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Order from Chaos: The Everyday Grind of Staying Organized with Adult ADHD
If there were an ADHD self-help book group, I’d nominate this book to be at the top of the reading list.
— Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., internationally recognized authority on ADHD and co-author of ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life
Stop paying the high cost of disorganization.
Late fees on forgotten bills. A home full of clutter and unfinished projects. Eroding respect with your friends, family, and colleagues. Health worries from doctor’s appointments you keep meaning to schedule. Nonstop anxiety as you wait for the other shoe to drop.
You deserve better.
Order from Chaos will teach you how your brain works and how to stop getting in your own way. Mixing stories from the trenches of her own experience as a mom and wife with ADHD with wise, well-researched advice from her years as a blogger at The ADHD Homestead, Jaclyn Paul shows you how to design your own system for restoring order.
Past failures don’t have to define you. Order from Chaos offers a helping hand to get you on the path to a more peaceful and rewarding life.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 22, 2018
1046 people are currently reading
4312 people want to read
About the author
Jaclyn Paul
1 book59 followersJaclyn Paul is a fiction writer and blogger based in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2014, she has published information, advice, and essays for adults with Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at the popular blog The ADHD Homestead. Her writing about ADHD has also appeared in ADDResources, ADHD Roller Coaster with Gina Pera, A Dose of Healthy Distraction, and Houston Family Magazine.
Jaclyn is also author of the bestselling book Order from Chaos: The Everyday Grind of Staying Organized with Adult ADHD.
Jaclyn is also author of the bestselling book Order from Chaos: The Everyday Grind of Staying Organized with Adult ADHD.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
January 3, 2021
Didn't Really Learn Many Tips for ADHD
Only thing I learned from this book is her husband is dead weight around the house. He doesn't seem to help much with cooking or cleaning or taking care of the kids, and meanwhile the author is writing, running an entire house, and literally doing stuff 24/7 to manage her ADHD while he does... What? Complain that the house is falling apart because of her when he's not lifting a finger?
As for ADHD tips, I guess there are some... Mine would be leave the guy and find someone who carries his weight.
Only thing I learned from this book is her husband is dead weight around the house. He doesn't seem to help much with cooking or cleaning or taking care of the kids, and meanwhile the author is writing, running an entire house, and literally doing stuff 24/7 to manage her ADHD while he does... What? Complain that the house is falling apart because of her when he's not lifting a finger?
As for ADHD tips, I guess there are some... Mine would be leave the guy and find someone who carries his weight.
February 25, 2022
In true ADHD fashion this took me forever to get through, and I will have to look back at my notes to properly synthesize it, but it was a good read and I will be trying some things.
For my future reference:
Rule 1: you must make peace with reality
Rule 2: you need a container (and it cannot be inside your brain)
Rule 3: you need a system that works
Rule 4: strive for less (stuff, distraction, and overwhelm)
For my future reference:
Rule 1: you must make peace with reality
Rule 2: you need a container (and it cannot be inside your brain)
Rule 3: you need a system that works
Rule 4: strive for less (stuff, distraction, and overwhelm)
March 9, 2021
500 billion stars. I've read tons of books about organization and creating new habits/routines, trying to solve the problem of why I can never achieve long-term results and lasting change. But those books are not written with the ADHD brain in mind. This book IS, and that has made all the difference.
I don't yet have an official diagnosis, but I have suspected for years that I've had inattentive ADHD for basically my entire life. (Ironically, the condition itself is why I have such a hard time scheduling appointments to get help in the first place, and I always seem to land with a person who cannot help me in the specific way I need.) But up until now, it hadn't occurred to me to approach my issues in life from an ADHD perspective -- I've only ever tried to fit my demonstrably square peg into all the same round holes. What an eye opening experience this book was.
I grabbed my pack of little colored sticky arrows so I could mark all the passages that really stuck out to me. I felt like I was actually reading about my own brain for the first time. Other times, my mind was blown from the insights about problems I've had but never knew to consider from a different perspective. For instance, the reason why certain items on my To Do list never seem to get done? Because they're actually not single items. They are merely nebulous suggestions of a series of other undefined tasks, none of which my brain can actually process without clearly outlined steps. Writing "get new license plate" after moving to a new state, over and over and over again, has yielded no results after half a year... because I don't actually know how to get started. So my brain just ignores it in favor of more achievable (or pleasurable) tasks. This might seem painfully obvious, but this had literally NEVER occurred to me before.
I love how the author provides very specific examples for lots of different scenarios, and details the way our brains try to take shortcuts or avoid responsibilities. It's not only helpful to learn about systems for organization and task management, but to hear about potential obstacles and how to set ourselves up for the best chance of success instead.
The writing is very clear and to the point, but still casual and conversational enough to avoid being dry or stuffy. I can sometimes have trouble with non-fiction, self-help type books, but I completely devoured this one. I think I actually hyperfocused on finishing it because I was so motivated by learning more about how I can try to address the issues that have plagued me for my entire existence.
The author is also apparently a bit of a nerd, and I loved the moments when that shined through. The bit about having to give up World of Warcraft particularly hit really close to home. I was an avid WoW player myself for years, and have played several other MMOs since. Recently I've been addicted to Genshin Impact, a Gacha style game that is essentially a dopamine slot machine not unlike actual gambling. I've maintained self control as far as money is concerned, but not with my time. I know how hard it is to let go of something you really enjoy, especially when it feels like a part of your identity. I've always wondered how I can lose hours and hours to a single video game, but not take five minutes to fold my socks and underwear. Or do anything I allegedly *want* to do, like painting or drawing. Or doing nice things for my friends and family, like the bare minimum gesture of remembering a birthday. The book provides reasons why this happens, and why it is not actually a personal failure or a reflection of our character (even when it absolutely feels like it is). To paraphrase from another passage that resonated with me: when your car breaks down, you don't get mad and insist that your car just power through and get better at being a car. You identify the problem and fix it so it will work for you again.
This book is not therapy, and it is not the end-all be-all. But I think this book will always be valuable to me as a reference for how to set up a system of organization that might actually work for me, and as a reminder of why my brain is the way it is and that I should continue exploring this and seek out the appropriate therapy and medication. I cannot thank the human who wrote this enough. I can only imagine how huge of an undertaking it is to write an entire book -- and it gives me hope that maybe even someone like me can one day actually do some of the bigger things I dream of, instead of watching all the plates I have spinning eventually crash to the ground.
EDIT: Okay, now that I've had a few days to marinate in this information and go back to reference certain sections: my only issue with this book is that there are still some things I'm having trouble with getting started. For instance, the author mentions creating a physical inbox to process incoming... stuff. Like receipts, mail, etc. She also mentions that you need to get everything out of your brain and into a container. So, does this mean that I need to write down every idea or thing I have to do on individual sticky notes, put it in the inbox, and decide what to do with it? Where does a "to do" list come into this process? Does the inbox generate the to-do list, or does the to-do list get processed via the inbox? The Toodledoo app she suggests is also super overwhelming and I'm not exactly sure how to set everything up there. I realize it's such a huge thing to tackle in a relatively short book, especially when she's trying to give people options for what works for them. It all sounded awesome when I was reading about it, but when trying to put it into practice, I started stumbling. And in the stumbling lies the danger of frustration and abandonment. I'm not giving up, but it's still really hard to figure out the difference between things like goals, priorities, tasks, and projects. Like I almost need a painstaking, step-by-step, explain-like-I'm-five-years-old instruction manual for how to decide what's what and how to figure out what to act upon first. Jaclyn, if you're reading this, please be my organizational life coach/hand-holder. I will pay.
I don't yet have an official diagnosis, but I have suspected for years that I've had inattentive ADHD for basically my entire life. (Ironically, the condition itself is why I have such a hard time scheduling appointments to get help in the first place, and I always seem to land with a person who cannot help me in the specific way I need.) But up until now, it hadn't occurred to me to approach my issues in life from an ADHD perspective -- I've only ever tried to fit my demonstrably square peg into all the same round holes. What an eye opening experience this book was.
I grabbed my pack of little colored sticky arrows so I could mark all the passages that really stuck out to me. I felt like I was actually reading about my own brain for the first time. Other times, my mind was blown from the insights about problems I've had but never knew to consider from a different perspective. For instance, the reason why certain items on my To Do list never seem to get done? Because they're actually not single items. They are merely nebulous suggestions of a series of other undefined tasks, none of which my brain can actually process without clearly outlined steps. Writing "get new license plate" after moving to a new state, over and over and over again, has yielded no results after half a year... because I don't actually know how to get started. So my brain just ignores it in favor of more achievable (or pleasurable) tasks. This might seem painfully obvious, but this had literally NEVER occurred to me before.
I love how the author provides very specific examples for lots of different scenarios, and details the way our brains try to take shortcuts or avoid responsibilities. It's not only helpful to learn about systems for organization and task management, but to hear about potential obstacles and how to set ourselves up for the best chance of success instead.
The writing is very clear and to the point, but still casual and conversational enough to avoid being dry or stuffy. I can sometimes have trouble with non-fiction, self-help type books, but I completely devoured this one. I think I actually hyperfocused on finishing it because I was so motivated by learning more about how I can try to address the issues that have plagued me for my entire existence.
The author is also apparently a bit of a nerd, and I loved the moments when that shined through. The bit about having to give up World of Warcraft particularly hit really close to home. I was an avid WoW player myself for years, and have played several other MMOs since. Recently I've been addicted to Genshin Impact, a Gacha style game that is essentially a dopamine slot machine not unlike actual gambling. I've maintained self control as far as money is concerned, but not with my time. I know how hard it is to let go of something you really enjoy, especially when it feels like a part of your identity. I've always wondered how I can lose hours and hours to a single video game, but not take five minutes to fold my socks and underwear. Or do anything I allegedly *want* to do, like painting or drawing. Or doing nice things for my friends and family, like the bare minimum gesture of remembering a birthday. The book provides reasons why this happens, and why it is not actually a personal failure or a reflection of our character (even when it absolutely feels like it is). To paraphrase from another passage that resonated with me: when your car breaks down, you don't get mad and insist that your car just power through and get better at being a car. You identify the problem and fix it so it will work for you again.
This book is not therapy, and it is not the end-all be-all. But I think this book will always be valuable to me as a reference for how to set up a system of organization that might actually work for me, and as a reminder of why my brain is the way it is and that I should continue exploring this and seek out the appropriate therapy and medication. I cannot thank the human who wrote this enough. I can only imagine how huge of an undertaking it is to write an entire book -- and it gives me hope that maybe even someone like me can one day actually do some of the bigger things I dream of, instead of watching all the plates I have spinning eventually crash to the ground.
EDIT: Okay, now that I've had a few days to marinate in this information and go back to reference certain sections: my only issue with this book is that there are still some things I'm having trouble with getting started. For instance, the author mentions creating a physical inbox to process incoming... stuff. Like receipts, mail, etc. She also mentions that you need to get everything out of your brain and into a container. So, does this mean that I need to write down every idea or thing I have to do on individual sticky notes, put it in the inbox, and decide what to do with it? Where does a "to do" list come into this process? Does the inbox generate the to-do list, or does the to-do list get processed via the inbox? The Toodledoo app she suggests is also super overwhelming and I'm not exactly sure how to set everything up there. I realize it's such a huge thing to tackle in a relatively short book, especially when she's trying to give people options for what works for them. It all sounded awesome when I was reading about it, but when trying to put it into practice, I started stumbling. And in the stumbling lies the danger of frustration and abandonment. I'm not giving up, but it's still really hard to figure out the difference between things like goals, priorities, tasks, and projects. Like I almost need a painstaking, step-by-step, explain-like-I'm-five-years-old instruction manual for how to decide what's what and how to figure out what to act upon first. Jaclyn, if you're reading this, please be my organizational life coach/hand-holder. I will pay.
May 15, 2018
As a reader who doesn’t have ADHD, I found Order from Chaos both an incredibly useful guide to getting organized, as well as a brilliant insight into the challenges of everyday life with ADHD. It’s solid, compassionate, flexible advice from a person who’s been there.
Also, I love Jaclyn's practical compassion. It really comes across that she cares about readers’ success, both to organize their lives and thoughts, as well as to organize their perception of themselves not as hopeless but as capable, just maybe not yet equipped. Her suggestions aren’t prescriptive, and her focus on individual development of tools that work best for oneself is extremely useful and encouraging.
Also, I love Jaclyn's practical compassion. It really comes across that she cares about readers’ success, both to organize their lives and thoughts, as well as to organize their perception of themselves not as hopeless but as capable, just maybe not yet equipped. Her suggestions aren’t prescriptive, and her focus on individual development of tools that work best for oneself is extremely useful and encouraging.
October 23, 2021
This book is mostly just a recap of Getting Things Done. I’m OBSESSED with GTD, it’s been absolutely life changing for me. But, I couldn’t help thinking while reading this book, why not just read GTD instead? It presents the material much better. This book does have a few small changes for ADHD and a few additions beyond GTD. The inclusion of micro habits was great too. But, I didn’t feel really that this book itself was really contributing anything new.
December 20, 2024
This was a pretty solid read! It's always nice to read books about ADHD written by people who have it, instead of someone's mom or wife or whatever who has decided to take pity on we poor, unfortunate souls. 🎶
February 22, 2023
Mommy blogger vibes
September 4, 2018
Disclosure: I received an ebook copy of this in exchange for an honest review. Also, as background, I came at this book as an adult without ADHD who has two kids who both have ADHD. To be honest, whether you have ADHD or not, I would totally recommend this book to anyone feeling overwhelmed by the process of daily life. It felt life-changing as I read it; now I just need to work on some things sticking and figure out how to make it work for me, bit by bit.
One of the best things about this book is that it takes concepts from a variety of organisational systems and weaves them together in a way that is wholly clear-eyed about how you can and do manage yourself already. It's not asking you to transform yourself into an organising superhero (whew) but rather to understand how you and your household function, and then to design working systems around that. It is a kind and sensible philosophy. I had many moments when reading it when I just felt happy about the sense it was making.
I liked the way the book included both advice for the person struggling with disorganisation, as well as for readers looking to help another household member with disorganisation. I also found the exercises designed to unpick the personal impacts of lack of organisation very enlightening. A few surprises there for me.
I've finished the book but will definitely re-read when I'm further down the track. I think I have a lot more basic work to do to sort out our poor neglected house, before I can get to the excellent maintenance routines described here. I'm trying out Toodledo, one of the tools suggested, and have immediately noticed that I'm getting better at thinking of work-to-do as a number of manageable steps, rather than an overwhelming cloud of SOMEDAY. Still not sure it's the tool for me, but there are some good alternatives suggested here too. I've felt disorganised for a very long time but never really thought there was anything I could do about it but 'try harder' at some unspecified future time. It's good to look at chaos and feel even a little less powerless.
One of the best things about this book is that it takes concepts from a variety of organisational systems and weaves them together in a way that is wholly clear-eyed about how you can and do manage yourself already. It's not asking you to transform yourself into an organising superhero (whew) but rather to understand how you and your household function, and then to design working systems around that. It is a kind and sensible philosophy. I had many moments when reading it when I just felt happy about the sense it was making.
I liked the way the book included both advice for the person struggling with disorganisation, as well as for readers looking to help another household member with disorganisation. I also found the exercises designed to unpick the personal impacts of lack of organisation very enlightening. A few surprises there for me.
I've finished the book but will definitely re-read when I'm further down the track. I think I have a lot more basic work to do to sort out our poor neglected house, before I can get to the excellent maintenance routines described here. I'm trying out Toodledo, one of the tools suggested, and have immediately noticed that I'm getting better at thinking of work-to-do as a number of manageable steps, rather than an overwhelming cloud of SOMEDAY. Still not sure it's the tool for me, but there are some good alternatives suggested here too. I've felt disorganised for a very long time but never really thought there was anything I could do about it but 'try harder' at some unspecified future time. It's good to look at chaos and feel even a little less powerless.
April 17, 2021
A bunch of people with ADHD highly recommended this book, so I decided to buy it (after I couldn’t find it at the library). While it did have some helpful ideas in it, it felt geared toward an entirely different type of person, but she framed it as the one true way to manage ADHD. I did appreciate that she didn’t give the illusion that people w/ ADHD can do it all if we follow her methods - we can’t, and she advocates for self- compassion and not expecting miracles. It definitely wasn’t a bad book; in fact it was helpful. It just wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.
October 7, 2022
Decent advice, but nothing new. Also, the author is so organized and has a multitude of paper and electronic systems...it was all very overwhelming to imagine doing that much listing and calendaring every day.
October 26, 2023
Tried to like this, really. The audiobook seems to jump around and the anecdotes honestly lead me to have more questions about the author’s life than answers for my own. Why does the author have to handle all communications and event planning with both sides of the family? Why does she handle almost all of the household tasks and can no longer write code because her husband does it professionally?
I stopped the audiobook at the portion about her telephone system, which honestly makes no sense to me. To remove the distraction of her smartphone screen, the author, instead of using a app-blocker to limit scrolling her phone use working hours, has some gadget installed to turn her cell phone into a “land line” type phone, that links to several more land-line style telephones in different sections of her multi-floor house. Then, she has software on her computer that allows her to text through a google voice number or something? And some other app to text from the computer?
Anyhow. It all seems confusing and convoluted, and paraphrases, Getting Things Done, which I have also tried to read but hoo-boy, has way too many steps for my li’l ADHD brain. The promise of the book is great- “get your house in order even if you have ADHD” but honestly if I could complete the several dozen steps and implement the 8 or so systems she recommends, I wouldn’t need a book like this in the first place.
I stopped the audiobook at the portion about her telephone system, which honestly makes no sense to me. To remove the distraction of her smartphone screen, the author, instead of using a app-blocker to limit scrolling her phone use working hours, has some gadget installed to turn her cell phone into a “land line” type phone, that links to several more land-line style telephones in different sections of her multi-floor house. Then, she has software on her computer that allows her to text through a google voice number or something? And some other app to text from the computer?
Anyhow. It all seems confusing and convoluted, and paraphrases, Getting Things Done, which I have also tried to read but hoo-boy, has way too many steps for my li’l ADHD brain. The promise of the book is great- “get your house in order even if you have ADHD” but honestly if I could complete the several dozen steps and implement the 8 or so systems she recommends, I wouldn’t need a book like this in the first place.
July 21, 2023
I came for the organizing tips and left with a renewed sense of confidence in who I am and a desire to solidify systems to help support my neurodivergence! And now I will proceed to hyper-focus on more about adult ADHD and the Get Stuff Done method 🤗
July 2, 2021
Mehhhh there were some helpful/inspiring tips every now and then but that's it for me personally.
December 29, 2021
Not at all helpful for someone with ADHD.
March 29, 2024
organisation your way, acceptance and some great tips
The start comes across with an emotional and releasing way of confronting problems and ideas and doesn’t jump straight into advice. It uses some key ideas about accepting reality your way and what works for you and upon that foundation shares great ideas about funneling and containing all the things incoming and how to manage them in a way that acknowledges all their subparts instead of making a small list that reflects a much larger list. Great, some things I personally do differently which the author encourages. Great read on adult organisation.
The start comes across with an emotional and releasing way of confronting problems and ideas and doesn’t jump straight into advice. It uses some key ideas about accepting reality your way and what works for you and upon that foundation shares great ideas about funneling and containing all the things incoming and how to manage them in a way that acknowledges all their subparts instead of making a small list that reflects a much larger list. Great, some things I personally do differently which the author encourages. Great read on adult organisation.
March 7, 2023
This has given me so many ideas to improve my day to day life. I’ve always wanted to know how people get things done — especially since that’s never come naturally to me. This book has many pointers and direction, without making it seem like these things are too easy or make you feel incompetent (which is how I often feel) I ’m excited for what I’ll be able to accomplish with what I’ve learned.
November 29, 2023
Helpful for the adhd person who needs help with organizing; however, giving specific places to reference materials throughout the audiobook would have been much more helpful.
May 16, 2022
Awesome read! Listened to it as I put the invaluable tips into practice. Already feeling more confident and organized, even with my crazy brain and my lack of normal executive functioning.
November 29, 2022
Two things I didn’t like about the book:
1. The push for medication. The author herself is medicated for her ADHD, which is totally fine. But not everyone is or wants to be and assuming everyone who has ADHD should take medication is bothering me a lot. It’s not too pushy, but in the beginning of the book she makes it seem like if you’re not medicated, you cannot deal with life with ADHD, which is not true.
And 2nd: That a woman is the one who should manage everything around the household while also being a working woman and a parent. I don’t know how her husband deals with his ADHD, but it’s clear that she’s the one who does more for the household. From the sounds of it, she doing the grocery shopping, keeping tabs and checking in on family from both sides, tracking everything around the kids, cleaning the kitchen, dishes, dusting, cleaning the toilet and so on and so forth. She has to remind everyone around the house what appointment they have and she’s the one making the appointments for everyone. It’s not a book about her marriage, so I’m not going to judge her husband too harshly;I don’t know him, but the notion that a woman is responsible for all of that and that we need to find a way to juggle it all is bothersome for me.
That being said, I enjoy the book a lot. It had some amazing advice. Even if you don’t do anything suggested by the author, she has so many good points that you can modify it to fit your life and goals. Some of he’s advise is not for me (to use apps for example), but the information she keeps in the apps, I can keep in a bullet journal - it’s a different format, but the same content. I would really recommend the book especially to people with ADHD!
1. The push for medication. The author herself is medicated for her ADHD, which is totally fine. But not everyone is or wants to be and assuming everyone who has ADHD should take medication is bothering me a lot. It’s not too pushy, but in the beginning of the book she makes it seem like if you’re not medicated, you cannot deal with life with ADHD, which is not true.
And 2nd: That a woman is the one who should manage everything around the household while also being a working woman and a parent. I don’t know how her husband deals with his ADHD, but it’s clear that she’s the one who does more for the household. From the sounds of it, she doing the grocery shopping, keeping tabs and checking in on family from both sides, tracking everything around the kids, cleaning the kitchen, dishes, dusting, cleaning the toilet and so on and so forth. She has to remind everyone around the house what appointment they have and she’s the one making the appointments for everyone. It’s not a book about her marriage, so I’m not going to judge her husband too harshly;I don’t know him, but the notion that a woman is responsible for all of that and that we need to find a way to juggle it all is bothersome for me.
That being said, I enjoy the book a lot. It had some amazing advice. Even if you don’t do anything suggested by the author, she has so many good points that you can modify it to fit your life and goals. Some of he’s advise is not for me (to use apps for example), but the information she keeps in the apps, I can keep in a bullet journal - it’s a different format, but the same content. I would really recommend the book especially to people with ADHD!
March 13, 2022
As someone who has lived the majority of their life without ADHD medications successfully, I really don't like how much it seemed like they pushed it throughout the book. I do acknowledge that for some they feel it's necessary. For me that's not the case. I picked up this book because I always strive for improvement in day to day life overall. She did include several good strategies. Sometimes I laughed throughout. I took this up in audiobook form and sped it up by 1.5x speed. This seemed an appropriate speed throughout the book for me. I feel like if I would have kept it at the normal speed red it would have been to slow. I'll look up a few of the strategies and see what I can implement, but really am not a fan of pushing meds. Some people with ADHD function fine once they learn and implement strategies that work for them. I feel like it should have been something acknowledged more in this.
February 12, 2023
Well, this was mostly a frustrating exercise in realizing how much I’ve already figured out on my own prior to my ADHD diagnosis. That’s no fault of the author, of course, but I can’t help but wonder if other readers will be similarly frustrated by the somewhat surface-level organization tips on display here. I feel like a lot of it is obvious even to neurodivergent people.
Still, it was presented with brevity and had actionable advice so I feel like I should give it a middle of the road rating. The section on not overcommitting made me wince as that’s definitely something I need to work on. I’m also going to check out some of the recommended reading (but not the self-admitted pseudoscience one).
Still, it was presented with brevity and had actionable advice so I feel like I should give it a middle of the road rating. The section on not overcommitting made me wince as that’s definitely something I need to work on. I’m also going to check out some of the recommended reading (but not the self-admitted pseudoscience one).
December 17, 2022
Seemed very disjointed to me. Almost like a compilation of blog posts, which makes sense since the author has a blog. Might be best to check her online writing before buying the book to see if her style clicks.
Because for me it just kind of didn't. She included info (like the four tendencies from Gretchen Rubin) that didn't really go anywhere, and most of her system is a version of Getting Things Done. The info she includes about being a visual learner, etc., and how that related to how to organize things was interesting, but probably can be found on her blog.
If you dig her blog, you'll probably like the book. I just didn't find it terribly helpful for me.
Because for me it just kind of didn't. She included info (like the four tendencies from Gretchen Rubin) that didn't really go anywhere, and most of her system is a version of Getting Things Done. The info she includes about being a visual learner, etc., and how that related to how to organize things was interesting, but probably can be found on her blog.
If you dig her blog, you'll probably like the book. I just didn't find it terribly helpful for me.
December 28, 2022
The book was okay. I don’t think it is a book designed for everyone with ADHD, just those with the author’s specific type of it. I also wouldn’t recommend it for people with ADHD and autism. Some of the advice would only stand to frustrate people with both. And from a sociological standpoint, some of the examples just rub me the wrong way. Instead of organizing some parts of our life like the author suggested, maybe we should take a step back and question some of society’s “norms and rules.” I had to put it down several times just out of frustration.
April 13, 2023
So interesting to read this alongside Building a Second Brain. I think the two paired very nicely. I very much enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who feels disorganized and in need of some systems. The chapter on hyper-focusing (and its challenges) was especially eye-opening for me. Loved it!
March 21, 2022
2.5. I am trying to put my finger on why I am rating this like this, because I didn’t get much out of it — but why?
And maybe the issue is that this felt overwhelming. I am someone who has read a lot of books on ADHD and it felt daunting to put any of this advice in to action. And I’m someone who loves elaborate systems!
And it didn’t help that I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator sounded, well, judgy. If you’re going to try this one, do it in print.
And maybe the issue is that this felt overwhelming. I am someone who has read a lot of books on ADHD and it felt daunting to put any of this advice in to action. And I’m someone who loves elaborate systems!
And it didn’t help that I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator sounded, well, judgy. If you’re going to try this one, do it in print.
January 7, 2023
I really appreciated the way this book approached ADHD. It acknowledged the real life struggles without allowing ADHD to become an excuse for "I can't because of ADHD" that I have see often. Her ideas were practical, realistic, and doable.
March 5, 2022
Definitely some helpful advice in there but the overall message of the book missed the mark for me.
August 3, 2024
Some interesting things to try here. I’m reading at three stars for now, and if these new techniques work, I’ll come back and change the rating to a higher one.
My key takeaways:
1) The difference between a task and a project, and why the things that are a project never get crossed off my to do list
2) you need a container for it and that container can’t be in your head
3) Novelty will help you get stuff done. So will sticky notes!
4) you need to make peace with reality, and not thinking that you will be a completely different person that will suddenly be able to use systems that haven’t worked for you in the past
5) inboxes both physical and digital, to minimize and contain the input coming at you each day
My key takeaways:
1) The difference between a task and a project, and why the things that are a project never get crossed off my to do list
2) you need a container for it and that container can’t be in your head
3) Novelty will help you get stuff done. So will sticky notes!
4) you need to make peace with reality, and not thinking that you will be a completely different person that will suddenly be able to use systems that haven’t worked for you in the past
5) inboxes both physical and digital, to minimize and contain the input coming at you each day
March 13, 2023
I liked it and it was helpful, however I think the book thinks I’m more of an adult than I am. ADHD books are either for parents for their 10 year old, or like this one and expect me to be married, have a job, a child, and a house. I’m 20 and in college so most didn’t fully apply…
August 30, 2023
Reaffirmed what I've been reading.
Regarding the audiobook narrator. She pet my peeves. It is etcetera, not excetera. I cringed every time she said that word.
Regarding the audiobook narrator. She pet my peeves. It is etcetera, not excetera. I cringed every time she said that word.
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