this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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ADHD
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The biggest thing that helped me: do the chore when you see it. Stop everything and do it now. Not "later" cuz later never comes. Now, because now is all you have
But then the task you stop becomes something that you forget about
uuuh ya :p
When my wife asks me to grab her something, she always says, "You don't have to do it right now."
Yes I do, or it's never getting done
Ok, so what do you do when you notice chores while in the middle of other chores?
Just do one thing at a time. You're not cleaning a room, you're putting this one object where it belongs.
Many tiny tasks are less daunting than one large task, and our brains like completing many small tasks.
You are describing how to overcome aversion to large or complex tasks, which is great if you can stay focused long enough to implement it.
The last D in ADHD is the part where it is a disorder and cannot be solved by approaching the same thing with a different view. The hyperfocus and inattention makes breaking things into smaller parts even harder to complete a large task because there are even more opportunities for distraction.
Well ADHD isn't one thing to everyone who has it. It's a whole set of symptoms and everyone who has it has each of those things to a variable degree. For some people with ADHD doing tasks right away can be helpful. Other people need lists, other people need a reminder system. Coping mechanisms don't work universally. What's important is that you experiment and try them out until you find something that helps
Edit: and to answer your original question. I let myself get distracted. The dishes will just be half done the next time I see them. And oh look I already did the countertops too, great
I'm not sure where you got the idea that approaching things from a different viewpoint isn't an effective coping mechanism for ADHD, but you're mistaken.
Different ways of approaching things can be effective coping mechanisms, but the specific one for breaking chores up into smaller chores is not about completing multiple different chores. It does nothing to address getting sidetracked and never completing the main chore you started on because you did a bunch of non-essential things that you noticed.
Example of someone who just does whatever chore is in front of them when they notice it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
https://piped.video/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
It does address it because it approaches chores in a different way. Instead of a few BIG chores, you now have many small ones that can be done mostly at any time. That way you can go and do multiple different chores and it doesn't matter if you bounce around from room to room as long as forward progress is being made.
As an added bonus, you get a little bit of a dopamine hit when you complete the tasks.
Did you watch the video?
You should watch the video.
Well I move on to that chore, and and cycle continues until it's end of day, I'm sweaty, and I tell myself it was worth it, only to have to repeat it next week!
So basically this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
Yeah, that is the definition of not managing ADHD.
Ha, too close to heart
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
https://piped.video/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Yep. Like folding the laundry as soon as you take them out of the dryer is a habit that has really helped with the problem of having wrinkled laundry laying about in the hamper all week.
You eventually get into the habit of doing "micro chores" as you're just moving about the house