I design digital planners, and I kept noticing that most cleaning systems assume you have the same energy every day. So I built one that starts with a check-in: Fading, Steady or Focused.

• Fading: each room has a tiny version (make the bed only, wipe the sink only, one pile only).
• Steady: the full list for the room.
• Focused: a deeper reset for the days you have momentum.

It also has one-room-at-a-time pages, a 30-night tracker where five minutes counts, and a list of rewards you choose yourself.

I’m not claiming it fixes anything. I’d like to know what actually helps you, and what makes cleaning systems fall apart. Too many steps? Guilt after a missed day? Not knowing where to start? Your answers will shape the next version.

So one thing those of us with ADHD often suffer from is difficulty in task initiation. We often find ourselves repeating unhelpful behaviours and habits and the loop is demoralizing and it saps energy. One of the common tips and tricks is to break tasks down, to determine the first step, to just start by taking 1 action no matter how small.

Is this advice good? 100%. Is it easy? Surprisingly not.

Here is a tip to help others, I've just gone through a bit of a difficult spell and I've found myself needing to 'get back to basics' in managing my ADHD.

So here's the tip, here's the trick and here's the little nugget that might help you 'start'.

Your first tiny step forward shouldn't be the first step in the task you need to do, rather, make your first tiny step:

# #Don't get distracted.

Sounds a lot like 'Just do it' or 'Focus' or 'Push through' but I swear it's not. I would just highly recommend you try to make your first step when you're struggling to get started is to recognize how important it is to take away your alternatives / bad habits. Sure, you could break down doing your taxes into something like: Login to the CRA website, or smaller still: Gather your tax form(s). However, you're more likely in a situation where while breaking down your to do list or your task you end up getting distracted but the exact same thing you're constantly distracted by. There's some habit or some alternative you routinely go to when procrastinating. So make NOT doing that thing your first step instead.

Step 1 of doing your taxes: Sit in silence instead of checking TikTok. 'Just don't do the habit that you're naturally leaning towards' - you don't have to start your taxes (yet) but you should work on not getting derailed from coming up with step 2.

A little wordy and chaotic but I am currently using this opportunity to fend off one of my own common distractions as of late. This post only takes so much time and then it's over and I can get back to my real task but I had to stop myself from doing the *wrong* thing so that I could find a better alternative to get back on track.

Wish you all well,

💛 ¿Y si las rutinas dejaran de ser una lucha diaria en casa?
Hola a todos 😊
Soy mamá y estoy empezando a crear EMPATÍA Family, una aplicación pensada para ayudar a niños neurodivergentes y a sus familias a vivir las rutinas del día a día con más tranquilidad y autonomía.
La idea nace de algo que muchas familias conocemos: las dificultades para empezar las tareas, vestirse, prepararse para salir, recoger, prepararse para dormir… y, a veces, el desgaste que supone tener que repetir las cosas una y otra vez.
No quiero crear otra aplicación llena de relojes, prisas o premios por hacerlo todo bien. Me gustaría crear una herramienta visual, sencilla y adaptada a cada niño, que le ayude a comprender qué tiene que hacer sin sentirse constantemente presionado y que también facilite el día a día de sus padres.
Pero antes de avanzar, hay algo que considero fundamental: escuchar a las familias que viven esta realidad.
Me gustaría preguntaros:
👨‍👩‍👧 A los padres:
¿Qué momento del día os resulta más difícil: la mañana, las tardes, los deberes, el baño o la hora de dormir?
¿Qué es lo que más os agota de las rutinas diarias?
¿Qué habéis probado y no os ha funcionado?
Si existiera una herramienta que realmente os ayudara, ¿qué os gustaría que hiciera?
🧩 Y pensando en nuestros hijos:
¿Qué les ayuda a entender lo que tienen que hacer?
¿Les funcionan mejor las imágenes, los pictogramas, las fotografías reales o las instrucciones sencillas?
¿Qué les frustra o les hace rechazar una rutina?
¿Qué necesitarían para sentirse más autónomos y orgullosos de sus propios logros?
No busco respuestas perfectas ni soluciones mágicas. Me interesa conocer las experiencias reales, también las pequeñas dificultades que a veces cuesta explicar.
Quiero que esta aplicación se construya escuchando a las familias, no suponiendo lo que necesitan. 💛
Si os apetece compartir vuestra experiencia, os leo con muchísimo interés. Y si preferís contármela por privado, también será bien recibida.
¡Gracias por dedicarme un ratito! ❤️

Any tips for practicing meditation? TIA.

Hi guys.

First of all: Sorry if my grammar or anything is bad or confusing. I’m not a native speaker.

I have ADD (besides borderline and depression, so I can’t tell if it’s only an adhd thing for me) and wanted to share some of my tips I discovered that actually work for me (if I‘m in a good mood that day tbf xD)

Tip No.1: To-Do-List-Trick

If you write a To-Do List, mark the most annoying tasks as green.

Effect: Gives me the feeling that the task is a positive thing and it catches my eye first.

__

Tip No.2: Stop-procrastinating-Trick

If you are always procrastinating and catch yourself still sitting there at for example 2:15pm, even though you told yourself to start at 2pm, twist it around.

Don’t tell yourself you will start at 2pm, instead: Tell yourself you are NOT ALLOWED to start before 2pm and that you have to sit around now and do nothing or that you HAVE TO do keep doing the thing that’s distracting you.

Effect: Being fully aware about procrastinating and sitting around, instead of reassuring myself with the thought that I will start soon, makes me nervous and realize how timewasting it is.
Also: I don’t have patience at all, when it comes to waiting for tasks, trains, etc., if I’m not allowed to start something, I want to start it immediately. And just like that, I start the task even before I actually wanted to do it.
__

Tip No.3: Never being too late again-Trick

If you struggle with being late, always set the time in your calendar 30 minutes early (or to the time you are usually late).

If it’s a procrastinating issue, I use the tip above.
If it’s an organization issue, I try to prepare everything the day before.

Ask myself where I usually fail, for example that my phone isn’t charged, or I can’t find my keys.

For my phone, I set an alarm an hour before I gotta leave the house to remind me to charge it.

For the key: I actively forced myself to put the key in the door and lock it, so I HAVE to open the door and have the key in my hand before I leave the house.
__

Tip No.4: Vyvanse/Elvanse - Using the benefits of your Medication properly-Trick

If you catch yourself wasting your peak on something unnecessary, like hyper focussing on useless things (me for example: Cleaning corners noone will ever notice, sorting out old socks or deeptalking with friends, instead of checking mails, calling important people, doing paperwork, etc.) - Set a timer 15 Minutes before the peak usually starts and start doing the thing you actually want to do.

Let me know if y’all have some more tips and tricks! :)

Hey everyone,

I’m currently in my final semester and supposed to be writing my bachelor's thesis. Just recently, my psychiatrist prescribed me Pregabalin (for social anxiety) and Ritalin. Honestly, being on methylphenidate makes me feel like a "normal" human being for the first time. I can finally just experience the present moment without constantly getting lost in my own head.

Looking back, studying for high school and university was an absolute nightmare. Because it was such a struggle, I started abusing substances illegally about two semesters ago to cope. It started with borrowing methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine from friends, moved to using cocaine while studying and right before exams, and eventually led to me making DIY Adderall by washing street speed.

While my grades actually improved, I ended up sliding into a serious drug addiction involving benzos and opioids. I got completely sick of that lifestyle and finally went to see a psychiatrist, mostly thanks to the pressure and support from my parents and friends.

Has anyone here gone through a similar experience? Also, do you have any tips or coping strategies on how to handle writing a major academic paper or thesis when you have ADHD?

i just think all the tools that are supposed to make it easier to organize my thoughts, like chatgpt or claude projects or notebooklm still do a really bad job of actually helping me stay mentally organized

is there something more proactive? that like takes the pressure off me to keep my brain organized? idk im a big believer in AI but so far nothing seems to target ppl with adhd well