Tips, from one teenager to another, for keeping your room in order.
Lage was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 8 years old. He found that it helps his ADHD to keep things in his room in order.
Clean decluttered spaces help him feel calmer. From the age of 10 he kept his room cleaner than his parents kept theirs!
Lage’s tips
Get rid of trash
”If you do not get rid of trash regularly your room will always be a mess!” -Lage
We all break things, make holes in clothes, or open new items and forget to throw away the packaging. Not to mention that many of us eat in our rooms and old food molds!
If you keep the trash out of your room you won’t create an unhealthy living environment where you are constantly breathing mold!
Mold is a pet peeve of mine. I don’t like the smell of it, and it can make you sick.
Only keep a few books
Only keep books that you want to read again or you haven’t read yet.
I often read on my phone and I don’t feel the need to have many real books.
My mom kept putting books in my room that I didn’t want to read! The picture above is from my old room before I went through all my things and decided what to keep myself.
”My mom tried to convince me to keep things when I first started getting rid of my stuff.” – Lage
I explained to my mom how much better I feel without all the clutter and she let me pick what to keep.
Get rid of excess stuff
Only keep things you really like
”For you collectors; you need to Man Up and get rid of stuff If you have ADHD!” -Lage
Having less stuff is better because…
- It helps you feel less claustrophobic.
- You don’t stub your toes as often.
- You can buy less stuff and save money for something big, new, and better that costs more.
- It’s easier to redecorate when you have less stuff.
- Lots of stuff doesn’t make you happier.
- If you have way too much stuff it makes it really hard to clean.
- 90% of your stuff you probably haven’t touched for a year. What is the point of keeping that?
If you have less stuff it’s easier to put it away.
”The storage boxes on top of my closet are empty. I honestly haven’t even come close to filling up my closet space with stuff!” – Lage
The picture above is of Lage’s closet and storage boxes.
Just because you have storage space doesn’t mean you have to fill it!
Put things away immediately when you are done with them
The picture above is Lage’s room.
”If you put things back right away you are never faced with the horrible task of cleaning your room every saterday!” – Lage
When my mom says I should clean my room it literally takes me 5 minutes!
Try not to act on a sudden impulse
Do your best NOT to get tons of things, in your room, out when you don’t really need to use them.
”When you have ADHD it’s easy to just follow your impulses.” – Lage
Try to think about the mess you will have to clean up later if you get out to many things at one time.
Everything in it’s place
”Give your things ‘A home within a home’ in your room!” – Lage
Give all your things a home. Things that get left out often have no home or you are done with them and just don’t want to admit it!
Be careful with Electronics
If you are moving things around in your room make sure you are careful when moving electronics.
Store electronics temporarily where it’s warm.
”I broke some expensive stuff when I wasn’t careful and I put electronics in cold storage.” -Lage
Take your dirty clothes to the hamper immediately
This is something I struggle with, but if you put off doing tasks that only take a few minutes you soon have a big pile of clothes on your floor!
”The extra mess will distract you from doing your homework and inviting people into your room.” -Lage
Own less clothes!
I do not fold my clothes! My mom puts my clothes in a basket for me to take care of when they are clean. I dump out my clothes in two big drawers!
Because I do not have many clothes, they fit in my drawers without folding.
It doesn’t take me long to find something to wear when I only have a few items of clothing, and I really like all of them.
”Another great thing about having fewer clothes is that you can have more expensive clothes. I like Adidas and I spend more money on fewer items.” -Lage
Conclusion
You will be in better health both mentally and physically if you keep your room clean!
That is actually a proven fact!
Joel’s response to how he feels in a messy room was ‘It Kills Me!’ When we talked further he said it was stressful but that phrase didn’t really cover all his negative emotions.
Having a minimalist room helps him feel his ADHD less.
He says, ‘’I feel much better in a clean room!’’
(Below, A tour of Lage’s bedroom!)
If you like this post check out Lage’s other post. Click here How it feels to have ADHD in a thirteen-year-old’s own words
If you have a packrat read how I helped my daughter (Who has ADD and keeps everything!) clean her room and stay organized! Click here Help ADHD (ADD) kids clean their rooms and stay organized
copyright Annie Eklöv