Ep 86: Executive Function Series #6 Organization

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In this deep-dive episode of our executive function series, I share how to organize your life in a brain-friendly way and the practical strategies that helped me go from chaotic clutter to sustainable systems, even with executive function challenges.

📌 Key Topics:

• The complex executive function skills involved in organization
• Why traditional organizing methods often lead to burnout
• My personal journey with digital, physical, and mental clutter
• How to break the exhausting organize-crash-repeat cycle
• Energy management strategies for sustainable organization
• Finding homes for everything to reduce decision fatigue

🗣️ Featured Quote: "Organization isn't about perfection—it's about being able to pull things back to a calm, peaceful state without overwhelm."

💡 Strategy Breakdown:

• Start small and limit yourself to avoid the hyperfocus-crash cycle
• Use the trash/donate/elsewhere system to streamline decision-making
• Create homes for everything to reduce constant decision fatigue
• Build simple 30-minute daily maintenance routines
• Implement the Now/Not Now method to organize your thoughts
• Simplify categories to reduce decision overload

🎯 Coming Up Next: Join us next week as we continue our executive function series with strategies for another critical executive function skill.

🔑 Key Takeaway: Organization works differently for unique brains—it's about creating systems that work with your brain, not against it. With the right approach, you can maintain organization without exhaustion.

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Transcript

Do you struggle to get or stay organized? It can be really frustrating not to find the things that you need when you need them, or to constantly feel like you're wrangling and reorganizing your space. And now it's not just our physical world, it's also our digital world, and it's inside our heads.

This episode is part of my executive function series, and today we are talking about the executive function skill of organization. And yes, it's a real brain function. It's not just a character trait.

So, if you've been thinking that you're just not an organized person, let's work on that today. Or if you find you really like organization, you just struggle to keep it that way. This is for you too.

Because I know you, you've probably read all the books on organizing. You may have, even once Marie Kondo your closet to perfection. That works for most people. But those of us with A DHD have to think about organization differently. When you think of getting organized, do you feel hopeful or overwhelmed?

Even if you like organizing like I do. When you start to realize what it really means to get fully organized, it can make you freeze. Think about it, what would it actually take for you to be truly organized? Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask you to make a list that would just stress you out, but let's talk about what's going on in the A DHD Brain Organization isn't just about tidying up or having the right bins. It's a complex executive function skill.

It requires your brain to categorize, prioritize, plan, and retrieve information for A DHD brains, these processes often don't run on autopilot 

like they might for neurotypical people. Here's why. 

Working memory, the whiteboard in your brain that helps you hold on to info while doing something else tends to be weaker with A DHD. That makes it harder to remember where you put something or follow a multi-step organizing system.

Prioritization and task initiation can get fuzzy. 

You might know organizing would help, but where do you start? Everything feels equally important or equally overwhelming. Mental fatigue is real. Organizing demands a ton of decisions. Keep toss, donate store label.

That decision fatigue hits fast when you're already using so much energy just managing everyday life. Emotional regulation matters too. Shame, frustration, or perfectionism around clutter can make organizing feel emotionally heavy. So if organizing feels impossible, sometimes it's not because you're lazy or messy, your brain is just working differently.

Disorganization created chaos in my life to the point that it caused me anxiety, dread, and major overwhelm. Maybe you felt that way too. It's not just physical clutter anymore. It's about digital clutter across devices, mental clutter in our busy A DHD brains.

Emotions can get involved and you may not realize it. I have a bin in my room filled with old cameras, regular digital video, and I am terrified to get rid of it, 

I'm afraid I might throw out an important picture or a sweet kid video is gonna be on one of those tapes and I'm gonna miss it.

This is a project that I've avoided for years. It's not just about the things, there is a fear and anxiety about throwing out something important There's also confusion on how exactly I wanna deal with this project and what to do with the cameras after I plan to tackle it this year. But no wonder I haven't done it so far. Just naming the feelings here and now really helps bring down the temperature on this project. 

When I coach clients around organization, we don't just break down the project. We manage energy all the way through. We make a plan even if it's a small one, but then I ask, how are you going to make sure you don't exhaust yourself?

Because here's what happens. You've been dreading it. You finally start, motivation kicks in, and then you hyper-focus. You go all day and into the night forgetting to eat, drink, water or rest, and then you crash and you can't face anything like it again for days or even weeks. Have you done this? I know I have over and over.

So what you want to do is limit yourself. Start small. You're not taking on the garage or your kids' room or the entire closet. You're not trying to get to inbox zero in one day. Set a small reasonable plan and trust that the rest will come. 

Here's an example from my personal life. I'm digitizing recipes I've collected for the past 25 years. My brain wanted to go all in and to get it done in one sitting, but instead, I decided if I pull out the recipe to use it, I'll digitize it. That's it. That system worked and it didn't require overhauling everything at once.

With clients, we often plan to handle just two or three bags or boxes at a time and then stop. And if it's emotional stuff, even one box is enough, your brain will scream. That's not enough to make a difference, but it absolutely is, especially when paired with other strategies that I'm sharing here. So let's talk about an organizational tool.

Trash donate an elsewhere. Here's what you need. A trash bag, a donation bag, a go elsewhere, baskets, and this could be boxes, bags, whatever works for you. 

I also wanna say something about selling items. I would only do it if you set strict rules for yourself.

Cash only. It has to be as easy as possible. What you're trying to avoid here is creating extra work for yourself. 

So if guilt kicks in, I want you to reframe that. Be grateful that you had the means to purchase these items that they served a purpose. Or 

even if it was just a lesson, you thought you needed that thing and you learned that you didn't actually need it.

So we talked about the goes elsewhere basket. What this does for you is keeps you from wandering around the house, putting things in different rooms. I just want you to throw it in the basket if it doesn't belong in the room or the space that you're dealing with.

So what about the things that stay? I want you to ask yourself some questions. Do I actually need this? Do I love it enough that I would buy it again? Am I keeping it out of fear or guilt?

Is it worth the space that it's taking up in my home and my brain? Everything must have a home. The decision fatigue alone is not worth keeping an item that doesn't have one. Every time you touch something that doesn't have a clear home, your brain asks, where does this go? Do I leave it out or put it away?

Will I forget it if I don't see it Again,I want you to avoid decision fatigue. A DHD brains don't have endless capacity for decision making. So here's my rule. If it's staying, it must have a home. Even if it's home, it's just a bin labeled random cables, I don't understand, but I'm afraid to throw away. When your stuff has a home, your brain can rest. You don't have to keep solving the same puzzle over and over again. So returning things to their home is not going to be a perfect journey,When I first started organizing my bathroom, I wanted to clear the counters, but I kept forgetting to put things back. Over time, I started catching myself. Now I either pause and return things right away, or I have a quick reset routine with one of my kids. I taught them to scan the bathroom before leaving Where did I learn that? Because I do it myself every day. Do you know neurotypicals? Do this without thinking? That must be fun.

So maintenance is really where it's at, and I. I want you to expect this to be harder at first, and that's okay. It will get easier and easier. an example of maintenance is I have a 30 minute block on my calendar each morning labeled clean. 

And that means picking up, putting away, making the bed, doing the dishes.

Starting the laundry and dealing with all the other odds and ends. This works for our household because we have the built-in habit of mostly putting things away, but your version might look different. Your brain, your rules.

Organization doesn't mean perfection. It means being able to pull things. To a calm, peaceful state without overwhelm, so don't try to fix everything. Pick one thing, just one maybe where all the mail lands or maybe your shower set up. Ask, what is one thing that would reduce my stress today? What is one thing I can put in place to make my life easier?

Need a few starter ideas. Try that chair that catches all the clothes. That one messy drawer, the one shelf in the fridge.

Your bathroom counter your email inbox just for 10 minutes though

we need to organize our brains too. Unlike the junk drawer, your brain can be organized in one sitting. Do a brain dump. Tasks, ideas, thoughts.

Books or podcasts that you wanna listen to or read, things that you wanna learn or remember

now you want to eliminate, cross off what's not needed next, split it into two lists now and not now.

By all the, not now list somewhere safe. You can refer to it every day or every few days and keep adding to it. Then take your now list and make a simple plan for tomorrow. If you want help with this, I made a whole video on the now, not now method,

Become your own version of a minimalist. This is different for everyone. I'm gonna give you an example of something that I did. So with my workout clothes, it was constantly a decision. Was I gonna wear these pants with this shirt? Was this shirt clean? I went looking for the right shirt that only went with those pants, and it just got silly.

And so what I did instead is I switched. So only black leggings, only black socks, two pairs of shoes, one for lifting, one for walking. The same shirt in different colors, and 

done. There's no decisions. It's just function. I had a client with six shampoos in the shower and I said, pick two, remove the rest. And she didn't have to throw them away, she just put them out of the shower.

And now the showers are more peaceful. Cleanup is easy and less decisions. 

So to recap, start small limit decisions. Give everything a home, build maintenance habits, simplify where you can.

And organize your brain too. You don't need a Pinterest worthy system. You need something that works for your brain. And if you want help personalizing your own organization plan, including energy management emotional blocks, and A DHD friendly strategies, book a strategic action plan session with me.

Let's get you feeling calm and in control. Again, 

You can do that by going to my website, www Learn to thrive with adhd.com and going to the services tab and you can book a call right there. Alright, you guys, that is what I have for you this week and I will see you next week. Thanks.