#lowefspaces

[neurodiversitysci]

Hi! About the #lowefspaces for ADHD/similar study spaces! My room is a mess rn for summer but for school I have: 1) nothing on floor (for pacing/dance break) 2) video game soundtracks (designed to focus attention) 3) handful of snack bars and drinks 4) stack my papers in order of priority with the materials needed (book/laptop/handout sheets/etc) 5) no people I know (I chatter too much) and phone on Do not disturb or silent

Sounds like at school, you've set up your environment really effectively to help you focus! I bet it helps!

Sorry it took so long to get to your message. I think it's encouraging at any time. :)

[elsenborn]

After almost a month dragging my feet, I finally set up our spare room!

We got this big sturdy desk for $60, and both my boyfriend and I can work on it at the same time.

It genuinely improved my mental state CONSIDERABLY setting everything up. I have a space where I can focus and stay on task.

Great lighting, a cork board where I can keep my notes, and all the art I've collected for inspiration! Plus Sweetie, our support cat.

It really helped our apartment feel more like a home.

Next up on the list is a Vitamin D desk lamp! Aka a miniature SUN to keep S.A.D. from getting to us.

I'll post an update once it's more together!

[gayonlayaway-blog]

Alright! August first is here! And this is my fruit fly infested, moldy, messy kitchen. Once it got bad after a party I hosted, I was overwhelmed and started avoiding my entire house. Why start if it’s going to take D A Y S??? I ate out, spent too much money, felt awful, and didn’t have friends over EVER. So, after #lowefspaces was introduced, I felt inspired to track what worked for me as I cleaned it. Who wants someone with an already clean home telling them what to do? NOPE.

HOW TO CLEAN A KITCHEN 

Dear god. This is so much. And it’s gross. Old food is gross. Motherfuckin’ fruit flies like to get all up in your face. I recommend starting with a trip to the store for some basic equipment. Rubber dish gloves, dish soap, a brush or sponge,  

STEP 1: OPEN A FUCKING TRASH BAG

That’s it. That’s the first step. All I asked was for you to do one step today. Now you’re standing here with an open bag being weird. Don’t you want to put something IN the bag???;

STEP 2: PUT ALL TRASH IN THE FUCKING TRASH BAG

It’s amazing how much space clears up on your counter when all of the garbage is out of the way. It’s also super depressing how much packaging we consume… Let’s tackle that further down the road though. Today is about functionality. 

STEP 3: TAKE IT ALL THE WAY OUTSIDE

Don’t put it by the door. Don’t leave it for future you. Future you doesn’t want yo shit. Plus, it might smell. Fruit flies and stuff. GET. IT. THE. FUCK. OUT. You aren’t allowed to do step four until it’s out. I say so. 

How was your walk? Get some sun? Fresh air? Good job! You’ve already done three steps! 

STEP 4: TAKE ALL THE DIRTY DISHES AND PUT THEM ON THE TABLE

This one sounds weird but we need to be able to use the sink for cleaning them. I don’t have a dishwasher so it’s a very time consuming task to do the dishes and being able to start with an empty space is a breath of fresh air. 

STEP 5: DO ONE LOAD OF DISHES. 

Just one. One sink full. Put them in the rack to dry. 

STEP 6: CLEAN OFF THE TOP OF THE STOVE

Grab your wipes or your rag and cleaner and scrub that shit clean. This is a really satisfying task that just makes the whole space feel better. If you have electric coils or gas areas that also need deep cleaned, hold off for a bit. We aren’t going for the deep clean yet. We just want our space cleaned up so we can function. 

STEP 7: DO ONE MORE LOAD OF DISHES

One more sink full. Wear your gloves if things are funky.

STEP 8: WIPE OFF A COUNTER

If there is an appliance that needs some love, wash that and get some counter space to work with. YAS CLEAN SPACE. 

PRO TIP: SWEEP CRUMBS ONTO THE FLOOR AND THEN SWEEP THEM INTO THE MOTHERFUCKIN’ TRASH

STEP 9: MORE DISHES. YOU ARE SLAYING THIS.

STEP 10: DO THE NEXT COUNTER. 

Get the inside of the microwave while you’re at it.

STEP 11: DISHES

STEP 12: FINISH ALL SURFACES

STEP 13: CLEAN OUT THE SINK

Throw slices of a lemon in the garbage disposal

STEP 14: MOP

Holy shit look at this kitchen. You could actually make edible food in here. 

STEP 15: OPEN ANOTHER TRASH BAG

I HIGHLY recommend double bagging this one.

Bless you. This is real fuckin’ hard. Get all that goddamn waste out of there. Everything that has gone stanky or soft needs to go. Wear your gloves. Makes it easier. 

STEP 16: TAKE IT ALL THE WAY OUT

STEP 17: WIPE IT OUT

STEP 18: BASK IN THE GLOW OF YOUR CLEAN KITCHEN

You did it! You dug yourself out of a gross hole! 

MAINTENANCE: I like doing a competition with myself and I put a little sticky note above my sink to remind me. I try to go to bed with an empty sink every night. Something else that seems to work well (at least for the one week I have maintained my kitchen so far) is that if I use a pan or pot, the moment I dump whatever food thing onto my plate, I rinse it and wash it. I mean, it’s already in my hand right? And my food is way too hot to eat just yet. It’s way easier to get off too it’s not all crusty and stuck on there like satan himself glued the after effects of Hell’s pasta sauce to my cookware. 

Now, if you had fruit flies or some other bug situation, go get some traps. For fruit flies, I found that a few cups with a  bit of red wine in the bottoms and some plastic with a hole in it laid over the top does the trick. Bonus: use disposable cups.

It will take time and about a week of keeping your kitchen clean for them all to die off. IT IS SO WORTH NOT HAVING BUGS IN YOUR HOME!!! 

[trashcat-waifu]

My desk is executive dysfunction personified w h o o p s

[underdarkgreyclouds]

So I know the tag is kind of empty but I really love the idea of low ef spaces, so I want to contribute. This is what my desk tends to look like whenever I don't clean up after work right away. I'm currently not sure whether my system works for me, so I try keeping an eye on that. So far, I have figured out parts of what not to do anymore - I just don't know how to change it yet 😅 It is a work in progress, but I'm slowly getting better at adulting!

[stuckinperkatory]

Here's my desk / station of Best Functioning

A couple tips I've found work really well for my brain:

Wow! Look at all this space? Nope. Check out the second photo and how small it actually is. I have always preferred desks about this size. Just enough space for your work and a couple other things. Otherwise I get overwhelmed and try to fill the space. This one I got lucky and got for free from a friend.

I only have out the pens I intend to use. For me right now this means the micron (writing) the orange fineliner (secondary body text & accents) and the felt tip (titles). I could probably have done away with the brown one. I know that if I have everything out, I will get too distracted trying to pick the perfect writing utensil for the job and then nothing will ever get done because my selections or use of the stationary I chose weren't "perfect."

I ban myself from my phone with an app to force myself to not scroll endlessly. Tonight I got things done; some nights I sit there and stare at the wall but personally, I would rather do that than spend hours scrolling through social media not taking it in and wishing I was doing anything else.

[gayonlayaway-blog]

Working on my deep clean with ADHD series and this is currently the state of my office. Procrastinating with planning???