ADD people are bored very easily, as you well know if you have ADD. People call us lazy, but it’s not that. We’ll put tremendous effort into things that matter to us, and that we enjoy. But how exciting is washing dishes or cleaning up a mess of stuff? Not very and it just doesn’t happen. We learn to live with our messes.

Am I right? The dishes could be overflowing the sink, and the dust in the house might be forming little clumps that are starting to resemble small animals. They’re scaring your cat. Oh, and then, there’s the floor, littered with all matter of elements–rock, paper, hedge clippers, whatever. It’s just a mess! And you look at that stuff, and say to yourself, “I’ll get to that later,” and you never do. Your ADD never allows it.

Nobody has to live that way, of course. And you can’t allow it to go on indefinitely or the health department will come by and tack a “condemned” sign on your door. The stuff has to be done, no matter how much your ADD brain doesn’t want to do it. But there’s a way to do it painlessly. And it’s so simple that you’ll laugh when you read it, but it works. Really.

Here’s what you can do…

Maybe you’re going to pick up that stuff on the floor and actually put the hedge clippers in the garage. You really didn’t need them to open that wireless mouse package, but they make it so hard! Well, OK… Get out your iPod or your CD player or turn on the Sirius, whatever, and then, crank it up. Really hear it. Then, get your nose involved. Light some incense or a scented candle that you like. And now, your sense of taste. Try some sugarless gum or hard candy while you’re cleaning up. Your eyes and hands are already involved, so that will have all your senses involved and your ADD brain is less likely to balk.

You can get some added benefit by wearing something you like. What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t working? Whatever that is, if it’s playing football, put on the gear while you’re straightening up around the house. You’ll be amazed at how well this stuff works.

And you’re set. You’ll be dancing around, smelling good smells instead of last week’s laundry, wearing something that makes you feel good, and just generally getting things done. ADD brains do get bored pretty easily, so it’s important to keep it occupied. If you get really good at this, you might start to enjoy the chores you hate to do. You never know… ADD brains just need to be involved all the time. Give every sense something to do and your place will be clean and orderly. Or, if this doesn’t work… hire someone to do these things for you, if you can afford it. One way or another, the stuff has to be done. Make it as easy for yourself as possible.

When you woke up this morning and went to your home office, did you see the same stack of newspapers on the floor that’s been there since 1992? Or, what about your desk? Do you remember if it’s mahogany or metal? If you’re asking these questions, you may have ADD, and are suffering the dreaded clutter monster.

It’s not uncommon for people with ADD to have clutter in their lives. Though we really prefer things to be nice and neat, we don’t have the wherewithal to keep things that way. We hate to be bored, and so we procrastinate, sometimes for years. And we may be comfortable with our messes, but the people who have to live with us may not be so easy going. They let us know when it’s time to fix the mess. So, how does a person with ADD get started?

Here’s an idea for you that is totally ADD-friendly:

Get a big box and dump everything into it. Just gather it up and toss it into the box. Not too boring or time consuming, right? Just be sure to keep bills aside or anything that needs attention. You may want to get a basket and keep it somewhere that’s easy to get to when the mail comes. You can just toss bills in there as they come in, and then, pick a day each month when you’ll pay them.

Pick a day to go through the box you’ve just filled with mess, too, and be sure it’s a day when you won’t be distracted and need to leave the house. This will be an all-day, job, but a painless one. So, get a timer and two banker’s boxes with lids from the office supply store, and a trash can. Then, set the timer for five minutes and start going through the stuff in the big box. Put trash in the trash, important papers into one banker’s box, and not-so-important-but-I-don’t-want-to-throw-away papers into another one.

At the end of the five minutes, stop. Reset the timer for 55 minutes, and go and do whatever you want to do for that time. When the timer buzzes, then set it for 5 minutes again, and go back to the big box and start sorting. Unless the big box is the size of a small elephant, you should be done by the end of that day.

After finishing, write a date on the not-so-important banker’s box and store it. If you don’t look inside after six months, then, throw it away. Keep the other banker’s box with important papers, like insurance policies or product warranties, in a cool, dry place where you can reach it easily. It’s not important that the papers inside are organized. They just have to be available for you to find them, if needed.

Nothing in the world will stop your ADD from making clutter again. So, make this a monthly ritual. Pick up everything, and take a day to sort it. If you can do this, you’ll be happier, but imagine how happy your non-ADD family will be. You can do anything for 5 minutes at a time. Try it and see if this clutter-slaying process isn’t right for you.

It can be easy to loose your patience when dealing with an especially unruly or angry child, but in doing so you are really just reinforcing the child’s angry behavior. You can use some fun ways to get the child to see the excessive nature of their own anger, instead of reacting with anger

Although in especially heated situations this may be a struggle, the faster you can get the child to release their anger, the quicker you can diffuse the situation and have an efficient conversation. Contrary to anger management for adults, anger management for kids is less restrictive. With Kids, it is possible to use more imaginative techniques.

First step: Point Out the Obvious

If your child is reacting in a ridiculously angry way, point it out calmly. You should not tease your child about it, but make them understand how silly it is to rave and rant. Pretend their words are blowing you over or make an exaggerated face of surprise in return. Make your message clear, but your reaction light hearted. Because kids don’t have the same social experience as adults to pick up on small nuances, you don’t need to be subtle in addressing anger management for kids. If their anger doesn’t break down yours, you will be able to break down the walls the child has erected around their emotions.

Second step: Create Space

If the child is still not responding to your efforts even if you’ve reacted light-heartedly and calmly, there is no harm in expressing your inability to deal with the child in their angry state, and then just walking away. If the child runs screaming after you after using this technique, calmly remind he or she that you can only speak with them when they have calmed down, and do not react to them until their anger has subsided. You’ll know that you have been effective in driving home your message if the child understands that they have to work past their anger in order to get your attention. If you are consistent in your message, the child will learn quickly how to cope with his or her own anger.

If you can remember how frustrating it felt to be a child and to want to be heard, you’ll hold the key to anger management for kids. In the case of anger management for kids, it is less a symptom of underdevelopment, as it may be in adults, and more a lesson that has not yet been learned. The best teachers are not necessarily the strictest. When dealing with anger management for kids, remember that the best teachers are the ones who can see past the child’s surface reaction to the little person inside who’s begging for help.