adhd hacks

Marie Kondo, in her heyday, taught us that there was one simple question we should ask ourselves when deciding whether we wanted to get rid of something in our home.

"Does this spark joy?"

The KonMarie method, as it was called, became really popular a few years ago for its simplicity — but it didn't work for everyone. Some people found it too vague, too subjective, or that it only confused them more.

TikToker Becka (@adhdorganized) recently went viral for urging us to ask a, um, different question while decluttering.

In a short video shared on TikTok and Instagram, Becka explains the "ADHD poop rule," that changed her life.

"I know that this sounds super gross, and this has nothing to do with the bathroom," she begins, speaking to the camera from the front seat of her car.

"The poop rule is if you are getting rid of items from your house, and you're purging and trying to organize or spring clean... you pick up an item and you think:

'Is this important enough that I would wash poop off of it?'

Much more black and white than the 'spark joy' technique, the poop rule can apply to both useful and sentimental items.

If something's not important enough to you that you'd clean feces off of it, it's probably something you can safely throw away without regret.

That old bottle of lotion at the back of your sink cabinet you've been saving for six years in case you need it? Probably not worth washing poop off of!

It's amazing how a little visceral disgust can clarify things.

The gross but effective advice was a huge hit with the ADHD community.

Becka, who shares her own journey of trying to organize her life while living with ADHD, found the video quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

Commenters mostly agreed that the rule was a game-changer.

"This will work better for me than sparking joy, too much sparks joy in my brain" one person wrote.

Others chimed in and said they had tried the poop rule with success themselves, or slight variations of it.

"I was doing this today and then my cat actually barfed on stuff I was probably keeping and suddenly I no longer cared about them lol," another user said.

Clutter and disorganization can be a big problem for people living with ADHD — not to mention everyone else.

People with ADHD can experience a lot of anxiety over the clutter in their homes and lives.

Getting overwhelmed by the growing mess is a big challenge for these folks, who may struggle with procrastination, avoidance, or difficulty focusing on completing a task like organizing or cleaning up.

Mindset tricks like the poop rule can help tremendously. In her video, Becka also briefly mentions that she has lots of techniques for motivating or tricking herself into staying organized — having a friend come over (or pretend to come over) to establish a hard deadline for cleaning up, for example.

But it's not only people with ADHD that struggle with clutter and organization.

The problem of too much stuff and the mental load that comes with it is something almost everyone can relate to.

It's nice to have another tool in our toolbox to help us with the agonizing decisions we sometimes face when trying to clean out our homes, cars, or workspaces.

More decluttering and organization hacks by and for people with ADHD

Avoid over-shopping - It's a lot easier to keep your life relatively tidy if you can reign in those impulse purchases you're bound to regret later.

Try a label maker - Itemize and clearly mark what's hidden away in your drawers and storage containers. Knowing what you have and being able to easily access it will help with unnecessary buying and also help clarify what you don't need!

Break down big, overwhelming tasks into smaller and more manageable pieces - Even Marie Kondo herself has changed her approach in recent years after becoming a mother. Anyone who's feeling overwhelmed by a gargantuan cleaning or organizing task should start small, even with just one drawer.

And whether you have ADHD or not, don't underestimate doing a little mental gymnastics to motivate yourself! Whether it's inviting company over, finding a one-minute quick win organization task, or even imagining a fleck of poop on all the stuff in your home — any small mental boost you can get can make a huge difference!