How To Set Up An ADHD-Friendly Organization System

“How do I get organized?” As an ADHD coach, I get that question a lot. And the truth is, whether we’re talking about paperwork or shoes, there’s no magic one-size-fits-all ADHD organization system that works for everyone.

woman working at desk

My ideal solution won’t necessarily work for you and vice versa. 

But before you jump into researching ALL THE THINGS to find the “best” organizational system out there…

Pause.

Because if you’re anything like me, your brain will want to implement a beautiful, overly complicated system that looks good but doesn’t meet your needs. 

Rather than doing that, I encourage you to consider three key questions to help you identify the best system for your brain and your season of life. 

And these questions are at the heart of episode 217 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast. 

We first explore each question and how to use them to narrow your focus and clarify your needs.

Then, explore how to use your answers to find a system that works for you. 

You can listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcasting app here.   

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript. 

In Episode #217: How To Set Up An ADHD Organization System, You’ll Discover…

  • 3 questions to ask yourself before you start researching
  • How to use the answers to those questions to help you narrow down your search
  • 5 ADHD-friendly tips to help you choose and implement your organizational system

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Episode # 217: How To Set Up An ADHD Organization System (Transcript)

how to set up an organization system when you have ADHD

Today, we’re doing a deep dive into the concept of setting up an ADHD-friendly organizational system

Now, I’m using the term organizational system broadly here today, because my goal is that the strategies and tips I share can help you get more organized in any area that’s front and center for you. 

Whether you’re trying to tame the chaos near your front door that happens when everyone comes home, or you want to get a better handle on client deadlines for your business, I hope you’ll find some takeaways in this episode to help. 

Are you ready? Let’s dive in! 

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start Looking for Systems

Here’s the deal. When trying to get organized, it’s incredibly tempting to go down the rabbit hole of Pinterest or Google in search of the perfect organizational system!

I know I’ve certainly been there. And while doing this kind of research can be helpful at times. However, I’ve also found that doing this kind of deep dive can also work against us – especially when we don’t know what we need before beginning that search.

Let me know if you’ve been in a situation like this…

You find what appears to be THE organizational system with all the fancy bells and whistles. After reading about how wonderfully this system worked for someone else, you convince yourself that it’s what you need to solve all your problems. 

So, you go all in, overwhelm yourself trying to get everything set up perfectly, and completely overcomplicate the process.

Then finally, when you’re exhausted and frustrated, you step back and look more closely. You realize that you poured all that effort into something that wasn’t a good fit.

Because it didn’t solve your specific problem. It was designed for someone else.

Feeling discouraged, we try to muster the energy to start again from scratch.

You’ve been here before, right? It’s NOT FUN. 

To avoid this kind of situation and keep from wasting our energy and executive functions on something that we don’t need or doesn’t work for our brains, we want to… hit pause and do some reflection BEFORE we start researching. 

During this pause, we can check in with ourselves and ask three important questions.

1) What Problem Are You Trying to Solve? 

woman working

What exactly do you want to organize with this new system? What is the specific problem you’re trying to solve? 

Do you want to: 

  • Keep shoes on the rack so you don’t have to waste time looking for matching pairs
  • Find a way to deal with all the paperwork that’s coming in now that school’s back in session
  • Develop a better way of tracking incoming bills to avoid late charges 
  • Streamline your professional collaboration process so you aren’t wasting so much time waiting on emails

What is the problem you’re trying to solve?

Now with all the examples I just gave, you’ll notice that while they’re all different, the commonality is that they’re all laser-focused.

I didn’t say, “I want to organize my life.” Instead, I picked one specific problem that would make a difference. 

As we know, as ADHD brains, it’s easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking. We might tell ourselves that we have to get everything organized NOW or it’s not worth it. We have to have a perfect system for EVERYTHING or it’s a waste of time. 

But this just isn’t true. And I encourage us to start seeing those shades of gray a bit more.

When we can zoom in on one thing and get specific, we’re much more likely to successfully implement our new organizational system, ACTUALLY USE IT, and see results in that area. 

And once it’s working well, that’s when we can pick something else and repeat the process. 

These small wins do add up, I promise! 

2) What Would a Good Solution Look Like?

Once you have a specific problem identified, it’s time to think about possible solutions. In your mind, what would a good solution look like? 

What would this area look like if it were already organized? 

I encourage you to let your imagination run, and jot down any solutions that come to mind. Don’t discount any of them yet, you’re in brainstorming mode. 

For example, if you’re looking for a way to address the paperwork overload, some possible solutions could include: 

  • Installing a set of cubbies so everyone can deposit their papers into a designated area
  • Setting up a color-coded filing system for papers and manuals that need to be held onto for long-term storage
  • Putting a portable scanner where paperwork tends to gather so you can immediately scan the document and digitize it
  • Creating a weekly paper sifting session where the family gathers and reviews their paperwork for the week and discards any of their documents that have stacked up
  • Making a point to immediately toss any unnecessary paperwork, such as junk mail, notifications for an event you’re not attending, or outdated documents.

These are just a few possible ways to deal with paperwork to give you an example of what I mean and also to get your ideas flowing. And because you know your family and lifestyle best, you’ll likely have even better ideas for what’ll work best for you. 

The key is brainstorming possible solutions so that you can think about each one before further research and implementation. 

3) What Generally Works Well For You? 

As I’ve said before, no two ADHD brains are the same. What works for one person with ADHD may not work for another. 

To help you pinpoint solutions that’ll work well for you, it’s helpful to consider what’s generally worked for you in the past. You might consider your learning style, lifestyle, and your general preferences. 

To show you what I mean, let’s walk through this process together: 

Your Learning Style

How do you learn best? What is the best way for you to take in and process information?

Are you an auditory learner who prefers to listen to things like podcasts or audio tutorials? And auditory reminders and timers are particularly supportive for you.

Maybe you’re a visual learner who enjoys reading directions and seeing before and after pictures and images of the system you’re setting up. And visual cues and color coded things help your brain.

Perhaps you’re a kinesthetic learner who likes to physically interact with objects and move them around as you learn. 

As you think about your organizational style and approach, keep your learning style in mind. That way, you’re more likely to connect with the final product. 

Your Lifestyle

You want your system to work for you in your real life.

For example, if you travel often for work, you might need a portable solution for your paperwork that you can take anywhere. Something that stays on your desk might be handy, but it won’t solve the problem when you’re on the road. 

You’ll also want to consider your family, if applicable. You want your solution to work for everyone. 

If you have several kids at home and you’re trying to keep your shoes organized, they might not appreciate digging through everyone’s shoes in a large basket each time they need a pair. It might make more sense to use individual cubbies. 

It’s also important to consider your everyday reality. Think about that busy Tuesday evening when you finally walk in the door, and you have nothing left in the tank. Your executive functions did not show up to work, and by the end of the day, your brain feels like mush.

You want to set up your systems with a level of ease that’s built for THOSE days – not your best days. 

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Your Preferences

Are you a pen-and-paper kind of person or a digital one? 

If you prefer pen and paper, a digital solution, no matter how shiny, probably won’t be a long-term solution. 

And that’s okay! 

Don’t try to focus yourself to use the systems that just don’t feel supportive for you. 

Honestly, if you try to implement a system that doesn’t jive with your preferences, you’ll likely fight yourself every time you use it. It’ll be hard to follow through if your new system doesn’t feel like a good fit. 

Remember – the best system is one that works for you

Think about…

  • Organizational systems you’ve used successfully in the past
  • Also consider those systems that didn’t work

You can learn from both as you search for an organizational system for this problem. 

Finding an Organizational System That’ll Work for You

paper planner

By answering those three questions, we have a solid framework in mind now that’ll save us time and energy when we’re researching organizational ideas. 

You know what you’re looking for. In fact, you can use those as search keywords to help you find possible solutions. When you have super specific criteria, it makes the search that much easier. 

Just think about the difference between what you’d find with a search like…

“organize kids’ stuff” to “simple way to organize kids’ shoes” 

“Organize papers” vs. “Going digital with paperwork, an organizational system that allows you to collaborate”

Being specific can help you cut through the clutter and find exactly what you need. 

So again, as you set up your organizational system, the most important thing to do first is ask and answer these three questions:

  1. What is the problem I’m trying to solve?
  2. What might a good solution look like?
  3. What has worked for me in the past? And what made it successful?

From there, you can either search for a solution with a much more narrowed search OR begin designing your solution using the criteria you uncovered.

5 ADHD-Friendly Tips for Choosing Your Organizational System

Of course, not all organizational systems are an awesome fit for those of us with ADHD brains because they’re incredibly demanding on our executive functions.

With that in mind, I want to share a few final tips for finding and implementing a system that’ll work for you. 

Quick note: I don’t want you to fall into all-or-nothing thinking regarding these tips – like everything, you don’t need to follow them to the T. They’re just general guidelines that might be helpful.

1. Keep It Simple

Those of us with ADHD tend to feel overwhelmed pretty quickly because we find ourselves overstimulated more easily than neurotypical brains. 

We can also get stuck in the details and have a hard time distinguishing between things that matter and things that don’t. 

So if we try to make our organizational systems too complex, we’ll likely end up feeling frustrated or defeated thinking something like, “ugh – it’s not working!” or “I can never stick with it.”

And then? 

We’ll just stop using it and revert to whatever we did before. And because that’s not the goal, it’s especially important to keep our system simple. 

It is better to have a few simple systems that you use regularly than to have a complicated system that you never use. 

When you’re either designing or researching solutions, take time to ask: Can I make this easier? 

Maybe you can’t because the solution you found is already simple. In that case, great! But if you’re looking at something and it seems a little complicated, see if you can brainstorm ways to simplify it a bit. 

It might mean that you start small. Perhaps you pick one part of the new system to implement right away. Then, once you get that up and running, you add a little bit more. 

Or maybe you’re imagining a fancy, bedazzled schedule on the wall to keep everyone in the family in the loop.

While a beautiful schedule is something we can all appreciate, your schedule doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective. 

So ask yourself, how can I make this easier? 

There’s nothing wrong with a simple printed schedule that doesn’t sparkle or shine. 

Get it done for now. You can always bring out the glitter later. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

2. Use Visual Cues

If you’re a visual learner or struggle with short-term working memory like me, visual cues can be key in helping you implement your system. 

It’s sort of like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for your brain to follow. When you see the cue, you’ll remember what needs to be done. 

For example, if you’re developing a filing system for incoming paper, perhaps you hang an inbox folder in a spot where you’ll see it every time you walk in the door. 

Then, when you or anyone else in your family sees the folder, you can all put any papers in the same place. 

If you’re using a digital calendar, try color-coding different types of tasks. So if you’re putting work tasks on your calendar, you might use green. Then, your personal tasks could be blue. And anything fun and creative that you schedule can be in orange. 

By color coding it, you can tell at a glance what type of activity you’re doing next. And you can keep from overscheduling yourself with the same type of task. 

In addition to color coding, you could also leave other visual cues like: 

  • Picture symbols or emojis
  • Written directions
  • A simple checklist
  • A physical object (like the inbox on the wall or your most common workflows laminated on your desk. 
  • Photographs of an object
  • Sticky notes

These things can help us stay on track and remember what needs to be done.

3. Automate as Much as Possible

Automating tasks can be a lifesaver for everyone – and especially those of us with ADHD and ADHD tendencies. 

When we automate, we minimize the need for short-term memory recall. And we free up time to focus on other things. 

So what types of things can we automate? 

  • Paying bills: By using automatic bill pay through online banking, we can know that our bills will get paid on time. 
  • Email management: Most email platforms (like Google or Outlook) have rules we can implement to sort emails into different folders or tabs automatically. This will minimize the number of messages in our inboxes. 
  • Social media: Use native scheduling services built into the platform or a third-party scheduler like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule professional social media posts in advance. Then we won’t have to remember to log on daily to post. 

We can also use different tools to automate tasks, such as Zapier, IFTTT, and Automate.io. 

If you look into these services, you’ll find plenty of examples of how others used them to reduce their cognitive load. 

4. Allow for Flexibility

We have big dreams whenever we implement a new system. But sometimes, things don’t work out as we planned. 

After trying the system for a couple of weeks, we may need to make some changes. 

That’s okay. It doesn’t mean things went wrong. 

Tweaking things is part of making things work for you. It’s that process of iteration we often talk about. 

Go ahead and make adjustments as needed. And there’s no need for guilt or shame to come along for the ride. Adjustments are part of the process. 

Remember, what works for you today may not work for you in the future. We’re all constantly evolving and navigate different seasons of life.

You might: 

  • Enter a new relationship
  • Start a different job
  • Have to drive your kids to more after-school activities
  • Try taking a ceramics class at night

Whatever life throws your way, practicing flexibility with your organizational systems can help you get through it. 

5. Be Patient with Yourself

Developing and maintaining systems isn’t an overnight process. Getting more organized takes time.

So give yourself grace and space to make mistakes. 

Each time something doesn’t go quite as planned, try to find that opportunity to learn within it. You can evaluate the process to see what worked and what didn’t. And then, you can go from there. 

But be careful not to only focus on the parts that went wrong. Focus on your wins too, and celebrate them. Look to them for guidance as you select a new system to try. 

And remember – a perfect system doesn’t exist, so don’t get trapped by its lure. Instead, be patient and remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

You really can baby step your way to better organization. 

Key Takeaways

Once you start looking for a new organizational system, I invite you to remember these key takeaways. 

  • Check-in with yourself BEFORE you start searching for organizational solutions.
  • Ask yourself three questions:
    • What problem do I need to solve?
    • What does my ideal solution look like? 
    • What’s worked for me in the past? 
  • Try not to get caught up in all the shiny options. Instead, focus on simple, practical solutions.
  • Use visual cues to help you remember to use the system once it’s in place
  • Be flexible and patient with yourself. After all, you’re a human, not a robot. 

Alright, my friends, that’s going to do it for us this week.

If you’re ready to take these concepts deeper and apply them to your life. If you’re ready to learn how to support your ADHD in a way that works for YOU, then I invite you to check out my small group coaching program, We’re Busy Being Awesome. And if it sounds like a great fit for you, you can add your name to the waitlist so you’re the first to know when the next cohort begins. 


Join Our Group Coaching Program – We’re Busy Being Awesome!

Add your name to the waitlist!

A four-month small, supportive group coaching program for ADHDers and people with ADHD tendencies. 

To learn more check out We’re Busy Being Awesome. Are you ready?


Also, have you grabbed the podcast roadmap yet? It has the most popular episodes all detailed for you so you can get yourself up to speed and ready to work with your ADHD brain, you can grab it HERE!

Until next time, keep being awesome. I’ll talk with you soon.

If you’re looking for more personalized support as you get things organized, remember I offer 1:1 and small group coaching. I’d love to help you design a system that works for your brain. 

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