In episode 62 of the ADHD Big Brother podcast, we explored the similarities of our outer and inner worlds. Have you ever considered that your physical environment might be directly related to your inner environment?
Here are the examples I gave from the podcast. This is my very real example of setting a timer for 15 minutes with the clear task of cleaning my bedroom.
Five years ago I might have looked at this and thought what a horrific slob I am and good god how hopeless and disorganized. I would have felt tense every time I entered the room.
But now I understand that this is clearly the outer reflection of an ADHD mind. And using ADHD tools I can carve an easy 15 minutes and see how far I can get in putting it back together again.
I set the timer for 15 minutes.
I set the specific task of cleaning my bedroom.
I stopped when the timer ended.
Here is the "after":
Is this the sparkly vision of perfection? No. I could find more to do. My brain will always find more to do. But this is so much more refreshing than the previous pictures. There is no anger, no anxiety, no self-loathing in this room.
Now I want to spend time in this room. I want to meditate on that cool cushion setup. I want to go to sleep in that bed. There is a lot of personal power in experiencing these ADHD tools.
Need help with these tools?
If you want to learn the tools that go into a well-managed ADHD life, then check this out
I put together a series of videos in an online course format that are short, manageable, and they take on those ADHD hurdles that we face every day. Answers to:
- What if I am overwhelmed with too many choices?
- What if I don't know what I should work on?
- What if everything has equal weight and I can't decide what to do?
- What if it's too hard to get started?
- What if it feels like it will take forever and I can't motivate myself?
- What if there's nothing in it for me?
- What if I can't meet my standard of perfection?
- What if I'm too scared to finish my project?
- What if I don't know what it means to be "done"?
What if I'm too burned out to finish my projects? - What if I keep forgetting what I'm doing?