Simplifying Life with an ADHD Brain: 5 Proven Shifts
✨ Why does life feel heavier than it looks for everyone else?
You’re not imagining it.
For ADHD women, everyday tasks drain more energy than they seem like they should.
It’s not because you’re doing it wrong. It’s because your brain is doing extra, invisible work — shifting attention, managing decisions, regulating emotions, and trying to keep pace with a world that isn’t built for how your mind works.
That constant load adds up. And when your energy runs low, everything gets harder.
That’s why simplifying life isn’t about being minimal or organized; it's about being intentional. It’s about giving your brain the support it needs, so you have more capacity for what matters.
🌿 10 Ways to Use Simplicity as an ADHD-Friendly Accommodation
✨ Don’t try to do them all at once. Start with one thing that feels doable or your own idea.
✨ If that’s all you shift this week, that’s enough.
1. Set default decisions
Open-ended choices can drain executive function and trigger perfectionism spirals.
✨ Default choices reduce friction and protect your energy:
➜ Monday = leftovers night
➜ Saturday = laundry catch-up
➜ Default lunch = sandwich + fruit
➜ Go-to outfit = the ones you love on repeat
2. Plan for low-energy days
Especially during hormonal shifts or chronic pain flares ( there is overlap there), your brain may need scaffolding.
✨ Make a list you can pull from when everything feels hard:
➜ One load of laundry
➜ One email
➜ Snack plate
➜ Short walk
➜ One small tidy
➜ One bill paid
3. Keep one active to-do list
✨ One place for tasks = less mental clutter.
Pick your format: whiteboard, app, sticky notes, and stick with it. No more task-hunting across five lists.
4. Simplify your visual field
✨ Every object your eyes land on adds background noise.
Clear just one surface, your desk, a counter, or a table, and notice the shift.
5. Simpler meals
✨ Instead of complex cooking plans :
➜ Cook one main, pair it with a ready-made side
➜ Use a weekly meal loop: taco night, pasta night, rotisserie chicken night
6. Simplify cleaning
✨ Deep cleaning everything isn’t always doable.
➜ Tidy visible spots first
➜ One room at a time
➜ Outsource if possible
7. Simplify laundry
✨ Good enough is good enough.
➜ Toss clothes straight into the washer
➜ Wash when full (color catchers help)
➜ Use a basket folding is optional ( you do not need to hang your clothes either)
8. Batch errands + chores
✨ Switching between tasks burns energy.
➜ Errands in one afternoon
➜ One laundry day
➜ One cleaning block
9. Use one go bag
✨ A packed bag reduces scrambling and panic.
Keep a work bag, car bag, or daily bag ready with your medications, chargers, headphones, and any other essentials you reach for frequently.
10. Decide once for repeat tasks
✨ Weekly decisions don’t need to be made fresh every time.
➜ Takeout Fridays
➜ Grocery pickup Sundays
➜ Same breakfast Monday–Friday
💭 Reflection
Where is life feeling unnecessarily complicated or heavy right now?
Look for friction points, places where your energy drains quickly, or tasks that seem larger than they should be.
What’s one thing you could simplify this week to lighten that load?
What’s something you’ve already simplified that’s made life easier?
✨ If even one thing becomes easier this week, that’s a win. 🌿
In the Flourish neurodivergent affirming support group for women, built on my Flourish 5S Empowerment model, we discuss perfectionism. This is a scaffolded learning model designed to help you unmask and support yourself. Not fix yourself.
Every woman is welcome to my groups and scholarships; sliding fees are available if you can’t afford them.
You’ll learn tools to practice self-compassion, adjust your self-talk, and build rhythms that actually work with your brain.
👉Learn about the Flourish Model and Community Here
👉 Get into the group. Just put our name on the list for the next cohort here
👉 Therapist/coach curious about the Flourish model? Please! Get on the list for the next affordable coach training here.
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter about simplifying.
If you liked it, please share it.
Have a good week,
Kristen
This is incredibly helpful, Kristen! You have this amazing ability to present information in a way that is so easy for me to understand. I appreciate you!
The weekly meal rotation is something I need to implement for dinners. I've already set up breakfast and lunch during the work week, and that's helped so much. And baskets are how I tidy in a quick swoop, so at minimum, things are in the room they belong in, and I can go from there if/when I have the bandwidth. Love the list - a great reminder to simplify and autopilot as much as possible!