ADHD-Friendly Hacks for a Cleaner, Calmer Chicago Home

Living in Chicago, between the hustle of work, family, and the city itself, finding the time and energy to keep your home clean can feel like an impossible task. If your to-do list is overwhelming and your space never feels quite right, you’re not alone. The good news is, a few clever strategies can make a world of difference.

Staying on top of chores and self-care can be a real challenge, especially when you’re juggling a busy city life. Inspired by productivity and wellness tips from the ADHD community, these simple, low-barrier strategies can help anyone create a more manageable and peaceful home environment.

Let a Spin Wheel Decide Your Chores

Decision fatigue is real. When you look around and see ten things that need cleaning, it’s easy to get paralyzed and do none of them. Enter the dry-erase spin wheel. Write down all your tasks—”tidy garage,” “dust living room,” “organize fridge”—then let the wheel choose for you. You can even let it decide how long you spend. This gamifies chores, removes the mental block of choosing, and can make starting feel spontaneous and even fun. If the wheel lands on a big job, just commit to five minutes. Often, starting is the hardest part.

Quick-Fire Home Hacks for Daily Sanity

Small changes in your routine can prevent big messes. Try these:

• The Set Table Trick: If your dining table becomes a clutter magnet, set it properly with placemats or a centerpiece. Your brain will see it as “finished” and you’ll be less likely to dump stuff there.
• Embrace “Chuck-It” Buckets: Place decorative baskets in every room as designated clutter catchers. The key is to empty them every other day so they don’t become doom bins.
• The Soaker Sink Method: Hate staring at dirty dishes? Fill one side of the sink with hot, soapy water and drop dishes in as you go. They pre-soak, and the visual clutter is contained until you’re ready to load the dishwasher.
• Institute “Closing Time”: Pick a time each night (say, 9 PM) when the kitchen is “closed.” Do a final tidy, wipe down surfaces, and announce that no new messes are to be made. Waking up to a clean kitchen is a massive dopamine boost and a perfect reason to consider a professional home cleaning service for a deeper reset.

Boost Focus & Get in the Zone

Distractions are the enemy of productivity, whether you’re working from home or trying to clean.

Noise-Cancelling Headphones Are a Game-Changer

If you haven’t tried them, they can be revolutionary. They mute ambient noise—street sounds, neighbors, pets—allowing you to focus on an audiobook, music, or just the task at hand. It creates a personal “zone” that makes any job, from paying bills to cleaning your apartment, much easier to start and finish.

The 3-3-3 To-Do List

Ditch the overwhelming list. Each day, write down just three things you must do, three things you want to do for fun, and three things to do later in the week. This science-backed method reduces anxiety and makes daily goals feel achievable. Laminate it and use a dry-erase marker to save paper.

Hack Your Sleep for Better Days

Everything feels harder when you’re tired. These quirky tips can help signal to your brain that it’s time to wind down.

• Rapid Blinking: Sounds weird, but it works. In bed, blink rapidly for 60 seconds. It tires your eye muscles, which can help quiet your mind and induce sleepiness.
• Morning Light (Real or Fake): Get sunlight on your face within 30 minutes of waking to regulate your sleep hormones. On Chicago’s cloudy days, a therapy light beside your bed can do the trick.
• Screen Curfew: Use your phone’s settings to lock all apps at a specific time each night. Make the password something you’ll forget to prevent late-night doom scrolling. A better night’s sleep means more energy for tomorrow’s tasks—or to finally schedule a cleaning you’ve been putting off.

Simple Health Habits That Stick

Wellness doesn’t have to be complicated. Anchor new habits to existing ones.

• The Water Anchor: Tie drinking water to a daily habit you never miss. Example: “I will drink one glass of water before I have my morning coffee.” It’s so easy, you can’t fail.
• Pair with Protein: Instead of restrictive dieting, simply pair any snack or meal with a protein. Having chips? Add some cheese. This helps regulate energy and cravings.
• Chewable Vitamins: If you forget pills, try delicious chewable vitamins. Making health “treats” enjoyable ensures you’ll actually take them.
• Barely-Moving Movement: Redefine fitness. Do ten squats while the kettle boils, bounce on a mini-trampoline for five minutes, or do counter push-ups. Lower the bar so you can step over it every day.

Remember What Makes You Happy

When life gets busy, we forget our own joys. Create a visual “Dopamine Menu”—a list of quick activities (appetizers), bigger recharges (mains), and enjoyable distractions (desserts) you can turn to for a mood boost. Keep it on the fridge. For bigger wins, try a charm bracelet with trinkets that represent your accomplishments; a visual reminder of your pride can be a powerful daily motivator.

Ultimately, the goal is to build easy, subconscious habits. Start so small that there’s no excuse not to do it. Once a habit is automatic, you can build on it. And remember, for those times when life gets too full, there’s no shame in asking for deep cleaning help from a trusted Chicago cleaning company. Sometimes, the best hack is delegating to the pros so you can focus on what matters most to you.

I’ve always said that ADHD is my superpower. But the truth is, it’s also kind of sucky. I’m impulsive. I’m distracted. I’m really, really forgetful. I am unmotivated and bored all the time. I’ve shared a lot of ADHD hacks in the past, but I’m also always on the hunt for new things that will make life easier, make me feel energized and motivated and productive, and I’m sharing some new ones with you right now. I’m so excited about this one. It could be clutter. This might be an impulsive buy that I end up decluttering, but today I’m ridiculously excited about it. I saw this on a podcast for productivity hacks and it’s basically letting ADHD decide what you do. This is a dry erase wheel. So, anytime you want to clean, add all the things that need to be cleaned. Or if you just want to have your ADHD pick what you do for the day, put a bunch of ideas on the wheel and then spin it. Let the wheel decide what you do. And you can go a step further and let the wheel decide how long you spend doing all of those activities. Here’s why this is so amazing to me. I have trouble picking where to start. I get decision fatigue and I have so many ideas that I feel really overwhelmed. So, this picking for me, it feels like spontaneous. It feels like, you know, it’s gifying chores and makes me actually want to do the thing. So, I’m going to try it. You should try it, too. Let’s see if it works. What am I going to clean? What am I going to clean? Something good. Oh, tidy the garage. Maybe I only have to do it for five minutes. Come on. One minute. 20 minutes. What the freaking Oh. Oh, I happened to read. Is it something better? Dust. We could cheat it, too. All right, let’s cover some more quick productivity hacks. This one surprised me. Noise cancelling headphones. I got these for my birthday from Joe. At first, it was unsettling because it literally cancels all the noise, but now if I put them on and I put on an audiobook or music, I stay focused. I didn’t realize how all the ambient noise in the background really distracted my brain. With these on, not only am I not hearing the kids fighting or the dog barking and all the other things, but I’m in the zone. These are pretty life-changing. This is more of a modification to something I’ve always done, which is a daily to-do list. But this one has science behind it. Again, I saw this on a podcast for ADHD hacks, a to-do list that has only three things you have to do, three fun things that you’re going to do, and then three things you want to do later in the week. And I just added a little spot of like something I’m grateful for the day or like the best thing about the day. And I laminated it so I can use a dry erase marker and I can reuse the same paper every single day. So I leave this out on my counter and it’s amazing. Have you heard of the ugly draft? It’s doing something kind of bad the first time on purpose and I am so excited about this. This is what I already do anyways. But I use this ugly draft approach when writing my book or if you’re writing an email or anytime you’re reorganizing a space, doing it kind of ugly and bad at first and then going back and making it better the second pass. That is the secret to maximum productivity. You ready for some sleep hacks? I don’t know if it’s the menopause or the ADHD or all of the above. I cannot sleep. So, rapid blinking. This is the first thing I’ve been trying. It’s really weird. You just blink rapidly for 60 seconds. You look like a complete psychopath. But it doesn’t matter because you’re in your bed trying to sleep. And it does. It exhausts your eyes, which exhausts your brain, and you feel just drained and sleepy immediately. 60 seconds rapid blinking. I swear it’s like it’s crazy. It’s crazy life-changing. Next, morning sunlight. All the experts say sunlight on your face. Well, I’ve been trying it except it’s -20 outside, full of snow, freezing, and there ain’t a sun in the sky. It’s cloud. It’s horrible. So, you could go outside, or you could get yourself a little like fake sunlight therapy lamp, put it right beside your bed, and turn it on while you lay there trying to find the will to live every morning. It’s doing something to your brain. It’s waking you up. It’s regulating your sleep hormones. It’s good all around. Or you could go outside if you actually have sun. I’m going to mention this one. I’m going to be honest. I’m not great at it, but it’s going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. I did an interview on my podcast with a sleep expert. And this is the one thing he said that everyone needs to do to get a better night’s sleep. I am a person on the weekend to stay up till 4 in the morning and sleep till noon. So, at least I’ve been getting up at the same time. This baby steps. Okay. And then I have a nap like 2 hours later. But it is helping slightly. I no longer have to set an alarm in the morning because my brain is just used to getting up at the same time. I still stay up way too late. But like progress. And the last sleep hack is a screen curfew. So if you have an iPhone, you can go into your settings and you can set a screen time to shut off so you can’t access any of the apps on your phone. No more doom scrolling. Pick a time and make it go off every single day. I shut mine off at 10. Bonus points. If you make the password something ridiculous that you will totally forget because now you can’t turn it off or snooze it, you are stuck. It’s like a brick. Your phone doesn’t work past 10 p.m. no matter what you do because you’ve forgotten the password. One of the things I struggle with the most with my ADHD is my memory. It’s like brain damage level bad. I forget where I am, what I’m supposed to be doing. I forget names. I forget things I even like, which is why I made a dopamine menu. I saw this as a thing that you should try again in a podcast and now I’m like, this is so genius. It literally lists appetizers, which are five minute things that I like to do that give me that instant hit of dopamine. Mains, so the big things that really recharge my battery. Sides are things I can do while doing something else like putting away laundry and listening to an audio book or a podcast. and dessert things I really love doing but they’re kind of bad for me so I need to do them in moderation. Just having this visual list I keep it in the kitchen so I can glance at reminds me of the things I love. Reminds me of the things that like give me the boost I need because I even forget these things. I have a free printable with this and the to-do list hack you can download. I’ll put a link in the description. Speaking of remembering things you love, also memory hack, a charm bracelet with all the little charms of things that I’ve accomplished that I’m proud of. Because I know this sounds crazy, too, but I forget those things. Like, I forget the things I worked really hard for. As soon as I achieve them, it’s like, did that even exist? And I don’t, you know, feel the pride and and all the good feelings from it because I’ve moved on. So, this charm bracelet has a little firefighter charm and it has the traveling the world charm and it has bees because I’m really into beekeeping, but I forget how much I love it. It has my family charm, my husband and my kids. Of course, there’s a ladybug for clutterbug. It has a book cuz I just got a book deal. And I hope to keep adding to this charm bracelet. These aren’t expensive charms. They’re cheap from Amazon. But just wearing this and looking down, it’s like, oh yeah, it gives me these little bursts of joy and pride and dopamine all throughout my day. The last new memory hack that I’m trying, it’s called the interesting rule. I hate small talk and I’m kind of self-centered, I think I am, because when I’m talking to somebody and they’re talking about the weather, their grass, the car their neighbor just bought, or you know, what grade their kid got on that math test, I zone out. It’s really hard for me to engage in small talk with new people because I just don’t care. So now when I’m talking to someone, my goal is this little game to find one interesting fact about them. I ask questions about their pets. Maybe they have a pet turtle. That’s amazing. I ask about their hobbies or just strange things about them because not only am I asking questions and being a better conversationalist, but I’m focused on them. And most importantly, I will remember that person forever because now I remember them as having this cool weird unique thing about them. And everyone has something super weird. You ready for some health hacks? I don’t drink water. I don’t know. It tastes like dirt to me. I know it’s weird. But water anchor has been so helpful. It’s like, you know, when you want to start a new habit and that feels crazy overwhelming and you forget to remember. I want to lower the barrier of entry. Like it has to be so easy. I can’t fail. So water anchor means every morning before I have my chai latte, I have to drink one glass of water. And this is a habit that’s so easy that I’m actually doing it. And it’s making me not only drink more water, but it’s building a consistent habit that someday I won’t even think about. And then I can build on that habit by maybe drinking two glasses of water or taking my vitamins with the water. Habit stacking and stuff. This health hack, crazy amazing. A nutritionist once told me, “Stop worrying about dieting and all of the other things and only pair a protein with whatever you eat.” So, if you’re having a bowl of chips or candy, that’s fine. Just make sure you’re also having protein. So, now I don’t just eat a pastry, I’ll eat a piece of cheese with it. I think about this without even thinking about it, which is why it’s an awesome habit. I have lost weight. I feel better. I’m regulating my insulin and dopamine just by eating more protein. It’s an awesome hack you have to try. I got to take a quick second to thank today’s video sponsor, HelloFresh. I really want to be healthy, and HelloFresh makes that happen because I want to have gourmet chef inspired meals, but I don’t want to have to go to the grocery store or plan. So, HelloFresh makes it easy with so many recipes to choose from delivered straight to my door. Everything’s pre-portioned and it kind of feels like a cooking class with the easy step-by-step instructions. There’s no waste and it’s super fast to put these incredible meals together. HelloFresh makes cooking dinner so easy even my kids can do it. And believe it or not, it’s less money than takeout or going to a restaurant. If you are sick of always thinking, “What the heck should I make for dinner?” HelloFresh will make it easy. Use my code clutterbug FM at hellofresh.com for 10 free meals plus free shipping. Free meals applied at discount on first box. New or returning subscribers only, varies by plan. Sign up today. Click the link below or use my code clutterbug FM at hellofresh.com. This hack, you might think, what a toddler. But um I don’t like taking pills and I don’t like taking vitamins and I always forgot to do it until I switched to chewable. These are delicious. Did you know most people who have ADHD are deficient in vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B, calcium, iron, and you can find all of these things in a delicious, nutritious treat. I look forward to taking my vitamins because they’re so ridiculously yummy. And I’ve had my blood work tested while I was low and after taking chewables consistently, and it actually works. It raises my levels. I feel great. And I get to eat candy every day. Seriously, give it a try. They’re so good. The calcium’s my favorite. Best candy ever. I’m so healthy. And the last thing I’m doing to get healthier this year, which is like so ridiculously easy, you can’t mess it up and you actually feel motivated to do it, is barely moving movement. Like, take your idea of what fitness looks like and just drop the bar on the floor and then step over it. I’m using my rebounder every day. Yeah, sure. I do crappy bouncing for only 10 minutes, but it counts. I’m doing things like while my tea brews, I’m doing little squats or I’m doing push-ups against the counter. Small little micro movements that are changing my brain and the way I think about fitness. I’m more active. But more importantly, I want to move more because I’ve lowered the expectations so low, it actually feels doable. All right, I’m getting bored. You bored? Let’s rapid fire home hacks. One, set the table. If you’re a person who just dumps everything on your dining table, set it with dishes. And your brain will tell you you can’t put stuff down or put flowers, put a table runner. It works. Seriously. Second, chuck it buckets. Every room should have a cluttercatching basket or multiple ones where you’re like, I’m just going to put it in here for now and put it away later. I know this is like bordering on doom bins, but the secret here is to empty them consistently to put calendars and reminders to go through at least once every other day and actually put those things away. So, having a chucket bucket is a must. Not great at doing your dishes right away? Soaker sink method. It’s literally just filling your sink with hot soapy water or a dish pan on the side to put all your dishes in until you have the motivation to wash them or put them in the dishwasher. This way, you’re not staring at dirty dishes, but it’s also kind of rinsing them. I don’t know why it works, but it totally works. And last, but not least, closing time. So, I’ve always done a 15minute nightly cleanup routine of the kitchen and like other areas, but now I’m taking it a step further and I’m closing the kitchen at like 9:00 p.m., which means no one in my house can make themselves food or prepare a snack and make it crazy messy again. Like, the kitchen is closed at 9:00. Get your snacks, get the water, get the things you need. You’re not allowed to come into the kitchen and make a mess after 9. And I don’t know if my kids are actually doing this because I go to bed before them. They’re teens. But at least they know that they’re not supposed to be, so they’re cleaning up after them when they sneak down and get a snack at midnight. Either way, it’s pretty awesome because I always wake up to a clean kitchen. You have to try closing your kitchen, too. Pick a time, make sure you’re doing all the routines, and wake up to a clean kitchen every day because that is like dopamine in the morning on overdrive. If you’re struggling with ADHD or you’re just overwhelmed with life, but you still want to be productive and sleep better and all the things that make you a good grown-up, these hacks can help. And why they’re so helpful is because the most important thing we can do is build habits that are just subconscious that we’re doing without having to make ourselves do them. Which is why we have to lower them in the first place. Like the barrier of entry to these new habits has to be so easy and so simple. There’s no excuse not to do them, which is what these hacks are all about. We can build on them once we’ve made them a habit we’re not even thinking about and we can improve upon them. But to get started, they got to suck. So, I’m excited about these. It’s like 2026 will be my best year yet. And I hope you’re feeling inspired, too. Let me know in the comments below if you have an ADHD hack that really works for your brain or which one of these hacks you want to try in your home, too. Thanks so much, and I’ll see you guys next time. Thank you guys so much. For those of you who have stayed to the end, let’s do a little thought experiment and practice trying to come up with things that are interesting about ourselves. I’m just going to tell you this. When I was a kid, I was convinced I was magic and I practiced. I think I might have watched The Craft or something. I thought I could levitate. I used to leap off of the furniture and think that I was like moving across the room with my mind. I was just falling. But that’s okay. I really was trying. I also used to crinkle up little balls of paper and put them on the table and try to move them with my mind. I spent a lot of time trying to have telekinesis, read people’s thoughts. That’s that’s an interesting fact about me. I don’t know why I was the way I was and I’m still kind of odd. But tell me something odd about you. Something interesting, something weird. Maybe you also can’t sleep with any body part out of the sheet because a monster can absolutely rip your leg off unless that sheet protects you. That’s weird, but also interesting. Some people think cilantro tastes like soap. That’s kind of weird. Some people also don’t like sugar. Some people like the taste of water. That makes you really weird. I also cannot sleep with socks on. I don’t know why. I need the sheet but not the sock. It’s like over stimulating. That’s kind of interesting. Is it? Do you know way too much about the lives of the Sister Wives cast? That’s interesting and also strange. I want to know about it. Joe also knows a lot about trains. He’s an engineer, but not that kind of engineer, but he knows a lot about trains. I think he’s risen with the chism a little, which is also interesting cuz that makes no sense. There’s lots of weird things about lots of you. Let me know in the comments below. Let’s get weird. I’ll see you next time.