Some Cool Tips and Ideas

These are some other tips I’ve come across for using various physical objects to make your life easier:

·         Put trash cans in every room in the house and use them often…this will help you get out of the habit of just laying stuff down wherever you happen to be standing

·         Keep a small notebook and pen in your car and on your nightstand.  Now, when you’re lying in bed trying to sleep and you come up with some great ideas for your son’s science project, you can just roll over and write them down.  And you won’t forget about them the next day.

·         Put a small basket by the front door for your keys, wallet, ID badge, etc.  As soon as you walk in the door, just put everything there, and you’ll greatly reduce the number of frantic searches for your sunglasses

·         Put a chalkboard or dry-erase board in a common area in the house.  This way you can leave notes for roommates and/or family members, and they can leave notes for you.

·         Have a calendar in a common area in the house.  This way everyone in the house knows when Grandma & Grandpa are coming for a visit, when prom is, and when Mom’s birthday is.

·         Put a basket, hanging organizer or some other small receptacle in a prominent common area for mail.  Label it “Mail” (seriously, label everything).  Don’t just dump everything in there.  Throw away/recycle junk mail immediately, and make a recurring date on your calendar to visit the mail receptacle to deal with bills and correspondence.  File statements, pay stubs, and other correspondence once you’re done.

·         Go buy four Rubbermaid containers large enough to fit a legal pad in.  Give them labels like “Receipts & Pay Stubs”, “Tax & Bank Info”, “Pictures”, “Military Records”…and use them as such.  Make a point to visit these bins once a month specifically to clean them out.  Unless absolutely necessary for business (and in the case of pictures), you shouldn’t need more than one bin to keep your stuff together.  If your bins are overflowing, it’s time to throw stuff away.

·         Buy a cheap kitchen timer or familiarize yourself with your smartphone’s timer function.  Don’t rely on a stopwatch unless it has an alarm.  If you have a tendency to lose track of the outside world once you get started on a project, set a timer before you tackle your task.  I use my timer for the laundry…I’m forever leaving laundry in the washer for an hour after it’s done.  You can also use your timer to help keep you on task during a project if you have trouble staying motivated to finish.  Set your timer for 30 minutes, work on your task, then take a break (setting your timer again) for 10 minutes and repeat.

·         Keep a stress ball or small piece of soft fabric in your pocket at work, school or any other situation that might cause stress.  We have a tendency to self-destruct when we get stressed, and sometimes having a small tactile distraction can help keep us grounded.

·         For ADHD students, buy a 1-subject notebook and folder for each separate class, and label them.  If you can color-coordinate them, even better.

·         Also for students, buy a basket or Rubbermaid bin for each class in which you can store your textbooks, assignments, notes, etc. instead of leaving them all over the floor or jammed in your backpack

Some ideas I’ve seen specifically for ADHD kiddos:

·         Use a weekly tracking chart for chores.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, but make sure the kids get involved.  Let kids check off their chores as they complete them…even better, let them use fun stickers or pushpins to track their progress through the week

·         Get Rubbermaid bins or baskets for EVERYTHING in their room. Label each bin and encourage them to place their items (school supplies, shoes, video games, etc) in the appropriate places

·         Keep a small “OMG, I forgot it” kit in the car.  Put some basic school supplies, a pair of shoes, an extra pair of eyeglasses, a jacket, etc. in the kit.  Basically, anything that your child regularly leaves the house without.

·         Make a weekly homework chart and place it in a public area.  At the beginning of each week, sit down with your child and write all his/her homework assignments on a board or chart and hang it up in the kitchen or another common area.  That way everyone can keep tabs and there are no “surprises”…plus it keeps your child actively involved in the accountability process.  

·         Make a “For Tomorrow” bin, drawer or basket.  Put it right by your child’s door.  Put tomorrow’s clothing, shoes, homework, glasses, gym bag, etc. inside.

·         Get a bin or basket for each extracurricular activity.  Make sure you have a separate place for each activity.  Soccer cleats, shinguards, goalie gloves, ball and uniform go in ONE BIN.  (Bins and baskets will save your sanity…seriously)