You're Not a Hoarder!

But you could be neurodivergent and have difficulty with executive function.

If you think you’re a hoarder, you’re not. Hoarding disorder is such a debilitating condition that you wouldn’t have the presence of mind to read this if you were.

For a hoarding disorder diagnosis, three things must be present:

1. A person collects and keeps a lot of items, even things that appear useless or of little value to most people,

2. These items clutter the living spaces and keep the person from using their rooms as they were intended, and 

3. These items cause distress or problems in day-to-day activities. 

Compulsive hoarding used to be considered a subtype of OCD, since as many as 25% of people with OCD also have compulsive hoarding. However, recent research suggests that nearly 20% of hoarders have non-hoarding OCD symptoms. Compulsive hoarding is also considered a feature of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and may develop along with other mental illnesses.

Unless your home is a fire hazard that is so cluttered that you can’t move around freely, and you can’t get up and dressed and go about a normal life, you are not a hoarder. You may, however, be neurodivergent. 

Neurodivergence Is a Difference, Not a Deficit

Neurodivergent describes a person who thinks, behaves, and learns differently to what is typical in society. Neurodivergent means you process the world differently than most people. Autism, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, Dyslexia and other specific learning differences all fall under the umbrella of neurodivergent, as does OCD, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. According to some researchers, even anxiety and depression can be a form of neurodivergence.

When Your Executive Function Isn’t Functional

People who are neurodiverse often have challenges with Executive Function. Executive Function refers to a set of skills that help someone plan and achieve a goal. Flexible thinking, initiating, planning, prioritization, self-monitoring, self-control, working memory, time management, and organization are all executive function skills. You don’t have to be neurodivergent to have trouble with these skills, but if you are, it probably contributes to your trouble organizing and explains why some people find it easier to do than others. The good news is there are professional organizers and executive function coaches who can help people learn strategies to strengthen their executive function skills. 

Strategies for ADHD 

If you have ADHD or difficulty with executive function skills you are going to have to do things in smaller chunks of time, which might mean you get less done in a day than you’d like. Don’t let that stop you. If you have trouble initiating, schedule out ahead of time when and what you’ll be organizing this week. Tell yourself, “I’m just going to organize this one drawer.” That will get you started and the momentum will keep you going so you might be able to do more than you realize. Prioritize by taking care of things that aggravate you when you are getting ready for the day. No one should be aggravated first thing in the morning. It can ruin your whole day.

For example, if you have to dig through your drawer to get to the “good” underwear or take time to find a pair of matching socks, do a dresser drawer. If you can’t find a sharp razor or get to a Q-Tip easily, organize a cabinet or drawer in the bathroom. Couldn’t find an umbrella or a coat that fit this morning? The coat closet is what you should work on next. I’m not saying to do it right then the moment you get aggravated. Just make a note (mental, physical or digital) that this is the area you will work on later today.

Avoid the Distraction

Your mind may continue to swirl during an organizing session and try to distract you by remembering everything else you have to do, worrying about how to handle a situation or how you could have handled it better, and feeling physical sensations (hungry, thirsty, sleepy, in pain, etc). You can avoid the distraction of physical sensations by taking care of yourself first before you organize. Make sure you are well rested, fed, hydrated and if necessary, caffeinated. Just as if you were getting ready to go to work, go to the bathroom, take your medicine, fill a water bottle, and pack snacks. If your blood sugar goes too low, you won’t be able to make decisions and that’s the end of organizing for the day. Don’t forget to drink! While you’re working, make time for “hydration and elimination.” If you are physically uncomfortable you are less effective, and you don’t want to associate organizing with being uncomfortable because that will be a stumbling block.

There’s an App for That

When your mind won’t stay focused, acknowledge the intrusion, and then do what it takes for you to keep working. Write a to-do list, set an alarm, enter an appointment in your calendar, schedule a reminder, send a text, make a call, play music…whatever you need to do to quiet your mind without physically leaving the spot. You can do all that on your phone, which should always be charged and with you when you are organizing. Your phone has powerful tools to help with executive function and organization, like Notes, Calendar, Clock, Message, Phone, Maps, and Camera. I include Camera because you can take pictures of things you need to do instead of writing them out. At school, a common accommodation is to be able to take a picture of the board instead of writing assignments in a planner. At my house, we keep a list on the whiteboard in the kitchen of what we need, and then take a picture of the list before we go grocery shopping. Plus, you use the camera to access Google Lens, which helps you identify an object so you can decide where it goes.

In Google Play or Apple App Store, search for executive function, time management, scheduling, planning, or organizing, and you will find dozens of apps and games made specifically to help with executive function skills. If you don’t know how to get or use these apps, ask someone to show you. Until then, bring a pen and notebook with you so you can get all the distractions out of your head and onto the paper where you will deal with them later.

Feel Better? Now Get to Work!

If you have wondered why you seem to struggle so much with organization when it appears to come easy to others, now you know. Like artistic talent or athletic ability, some people are born with skill in executive functioning. If strong executive function is not your gift, there are skills and strategies you can learn that can help develop it. Whether you are neurodivergent or not, once you realize what’s going on in your brain, you can feel better about yourself and more empowered to get to work.