How I make my ADHD work for me

I've grown up my entire life thinking I was odd. What others found as easy tasks, I found tedious, painful, boring, or nerve-wracking. Tasks that usually took only a short amount of time I would push off until I couldn't any longer. And every time I would tell myself the same line "I won't put that off again. I'm going to do this every week." And then undoubtedly I wouldn't. I couldn't get myself to stick to a routine or schedule. If this sounds like you then you may just be a fellow neurodivergent. And once I started to make efforts to figure out where I lost momentum and what got me active with activities I loved I started to realize that I can make my ADHD work for me.

Now I recognize that each person is different- what works for me isn't going to work for everyone. However, I had to go through a trial and error method until I found what works for my brain. So without further ado here are things that I have found helpful for me.

I made tags of the chores I need to do. It's simple enough- I got elastic wristlet keychains and blank key tags. I color coded the different chores I consistently need to do. Red are things I need to do every week. Orange are things I need to do every other week. Blue are activities I want/like to do.

This is a system I made into a game with my husband. On Friday we would take turns blindly picking out the red and orange tags. Whatever we got we had to do. If we got a chore we absolutely don't like we can ask for a trade (only one per week though). Once we each have our chores we have the weekend to get them done. It was up to each of us to pace ourselves. My husband likes to wait until Sunday afternoon to get all of his done. I prefer to make each morning my time to do chores.

I have noticed personally that I feel most productive in the morning (you might have a different time of day that you notice that this is true for you). So in the morning I pick a chore or task that is my responsibility for the week and get to work on it. Now this is where I have to be very self aware. If I know I don't want to do anything that day I will set a timer for how long I have to work on my task (usually no more than 45 minutes). Once the timer goes off I have 30-45 minutes to work on whatever hobby I want. If I finish early then I have the extra time added onto my activity time. On days where I am feeling good I complete one task then have my activity time. And usually by time Saturday afternoon hits I am completely done with my weekly tasks.

I have this system works best for me because I can easily keep track of my consistent chores. And I wear whatever task I need to get done around my wrist until it's finished. The ones I haven't completed yet go into my pocket. I pull out one at a time to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed. Within two weeks noticed that my house chores were becoming easier and I was feeling more relaxed not just during the weekend but through the week.

And the most beneficial part of the system is that I can take away or add chores as our life changes. It has definitely helped me breathe easier and it just might do the same for you. Try this system and let me know how it works out for you in the comments.