When you have ADD, one thing you're probably not great at is keeping your living space together. You might have piles of stuff everywhere, including laundry, which is all over the floor of the bedroom. We know what we need to do, but just can bring ourselves to do stuff that's boring. Looking around at the mess can get a little depressing.



Just remember that you're not the only one with these issues. All ADD people have the same stuff to deal with. We just hate being bored, and cleaning and straightening bore us to death. That's just how it is. There are so many more interesting and fun things to do in life that we just don't worry about that kind of thing, but we really do want more ordered life. How can we get it?

ADD-friendly systems can help you. Try doing one load of laundry a day, for example. It's much easier to put one dryer load of clothes away than 7 at one time.

You can clean the same way. Do one chore each day, like sweep one day, dust the next. And leave the huge jobs, like window cleaning for somebody else. Pay them. It's pretty inexpensive, and it's better than never having it done at all.

But if this system doesn't fit with your ADD, try thinking of big jobs in chunks. Like, clean off the kitchen counter. Then, go to the refrigerator and throw old food that you don't recognize away. Then, empty the trash. Then, worry about the kitchen table. Do things one area at a time.

Maybe the best way for you will be doing the boring stuff 10 minutes at a time. Do some straightening or cleaning for 10 minutes and then, do something you like to do for 50 minutes. Then, start over again. You'll be amazed at what you can get accomplished with this routine.

Everyone with ADD has real approach-avoidance issues over doing boring things. We want a neat, organized place to live, but just can't bring ourselves to do what we need to do to have things that way. Try one of these systems, one you think will fit in with your personal brand of ADD. If it doesn't work well, try another. Nothing says that you can't have things the way you want them to be. You just have to find a system that suits you.