ADHD House Hacks That Are Executive Function Friendly (feat. Caroline Maguire's home!)

Skylight Calendar can give you peace of mind and time to enjoy the things you love by organizing your busy household! Go to skylightcal.com/HOWTOADHD and use my code HOWTOADHD for 10% off! Thanks, Skylight for sponsoring today’s video!

When she said “This is my accommodation “ about the precut fruit, something clicked in my brain. YES. You wouldn’t flippantly tell a person who needs a wheelchair that crutches are cheaper because the accommodation they need to be successful IS THE WHEELCHAIR. With a disability that is not obvious, the accommodations may not be obvious but they are just as essential!

"I don't rely on my memory, because my memory is not going to succeed." She's so real for that

This is a great example of how ADHD affects women differently. She has ADHD, but has to provide executive function for others as well as herself. She doesn't mention her husband helping to set up and maintain systems, so I can't speak to his participation. The pressure on mothers with ADHD is insane.

I’d love a series that was sort of like this, but with a tight/no budget, and about small spaces. Things like “I live in a one-room apartment, I’ve got a mini fridge with 1 freezer shelf, here’s how to make the most of what I’ve got”. I don’t have any money or ability to get a big house with lots of rooms, I live in a small one room apartment and the most expensive things I own is my laptop and my bed frame, both of which were birthday gifts.

Tip for those looking to stay hydrated but are trying to avoid the plastic waste, keep a stash of resuable watter bottles in the fridge filled. I wash mine after every use in the dishwasher and it is now part of the unloading the dishwasher routine to fill them back up. When I am on the go the task of grabbing a bottle out of the cabinet is too much of a barrier and it just doesn't happen. But when the water bottle is already chilled waiting in the fridge it does!

I really relate to the fruit trays. I finally gave in and started buying pre-made salads because those are the ones I'll eat. If I buy ingredients for salad, they don't get eaten. :( The salad I'll eat is better than the salad I won't.

What I kept thinking while watching (and a few others have point out) is that it is great that she has such a great setup (honestly amazing ideas), but I would love to see these ideas implemented within a MUCH, MUCH smaller area (maybe a single bedroom, especially on a budget) or/and how to navigate that in a shared space that is not with ADHD-friendly persons (this is a big one). It is hard to imagine it for myself and how to adjust these great ideas into compact ways. Regardless, my big takeaways are labelling things, finding a mini relaxation/massage tool, and really trying to figure out how to integrate a mini launchpad! Thanks for the great video!!!

Clutterbug and Minimalist Home are two excellent YouTube channels about organizing your home run by people with ADHD.

One of my friends used to use an apothecary chest for her son’s dresser. I asked her, “What’s the point of that, you can only fit one shirt per drawer.”, to which she replied, “Nope! Each drawer holds one entire outfit; shirt, pants, underwear, and socks.”, and it was legit the smartest thing I’ve ever heard.

I raised my kids before I knew I had ADHD and totally did so many of these systems, just, intuitively. A HUGE point of performance thing that the mom mentioned is not having to be called upon for everything. It's SO hard to remember and do just for yourself that the double benefit of helping the kids be self-sufficient is a lifesaver

I would love an ADHD house hacks video that's in a small space and on a budget, because there's no way most of us can afford all those Alexas, or even automated payments (living paycheck to paycheck makes automatic payments impossible).

This video is a great example of how the perspective of a childless person with ADHD is very different from a parent with ADHD. I really appreciate it. It is such a struggle to take care of the needs of others when you can barely take care of your own.

I’m a big fan of automation. Automating my bills and going paperless probably raised my credit score 200 points. My gadget hating mom thought I had a new girlfriend Alexa once too.

Kid hack/adhd hack that I've found makes a huge difference. When I do laundry I put full outfits on hangers so the kids don't need to figure out what to piece together and everything is in one place instead of separate drawers, which kids tend to throw clothes everywhere when they piece together an outfit. This saves my sanity because clutter is so triggering.

Loved this. One thing I would like to say about helping kids with Executive Dysfunction by creating systems for them to not forget, do stuff on their own etc, is to actually explain the systems so when they are ready to move out, they just replicate the system in their own place. My depression started when I moved out and I didn't know how to "adult" where all I needed was to build the systems my parents had made for me growing up. ❤

I'd love to see a budget version of this. Not everyone can afford pre cut fruit, massage chairs, and Alexas all over the house. I can't even afford cheap bins to put all my crap into right now. I'd love to see how an ADHD mom sets things up when money is tight.

"Otherwise I don't cut them up, and they die" that gave me such a laugh. That was so nice of Caroline to share her home with us! On having things automated, I'm a big fan of auto-ship pet supplies. Without Chewy my life would be much, much more hectic. And without the auto-pay bill feature, I'd never pay a bill on time.

My family has found a wonderful hack for fruits that don't need to be cut (berries, grapes, etc.) We open up the package as soon as we get home and soak the fruit in a solution of vinegar and water for about 15 minutes. Then we rinse them and put them in a container lined with a cloth or paper towel. The fruit can then be pulled out and eaten any time without needing to rinse. It stays fresh for weeks, though it never lasts that long because it's so easy to eat!

The nice thing about smart home devices is, even though the automation can be a little wordy, you can set up routines that simplify the wording. For example. My wife and I have an routine where we just say "Alexa, goodnight" and she turns off the bedroom light, says goodnight back, and starts playing fan sounds as white noise to help us sleep.