How to Help a Child With ADHD Get Organized

For an ADHD child, getting organized is equal to success—being organized can help prevent stress, encourage and develop executive functioning skills, and support your child with ADHD.

And, just like most things when it comes to supporting your child with ADHD, it takes a village. What you do will impact what they do to support themselves and how they navigate their ADHD.

Here are some of the ways you can help your child with ADHD get organized:

4 Ways to Help Your Child with ADHD Get Organized

These are just some of the ways I’ve helped my clients be organized when things get overwhelming and busy. But, before we get into it, I just want you to know that it’s okay to get overwhelmed. Give yourself a chance to breathe through it and then execute it.

Now, here’s how to help your child get organized:

#1. Establish a Routine

I recommend starting by creating a morning and bedtime routine—but you’ll want to expand into a homework routine, a chores routine, etc. If you can create that schedule, get tasks done, you can get ahead. 

This applies to you, too. You need a routine that allows you to have time to yourself before you get overwhelmed. 

#2. Create Visual Cues 

For anything you’re organizing, create visual cues! One thing I’m big on is planners and color-coding a planner to stay organized. You can also have designated workspaces for homework, chores, reading, and more.

These visual cues can help your child associate certain tasks or items with an area, giving them a little help with the decision-making process for cleaning. 

#3. Break Down the Tasks

What I love to do is sit down on Sunday and brain dump everything that needs to be done, then the next day I’ll pick three things that I really want to tackle. Once I get those three things done, I’ll move onto the next (it’s one of the best ways to motivate people with ADHD).

This works because the more things you get done, the more successful you’ll feel and you’re more excited to do more. 

#4. Rewards, Praise, and Positive Reinforcement

Give praises and positive reinforcement—they’ll help your child keep up with (and be motivated) for what they need to organize and accomplish. When they get the tasks done, give them a reward! 

Try and make it fun, get them excited, do something they love to do, and celebrate the success!

What to Do Next: Staying Organized

Now that you know how to help your child with ADHD get organized, it’s time to stay organized. A huge part of this is going to be keeping up with those routines and practices that helped you get organized in the first place. 

That’s not to say you can never change your routine or that a different routine or technique might work better for your child, but it does mean that consistency is KEY.

Now, if you’re struggling to create and stick to a routine for yourself or your child with ADHD, reach out and book a call! As an ADHD coach and tutor for students, this is one of my specialties, and I’d love to help!