ADHD Tips for Adults: 3 Tips for ADHD and Planning

Getting organised is something that people with ADHD commonly struggle with. This may be getting started with the housework, planning your day, or remembering to bring your wallet when you leave the house. This can have a knock-on effect on your productivity, stress levels and more. Here we look at three planning and ADHD tips that you can try out today.

Tips for Planning and ADHD

Firstly, getting yourself organised is important as it can reduce stress and improve time efficiency. This may be something that people with ADHD find more difficult because breaking tasks down and structuring them is harder. A key technique for planning and ADHD that you can adopt to make this more manageable is through using planners. Planners are perfect for visualising and processing tasks for the day ahead, so you do not miss or forget anything that you might have done without this step of organisation. Many people like to use digital planners, such as on their phone or work computer, or you may prefer a written diary. Use whatever is easiest and works best for you.

In order to use a planner efficiently, it is recommended that you take 5-10 minutes to sit down and think about what you need to achieve that day, and write it down. An additional tip for this is to break things down into small tasks instead of larger, overwhelming tasks. This may be writing ‘read 5 pages’ instead of ‘read a book’.

Within these tasks, it is always worth assessing them and finding more urgent tasks to prioritise and making a note of which ones should be completed first (for example if something has a deadline, it is important that it is prioritised). You might try giving each task a number rating for how urgent or important it is, 0-5, with 5 being the most and 0 being the least.

These can all make planning and ADHD easier, as it takes the task out of your head and onto the page or screen.

Organizing the week with a visual planner, complete with sticky notes and neatly written schedule entries.

Cleaning tips for ADHD

Getting started with cleaning as someone with ADHD can also be very difficult. This may include cleaning your house, car, desk, or more. Similarly to before, a simple way to make these unenjoyable and daunting tasks more manageable is to break them down into small steps. Instead of thinking of the task as ‘cleaning the kitchen’, it may be helpful to tell yourself to first just ‘wipe the work surface’.

Furthermore, you can also break down the tasks in terms of time. For example, you can set a goal of cleaning for 5 minutes, and then take a break, then continue for another 5 minutes. This makes the overall task of cleaning the kitchen seem more enjoyable and do-able. However, if you still don’t feel motivated to get started after breaking the task down, you can reward yourself after you have completed each task, whether that is after completing a small step or working for a period of time (wiping the work surface, or cleaning for 5 minutes). This use of positive reinforcement can help encourage you to get going with the task, as you have something to look forward to upon its completion.

Alternatively, whilst completing these tasks you could also be listening to music or your favourite TV show in the background. This will make cleaning feel less boring, and instead increase levels of dopamine being released in your brain, therefore making the task that little bit more interesting.

Cleaning essentials ready for action: rubber gloves, a spray bottle, and scrubber on a pristine tiled surface.

Productivity tips for ADHD

Actually getting started can be the hardest step to take when completing a task, so here is a couple of things you can do to make that start off feel easier.

Arranging your visual field is something that has potential to have a substantial impact on your productivity and getting started with a task. First off, it is important to have everything you need to complete your task in front of you, where you can see it. If you are writing a piece of written work for example, have the paper and pen in front of you. This will eliminate the additional window to procrastinate through having to find your tools, and allow you to get straight to it when you decide to start. Similarly, you need to have an agenda where you can see it, to allow you to stay on track and to give you an idea of the tasks you will be completing.

On the other hand, you should remove anything from your field of vision that could hinder your focus, distract you, or that just aren’t related or needed for the task you will complete. This may include your phone, so that you are not tempted to check it when you need to complete your task. When it is not in sight it will hopefully mean you can fully immerse yourself in what you are doing and forget about your phone completely, which will boost your productivity.

See the video below for more tips for organisation.

We gathered some of our tips from Mary Solanto's guidance for how to manage ADHD. Please watch this video for more information.

We hope these tips help in your journey with mastering planning and ADHD.

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