Something I’ve been working on a lot lately is making my home more user friendly, mainly for me. My purses and bags and jackets used to always end up on the floor in our entryway, literally leaning against the door to the hall closet where they belonged. And chores don’t get done because the list we have (which is great) is in the kitchen where only two or three of the chores we do often are at. Garbage and dishes end up on our counter just inside the kitchen because it’s a hassle opening the baby gate and walking into the kitchen, opening the cabinet door under the sink, opening the lid to the garbage can, and throwing trash away. The reason?
Executive Dysfunction.
“Executive dysfunction, which is also called executive function deficit or disorder, is when the brain has a hard time with the skills of attention, memory, flexible thinking, and organization/time management.” (Definition found on verywellmind.com).
This is very common in those with ADHD, Autism, and even Depression, and other learning disorders.
For me, it mainly affects my ability to get stuff done, like cooking, cleaning, organizing and keeping things organized, and doing things that need done like exercising, drinking water, eating, sleeping, making important phone calls or sending important emails, etc.
So, my goal is to make my home work for my brain rather than against it. I’ve been working on organizing things I use often in clear containers or containers with labels so I know what I have because I very much suffer from “out of sight, out of mind.”
For my bags and purses, when they did get put away, they ended up on the floor of the closet, so my husband and I put hooks in the closet on the wall, so I could hang my bags and purses up in there. My bags and purses still end up on the floor in the entryway, especially when I’m carrying my 7.5 month old in from the car or a walk, but eventually they end up on their hooks and it is working well for me and makes things 10x easier.
For my chores and self-care and exercises, etc. I am in the process of making charts for different rooms of the house. I’ll put them up in areas where I’ll see them often in the rooms I do them. For example, the bathroom chart will have things like: brush teeth, floss, take a bath, shower, sweep and mop, wash bathtub/shower, clean counter, clean toilet. The chart will be in a clear sheet protector meant to be use with dry erase markers and will have a dry erase marker attached so that when we do chores or other stuff we can mark them off so we know it has been done. The charts will be weekly so they’ll just be erased and started over again on Sundays. I’ll share photos when I make them and get them set up around the house.
I’m just starting, but as I do more small projects like these that help me to with making things more accessible for me, I will share them here!
What else would you like to see me write about, or share here? I’d love to know your thoughts! And how do you make your home accessible for you and your family members?
The Neurodivergent Homemaker 