34 ADHD Life Hacks
to help you sleep better, stay organized, feed yourself, and get focused
If you've ever felt personally victimized by laundry mountain, distracted by Instagram mid-texting someone back, or too overwhelmed to decide what to eat for lunch, you're in the right place.
We asked our Internet People to spill their favorite ADHD life hacks and all the weird and wonderfully effective systems that keep our inner tornadoes at bay.
Below, we’ve grouped your best tips into five categories: Morning & Sleep Routines, Focus Tricks, Food Hacks, Organization Systems, and Making Chores Actually Happen. Whether you try one or adopt them all, we hope something here helps make your life a little easier with ADHD.
💤 Morning & Sleep Routines
Use a physical alarm clock and plug your phone in across the room so you stop waking up and scrolling first thing in the morning.
Swap out harsh alarms for a sunrise alarm clock that gradually wakes you up with light over 30 minutes, so you don’t start the day in a fog.
Prep your coffee the night before so it’s ready when you wake up—no thinking required.
When your phone feels overstimulating but you still need to use it, switch it to black-and-white mode to reduce visual input and temptation.
🔦 Focus Tricks
When you need to focus, put your phone in a completely random place—like the silverware drawer—so it’s out of sight and out of reach.
Use timers for absolutely everything to turn big, overwhelming tasks into bite-sized chunks.
Don't rely on memory! Write everything down as soon as it pops into your head.
To reduce mindless scrolling, buy a tiny, minimalist smartphone that lets you text and call but nothing else.
🥡 Food Hacks
Keep meal replacement shakes on hand as a backup lunch option for those days when food feels like too much effort.
Freeze everything you can so nothing goes to waste, and you always have meals on standby.
Take out your protein the night before and marinate it in the morning—then at dinner, all you have to do is cook it.
Make double portions when you cook dinner so you automatically have lunch ready for the next day.
To avoid eating the same thing all week, portion leftovers into single-serve, freezer-safe containers. Build up a stash you can mix and match.
Prep ingredients like you work in a restaurant kitchen and store them in containers so it’s easier to mix and match for meals throughout the week.
Bring a snack to the grocery store so you don’t end up hangry-buying everything.
🗝️ Organization Systems
On Sundays, pack a week’s worth of gym clothes in your bag and keep it in your car along with a laundry basket to change out of your work clothes. Bring the laundry in on Friday and do it over the weekend. Bonus: wear the same gym outfits each week to cut down on decisions.
Block off your lunch break to knock out one household task you’d usually dread in the evening—like laundry or taking out the trash—so your nights are free for rest.
Use a wardrobe planning app to put your outfits together in advance and eliminate daily decision fatigue.
Designate small dishes or trays as “homes” for things you constantly misplace—like your AirPods and wallet. It makes a huge difference.
Use a wallet that clips onto your keys, and hang it on a hook by the door so you always know where it is.
Buy a bunch of your favorite chapsticks and stash them in all your go-to spots (your desk, your car, the couch) so you’re never scrambling to find one.
🧹 Making Chores Actually Happen
Choose a TV show, podcast, or audiobook that you’re only allowed to enjoy while doing chores. Make it something you genuinely want to watch, so it becomes a reward that gets the job done.
Right after you shower and do your hair, batch film a bunch of Reels while you feel cute. You can knock out 5 in one go and be done for the week.
Pretend your life is a Ghibli movie—including the messes—and make tidying up feel whimsical instead of overwhelming.
▶️ Want 10 more ADHD life hacks?
and recorded more of their favorites tips to get more done with ADHD this episode:What would you add to this list? Leave us a comment below to share a life hack that’s helped your ADHD.
How will a person with ADHD ever find that phone again??
My current game changer is that as soon as the laundry is dry i don’t put it in a pile or a laundry basket, but take it to the kitchen table, fold it and put it away before my brain can start dividing the process into more tasks and getting overwhelmed