Latest / More Organised Less Clutter / 240. One-Drawer Organising Method for Neurodivergent Families
Transcript
- Narelle King: Welcome to More Organized, Less Clutter, a podcast to empower individuals and neurodivergent families with practical, realistic tools to create a more organized, sensory-friendly, clutter-free, and intentional home that works with your lifestyle and brain, not against it. I'm Narelle King, a professional organizer and neurodivergent mom who understands the unique challenges of family life. I help people just like you simplify your space build sustainable organisational systems and create more breathing room physically and mentally. Every fortnight, you'll hear solo episodes and guest conversations filled with practical strategies on decluttering, home organisation, routines for neurodivergent families, mindful living and how to build a home that feels safe, calm and functional. You'll walk away with actionable takeaways you can implement even if you only have 10 minutes to spare. If you've ever looked at a Pinterest perfect pantry and felt a wave of shame instead of inspiration, this more organized less clutter episode is for you. I'll be sharing the one draw method, which is a great strategy for neurodivergent folk who struggle with getting started. Getting organized, Kate, doesn't require you to dedicate more time. It starts with just one draw and 15 minutes. Thanks for joining me for today's solo episode. I'm going to be diving into the one draw method. This isn't about deep cleaning your whole house in the weekend. It's about re-cleaning your home just one small step at a time. For neurodivergent folk like myself, especially those with ADHD, the biggest barrier to organizing isn't laziness, which some people will try to tell us. It's actually executive functioning. And when neurodivergent folk look at a messy room, their brains might see 500 individual tasks. And that is like a sensory overload and they'll may feel really overwhelmed and just frozen, not knowing exactly where to start. Because obviously there's 500 tasks. How do you start with those 500 tasks? And we end up doing anything. but what we need to. So maybe we're even cleaning windows or brushing our teeth or scrolling on our phone. Anything that might be more enticing than actually doing that task or those 500 tasks. So the one draw method is the answer to the all or nothing mindset. So like I said, having 500 tasks is a lot if you're looking at a full room. Whereas if we break it down, to just one drawer, we're then thinking about a lot less tasks than maybe 500. So when you finish that one drawer, your brain gets a dopamine hit that done feeling is really motivating. So by narrowing your focus to a drawer, you're actually also reducing that cognitive load and you aren't cleaning the kitchen, you're just say sorting the cutlery drawer or maybe the utensil drawer. which actually is a lot easier and breaks down those tasks or the amount of tasks. So the dopamine is like a currency for neurodivergent brains. And that's because we don't naturally produce as much dopamine as other people do. And if you earn a little bit by finishing a draw, you might even just have enough in the bank to tackle maybe another draw the next day. But even if you don't, you still have now one functional draw and that's a huge win. Now there is a problem with drawers, I find, and that is because it is out of sight, out of mind. So object permanence is a thing when neurodivergent folk can't see the items, they really struggle with where it is. If you can't see it, it doesn't exist. So this is why drawers often become junk drawers and you can just shove things in and then it's nice and clear on top and you've cleared that visual clutter. but then you just forget about it and you can't find something like say a stapler or a ruler and or blue tack even. And then you have to go and buy duplicates because you can't remember whether you still have it or where you even put it. And this is going to create clutter in our homes. Now, obviously our solution is we can't just throw out all the drawers and not use drawers. So some solutions that are going to help. is creating clear boundaries. So using drawer dividers and it's not about making them pretty, but it's about the logic. So if you have say a little box there, that's where all the pens live. Or for myself, I've got a little round container and that's where all the rubber bands go. When you get them off your vegetables, there's a spot for them to go so they can be reused. So this means that my rubber bands and my pens now can't migrate together. to have their own specific home in the drawer. Our go-to drawer, which is what I call rather than a junk drawer. It's that positive word rather than a negative connotation towards that drawer. The next thing would be a visual cue. So if you struggle with forgetting what's inside, it's maybe labeling the outside or even the edge of the drawer. And if you go back a couple of episodes, I actually talked about how you work out where something should live in your home. And so that will help you to decide what the best place is for it to be and whether that's even the most appropriate draw to be used for that item. The other one is making sure that there is only one layer of items. So when you do this, you try to organize your draw so that there's nothing stacked on top. You do not need to move it. There's only the one step of placing the item in. If you have to dig. your whole working memory is not going to remember where it is and it's going to really struggle. So I'm going to share two methods which are going to help you get started with doing the one draw method. So the first one is body doubling. And I have talked about body doubling in previous episodes. But just to clarify, it's when you are having someone else in the room while you're working, you don't need to be necessarily working on the same thing. It's just having that presence of someone there. I know for myself, If I'm in the kitchen and I'm cooking and other people are in the lounge, I'm more likely to stay there and continue cooking. It might even be for kids in particular, instead of saying clean the room, it's too big a task. But if you're going to be there with them and maybe sitting on the floor and helping them sort one drawer, that is definitely more manageable and you're doing it together. The other one is it's like parallel play. So if you've ever worked with. kids, you would have heard of kids, especially that are younger, how they play beside each other. And they may be not interacting with each other, but they're actually still in the same spot and playing next to each other. So you don't even have to talk to each other for body doubling to work. You can put on a podcast, maybe you could like this one maybe, or you could put on music and just the presence of each other helps your brain to stay on task. Sometimes with some of my clients, I might be sorting, say something in their kitchen and their pantry, and they are doing those really difficult admin tasks that they haven't done. And once I've got all the items out, then they'll come and work on the pantry. But it is a great way to get some things done and they use this body doubling technique with myself. So by focusing on just one draw, you're also lowering that threat level for kids who may be feeling overwhelmed by jobs and it's a then a team effort and not a two hour task that they have to do. Now the other strategy to help you get started is the 15 minute rule. So first of all, let's talk about the mental load. As the organizer of a family, you're maybe exhausted, you're managing all the admin, you just don't even have time for even doing a draw potentially. This is why the 15 minute rule will help you. By setting a timer. You're going to be able to stop once that time is finished. And if you are neurodivergent like myself, you will probably struggle with time blindness. And this is when we think that a task will take two hours. So we don't even start. In my case, I find that I think I can get three tasks done in 20 minutes and I think I can get a lot more done. And if I set the timer, I realize actually I'm probably only going to get one thing done. And so I tend to be late. on the weekends due to my time blindness. So by having that timer, it's a hard stop. So when the timer goes off, you stop. Even if the draw isn't perfect or maybe completely finished, you're practicing the habit of starting, which is usually the hardest part. So we're not trying to add to your to-do list. It's about replacing a 15 minute scroll on social media with a 15 minute win for your future self. So even just changing your mindset around the job and the task of doing a draw is going to help you move forward. And the other point to remember is that we're shifting from perfection to functionality. Your home is a space for living. It's not a museum and it's all about getting started. And as we said before, it's about making this win for your future self. When you're trying to go through a draw, looking for the sticky tape, you're going to find that really easy. Or a pair of scissors, which I find is the one thing that goes missing a lot. So if you're looking through the drawer and it looks a little messy, but you're able to find that sticky tape in three seconds or the scissors, that means that that system works for you. And if you organize a drawer and it gets messy again in say three days or a week, guess what? It's not a system then that's going to work for you and you're going to need to make a change. You haven't failed. It just might mean that you need to change some part of it. Maybe it's not that drawer that that item needs to be in. Maybe it needs to move to a different location. Maybe it needs to be in a cupboard and something else needs to be in the drawer. Neurodivergent folk are told a lot that they're too much or not enough. So let's try and get your home to be the one place where good enough. is actually the goal. So I have a challenge for you this week. Pick one drawer, just one. Maybe that's the one with the charging cables or maybe it's the one with the tea towels. One that's not too overwhelming and spend 15 minutes on it and feel that dopamine hit. And remember, you're building a life that is simply functional for you, not a life that fits everyone else's definition of tidy. I hope by sharing this one drawer method for busy neurodivergent families, you can let go of all or nothing mindset and get started. Remember, more organised doesn't have to be dedicated to more time. It starts with 15 minutes and one draw. Thanks for listening to more organised, less clutter. Sick of wasting time looking for your keys, wallet, or that one charger that always disappears? Your space needs visual anchors. Grab the ADHD-friendly organisation checklist, a 10-minute setup, a weekly reset, and troubleshooting map to adapt your space. Create an environment that works with your brain so that you can stop losing or forgetting things and start living on time with your sanity. Head to simplyhappy.com.au and click on the Resource tab to get instant access today. I'd like to acknowledge the Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation on which this podcast is recorded as the traditional custodians of the land. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.