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At the 2023 International Conference on ADHD, Alan P. Brown of ADD Crusher made a shocking confession. He does not wash his hands after going to the bathroom. Scandalous, I know! However, he further clarified that what he does after using the restroom is go to the kitchen and wash two dishes. By the end of the washing, he has clean hands and two clean dishes. This is silly, and that is why it works.

The Power of the Silly

The ADHD brain loves things that are shiny. I don’t just mean “literally shiny.” They can be metaphorical shiny. Anything that is unusual or new is shiny to the ADHD brain. There is a strong pull to the shiny. When things are silly or amusing, they become attractive to brains like the ADHD brain. The above example from Alan Brown is ridiculous. If you are like me, your first thought was, “Wash your hands, and buy a dang dishwasher!” However, after some thought, I found myself chuckling at this tactic. Now, I see its brilliance. It is silly! Strategies for managing one’s life when one has ADHD do not need to be grand or serious. The simple, silly solution works just as well.

Embrace the Silly

So, I say to you, dear reader: Embrace the silly!

Do you ever forget whether or not you locked the door as you are leaving? The elegant, complicated solution is to install a smart lock that you can check on your phone to see if it is locked and if it is not you can lock the door from your phone. The silly solution is to squawk like a bird when you lock the door. Instead of going through the hassle of installing a smart lock on the door and an app on your phone, you can just remember whether or not you squawked when leaving your home. It is easy to squawk and it creates more awareness of what you are doing.

If you have a hard time remembering whether or not you have taken your medication in the morning, you could be elegant and complicated and download an app on your phone that allows you to log your medication as you take it. Or, you can do what I do and flip your pill bottle upside down before bed. When you take your medication in the morning, you can flip it right side up. Then, you know whether or not you have taken your medication based on the position of the bottle.

In Conclusion…

Stop making things complicated. We do not need an elegant solution to manage our ADHD tendencies. We need something that works. What works can be elegant and complicated. I am not saying that is a bad thing. However, what I am saying is, sometimes, a simple, silly solution works just as well and is often easier to implement. So, go out there and get silly!