Tips for Cleaning Your House With ADHD

If you have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), things are just harder. I’ve realized that task initiation, task completion, and keeping organized are not my strong suits.

Part of that is why we still have a messy house. It’s just cluttered and creating a cleaning routine seems almost impossible.

It IS possible to have a clean home when you have ADHD, but we may have to work differently. This post explains how to clean your house, different ways to do it, and encouragement to start AND keep up with it!

Understanding the ADHD Brain

Listen, our brains just work differently than others. What some people find really easy, we have a hard time doing. This includes things like initiating tasks, managing time, and staying focused.

We also get overwhelmed really easily. Simple cleaning tasks can get us in a tizzy because it’s not just “clean this”. There are lots of micro-steps and it’s hard for us to remember all of that. And we spend too much time overthinking it.

Through all of that, though, we can overcome the struggles and make cleaning work for us!

How to clean your house when you have ADHD

Break it down into manageable chunks

You don’t have to clean the whole house in one go. Pick one room or small area at a time and just focus on that. This really makes cleaning more achievable.

For example, our office is a mess. We have a bin full of LEGO that I’m trying to sell on eBay, random cross stitch creations thrown on a chair, school supplies sitting in bags on the floor… I feel like every time I walk in, I want to do a 180 and just walk away.

But I can break those down into smaller steps:

• List 5 bags of LEGO on eBay every day
• Find a home for cross stitch materials
• Donate/throw out art supplies
• Find a cabinet/drawer for important papers

Clean the office? Forget about it. But picking up just my cross stitch items? That’s more manageable for my brain!

Create a cleaning schedule

I’m not perfect at this, but this has been a game changer for me. I’ll assign specific tasks to different days of the week.

For example, here’s what my exact cleaning schedule looks like with daily chores:

• Monday: Laundry
• Tuesday: Wash sheets
• Wednesday: Vacuum
• Thursday: Sweep and mop, laundry, clean bathrooms

It’s still a work in progress as I discover what days I have the most energy and time. But just knowing what specific day you’ll tackle those household chores can keep you consistent, which means you’ll maintain a clean space.

To help with this, you can use visual cues. Maybe it’s a chore chart you hang up on the wall. Or maybe you use an app for a to-do list like I do, like ToDoist. It lets me create recurring tasks; so every Monday it will tell me I need to do laundry. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without it.

Use bins and a “drop zone”

We inevitably end up with a lot of clutter around the house. My daughter will take some toys out of her room and leave them on the living room floor. I’ll do my cross stitch in the living room but forget to put it back in the office.

Designate a specific area where family members can place items that need to be put away. Maybe it’s a bin or laundry basket. It’s a great way to help prevent clutter throughout the house. And at the end of the day, those items go back to their homes.

Use timers and time management techniques

I never realized the power of using timers until just recently.

Recently, I needed to cut up a butternut squash to use for dinner. And if you’ve ever cut one up, you know how huge they are and the amount of time it takes. I just didn’t want to do it.

That morning, I also had to make oat muffins. Those went in the oven for 20 minutes, and I thought to myself: “I bet I can cut up that squash in 20 minutes”. It turned into a game. And all it took was a timer to get me motivated.

And I use this a lot in my work, too. The Pomodoro Technique is when you work for a set period, then take a short break. For example, I’ll work for 25 minutes and then stop for 5 minutes, then repeat the cycle.

Using time limits and time management techniques can help prevent burnout and keep you on track!

Use a reward system

Friends, I am not above bribing myself with a treat. There have been plenty of times when I didn’t want to do something; and all I had to tell myself was “You can have some coffee after you do this”.

And maybe you can reward yourself DURING the cleaning. It could be listening to your favorite podcast or audiobook, or blaring some dubstep to create the dopamine. Ask me how I know this.

Sample cleaning tasks by room

Below are some sample cleaning tasks organized by room. This is obviously not a complete list, but maybe it’ll help!

Living room

• Vacuum floors
• Vacuum couches
• Pick up items from floor
• Dust tables and shelves

Bedroom

• Put clean clothes in closet/drawers
• Put dirty clothes in hamper
• Vacuum floors
• Make bed

Bathroom

• Wipe down bathroom sink
• Clean toilet
• Scrub shower/bathtub
• Mop floors
• Clean mirrors

Kitchen/ Dining room

• Empty kitchen sinks
• Scrub kitchen sinks
• Remove clutter from dining room table
• Put away unused kitchen appliances
• Wipe down countertops
• Load dishwasher
• Empty dishwasher

Final thoughts

You don’t have to do deep cleaning every day. Do the most important things that keep your life running and save the rest for later.

Keeping a clean house is hard work! Give yourself some grace because the ADHD struggle is real. Use the tips above to help organize your routine and stick with it!