Organizing Solutions for People With Attention Deficit Disorder: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized Kindle Edition

I have physical disabilities and really had to put in a lot of effort to read past the opening few chapters where she talks about "everyone goes to the store once a week at least". The author suggests purging any and all bulk excess, from toiletries, pantry, to pots and pans and dishes to the point where it forces clean habits. Um. This will *not* work for the disabled, especially those in rural areas. So, take all of that with a grain of salt, and accept that things will not be perfect if you've got illness on top of ADHD. BUT there are some great ideas in here that can save on time and frustration. The key things I've gotten from this book: 1. If you don't see it, it doesn't exist in your mind and you probably won't use it 2. Keep everything that you reasonably can in the room in which you use it 3. Great suggestions in the book for storage solutions, in particular in the closet, bedroom, and craft areas 4. If you have physical disabilities, cut excess, but IMO don't cut so much that you'll be left high and dry without necessities or clean household items when you lack the energy to clean what you have. I wish there were self-help books that acknowledge disability in some way, but I really don't see them. Don't get discouraged if you're disabled, and take the purge advice with a realistic point of view.

I'm not a big book reviewer, but this was one that I needed to comment on...Theory is nice, but I'm tired of wasting my time reading literally dozens of books over the past 15 months that explain why I'm like I am (I have ADHD) but that don't provide practical, actionable things that I can do to get around my ADHD roadblocks.This one of the two books that I keep referring back to (the other is Your Life Can Be Better, using strategies for ADD/ADHD by Douglas Puryear--just one tip in Puryear's book has saved me about 100 hours this year). And, as I said, Pinsky's is the ONLY useful book I've read about how to handle paperwork & office organization, which is the bane of my existence. For a year I went with an intermediate version of her "filing" strategy and put my paperwork in monthly folders. I was just afraid that I'd lose something, as I always had in the past. I've since gone with the basket strategy, and it's working just fine. Try it--come over to the Dark Side...you'll never go back to (not) filing/stacking your papers everywhere because you are loathe to file them, again!No, the author doesn't have ADHD, but she totally gets us. I've implemented many of her suggestions, and I keep referring back to the book and implementing more. It's almost too much to digest at once. (Puryear's book is like that, too.)Yes, she tells us to toss a lot of crap, but when you think about it, we really need to anyhow. Purging really helps with clutter, distractions & the stress caused by all of our "stuff."She has some of the most useful tips for those of us suffering from ADD/ADHD that I've read. I can't say enough good things about this book.

I've now bought this book twice - one physical copy and one kindle copy - and I frequently refer to both. It has become THAT indispensable.Pinsky begins the book by demonstrating her understanding of ADHDers' difficulties using traditional organizational methods. And the book has a conversational, easy-to-read tone of voice and uses strategically-placed boldfacing & yellow post-it note style callouts to make the main points stand out. The book shows right away that it was created with ADHD in mind.The book primarily focuses on an organizational philosophy of easy implementation & easy upkeep. The content may mostly be specific solutions, but the solutions aren't the POINT of the book. They're just demonstrative examples, and many of them are good ideas that I hadn't thought of, or had written off as ugly or just too guilt-inducing.Not only does Pinsky prioritize efficiency, but she basically defines efficiency as "what works for you already" rather than "the most efficient system as long as you do it correctly" the way some books do. Most of the organizational solutions she presents are intended to blend in with the way we already move naturally through our day (the book gets 4 stars instead of 5 because of a few small lapses of judgment where she seems to forget this), while most books and systems demand the creation of new habits. This book isn't about beautifying your home or rearranging your life. It's about maximizing the USABILITY of your home by making everything easy to find and - most vitally - easy to put away. Because rearranging your house and upending your life & schedule is just not sustainable, as many of us with ADHD know.She does include some seemingly-counterintuitive tips - like reducing your number of tupperware containers to JUST enough for each member of the family - in order to force some new habits (this, for instance, would keep you from neglecting leftovers & force you to do dishes more often). She understands that will power won't make these habits happen, we have to make it easier to stumble into these habits than to do anything else.It's true, however, that not every solution in the book will work for everyone. Certainly not every solution presented worked for me (I could NEVER get rid of my CDs) but for me it did such a good job of explaining its philosophy of efficiency that I was able to reframe the general overarching lessons into the context of my life, my stuff, and my priorities. If you read this with the idea of "I won't necessarily take the SOLUTIONS literally, but I'll use them as a way to understand the PHILOSOPHY," then that's how you'll get the most out of it.My mother has teased my inability to put lids back on containers for pretty much my entire life, and this book suggests open-top, lowered-front bins so I can literally just toss things into them from across the room. Once you come across a solution like that, one that speaks to you personally, you know you've found YOUR organization book. And even with its imperfections, for me, nothing has come close to the usefulness of this one.

I love this practical advice. As an adult with ADHD I have shelves of how-to organizational books. The last one I read, Spark Joy, made me laugh hysterically. 3-pages on how to fold socks and underwear complete with illustrations, ha! This book is my style. Buy all the same socks and throw them in a drawer. Why fold dish towels? Getting them in a clean bin is good enough. Store things so they can be put away in one motion (no stacking). Each room should be able to be picked up in 3-minutes. I love it!

This book makes a few assumptions about what kind of person you are. It's clearly aimed at the middle-class, because there are several occasions when the author suggests throwing out your current possessions and replacing them with newer, simplified versions - a good idea maybe, but not possible unless you have disposable income. She also makes assumptions about the size of your home, which I imagine is geared towards American (middle-class) readers who tend to have larger houses and separate dining rooms, for example.There are also a few sexist assumptions (for example, suggesting that women might need more space to store their clothing than men) and it also appears to be aimed at slightly older audiences, as she presents problems I've rarely heard people under the age of 40 have, such as too many CDs.Sometimes the author's tone can be a little patronising, too.HOWEVER. Setting all of that aside, this is a good book. The first section is dedicated to discussing how ADHD can affect your approach to chores and managing the house, which I found enlightening. The second section is divided into rooms of the house and specific problems are presented (e.g. "my dirty dishes always pile up") with solutions. These solutions are concrete, with example photographs, so you can immediately implement the ideas that suit you. You can also skip past the parts that don't apply to you.I have already made a few changes to my house following the guidance of this book. I don't feel that every idea is relevant to me, and I think £6 was a bit much to pay for the e-book version, but I still got a fair bit from my purchase.

I just found out i have adhd, before that everyone just told me i was a horrible lazy bastard but now i know im not.This book explains the whys to your behaviour and then the great simple solutions. Simple easy to read and straight the point . Excellent book

A really useful book that has helped me organise my flat and keep it organised.. Mostly! Chapters come with a tl;dr and the writing is simple and uncomplicated. I would really recommend this and I think it could also help people who are neurotypical and bad at tidying.

Expecting anyone with ADHD to finish a book is quite amusing but I like the ideas.I haven’t implemented any of them though, maybe I will one day ;)

A book about tidying methods for those with ADD/ADHD. The most useful take-away is that facilitating storage is more important than facilitating retrieval. Book has been given away already so that I don't have to store it.