Decluttering with Neurodiversity

Case Study: Supporting a NEURODIVERSE Client | Helping a Client Diagnosed with ADHD to Declutter and Organise Multiple Areas of her House

The Brief: To help Judie with tidying and organising her home office, creating enough space to accommodate her home gym equipment. 

Judie describes how her home, which she needs to be her sanctuary, is actually a source of much stress for her. Many of us with busy lives struggle to keep on top of clutter and when it becomes too much, not only can it be stressful and overwhelming, but it can negatively impact how we feel about our spaces. Neurodiversity, including ADHD, can make it even harder to keep on top of things. Knowing where to start and what to do, actually getting started, staying focussed on the task at hand and keeping on track can all be very challenging.

Having to balance so many areas of life means that there isn’t too much time and headspace left for decluttering and organising. Judie has inherited a lot of her relatives’ belongings over the years and has some of her own belongings which she hasn’t sorted through since moving to her current home 17 years ago. Judie’s project includes working through her own things to determine what to keep and what to get rid off, as well as sorting through her late husband’s belongings. Some of the decisions Judie is having to make involve emotional attachment and letting go.

I have helped Judie to declutter and organise multiple areas in her home and garage. This session saw us working on her home office. Upon getting started Judie explained how she wanted to use the room. She told me that she wanted to create an area where she could have some home gym equipment. The room is currently home to a large freestanding piano keyboard which Judie is planning to sell. Judie also explained that she had recently misplaced 2 important items which she needed to find; a legal document and a christening gift. Finding both was time sensitive and misplacing them was a cause of stress. Judie believed them to be in the room and so it was important that we found them during the session, if at all possible. Misplacing items is not uncommon for people living with ADHD. Happily we found them at the start of the session - a perk of having a fresh pair of eagle eyes on hand! Judie was very relieved and could then relax into the session.

We started by allocating sacks for charity, rubbish and recycling. When decluttering, starting by eliminating what is obviously rubbish or recycling can be helpful so you can get a clearer picture of what is left and what needs to be discussed/decided upon. For instance, old empty delivery boxes and product packaging, old newspapers and magazines are a good place to start along with any obviously broken, irreparable items. It is then a good idea to try and clear floor space next as this makes it easier to access the rest of the room. We set to working through various storage boxes, deciding what to keep, what to recycle and what to give to charity. Once we had cleared the floor, we were able to start work on Judie's bookshelves. Judie explained that she wanted to send quite a few of her books to charity. Judie decided on which books she wanted to donate, I filled the box and tidied the books that were left on the shelves. (If you are decluttering books, be careful not to overfill the box or bag, it is surprising how heavy boxes or bags of books can be. Keep trying to lift the container as you're putting the books in to make sure you don't overload it.)

During the session we decluttered the area around her keyboard, dusted it down and collected all the information on it so that Judie can create a listing to sell it.

I naturally work quite quickly, but I will always adjust my pace to suit my client; something which is especially important when decluttering with a neurodiverse client. Judie and I achieved a lot in the 6 hour session which included 2 breaks, taken when Judie needed them. Judie has booked in for her next session, the brief for which is to get her paperwork and filing in order.

Judie's verdict: "Having ADHD can make starting and completing tasks tricky. Starting is daunting, finishing is tough when the boredom strikes or other tasks take my attention away from the one at hand.

Working with Hannah has been fantastic. We have achieved so much over a few sessions, far more than I would have expected. And at the end of each session I have had a clear action plan to work through e.g. what to list for sale, what to take to the tip or to what donate to charity.

Decluttering or basic tidying and organising sounds simple to most people, but for me having a ‘buddy’ to help me through the process is invaluable.

I was known at work for always being hyper organised but at home I just couldn’t keep on top of things. Now with Hannah I know I can get to where I want to be. And this will have a huge impact on my life."

Whether you are neurodiverse or neurotypical, if would like help with your own project, please do get in touch.

Hannah offers in-person Decluttering, Home Organisation, Styling & Virtual Declutter Coaching.