I do have one trick for not losing my keys: They’re always attached to something. I have them on a chain with one of those clips that hook onto stuff, and I clip them onto a belt loop or similar on my pants. Even when they’re in the bowl on my desk, that clip is always hooked onto the lamp next to it. Just putting them down and forgetting is almost impossible.
So what if instead of the couch, the first thing you encounter when you walk in the door is the key rack? Seriously - hang a key rack right by the door - then you don’t have to think about putting them there, that’s just the first and easiest place to put them.
I think that’s one of the things that organized people do without thinking about it - make putting stuff away really, really easy. Like, no brainer, drop-something-at-your-ass-and-it’s-actually-in-the-right-spot easy.
My method is along those lines: if something isn’t in the first place I look for it, that’s where I put it when I find it/am done with it.
So, if I’m looking for tape and the first place I checked was the kitchen drawer but it wasn’t there, when I eventually find the tape and am done with it I put it away in the kitchen drawer. Since that will probably be the first place I check the next time I need the tape, too.
My bananas don’t wander - they’re always in the fruit bowl with the other fruit (I don’t like cold fruit, so they live on the kitchen counter).
I think part of being/getting organized is working with your natural tendencies. I’m a “put things on a shelf,” not a “put things in a drawer” type of person, so baskets on shelves or counters work great for me.
Part of using baskets and containers to get organized is not to just buy a bunch and take them home, too - you need to develop a plan first, then buy a container for something specific. For example, I wanted the kitchen stuff I use all the time to stay handy, so I bought a specific little basket for my can opener, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and potato peeler, and that’s where they live now.
Here lately I’ve been trying to reorganize my folders for the file cabinet. The kitchen table has stacks of papers, booklets etc. on it. I’m nowhere near done. I can’t find anything about the computer, which I’m having a problem with right now. Where is the stuff? Shouldn’t it be on the table, albeit underneath everything else…?
Here’s a joke:
Wife is sitting in the den. Man is rummaging thru the hall closet. She says What are you looking for?
He says You know. The thing…
She says Well it’s not in there. It’s in the kitchen drawer.
Hope you get things organized and at your fingertips.
Not if you ingrain the habit deeply enough. After a while it becomes like driving–you’re paying attention to your surroundings and responding appropriately, without being consciously aware of it. Granted, you do have to be mindful of what you’re doing while forming the habit, and you might need some sort of external reminder during that period.
Someday I’ll write a book about coping with ADD. Not for people who have it, mind. No, this will be a book for the folks who have to live with those folks without strangling them. And this issue right up here will take up a good couple-three chapters. I’ll address such issues as how frequently and loudly it’s appropriate to ask why the fuck the fucking cabinets are all wide fucking open A-FUCKING-GAIN and what to do when “One of these days, Alice” stops being a joke.
I feel for you. I am so not aware of the open cabinets and they are perpetually open. Just the upper ones, though, lower ones would get in the way of walking so there’s an outside impetus for closing them.
I may not be the best person to ask, but…
• Gloves - Goes in the designated gloves & hats drawer. I bought two smallish dressers – prefab build-it-yourself stuff from Target and designated one drawer for swimsuits, one for dance costumes, one for belts, one for purses, and one for gloves/hats. I got tired of trying to find places for all those things.
• Dog products - I have one small cabinet that is useless for much else, so the top shelf is all dog stuff, meds, collars, training stuff, vet records, treats, etc. The bottom shelf is the cat shelf.
• Lint remover rolls. Heh. I just bought two. One got tossed in a random drawer in the bathroom and the other is sitting on the kitchen windowsill, which is where I’m most likely to primp (translation: try to get the dog hair off my clothes) before I walk out the door.
• Electronic miscellany: I have one box (one of those big plastic tubs from Target) that is the designated Graveyard for All Electronica. Cables, remotes, and bits and pieces go in there. It’s all tossed in, in a big mess, and I wouldn’t recommend this. As for tapes/CDs/DVDs, they are lined up on shelves especially made for that purpose in a room designated as a library. It’s a spare bedroom, but one wall is built out with floor-to-ceiling shelving for all my books, tapes, DVDs, CDs, and other entertainment stuff, like my camera, tripod, and miscellaneous accessories (iPod headphones, dead cellphones, empty jewel cases, etc.)
•Matches. Don’t own 'em. Lighters all live in my purse as I am a smoker and carry them everywhere.
• Keys and keychains: I am actually very light on keychains and am always scrambling to find something to put a spare key on (that I’m about to give someone). I have a bill minder thingy with hooks in it mounted on the wall behind my front door. All keys get hung there.
•Cable ties: Go in the tools drawer with all other “connective” devices, i.e., twisty ties, nails, stables, glue gun + glue sticks, paper clips, rubber bands, and cable ties.
• Pens and pencils…Go in jars, wine glasses, or old coffee mugs (kept for sentimental value). There’s a jar in the office, a jar in the kitchen (next to the stack of blank notepads), and another jar stashed in a cabinet in the kitchen. Periodically, I go through these, test each one, and toss anything that isn’t working. I hate non-working decoy pens and toss them immediately.
One thing I’ll add that I’m proud of:
I have a drawer in my kitchen devoted to measuring things. Measuring cups, spoons, scales, rulers… any tool you’d use to measure something in a kitchen goes in that one place.
I do have a lot of cluttery things around the house for which I haven’t found a really good place for it to live yet, and piles of paper for which I do have a filing cabinet and a system, but it’s so time consuming to sit down and file everything away (after deciding what to keep and what to shred) that nothing ever gets filed. The pile just gets moved upstairs to live next to the filing cabinet. I always intend to file on a rainy day. Or at tax time. But I never do. :smack: I need a new system for that.
So, you have a disorder that causes you to be too distracted to put things away. Fine. No problem. My husband does the same thing. ALL THE TIME.
If you can’t stop it from happening, the next step is to make cleaning up later a priority.
Why do you think I empty every flat surface in my home once a day? Because it’s fun?
No.
It’s so I can find things later. It’s work. It’s a pain in the ass. I hate it (especially since none of it is stuff I left out in the first place). But it is the price I pay for having a tidy home.
You don’t want to be tidy. Face it. Move on.
Correction: I do. I’m just not.
I’ve long described my struggle as Felix Unger trapped inside Oscar Madison’s body. When I shared that with a room full of other ADDers I was startled by the chorus of agreement. Sucks, because Felix is screaming inside.
Sorry, but why can’t you tidy up afterward as I suggested? ADD doesn’t prevent you from accomplishing a task, does it?
What am I missing here?
Actually, he is much better about that than he used to be. He doesn’t enjoy the spittle-flecked apoplexies any more than I do, so he genuinely does try, which makes it much easier to maintain patience with the lapses. (My brother, otoh, always seemed to enjoy a good spittle-flecked apoplexy. It gave him ammo in his argument about how bitchy Mom and I were and how everyone mistreated him.)
This is me. I don’t know what’s going on between my ears, but it’s ridiculous how much I forget stuff, and how things go invisible. Not only do I forget to put things away, I forget that I even HAVE things. I lose things, start looking for them, and forget mid-search what I was looking for.
As I’ve said here before, I just can’t WAIT to get older and have even more memory problems.
Bolding mine. That is EXACTLY what ADD does. It keeps you from finishing anything.
If there were a way to contract ADD, I would probably commit suicide within the week. I hate unfinished things.
Everything, but I don’t say that as a judgment. It’s hard to understand, especially if you don’t have it or live with someone who does.
Accountability is so critical. I wish I could manufacture some and I’ve tried. Can’t really be done.
A succinct summary of what this thread is about!
yeppers.
Fantastic description of ADD I read somewhere: it makes you want to keep slaying dragons while someone else cleans up, does the paperwork, and orders more dragons.
I’m a very recent convert to the Organized and Tidy. In my case it was PTSD which got in the way. (Terrified of making the wrong decision on putting things away, don’t ask how it got that way.)
It was only until I had two kids and started running my own business that I hit the point where it was completely unmanageable to not be organized.
Now I have a hook on the wall right by the door for the keys. A set place for my wallet, reading glasses, change from my pockets, etc. Bringing two crying toddlers home, it’s amazing how much easier it is to have one place for the items, exactly where I want to unload them.
We have to take clothes, diapers and training pants, towels and bibs each day. Things used to be in random places, so I got a bunch of containers and each child’s stuff goes in 4 containers with one in common for a total of 9. I built a set of shelves which fits right under the kitchen cabinet with three containers per shelve. It also makes putting things away automatic. Shirts go in this container, pants in another. What used to take ten minutes or more hunting down things is done within two minutes. Each day. That’s saving almost an hour per week, which if you have toddlers, it’s gold.
I organized my work bag, with a bag for computer accessories, take folders for receipts, paper stuff which I need to take someplace else, and label each folder (to home, to customer, etc.)
I’m now working on the spare room which will become my home office.
More work upfront, but so worth it.
One of the reasons that my desk is a mess is that I’m afraid that I’ll forget the things I’m dealing with if I don’t keep them where I can see them.
So far, it hasn’t worked that way for me. I’m not that old, but so far the older I get, the less I zone out completely and the more I’m likely to remember.
I have ADD. I am unmedicated. I am very organized and tidy. To give you an example of how organized and tidy I am, when I’m home alone, my house is always ready for guests. When my husband’s home, I can get it ready for guests in about fifteen minutes.
I was not always this way. Here’s what helped:
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Everything has its place. When I don’t have a place for everything, I lose stuff due to my ADD. I’ll start doing a task in one room, carry it to another room, start on a different task, forget about the first task, etc. When I want to return to the first task, I have no idea where my materials are. Training yourself to put things in one place cuts down on the amount of time you spend searching for things. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a room to do a task, got distracted, then forgot what I came into the room for. My keys always go in a bowl on a table in the entry way. If they aren’t in that bowl, then I’ll spend forever searching for them. As soon as I walk in the door, I dump my keys in that bowl, place my purse on a hook, take off my shoes, hang up my outer wear, and put scarves/gloves in their respective places. I’m not allowed to leave the entry way until all that is done. I can pause to text, I can chat with my husband further in the apartment, but I can’t leave the entry way until I’ve put all of those things in their places. The first few times you set out to do this you’ll forget. Keep at it. It’ll become routine. You’ll put the keys in the bowl without thinking.
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Have multiples of things you use in many places. I cut the top off aluminum cans using one of those no jagged edges can openers, then decorate the cans. I use them for storing things in every room in my house. In them, I have scissors, pens, pencils, highlighters, etc. When I kept all the scissors in the kitchen, I’d forever lose them because I’d carry them off, then forget to put them back. Now I always know exactly where the scissors are. If they aren’t in their container, then they are somewhere in that room.
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When storing things, group them and try to use rooms for specific purposes. I have no pens in my bedroom because I never use pens in my bedroom. It’s just for sleeping, dressing, showering, etc. Although I work from home, I don’t do work in there. The aluminum cans in my room contain makeup brushes and other items that I do use in my bedroom. By keeping the papers and office equipment out of that room, it keeps it cleaner. Everything has its own section. My outdoor supplies are all in the same closet. My winter outer clothes are all in the same place - either in the hall closet, or in storage under my bed. I don’t have a junk drawer, but I do have places where I group odd objects of the same time. For example, we have a basket where we put cables, a basket where we keep odd electronics (ipods, usb drives, etc), etc.
When I acquire something new, I group it with like objects. I don’t purchase things I can’t store, which brings me to my next piece of advice,
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Reduce, reduce, reduce. Frequent moves (some between countries) required me to get rid of a lot of my stuff. Once I began acquiring items again, I’ve become a lot more picky about what I keep. Go through your home and mark everything with a tag. When you use it, take off the tag. If you don’t use it within a year, put it in a box in storage with the date. If you don’t pull it out of the box within a year, get rid of it. It may be useful, but if you don’t use it, it’s just taking up space. I file papers and keep paper copies of everything, but I also scan items and store them digitally. If I haven’t glanced at those papers in a year and they aren’t something important, they get shredded and recycled. If I don’t use that pan, I give it away. If I have another object that works just as well or better, I get rid of the extra. I have a few items that violate this rule due to the memories they hold or other reasons, but I limit those items. If they can’t all fit in a typical moving box, I get rid of some until they do. If you have less to clean, it’s easier to clean.
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Make things visible. Don’t keep things in boxes unless they are rarely used and you’ll use everything in the boxes together. For example, I have containers of camping supplies we use when we go camping overnight. I also have camping supplies that I use more regularly that are easy to access. If supplies are hard to get to or put away, it’s easy to make a mess with them. I bought a ton of shelf and drawer organizers so I can open my cabinets/drawers and see exactly what’s in them. I love the clear over-the-door shoe organizers. You can use them for nearly everything. One goes in the camping/house supplies closet and contains flashlights, rope, cords, drypacs, power bars, etc. Another is in the bedroom closet and contains extra toothpaste, razors, clothes pins, etc. One in the kitchen pantry contains the garlic press, lemon juicer, etc. Keeping my items visible reminds me what I have and helps me notice when things aren’t put away correctly.
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Tidy regularly. Every night, I wipe down the surfaces in the kitchen and clean the floor. All clothes are carried into the bedroom and dealt with. Sometimes I cheat and put dishes in the microwave instead of washing them, but I always clean the counters and take the clothes to the bedroom. If you have a routine, you’ll start doing this without thinking about it. Sometimes I get distracted and forget, and a dish stays out overnight. Happens once in a blue moon now, especially since I do two walk throughs.
Every once in a while, wander through your house and put things away. I found I rather enjoy tidying because I can work on 39458739 tasks at the same time. When it’s one big task, I become overwhelmed. I love to tidy when I’m stuck on something for work. I put on music, start cleaning, and work out the problems in my head.
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Clean as you go. I can’t imagine not cleaning as I cook. Maybe it’s my ADD, but I’ll sometimes start chopping an onion, stop to wash up a pot, then return to chopping an onion.
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Most important of all for us ADD folk: have something else that you do while you do the chores. I watch tv. This is the only way that I will use my treadmill. I have a show for the treadmill, a show for the kitchen, and use TED talks for general house cleaning. I’m only allowed to consume that media while I am working on a task. So, for example, I can only watch Gossip Girl when I’m walking or running on my treadmill. Law and Order keeps me occupied while I cook/clean the kitchen. I’m allowed to take minibreaks to answer email, check my texts, post to the dope (did laundry and loaded the dishwasher as I wrote this post), but each break isn’t allowed to take more than a minute. If I stop my task, I have to stop the show. Sometimes I’m so involved in the episode, I’ll start on other chores in order to keep watching. For example, if a recipe and clean up takes 1.5 L&O episodes, I’ll clean out the microwave in order to finish the second episode.
With my ADD, I can’t sit through a movie in the theaters, so I completely understand what it is like to find it difficult to complete a task. Being organized is a must for me, otherwise I can’t find anything and my life slowly slides into chaos. My youngest brother also has ADD and he hasn’t learned how to organize stuff yet. He’s constantly losing things and he’s miserable. Medicine only helps so much. With ADD, organization is not only possible but, in my opinion, a necessity.
I like tidy and I don’t like clutter. It’s a challenge right now because my place is small…especially the kitchen area. I’m constantly trying to figure out a better place for things. Eventually I will move and have more cabinet and closet space.