This month we dive into the warm weather executive function subject of mastery: personal design, ADHD– convenient systems that work for you. It is part of the executive functions of the organization. Organization is an executive function skill (a brain-based skill). For some of us, this is strength; for others it is a challenge; and for many, it’s somewhere in between, depending on the context or the specific task. Whether it’s a strength, challenge, or moderate for you, you can improve. When the inevitable mistakes happen (they do to all of us), remember: it’s not your fault. This is what your brain can do. Try to be compassionate with yourself even as you work to develop strategies and skills to maximize your performance.
What is an organization?
Organization is the ability to create and maintain systems for things, documents, electronic documents, and critical tasks (Mutti-Driscoll, 2024).
A lot of organization comes from having systems. For most of us, we already have some systems in place, but we may not recognize them. The purpose of this post is to reflect what you already do so you can build a foundation.
Does your organization differ in contexts such as home and work? I’m pretty good at organizing tasks, but routines, papers, and physical things are hard. For me, electronic documents are easier than physical documents. Routines are hard enough if they aren’t so simple.
Navigation gender Expectations: Social expectations often dictate that girls and women should be organized naturally. Girls and women who struggle to clean up, organize their music, or follow a self-care routine often receive negative feedback or are deeply misunderstood. This is me. I struggled with misunderstanding or judgment about my organization’s challenges. Since my challenges have always been at home, it can be difficult to keep these thoughts in mind. I always try to be kind to myself and look at it with a grain of salt.to embarrass way, but it’s a process. You are not alone.
Key considerations for neurodivergent organization
When thinking about an organization, it helps to develop some thoughts:
- Your systems may look different: If you are neurodivergent with ADHD or another diagnosis, your organization may look different than people expect. Some people have systems that work perfectly for them, even if they look chaotic on the outside. If you can find things when you need them, you have good skills in this area, even if others don’t.
- Duties of care are morally neutral. Being organized or disorganized is not moral incompetence. Reframe caring duties as functional actions that benefit your future self rather than moral obligations. What is more important to you than avoiding the judgment of outsiders? Shame is a bad motivator.
- Rhythms or rituals over routines. Are you more attracted to the concept of a weekly or daily rhythm than a strict routine? It is possible to skip a step with the rhythm. It’s much better for my brain.
- Functionality over perfection. Most of us get caught perfectionism the trap is thinking we’ll feel better if we’re just perfect or hard on ourselves. Logically, we know that it is unattainable and will bring tiredness. Instead, ask: What works for you in your space? How your space can serve you, not you stress do you go out
My personal organization systems
Calling these “systems” might be generous, since many of my strategies are fairly simple, but they count because they help me a lot of the time and are worth acknowledging as a result. Dear reader, what are you doing to keep yourself organized? Can you add any tasks, tools, or strategies to my list below?
Clean up
Documents
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A weekly schedule for going through the mail, paying bills, and turning things over to the annual file. Compartmentalizing tasks helps me sit down at the same time and eliminate admin emails.
Weekly tasks
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Being a designated “business day”. Sunday serves as the deadline for various tasks (documentation, bills, laundry) that must be completed before Monday.
Laundry
Find items
Submit an application
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I have a short-term file for the current year and a long-term file that a professional organizer helped me create. At the end of the year, I will switch the short term to the long term and start again.
Task list
Clean up
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I’m working on using the Tiimo app to track my daily cleaning routine.
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Strict cleaning of dirty space (garbage, dishes, laundry, things with a place, etc.). This can make a messy space seem smaller because you’re addressing parts one by one.
Cooking
Food shopping
I want to recognize myself for this effort and I want to recognize you. We all do our best and that’s it so better than doing nothing.
