That Hoarder: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding

#186 10 executive dysfunction tips and tricks to help people who hoard, whether we have ADHD or are neurodivergent or not - Hoarding Awareness Week 2025

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  • Podcast show notes, links and transcript: http://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/

    • For Hoarding Awareness Week 2025, I’m focusing on executive function - the brain’s control centre for planning, starting, and finishing tasks - and the small, practical hacks that can make a genuine difference for people who hoard, whether or not we have ADHD or are neurodivergent. I talk about real-life tips for breaking the overwhelm, managing perfectionism, building momentum, and overcoming shame, all with the aim of making progress sustainable and achievable in your day-to-day life. This episode is all about honest advice that actually works, whether you’re in the thick of it or just looking for a few smarter ways to approach this.

    • Hoarding Awareness Week 2025 and its theme: Hoarding & Executive Function
    • Recognition that executive function challenges impact both neurodivergent and neurotypical people
    • Executive Function and Hoarding
    • Previous podcast episodes relating to executive function, ADHD, and hoarding
    • Importance of using effective hacks and techniques, regardless of neurotype
    • Emphasis on finding what works personally for each listener
    • The Realities and Challenges of Tackling Hoarding
    • Overwhelm and daunting feelings about dehoarding
    • Breaking tasks into small, manageable parts
    • Focus on actionable, day-to-day strategies rather than long-term, rigid planning
    • Understanding Executive Function
    • Explanation of what executive function is (control centre for planning, focus, and impulse control)
    • Factors that can impair executive function (neurodivergence, mental health, stress, lack of sleep, etc.)
    • Universality of executive dysfunction - everyone struggles at times
    • Emotional Barriers: Perfectionism and Shame
    • The cycle of shame and self-blame in executive dysfunction and hoarding
    • Societal judgment around hoarding, and its paralysing effects
    • Strategies for stepping back, naming emotions, and cultivating self-compassion
    • Core Executive Dysfunction Tips and Hacks
    • Breaking Tasks Down
    • Setting realistic micro-goals
    • The concept of “towards” vs. “away” moves in progress
    • Tracking Progress
    • Counting bags/items leaving the house
    • Caution against tracking becoming burdensome for some
    • Using Timers
    • Setting short (e.g., 5-minute) timers to help with task initiation
    • Use of voice assistants to avoid distraction
    • Reverse-timer technique to use end of music/podcast as a cue for action
    • The Two-Minute Rule
    • Limitations and personal adaptations of rule
    • Identifying Motivations
    • Creating visual or written reminders of why you want to dehoard
    • Acceptance of some tools working only temporarily, and switching when necessary
    • Reward Systems
    • Small, non-material rewards for completing tasks
    • Linking listening to desired media (like the podcast) with decluttering activities
    • Non-Negotiable Rules
    • Creating routines to reduce decision fatigue (e.g., charity bags leave home immediately)
    • Body Doubling
    • Doing tasks alongside others (physically or virtually, like in the host’s Zoom sessions)
    • Emotional/moral support of parallel accountability
    • Alternative ways to body double if group support isn’t accessible
    • Time Blocking and Scheduling
    • Using calendars and reminders to schedule decluttering sessions
    • Flexibly adapting this strategy based on personal response
    • Habit Stacking
    • Linking a new task to an established routine (e.g., unloading dishwasher while kettle boils)
    • Using “add-ons” for frequently-visited spaces (e.g., clearing five things each time you enter the bathroom)

      • Links

      • Podcast ep 183: ADHD, executive dysfunction and creating hacks and systems to reduce clutter chaos, with Carrie Lagerstedt
      • Podcast ep 162: From Fibble to Focus: Defibble your executive dysfunction with Jo Cavalot
      • Podcast ep 112: Executive function, executive dysfunction and hoarding with Dr Jan Eppingstall
      • Podcast ep 149: ADHD, hoarding and clutter with Susie Boutal, ADHD and Declutter Coach
      • Podcast ep 107: Things that look like hoarding but aren’t: ADHD, depression, autism, OCD, OCPD and more
      • Podcast ep 40: ADHD and hoarding with Dr Sharon Morein
      • Podcast ep 82: Dehoarding when you’re drowning with KC Davis of Struggle Care
      • Podcast ep 182: What are “towards and away moves” and what on earth do they have to do with hoarding recovery? With Dr Jan Eppingstall
      • Podcast ep 184: What if we actually felt the feelings? An honest conversation about trauma, hoarding, and allowing yourself to feel
      • Podcast ep 28: Avoid analysis paralysis by having ‘systems’
      • Arielle and Ned's Daily Tips That May or May Not Help You
      • Come to a Dehoarding Accountability Zoom session: Accountability Booking Form
      • Website: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding
      • Become a Dehoarding Darling
      • Submit a topic for the podcast to cover
      • Questions to ask when dehoarding: https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/podquestions
      • Instagram: @thathoarderpodcast
      • Twitter: @ThatHoarder
      • Mastodon: @[email protected]
      • TikTok: @thathoarderpodcast
      • Facebook: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder
      • Pinterest: That Hoarder
      • YouTube: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder
      • Reddit: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder subreddit
      • Help out: Support this project
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