I have adhd and lose shit relentlessly. Always frustrating, I started noticing how this completely upends my day, physically and emotionally. It didn’t just make me late, it made me panicky.
So I started my most essential themed cleaning: Finding Shit.
I can’t trust myself to put things where they “belong,” so swooping through the house regularly has made a world of difference.
For me, it all starts with the laundry. Let me tell you about my Doom Chair…
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I have a “Doom Chair Index” that helps me quantify my mental health.
The index is based on the chaos of the Chair and how long it’s been that way. There is no actual number, though I think I tried for a few hypomanic days to quantify it. The chaos is both a cause and an effect of stressed and depressed weeks, and über organization is a red flag for hypomania.
Every week, my cleaning checklist starts with the laundry and the Doom Chair. If those aren’t under control, my week flows badly.
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Yesterday, I tooted about replacing specific tasks in my checklist with areas of focus. I have two basic strategies that work for house and garden:
Theme: eg. finding shit, stinky stuff, sweep & vacuum
Zone: eg. counters, bathroom, junk drawer.
Garden example: weed buttercup everywhere or do everything in one bed.
Reminding myself which I am doing is key to staying on track. Dusting is not part of “finding shit.” It’s a relief, actually. I’ll write about that later.
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🪲 Fritillaria, Deux 🪲