Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD, 2nd Edition-Revised and Updated: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized

by Susan C. Pinsky

Radical Tips for Simplifying Laundry ▪ Don’t wash an item until it is obviously stained or odiferous. ▪ Limit the number of clothes you own. Dresser drawers must not be overstuffed, even at the end of laundry day, or you will never bother to put your laundry away. ▪ Reduce your clothing inventory to just enough to get by for the week. Think of it as the college model; aim for a single load a week that stays on your radar because you are out of clean clothes and on your last pair of underwear (compared to an overwhelming eight loads per week—never done—with piles of dirty and unfolded clean clothes littering the house). ▪ Eliminate ironing and specialty care clothes. Embrace the permanent press cycle. ▪ Eliminate sorting by color and temperature; warm wash and medium dry is fine for most everything. Avoid fading simply by washing less (wait until it’s dirty, not just worn!). ▪ Avoid mixing the clothing of various family members. It is inefficient for clean clothes to go to someone else’s room waiting for a time when the laundress can do a mammoth and overwhelming “family sort.” No mixing means family members can do their own laundry if they (or you) so choose. ▪ Fold things roughly (slap-dash!), and never fold briefs, panties, bras, undershirts, PJs, or socks—a jumble of panties in a drawer with nothing else mixed in is organized enough. ▪ Eliminate sock matching and rolling (see page 86). ▪ Reduce towels to one bath towel per family member, two for those with long hair. Wa...