Spoons vs. Sporks
Howdy folks! I'm new to ADHD spaces, still in the process of getting a diagnosis, but I've been doing some thinking about how I handle energy for tasks, and I was wondering if it would resonate with anyone else.
My partner and I have cats, which means we have to clean their litter box regularly. I struggle a lot with executive dysfunction, and so does she, so sometimes that's challenging. Recently though, we cat sat for a friend that had a Litter Genie. I have to say, I love this thing. We bought one immediately. It's basically just a little trashcan, but it automatically bags and stores dirty litter to be disposed of later.
For me, this was a game changer. I don't know why, but not having to deal with throwing out the litter at the same time makes it so much easier. Individually, cleaning the litter boxes, and taking out the trash, are easy, one spoon tasks. But only with the Litter Genie. If I have to worry about taking out the trash too, it becomes so much more than just one spoon more expensive. That's what made me think of sporks.
Because throwing away the cat litter after cleaning the litter box is really nothing. It's just the fact that I have to think about it that makes it harder. It's the complexity, not the amount, so it's not more spoons really, it's a different spoon, a spork. I think I'm going to start using this terminology with my partner. When discussing chores, we'll be able to mention spork tasks, for things we might need a little help with, or that we could use some brainstorming on how to tackle.
Do you have any simple things that feel like sporks to you? If so, do you have ways you break them down to make them easier? I'd especially love something for dishes lol
For kitchen stuff - If it’s not dishwasher safe I don’t get it or don’t keep it (if it was given to me).
We have a robot vacuum and litter box. I am grateful for them every day.
Getting myself and my kid out the door in the morning feels like climbing Everest every day. One thing she almost always forgot was to put socks on when she got dressed, so she’d have to go back upstairs. Since she’s also neurodivergent there was a good chance she’d get distracted upstairs and 1. forget to get her socks, 2. lose track of time or 3. both. I put a bin by our shoes and now her clean socks go in there.
I am exactly the same! Our dishwasher is my most precious possession. Got a great deal on a little half size portable one for our tiny apartment kitchen. And we love our robot vacuum too. His name is Chumley. He doesn't run often though, because it's so hard keeping the floors clear enough that he doesn't get stuck lol
Socks by the door is a great idea, because I'm constantly losing mine
Dishwasher was also my first thought. I "tried" to get one for over 20 years, but finally did it less than 2 years ago.
The complexity of getting one threw me off for 2 decades. Which model? How to deliver? How to install? How to get an extra water-in and water-out installed? Make appointments with technicians? Same company that sells & delivers the dishwasher or a different one?
For singles, a simple small one that requires nothing and can be filled with water manually is a good hack to get started. These can often be installed properly later for less hassle.
Btw, it actually was kind of complex:
Yeah, like sticky spoons! This one task has another task stuck to it and it's gross and annoying and takes another spoon to deal with. These are the bane of my existence.
Sweeping or vacuuming the floor is one. I have to clear off the floor before actually sweeping. Sometimes there's a bag of laundry in the way so I need to either move it or put it away.
Laundry is another one. I need a place to be able to fold stuff. So the bed or a table needs to be cleaned off. If the bed sheets aren't clean, got to deal with that. I usually get to the table. Where I first need to clear it off, which usually is covered in my daughter's and partner's stuff. Then I need to clean it.
Same thing with cleaning the kitchen counters. I have to move everything off first. Sometimes that is dirty dishes. What I try to do to mitigate that is to unload the dishwasher and dish drainer every morning. Then as I make new dirty dishes, I load them in the dishwasher or hand wash them. That way there isn't a big pile. Unfortunately my partner has been taking care of the kitchen and everything is a mess. I can't get to it because I am dealing with household work only I can do. (She is more disabled than me...) But sometimes I have to clean the kitchen for her because she gets sick or something and it is so much harder because she doesn't have a system and it is chaos and dirty dishes everywhere. Some pretty old.
I will say one thing that helps me is I have bins for my partner's and daughter's wayward stuff. If they left something out and it's in my way, I put it in their bin. My partner appreciates it. My daughter takes some convincing to put the stuff away. It makes it so much easier for me to get my tasks done. Before I would either have to address each and every thing to them before I can get my own thing done.
One thing I decided wasn't worth my time and extra energy: cast iron, not the ceramic coated kind. No way I'm taking take of that. Uncoated stainless steel for life!
Ooh, these are great! Laundry definitely is another one for me. I don't know how to put a good break between doing the laundry, and putting it away, without just never putting it away.
The bin idea is so helpful, I will definitely be using that.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that can't handle cast iron. I feel the exact way you do. I can barely handle normal dishes, there's no way I'm adding extra work for questionable benefit lol
Stainless steel for me, too. For most dishes, sticking isn't much of an issue, and where it's a bit harder, such as sunny side up eggs, I rather have that little challenge than to deal with cast iron. Or non-stick, which scratch and poison the entire family if I ever pet it with the wrong side of the sponge.
The place I'm renting doesn't have a dishwasher (annoyingly common around this area) so I got an over-the-sink dish rack and established the habitat of washing dishes in the morning while I'm waiting for coffee to brew. The over-the-sink rack holds more dishes than an ordinary rack so I can go longer without emptying it. It drips into the sink so there's no drip tray accumulating mildew (taking apart a regular dish rack to clean the drop tray never happens). I also make sure to organize my cabinets so that dishes all live in the cabinets which are closest to the sink to make putting away dishes easier for me.