ADHD Ask: Why Should I Rearrange My ADHD Nest When Everything Is Where I Want It?

You have your spot in the house, everything you need is spread out and easily viewable - so why would you want to rearrange your ADHD nest? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having everything at hand?

Despite the name, ADHD isn't really a deficit in attention. It's more that we are very selective in where to spend our attention. We need to be doing something interesting enough to spark our attention. Do something for long enough, and it becomes less interesting and we become less motivated to continue it.

One of the problems with ADHD nests, apart from everyone else in the house getting upset because you made a mess over one half at the kitchen table, is that if your nest remains exactly the same, at a certain point, you will stop seeing what is in the nest.

Your brain will stop acknowledging the items in your list because it gets so used to seeing them they are no longer interesting. That is how you can have something literally right in front of you, but overlook it. 

It's almost the opposite of the "out of sight, out of mind" problem. You see something so often that your brain disregards it, especially if it is in the exact same space it always is.

Putting something in a safe space sounds like a great idea. But in the ADHD nest, having something in the same spot, day in and day out, can cause problems.

• Move your nest around and reassess everything
• Make sure all of the items are still relevant for what you're currently doing
• If they are related to a hobby or tasks that you've completed or no longer doing, put them out of the way for the time being
• Clear the nest of irrelevant pieces
• Take out all the rubbish 
• Take all the cups to the sink

Check everything in front of you is actually stuff that will help you.

Put a couple of shiny trinkets in there because those always activate the dopamine in the brain. If you have some shinies in there that you really love seeing, little figurines, or something that has been given to you that sparks a happy, leave those in there.

You'll easily be able to tell the difference between something that is a shiny because it's not something that's necessary to be there, but it is something you will always notice being there. It is something interesting to your brain. It still sparks a dopamine flash, whereas a notebook may not.

It may have been seen so many times by your brain, that your brain no longer regards the notebook. It doesn't associate that with the task you need it for.

Because of the way the brain works, sometimes you can't start the task unless you have the pieces for the task, even though you know exactly what you need to do.

You could spend an hour looking for a notebook, unable to start a task, and the notebook could be in front of you the whole time. 

It was sitting underneath another notebook, and that's another reason why you should frequently review and rearrange your ADHD nest.

If you make piles of items in your nest, you will only see what is on top of the pile. You have activated the "out of sight, out of mind" problem.

So, shuffle things around, find a way to have notebooks standing up if you can. I use a pot lid holder and I can stand up 12 books inside it. I can see all 12 spines, so I know what they are. If I have a pile of notebooks, all I know is that the top notebook exists.

Burn it all down

Between the executive dysfunction, impulse control, and often lack of empathy from people around you, the desire to throw the towel in and burn everything down can come on hard and fast. 

It might not be a conscious thing, but the act of removing your personal belongings is a massive signifier that you don't want to be there any longer. You are consciously or unconsciously removing everything that is personal to you from that environment. You are getting ready to remove yourself from that environment. - ADHD Ask: Why Is Someone Suddenly Removing Their 'ADHD Nests' a Bad Thing?

If you start to break down your ADHD nest, be conscious if you are just rearranging things to better suit your week, or are you wanting to leave that area. There is nothing wrong with moving your nest around the house to better suit your needs, but there is a big difference between that and removing your nest due to no longer wanting to be there at all.

© Kristy Westaway 2021