to help with focus. I also have pre-programmed daily reminders. working remotely has been amazing to allow me needed flexibility for time. I use a bullet journal as a weekly don’t forget list – but not every week cuz… ADHD THANK YOU for this website. I am constantly sharing it with family, friends, my kids’ IEP teams, and others who ask me about ADHD.
Being able to hyperfocus or flit like a butterfly according to whatever my brain is up to is SO helpful. More often than not, I can’t focus on getting the kitchen done within an hour or so, so being able to flit between rooms and tasks helps me get that and way more done….rather than stressfully procrastinating on the kitchen. Or hyperfocusing on it until it’s better than done!! Either way, the freedom from expectations can be so helpful…also, writing EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING down. Lists, daily tasks, weekly things to do, routines for everything….grocery shopping…if you have a thought you want to share but can’t right this second and you’ll forget it in two….write it down!
For me something MY ADHD friendly is something that I can access quickly without extra steps. I’m not likely to work out at home, cause that requires changing, and making space, and then workout, then cleaning it up again so i can use the space for other stuff….its extra. But…VR i just walk into my office, throw it on and do some vr workout stuff..then take it off and shower…I’m more likely to do a task if the task doesnt require a lot of steps before and AFTER I do the task.
Was talking with someone the other day who was whining about how the Americans with Disabilities Act “ruins things for normal people.” Just couldn’t get that adjustments that help people with disabilities can also help others. Also, having a pretty doorknob was more important to him than a person with limited mobility being able to exit the room during a fire. How very….American of him.
Wow! Thank you for this. Until recently, I had a reliable system for doing laundry, washing the floors, and other housekeeping tasks. At the end of last year, that system faltered. Then at the beginning of this year, that system came off the rails due to an outside event. Since then, I’ve been struggling to say the least. I’ve also been looking for ways to make these tasks accessible again. Once I achieve that I’ll do my best to find ways to become more consistent again.
Working in an office that lives by Outlook calendars and Teams is a godsend. I still mix up dates for personal events all the time, but at work I can stay focused and I keep everything on ONE calendar that is accessible via laptop or phone. I take meeting notes in OneNote, because that’s extremely user-friendly and allows for a great deal of organization.
I recently started therapy with an ADHD specialist and the 2 things that I learned that make my life so much easier are: 1. Possitive self talk – write at least 1 success you have every single day and you’ll start to treat yourself with more compassion because you are not just failing, you are also succeeding. 2. PLANNING!!!!!!!!! it’s a work in progress but I work with 3 different planners\\journals including my phone’s chalender where I can set reminders with sound. it sounds like a lot of work but in reality it saves a lot of time, confusion, missing out on stuff etc.
My top two that leap to mind relate to auditory processing and auditory distractions: – Decent acoustics/soundproofing. My office has super echo-y stairwells, I refuse to have conversation in them. – An office with a door – OR – the ability to wear earbuds or listen to white noise instead of hearing every else’s conversation while I work
Have you considered adding subtitles for deaf viewers? Deaf ADHDers could benefit from your articles too, and auto-generated subtitles have a tendency to be the worst because they’re only programmed to recognize a specific accent, and ergo, something always gets turned to gibberish in the translation. In one case (the most extreme case), I tried to watch a article that was in English, but the autogenerated subtitles were…in PORTUGUESE because that’s what the system guessed the person was speaking. Hell, hire me. I would gladly do them myself if it meant nobody had to struggle through a article. Getting rid of community captions was the most evil thing YouTube could have done, I swear…
I have lived with ADHD for over 40 years now. Only 10 years on medication, and finally manageable. This term, ADHD FRIENDLY is just as bad as someone saying something is TRIGGERING. This line of thinking leads people down the victim path and I 100% discourage this type of language. There are ways to make things ADHD friendly and easier for us, without labeling things with this label. This is a slippery slope, that, as I said before, as someone who is actually dealing with this, (as well as my 13 son), is a bad idea. I used to like your articles months ago, but your ideas and thinking have been going down a path that is not healthy for a NON VICTIMIZED lifestyle with this obstacle. Please review my comments on your last couple of articles for reference. Not trying to be mean, just critically thinking based on the failures of this type of thinking, about other obstacles in our history which are playing out and escalating horribly today.
Love your website, just discovered it a few days ago. I wish my past self could travel to the future and see your articles. I’ve been struggling my whole life with undiagnosed ADHD (until a couple of months ago) and I also have OCD so my mind is a bucket of sunshine 🎊👌🤣😭. Now I’m 37 and I kinda feel I’ve wasted my life, but like Tony Soprano would say “what you’re gonna do?”. To my wife I’ve always been lazy, immature, irresponsible, insensitive (only sometimes, I might say something that will get me in trouble and I should have put more thought into it before saying it). I don’t give up though, I’m studying to be an English teacher and struggling a lot but at least I’m aiming for something lol. Your articles put a smile to my sporadic sorrow 🙂. PS: You’re a beauty 😊.
For me working from home when water cooler talk would be the only thing to come into the office (oh and to let everyone SEE me… Wait- MS TEAMS WORKS GREAT FOR THAT TOO)… point being when COVID restrictions were in place in my area for many months we all worked from home. I was asked PRE-COVID-19 era to definitely take my laptop home after 10 hours commute and then work with counterparts on the other side of the globe for meetings or training or any particular reason including weekends. I saw my productivity skyrocket when working from home on my hours and still available at basically all hours. That environment of military punch clock bs has seen “the great exodus” bc of this eye opening reality so many also acknowledged. WFH if possible if you have a good job by all means make your paper boo-boo, but for me, respecting others time and acknowledging their accomplishments (regardless of where their computer that they company gave them as salary employee) should be ALL PERSON FRIENDLY. It just takes quality leadership to hire folks that will actually work well with little hovering and constant interruptions from ninny baby gossiping coworkers. Ahhh feels nice not to be harassed lately 🙂
OK, perusal THIS article made me realize why my primary care physician MIGHT have thought it appropriate to have me screened for ADHD. You talked about being easily distracted (check!) and having a hard time estimating how long things might take (Check! Check!! CHECK ! ! ! ). Maybe that’s why I’m in the 11th year of a PhD program that is supposed to be done by ten years. Easily distracted, yet sometimes hyper focused . . . does that mean my brain is part cat?
OneNote is ADHD friendly. The only tool that actually helps me to organize my work (and oceans of information that I have to handle). I can make to-do lists, attach emails/their content, files, screenshots, mark with colours, organize info by topics etc. Now I don’t have 200+ unread emails in my inbox (before I was using “unread” as a form of reminder but at some point it just stopped working).
I work as a UX (user experience) designer. My job it to make products (usually web pages) as accessible and easy to use for EVERYONE. I like to think that my ADHD helps me better find the “bad UX” which then makes me design better. Pretty much everything you discussed in this article is, in some way, at the core of good UX design. Making a design accessible for one group isn’t a thing – it may start out as that, but it always ends up benefiting people outside of that group as well. Accessibility is a win-win.
Alright, I have 45 minutes to complete 45 questions on a grade school level test. Pretty much one question a minute. My recruiter tells me to skip questions that will slow me down. Took me 25 minutes to do 10 questions from what I remembered. Didn’t get hired that day, but I did appreciate reading the 5 paragraph passage about some Mt. Everest climbers that I forgot their names to. Really intriguing stuff. Yeah, don’t climb Mt. Everest, kids. You’ll probably get killed if you’re not prepared for that kind of trek in the Himalayas.
I started perusal your articles a few days ago because none of my coping strategies had been working and I didn’t know why. Meds weren’t helping either. This had been going on for a month and I have exams right now (university, final year) and after I lost 40 mins from a 2hr exam because of what a mess I was, I caved in and looked for something that might help. Found your articles. Can you believe I completely forgot what an issue boredom is in ADHD? Like, *boredom*. I forgot that I’m incapable of doing things if I find them boring. My mindset had been entirely “This thing is graded, and it’s your final year, and it’s important. Therefore you must do it.” When I dropped that and just started having fun with the thing, BOOM, suddenly I remember how to Do Stuff. Also, I know ADHD is rare and not everyone has it, but i keep noticing something weird about that. Like, everyone i like and can relate to/connect with has ADHD? Like, I find some random YouTube website that seems fun and entertaining and three hours into binging it, the girl makes some comment about having adhd. I don’t know if this is just me. Is it normal to have a problem with neurotypicals? Like, just instinctively finding them dull and… okay now that i think about it, this seems rather obvious. Sorry about the ranting.
I consider my job ADHD friendly. Simple version of my job is a add timestamps to article and make sure there are no clips missing. Why is it ADHD friendly? 1) I work in a cubical environment, aka buddy system. 2) No hard due date other then ASAP so I’m always on a time crunch 3) I’m rarely the one blamed when my work takes a long time because 99% of the time I can blame the computers 4) I do the same thing for every file so checking off each step is easy 5) Each file is unique and often comes with unique problems that keeps each file interesting
I frequently needs things to be “flexibly structured”. I like templates, but ones that are easy to adjust as I need. Trying to make something from the ground up makes me freeze; there’s just too many choices. For example, things like bullet journaling never worked for me because it’s a blank page, and my mind gets stuck in deciding what to do with it instead of just using it. However, I found a planner that is pre-made, but I then buy a few writable label stickers and change a couple columns/areas, and now it’s perfect for my head. I can tweak a template in Word much easier than creating it from scratch. When creating training materials, I love looking at an existing curriculum that I ALMOST love and then adjusting. So yeah: flexibly structured.
When something just “clicks in” with my ADHD brain, It’s usually made of lots of small things that are easy to FINISH so I can get that sweet dopamine boost and keep working. Long tasks are exponentially less ADHD friendly for me. For example, I’m writing this comment and every sentence I finish, I get rewarded by my brain. I learned to split things in small pieces so it plays to my strenghts. Have a nice day!