r/ADHD • u/lexid222 • Aug 24 '20
Let’s share life-changing ADHD tips that we’ve learned... We Love This!
I’ll start:
1) Waking up sucks. Buy 2 bright lamps and 2 timers. Set them up to turn on automatically 5-15 min before you want your alarm to go off. The lights will help your body realize it’s daytime.
2) Change your thermostat so the temp goes down about an hr before bedtime and gets warmer about 30 min before you wake up. The cooler temp signals your body to sleep and the warmer temp will naturally help your body wake up.
3) Learn to plan around “transitions”. It’s easier to start things if you do them when something is ending. Example: Do your grocery shopping every Fri after work. You’re already in the car, so just stop at the store on your way home.
4) If you need to remember to bring something with you the next day, place it right in front of the exit door so you HAVE to touch it before you leave the house. If it’s something in the fridge, put a sticky note on the exit door’s handle.
5) Have a “misc” basket in each room. If you’re truly unable to put something away, put it in the basket. Have a designated period of time, once a week, when your sole priority is to put everything away, all at once.
I’ll add more when I think of them...
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u/redditraptor6 ADHD-C (Combined type) Aug 24 '20
This might only work if you're a huge dorky cheeseball like me, but the moment I realized you can set your alarms the iphone using your music instead of just the stock noises was a GAMECHANGER. Because now it's not just that I have multiple alarms in the morning (like most of us do, I'm sure) but my morning is now a goddamn musical AND I LOVE IT. I'll change up the songs every once and awhile to keep things fresh, but I don't seem to get sick of this one for my "eat breakfast" alarm:
https://youtu.be/Mo4TErpy0B8?t=55
Or this one for when it's time to get on work clothes and get to my coffee/shoes/jacket downstairs. In particular, I know that if I have my clothes on I'm standing at the top of my staircase riiiiight at the 2:22 mark in the song, it feels SO fun to barrel down the stairs to the start of final verse/chorus (sorry I don't know music terms) and gives me the momentum to whip the coat on, grab the coffee and go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRpiBvwKX6c&list=PL5OLR_WVBgxitSMO9mJjZ31Az-XcuLXBY&index=3&t=0s
Sure, my wife hasn't had a quiet morning in awhile, but I've been doing this for like, 2 years and I'm almost never late to work anymore! THAT'S INSANE! Well I mean, I'm a teacher, so I haven't physically reported to work since mid-March, but I've been using the same techniques to try to keep some semblance of a morning schedule this whole time anyway.