ADHD House Hacks

40% of people with ADHD will struggle with an alcohol problem, so there's a lot of overlap in those worlds. For anyone struggling with an ADHD mind, I hope that this episode provides you with some tips to make your living environment more suited for how our brains work. Links below for some helpful tools!

ADHD house products: HERE

More resources: TheSoberScoop.com

FB support group: @The Scoop Troop

IG: @thesoberscoop

Personal IG: @indiagants

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YouTube: @thesoberscoop

Email: hello@thesoberscoop.com

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Soberscoop. My name is India Gantz. I am your host, and in today's episode, I'm gonna be giving you so many juicy ADHD house hacks because I have completely hacked my home to make sense with how my brain works. Like I have done some weird things, rearranged things, put things in places they shouldn't be, so that I can live the best life that I can. Like everything my home just makes sense in my head. And I'm going semi-viral right now on the internet for sharing these house hacks. People seem to really enjoy them, and I've done like a 10-part series so far on my different house hacks that I've done. So this is like the holy grail. This episode is gonna be all those house hacks all in one. So without further ado, let's get right into it. So I'm gonna start things strong with a good old-fashioned disclaimer. Okay. Um, I don't have a diagnosis. I have never been diagnosed with ADHD, and here's the thing: I don't know that I need to be. For my own sake, I don't know if it is necessary. It's something I'm kind of currently trying to decide on now because I'm considering medication, and obviously you need a diagnosis to get that. Um for a lot of people, getting an ADHD diagnosis kind of closes the loop. It's like, okay, everything makes sense now. Um, they just feel like seen. Everything makes sense to them, and it just feels like complete. But for me, I have just really, really resonated with the information I've consumed around ADHD, all the audiobooks I've listened to, podcasts, um, you know, videos I've watched online, I really, really resonate with them so much so that I've already enacted some of the behavioral tactics uh that they talk about in those videos and like in those books. Like, my whole thing is I don't know if I need somebody to tell me that I have ADHD because I'm already hacking my home and trying to better my life to make sense with how my brain works. I right now I still feel like doing things all natural and not being medicated. So I don't know if I need somebody to tell me exactly what's going on in my head. I feel like I am uniquely me and I am just trying to live the best life that I can as my unique self. I do all these behavioral tactics to try to better my life, and it's it's working for me. I do feel like I am growing and getting better. And so, with all that said, I use the term ADHD because I really do feel like I resonate with all the ADHD symptoms that I read about and hear about. Um, and I've learned some amazing things about how to better your life with those ADHD symptoms. And I love sharing those with you guys, and clearly people are really, really resonating with them. Several of the videos that I've made have over a million views, lots have hundreds of thousands, people are saving them. So, with or without a diagnosis, I've learned so much, and I do feel like it's really valuable information, especially for people who do have ADHD, or maybe you don't know if you have ADHD, but you're like, oh my god, these all make a lot of sense to me. Whatever the situation is, I I think that these tips that I have are really valuable. They've changed my life, so if they can do that for somebody else, I you know that's a win in my book. But I do have to come out and say that I do not have a diagnosis. So please keep that in mind. I am also unmedicated, keep that in mind. And now that all the boring stuff is out of the way, let's jump into the hacks because there are some good ones, baby. So, in the series of these videos that I've done, I started with the bathroom. So I'm gonna start with the bathroom here, too, because I feel like this is the big kahunga, right? This is where I struggle a lot. Okay, the shower situation, the brushing the teeth situation. If you've been listening for a while, you know that um those are not my strong suits. Okay, I really struggle with those. Um, but yeah, let's look at the shower. So, in my shower, first of all, I keep a water floss in the shower. It doesn't need to be sitting out of the shower with your oral care routine or whatever, it can be in the shower. And it's uh really fun to do in there because what I also have in the shower is a phone mount. So I ordered on Amazon a phone mount so that I could watch TV while I shower. And let me tell you right now, as somebody who hates showering, like hates it with a passion, so boring, so monotonous, I hate it. Having a TV in there basically has helped me so much because I tell myself, okay, you want to watch an episode of Love Island? Love Island just came out today. Um, you want to watch an episode, go watch it in the shower. You know, it's almost like that's my reward. You can watch that show if you go get in the shower. So I should have started with a TV mount or the phone mount. That's the main thing, okay? Getting the phone mount in the shower has been so helpful. I love watching TV in the shower. It helps me get in the shower. And then once I'm in there, I have the water flosser. Because I hate brushing my teeth. Um, but having the water flosser in there, it's like I'm watching my show, I'm under the water, it's like I may as well just run that thing over my teeth really quick, you know. I also keep in there the cleaning supplies for the shower. Like I have this fun little power scrubber thing. You can get it at Target. It's from the brand Casabella. And uh, I actually used to do their social media management, so that's how I became familiar with the brand. But yes, they are available at Target, and I have this scrubber that's pretty fun to use. When it comes to cleaning, I highly recommend finding cleaning products that are fun to use. Power products, something that's fun to hold, something that's fun to spray, something that's fun to mop around, you know. We gotta make things fun around here. So anyway, I keep this power scrubber thing in there so that I can, if I feel so inclined, run that power scrubber over the grout, over the the shower floor, you know, and just get it, get it clean while I'm in there. Because if I'm not already wet and in the shower, you best believe I'm not getting into the shower to clean. That is so icky and uncomfortable to me. Like to think that I'm gonna be getting my arms wet or the splashes. I just, it's I would so much rather do it in the shower when I'm already wet. And again, if you have your show on, it's like you see that thing sitting there and it's kind of like, uh, may as well, you know, I'm already in here, already enjoying my show. May as well just scrub it up real quick. Uh helps keep it clean in there. Okay. The next thing is I keep my face wash in the shower because having face wash, like washing my face be a part of my skincare routine, just never clicked with me. Skincare routine should be like serums, lotions, you know, your makeup, I almost consider part of that. But washing your face and scrubbing your face and you get your hands all wet and your hairline wet, and it just doesn't fit in. Having my face wash in my shower has made it so that I actually wash my face. You guys, I can't like I am just gonna confess that before I put my face wash in my shower, like a month ago, I hadn't washed my face in years. I know, crazy. But I face washing was not something I did. I already have dry skin, so I wasn't like super inclined to wash my face. I I don't struggle with like zits, I'm more on the struggling with dryness. But keeping a really good face wash in my shower has been really nice. Like my skin is responding well, and I feel like that's something we should do, right? As human beings, is like wash our face. Yeah. Um, I use a special face wash. I don't use my regular body stuff. Um, and having that in my shower, it's kind of again just one of those like, why not? I'm already in here, may as well just scrub it up dub the face, too. Okay, so moving outside the shower, but still in the bathroom, I have a laundry hamper that has three compartments. Oh my god. I invested in getting two of these laundry hampers actually, so each one of them has three compartments. Here's the setup. Okay, so in my bathroom, there's one laundry hamper. It has a lid. It's like, what's that material called? Rattan, rattan? No, I think that's a chair. You know, it's like woven kind of thin wood material. You know what I'm saying. Um, and then inside it has three compartments. So maybe I'll I'll link that for you guys. Check the description for all the links to these. They're all from Amazon. I do a lot of my house hack shopping on Amazon because I think of it and I can just get it right away. Okay, there's another ADHD hack. And Amazon has a great return policy, so if you do impulse buy, you can still take it back. Thank God for that. Anyway, I'll leave all the links for all the products that I mention in this video. Or in this episode, will be in the description. Okay, uh, the laundry hamper. Three compartments. One compartment is for dirty colors, one compartment is for dirty whites, one compartment is for clean clothes that you don't feel like putting away. Let me tell you why that was so important to add. Because as I'm getting changed to or undressed to get in the shower or something, I take off my clothes, and what if I'm like, oh, this top, like I only wore it for a couple hours, like I didn't sweat or anything, it's not dirty. I would just throw it on top of the hamper, on the floor, whatever, saying, oh yeah, I'll get that later. But now I have a compartment for it. And so everything that I'm taking off when I'm getting undressed has a place. No matter what I'm wearing, it can fit into one of those three categories. It's either dirty colors, dirty whites, or it's clean and I don't feel like putting it away. Or the magical fourth option is it's clean and you do feel like putting it away. A lot of times when I'm going to throw something in the clean but don't feel like putting away section, I just say, oh, I could just hang that up real quick. It's actually like motivating me to put things away, which is really cool. But this compartment, the clean but don't feel like putting away section, is actually more of like an emergency stash. Because I'm gonna be real, I still be throwing my clothes on the top of the hamper or on the floor. It happens, okay? But oh my god, a guest is coming over, and instead of freaking out and throwing a mountain of clothes in my closet and dealing with that months down the road, literally months, um I toss it into the clean, but don't feel like putting away section of the hamper. And there's like a time limit on that, right? Because that will fill up and you've got to address it. So it's been really, really helpful. And I also have a second one of those. So a second three-compartment laundry hamper in my bedroom. Those are the two places that I'm getting dressed or undressed, and everything has a place. Whether no matter where I'm changing in my home, and no matter what I'm wearing or what I just came from or what I'm changing into, everything can go into one of those three compartments. There is no reason why clothes should be on the floor. And this is the thing that I have probably struggled with the most, other than maybe like teeth brushing. I know that's gross, but I just find it really, really hard and I still need tricks for that. Um, actually, I have a trick for that, but I'll tell you guys later. So um, yeah, throwing clothes on the ground was just like I mean, it's still something that I struggle with. I'm not gonna pretend like I have it figured out because I really, really do not at all. Uh, but having this three-compartment system has been so key. I I remember thinking, how what can I do here to hack this system? Because I I struggle with it so much and my place gets so dirty so fast, and I just can't figure out the clothes situation. There's just some sort of hiccup there that I just cannot figure out. I tried so hard, but the thing I I said, how does my brain work? What why can't I go hang up that that shirt after I'm done wearing it? Well, it's because I don't want to. I want to get into the shower. That's my next task is like I'm already doing something I don't want to do by getting into the shower. You want me to like also go step into the other room to hang up the sweater that I'm wearing and fold the jeans and then walk back to the bathroom? I mean, it's just not gonna happen. So everything that I'm taking off always has a place to go now. And when I tell you this has been so helpful, I mean it. It has been next level helpful. This might be the best hack that I have to offer. So when I was trying to figure out like, how does my brain work? How can I fix this? I said this is gonna be an investment. I can't get the cheapest laundry hamper that I can find on Amazon. That's what I've done in the past. Like, I actually I went to HomeGoods, I went to what is that place called? Not Michael's, Ross. I went to Ross Dress for Less. I went to Target. I was looking for my perfect three-compartment hamper. And I said, do not buy something until it's perfect. Like I almost bought something at Home Goods that was like close enough, but it was small. It was really, really small. It's like very skinny. And I just thought, this is this just isn't gonna cut it. And they only had one of them. And I was like, I need two, and I need them to be matching. Like, that is what I just need to make this work for my space. So I scrolled on Amazon for a really long time, finding different things, and and I found the perfect one, finally. And I got it. And it wasn't the cheapest. I can't remember exactly how much they are. I can't remember I either spent like 120 in total or 120 each. I think it was in total. I think they're about 65-ish a piece, if I remember correctly. Again, the link will be in the episode description, but um it wasn't the cheapest one available, but I said I have to do this. I have to get two of them. They have to each have three compartments, and they have to have a lid. That's something I didn't mention because, you know, laundry is piling up in there, and again, when I have guests over, I want to be able to throw it in there and close the lid to conceal things and just make it look nice. It looks really nice when there's a lid on top. So that purchasing those and just taking the leap and saying, yeah, I'm gonna make a little bit of an investment right now into these hampers, it was the best decision I have made because it has been just so, so helpful. So I have one of those in the bathroom, one of those in the bedroom, and while we're on the bedroom topic, I will talk about my nightstand, my bedside table. So the bedside table, again, this is one of those things where I said, I just have to have this. And I went on Amazon and I found the perfect one again. And the the main reason or the main thing, the feature I was looking for was the plugs on top. Like, and I didn't want just some of them just have like one outlet, right? I wanted an outlet, I wanted the UC, what is that called? The lightning cable. Oh my god, it's on the tip of my tongue. UCB? USB C, that's what it's called. So I wanted the USB and the USB C and the regular outlet because knowing myself, I said I have to be able to plug my phone in here no matter what I'm working with. Now I kind of have a rule, like my cord to my cell phone does not leave that spot. That is my rule. But on occasion when I'm having an emergency and I really need to grab a cord and head out the door for a trip or working at a cafe or whatever, on occasion I grab the cord that's plugged into the bedside table. And in that case, it's like when it comes to the next night, I gotta be ready to plug it in any one of those three options, whatever cord I'm able to find. So I just, I don't even know how to explain it, but just knowing myself, I needed all three options. I didn't know what charger I was gonna put there. So I needed all three of those. So I found the nightstand that had all three options for plugs, and I also wanted it to have a drawer because in the drawer is like my nighttime routine, I guess you could call it. I have learned something about myself, is I will not take off my makeup and put on my lip moisturizer and do all these things before bed. It's just not gonna happen. When I decide at the end of the night, like it's time for me to go to bed, I go to bed. I don't then like start my nighttime routine. No, when I'm ready to go to bed, I go to bed. So the best thing has been keeping my makeup wipes in that drawer on the bedside table because I crawl into bed and I can take off my makeup. I don't have to like prepare for bed. I get into bed and in my bedside table I have the makeup wipes. Also, behind the bedside table, I have this skinny little trash can that I found at um Goodwill. I thrifted it. And I wanted it to be like skinny, the same color as my walls, because I didn't want anyone to see that. But what I used to do when I was a drinker was I would bring beers into bed with me. And continuing that in sobriety has been like soothing. I don't know, like continuing that same tradition or whatever you want to call it, habit, but with healthier things, like I usually bring a sparkling water into bed. It's made me feel like, ooh, I still get to have a fun drink in bed. It feels like bad, like, ooh, I'm having a drink in bed, you know, but now it's usually a sparkling water. If I'm feeling really bad, a soda, but I try to just have water right before bed. Um, so I have the trash can behind the bedside table so that I can just throw those cans away. And they don't end up like, oh my god, what once I had like five cans sitting on my bedside table at once, I was like, I gotta get a trash can. I didn't want to have a trash can in the bedroom. It feels like, oh, I don't know, like lazy or gross or something. But when I had the cans stacking up to five on my bedside table and like makeup wipes laying on the ground, I was like, we, you know what? It's better to have a trash can. So I got the trash bin. And yeah, the cans go in there and then also the makeup wipes. So I crawl into bed, I take off my makeup, I throw the makeup wipe in the trash can, and I haven't quite figured out a great system for this yet, but I usually recommend to people to put those single-use toothbrushes in your bedside table. They already have a little tiny dollop of toothpaste on them, and you can just brush and go to sleep. You don't need to use any water or anything like that. You don't need to get toothpaste. They're really awesome, except, and I don't want to freak you guys out, but I I semi-freaked myself out a little bit because I was like, well, if you're not spitting it out, then you're like consuming toothpaste every night, and that can't be good for you. And, you know, my good friend ChatGBT said that it's good for those things are good for emergencies, but not for like everyday use. And so then I got thinking, should I like get something that I can spit into? Oh my god. And that grossed me out. So I haven't quite figured out a great method for this, other than I I find a TikTok video that's kind of long that I'm interested in watching, and I brush my teeth during that. It's all about the reward system, right? Like if I shower, I get to watch my show. If I want to watch this long eight-minute TikTok video, then I gotta just brush my teeth. I not that brushing my teeth takes eight minutes, but you know, it's like you're invested, you're watching, um, and you're just brushing. You're like having fun while you're brushing your teeth. So the tooth, the teeth brushing is something I still struggle with. I don't really have a great trick. If you think you can make those single-use toothbrushes work in your nightstand, then I think that's a great thing to do. But like even something like keeping the water flosser in the shower, that's helpful. Because like that's pretty close to brushing your teeth, right? It might even be better than brushing your teeth. I do keep flossers in my bedside table. So if I randomly feel like flossing my teeth, like while I'm watching a show, then great, you know. Anything is good in the dental. Department, anything is a step in the right direction for me because it is a struggle. So speaking of that, I have a TV in my bedroom. And I used to be very anti-TV in the bedroom because I was like, that's not what the bedroom is for, you know? And I felt like it was again like gross. I don't know what that word is, like lazy, gross. I don't know. Like the trash can in the bedroom gives me that feeling. Um, TV in the bedroom gives me that feeling. It's almost like icky. I don't know. But now the TV in the bedroom is my favorite thing. I absolutely love it. I dated one guy who had a TV in the bedroom and it convinced me. I was like, this is amazing. And now that I live alone, I love it to death. I absolutely love it. Because, like I said, I put basically my whole nighttime routine in the bedside table. So I just crawl into bed whenever I'm ready to go to bed. I put on a show and I I get shiz done. I get it done. I take off my makeup with the makeup wipes while I'm enjoying my sparkling water. I'm watching my TV show. I put on my face lotion that I keep in the bedside table. I take out my you know Sarah V body lotion and I'm working it into the dry parts of my feet all while I'm watching my show. It's really nice. I also keep Aqui Four in there because I like compulsively pick my lips. It's again, I sound psycho, but you know, um aren't we all a little psycho? I have a really bad lip picking problem, uh habit, I guess. And if my lips are supple, it's like you're less you're less likely to pick. I usually pick at dryness, um, flakiness, that's fun to pick. But if they are dry and supple and or sorry, if they are not dry and they are supple and smooth, then I'm less likely to pick. So a part of my nighttime routine has been lathering on the aquifer on my lips, which is basically like Vaseline. A super thick layer on my lips before going to bed. And even if you did pick during the day or something, it really smooths out the lips when you wake up. I mean, it's like amazing, and it's just become an essential part of my nighttime routine. So I keep the aquifer in the nighttime or nightstand as well. Um, I also keep a roll of tissues so I don't have to like get up if I need to blow my nose or like wipe something up or anything. So I keep some toilet paper, like a roll of toilet paper in there. I also keep a notebook because I have a lot of thoughts before bed. That is usually when the mind is racing the most, and I'm thinking about, oh my God, I have all this stuff to do tomorrow. I'm so stressed. How am I gonna get it all done? The notebook is for writing a really detailed to-do list. And if you've been listening for a while, you have heard me talk about this. My to-do lists are so specific. It is wake up, change into this outfit, drink water, make coffee, take a walk, do this. I mean, that's not even as specific as I get. Like, I wish I had more specific tasks on the top of my head, but it is like step by step by step so that when I wake up, there's no confusion. It's not like what am I supposed to be doing? It's like, oh yeah, this is the next thing. I already worked out the perfect order the night before. So I wake up and I'm not like analysis, paralysis, what should I do? I look at my to-do list and it's already really laid out for me nicely. And the reason I do a journal is because, you know, we get enough cell phone time as is, and a lot of times I get distracted by my phone. So I go to my notes app to like write something down, and next thing you know, I'm scrolling TikTok for 45 minutes. I mean, it's bad. I end up staying up really late, scrolling. So if you have a notebook, then you write down your to-do list and you don't get distracted and start scrolling. So that's kind of the gist of what I keep in my bedside table. And with that, let's move on to the closet. Oh my god, I could literally make this like I could do five episodes on all these hacks, but I'm gonna share two more big ones for you, and then I'll I'll let you go. Okay. Uh, so for the closet. I I invented this myself. I don't think it currently exists. It is called the hanger table. Again, all of these ideas were born from necessity. The laundry hamper, I knew exactly what I needed because that is how my brain works. That is what my brain needed, so I found it online and I bought it. So the hanger table. Basically, what I realized is that when I have to go searching for a hanger, that is what makes me not want to hang things up. I never want to hang things up because I have to go on a literal scavenger hunt to find a hanger to do this good thing. I'm doing a good thing. I'm saying, yes, I want to put my clothes away. I I took this top off and I actually want to put it away. Wow, I can't believe I've been blessed with that motivation. But then I have to find a hanger. And I can't typically find one, so where did it end up? On the floor, of course. And so the system that I have has been working so well. It is crazy. How did I not do this sooner? So I have my hanger table. And when I was shopping around for something like this, I thought I would end up having to basically fasten a tray onto a little folding table or something, but I came across the perfect thing. It was at home goods in the outdoor section. I was literally headed out of the store and I was like, oh my god, that's my hanger table. I just saw it and I knew. Because what I mean by a tray is like it's a flat surface, of course, but there's raised edges on the side. Because what we're throwing in here are hangers. And so you know how big a hanger is, it has to be a relatively big-sized tray area, and then you don't want them falling off the edge of the table, of course. You also don't want it so deep like a basket where they're getting all intertwined and tangled. So this flat tray with raised edges, maybe three inches or so, has just been perfect. And it's a folding table. It's like so it's called an outdoor folding table if you want to try to look something up like that. Um, but if you can't find anything, get a large-ish tray and like super glue it to a folding table or to a stand, you know, like just something to raise it a little bit because you want it to be within reach. You don't want to be bending down super far to get those, just anything to make it as easy and accessible as possible for yourself. So my hanging t hanger table comes about, you know, mid-thigh height, um, maybe knee height. I'm not standing right now, so it's hard to gauge. But here's my system. Okay. So I get home and I'm taking off my sweater and I'm like, okay, I'm ready to hang this up. I have my hangers just sitting on the hanger table. I'm literally ready to just grab one and hang it right up. I always have it ready to go. There's my hangers. I'm never without a hanger. It's perfect. Let's do it in reverse though. Okay, I'm browsing through my closet. I want to wear this top. I take the top off the hanger, and the hanger, I don't shove it back into the closet abyss to never be seen again. I put it flat on my hanger table. And then I wear the top all day. I get home and I grab a hanger and I hang it back up. It's like just knowing that there will always be one available makes me want to hang it up. And the part that's been hard to learn is the um not putting the hanger back on the the sh- what's that called? The rod. Okay. Because I'm taking a shirt off and it's so easy to just slide the shirt off and then you leave the hanger hanging there. But no, we take the whole shirt off the rod with the hanger in in tow, and then we remove the shirt from the hanger, and the hanger goes on the hanger table. Sorry to be so nitty-gritty, but I thought I would let you in on my system in case it can help you. Because this, like the laundry hamper, these two things have been game changers. So the next tip that I have for you is a much bigger, bigger and broader one. And I understand that this is not accessible for everyone, but for me, I said it's worth the investment. I also was able to work with a brand on a couple pieces, so that helped a bit. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to work with brands and and get things in exchange for content on occasion. Um, but you can do it in affordable ways. You can do thrift shopping. I did a lot of DIY things to make this happen, but I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat. Spit it out. Here's what it is. I completely redid my living room. I used to have a giant pink couch and magazines on the wall and a checkered yellow and white rug and a watermelon-shaped side table. You know the ones from Home Goods. Yeah, I bought one of those. I had an orange wavy bookshelf and a disco ball and records, and oh my god, it was so much. I had bright, colorful pillows to accent the pink couch. Like, whoa. I was trying to go for mod, bold, girly apartment. Like, I'm single and and I got my place, like I wanted it to be so girly and fun. That drove me insane. Because if you haven't realized by now, I am a messy person. Straight up. I am not good at keeping my place clean. And so, you know what looks really bad with a mod, bold, colorful, busy apartment is a mess on top of that. It just did not work. I feel like you have to keep your place pristine if you're gonna have one of those bold, colorful apartments. Because it's already really busy. So you put a mess on top of that and it it gets chaotic. And also the mess kind of just it almost blends in to the decor. Okay? Like, okay, so get to the point. How I redid it is I got beige everything. I got white and beige everything. My carpet is like slightly pink. It's if you squint your eyes, it's pretty much just white-ish beige. But there's a little hint of pink which makes me happy. So boom, I have one little colorful thing that makes me happy. Um, but the whole space makes me happy because of how much peace it brings me, and I think it looks nice. But I got beige and white and gray, everything. Everything! I I actually Amazon accepted my return for that couch because it was a really poor quality couch from Amazon, and I showed them pictures of like what's happened in just a couple months of owning it, and they gave me my money back, which was crazy. And then they didn't even want the couch back, so I donated it to Habitat for Humanity. How crazy! So again, shout out to Amazon. I'm sorry, but they're just like the goats when it comes to return policy, and they have really, really good customer service. So I returned that couch and donated it to charity, and I got myself a gray couch, $700 from Macy's on sale. Great purchase. Um, then I got a white accent chair. I got this kind of uh cream, I guess, I guess it's beige. It's beige. I got a beige coffee table, I got a beige side table, my carpet, my rug is almost like whitish, pinkish, beige-ish, very neutral. It's all neutral. And for the artwork, I made it myself with some joint compound and canvas. I slathered that stuff on there and it's just like a textured white color. I made the frame myself from Home Depot. Uh, I just got four wood slats and nailed them together. It looks like a fancy floating frame, but I just made it myself. And that's my living room. It is beige, it is boring. Um, it doesn't show a lot of personality, okay? But it has brought me so much peace. I feel so much more calm. I feel like I can keep it clean because everything has its place where it goes. And if anything is out of place, I can see it immediately. It encourages me to put the pillows back exactly how I like and have my little drink tray on the couch and um, you know, make sure the blanket is draped nicely. It's it's almost like I can factory reset it every single day because there's not that much to work with. It's not all this crazy decor and colors, it's all very bland, very simple. If something's out of place, I can see it immediately. And I just zhuzh it a little bit every day to bring it back to factory settings. And I love when it is factory setting. It looks so good, it looks so clean, so sharp, and it's just simple. It works with my brain. I when I redid that living room, it was a project for sure, and it took a while to attain all these different pieces and like make it look good altogether. I got rid of those vertical blinds that come in apartments, and I got these beautiful cream uh curtains that look great. It's just all neutral and it makes me feel so calm and peaceful. And my life is chaotic enough as is. If you could get inside my head, you'd be like, whoa, girl, there's a lot going on in there. Literally. Ask me at any point at any moment in time what song is stuck in my head, and I will have at least one, probably two. Right now it's reaching out. Michael Jackson. Oh my god, did you guys see the Michael Jackson movie? It was so good. So good. I would see it five more times. Can't wait for part two. Anyway, my mind and my life are chaotic enough as is. I don't need my home, my sanctuary to also be a million colors and a million textures and crazy. The the interior design trends are just not gonna be for me. I am going to be a simple, beige, whatever they call it, millennial gray person till the end of time because that's all I can handle. I can only handle simple, clean. If you guys have seen my kitchen, I try to keep it really, really clean and simple because that's where things get messy. The dishes pile up. So I can't also have a chaotic decorative kitchen with crazy colored everything and machines sitting out on the counter. Like it has to be really clean and simple. So when you're a messy person, if you are like me, having a clean slate for your apartment or your house is really, really helpful. It helps you notice when things are out of place or messy. You have like a factory reset setting that you can return to because you know how it's supposed to look, you know. There's no there's no opinion to be had, like, ooh, this looks good like this. Ooh, you know, it's like, no, it just is the factory settings. That's how I live. And knowing that I can just return things to factory settings makes me happy. I know how it's gotta look. And all of these hacks mixed together have just brought me so much peace. I didn't even get into my coffee stand or whatever you want to call it, coffee station. To me, separating coffee from the rest of the kitchen has been really helpful for keeping things looking clean, for making my coffee in the morning. Um, it's helped a lot. How I organize my fridge, you can put the sauces in a pullout drawer instead of right there on the main important real estate in those shelves inside the fridge door that everybody puts their sauces in. Like I put things that are gonna go bad in the fridge door because I see that all the time. It's right there in your face. The sauces, it's like if you're making dinner and you're like, ooh, this needs some sriracha, you go and get the sriracha. You don't need to like browse your sauces for the most part. I try to keep the things that are gonna go bad right in the forefront, and I only do a single layer of produce. So I don't have my fridge stocked going all the way back to the back of the fridge. It's literally one item. That's it. It's one item sitting right next to one item sitting next to one item. There's nothing behind those items. It's a single layer of products so I can see everything that's in my fridge. Nothing is hiding ever. And that's why keeping those doors available is so key. You don't need to have the sauces on display. Put the things on display that are gonna go bad that you need to be reminded to eat. So you stop wasting money and stop wasting produce. Note to self, oh my god, I've wasted so much money buying produce and then putting it behind something or in a drawer, and then I forget about it forever until it's moldy and disgusting, and I'm throwing it all out. So that's really helpful. I didn't talk about how I organize my makeup. By step, not by product. Anyway, I could go on forever and ever and ever, but I hope that you found this helpful. If you struggle with ADHD and you've struggled with alcohol, just know that you are not alone. 40% of people with ADHD will struggle with some sort of substance use issue. I mean, I used to drink literally just to feel like a human. That's why I loved that two-beer buzz all day long, because it just made me feel like a normal human being. It quieted my thoughts for a second so that I could focus on work or a movie or anything. I literally was self-medicating with alcohol. And now I've learned that doing that was just making things worse. And what really helps is making these behavioral changes and actually improving your life. Or maybe going on medication, maybe going to therapy, whatever is right for you. For me, it's been these behavioral tactics that have helped a lot. I still struggle, of course, a lot. Um, a lot, a lot. But the these hacks are a step in the right direction. Drinking every day, literally just to mask it, it's a band-aid fix. It doesn't help in the long run. In fact, it makes it worse. My ADHD symptoms were very strong and hard to deal with when I first quit drinking, but they've lessened over time because I haven't been consuming alcohol. It helps really to be sober. Even though it feels like it's hurting you in the beginning, it's like you take away your coping mechanism and you're left to just deal with your ADHD all by yourself. But eventually you learn, you grow, you adapt, and life gets better and life gets easier. So I hope that you have found this episode helpful. Feel free to share it with a friend if they also struggle with ADHD or, you know, a chaotic lifestyle or messiness. If they also struggle to brush their teeth or get in the shower, if you've ever connected with somebody on that, feel free to share this episode with them. And wishing you all the best on your sober journeys. Love you guys. I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.