20+ Best Ways To Be More Organized When You Have ADHD

It’s not always possible to have your time, your responsibilities, and your duties to be organized the way you want. It’s quite normal to feel out of control and overwhelmed but these feelings can be tenfold when someone is living with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Did you know that disorganization is one of the major symptoms that can be associated with ADHD? However, you don’t have to live with chronic disorganization. Staying organized with ADHD is possible.

Staying organized with ADHD or not can be a major part of achieving success. The more you live in a cluttered space, the more the chances of having a disorganized mind increase. For people with ADHD small changes to help stay organized can have a big improvement.

Below, let’s take a look at 20+ ways to be more organized when you have ADHD.

How To Stay Organized With ADHD?

1. Keep Everything In One Place

People with ADHD may feel overwhelmed by small stuff so keeping everything in one place can help them find things easily and in reach. Set up small places around the house or your workspace to keep things organized.

2. Go Digital

We all have to deal with bills, invoices, bank statements, and mail but the more these stack around our living space, the more they may cause anxiety and stress, especially in people with ADHD. So to avoid that, sign up to receive all these important documents digitally. This will also help declutter your space.

3. Clear The Clutter

When your living space is cluttered, it can create a cluttered mind too. If you’re living with ADHD, the best way to stay organized is to minimalize your living. Having less clutter will avoid overwhelming the mind. If you have too much clutter, then you can start getting organized by labeling them in bags such as keep, give-away, throw away, or unsure.

4. Color-Code Reminders

Color coding things can also help you stay organized with ADHD. When you assign a specific color to a task you know whether the task needs immediate attention or not. To make things easier, you can use one color to represent a day or week.

5. Go With The Lists

Lists can be your best friend and can help you stay organized when you have ADHD. Creating a to-do list can help you know what to tackle first and what to keep for last. You can also divide lists into categories such as home, family, social, errands, work, etc. to stay organized and avoid brain dump.

6. Check Off The Tasks

Another way to stay organized with ADHD is to check off tasks from the lists as soon as they are done. Doing this will give you a sense of achievement and will assure you that you are moving forward instead of getting stuck in one place.

7. Use Labels And Markers

Another best way to stay organized when you have ADHD is to label everything and use markers. Label your containers. Use markers to mark important tasks. These actions will help you stay organized and know what you need to do first.

8. Keep Things Within Reach

When you’re trying to stay organized with ADHD, it’s best to keep things within your reach. For instance, keeping your laundry basket in the laundry room can be effective and easy to reach when you do laundry. You can also start by keeping all important items and documents in one place. This will avoid you from getting distracted.

9. Learn To Delegate

For adults with ADHD, keeping checks and managing the invoices might be a challenging task so to avoid getting overwhelmed, you can learn to delegate these jobs to someone more trustworthy and reliable.

10. Prepare Outfits The Night Before

If you’re an adult with ADHD and if you wear certain outfits regularly, then keeping those sets of clothes in one place can save you a lot of grief. You can also try to prepare your outfits for the next day the night before to avoid getting overwhelmed.

11. Talk It Out

When you’re trying to complete a task at hand then you can benefit from talking about the process out loud. If you’re learning to stay organized with ADHD, then you can try to talk it out to keep yourself focused on the task. It may also alert others around you that you need help staying focused.

12. Keep A Calendar

Another best way to stay organized with ADHD is to keep a calendar, and not a digital one. Having a physical calendar to stick on the walls or on the fridge to track your appointments can help you stay organized and focused. It can also help remind you of any important upcoming events.

13. Break Down Tasks

Another trick to help you stay organized with ADHD is to break down the tasks. This way you can finish your tasks and feel a sense of accomplishment before moving on to the next one. This will also help create a habit that can eventually turn into a routine. For instance, you can make Sundays as laundry days and Fridays when you check your bills and invoices.

14. Use Pictures

Visual aids work best sometimes. When you’re too overwhelmed as an adult with ADHD to stay focused, you can use pictures to substitute labels as reminders. Turn your goals into pictures and stick them around the house to remind you of your task.

15. Give Yourself Extra Time

Whenever you’re planning for an event or a meeting, always give yourself extra time, just in case. Sometimes the pressure of the approaching deadlines can distract you from your goal and focus. Having extra time on hand will help you stay organized and focused.

17. Set Smaller Goals

As I’ve already mentioned in a point before, break down your goals into smaller ones. Accomplishing small goals will help you feel a sense of accomplishment and stay focused on the projects.

18. Use Sticky Notes

Much to contrary belief, having sticky notes around the house does not mean being disorganized. Instead, having sticky notes can remind you of what you need to do and what you haven’t done yet. If you can’t complete a task, then leave a note stating the reason why and when you can come back to the task.

19. Use Trash Bins

Using trash bins in your house can also help you stay organized when you have ADHD. When you see items or papers that need to be discarded, you can immediately use the trash bins rather than leave the items to dispose of later, creating chronic disorganization.

20. Use ADHD-Friendly Apps

When you’re living with ADHD, there are some things that you need to have handy. These include having ADHD-friendly apps for organizing your tasks such as Evernote, Todoist, Brain Focus, and more. These apps offer lists and reminders to help you organize your life – personal and professional.

21. Learn To Say “NO”

When you’re learning to stay organized with ADHD, it’s best to avoid overworking. When someone asks you for something, learn to say “NO”, especially when you’re already overscheduled.

22. Be Around Supportive People

There are still stigmas surrounding ADHD that prevent people with ADHD from being accepted. It can be hard to cope with the disorder when people around you are unwilling to understand. So learn to surround yourself with supportive people who can not only help you stay focused and organized but can also encourage you to do the same on your own.

Wrap Up

Learning to stay organized with ADHD can be a challenge but learning the above tips on staying organized when you have ADHD can help. If you find yourself getting easily overwhelmed with clutter, mess, duties, or responsibilities, try these above organization tips to regain control.

Small steps can make big differences. You are not alone. Whatever your needs, remember that a professional can help. If you can’t seem to make it on your own, don’t hesitate to reach out to a mental health professional.

I hope these above tips on how to stay organized with ADHD will help you. For more, you can reach out to us at info@calmsage.com or DM us on social media. You can also share your organizational tips for people with ADHD in the comments below!

Take Care!