When “Just the Coats” Becomes the Whole Closet

How an ADHD cleaning session can spiral from a simple task to total chaos—and practical strategies to stay on track and avoid overwhelm.

Raise your hand if “cleaning” feels like a four-letter word.

Ask anyone with ADHD and they’ll likely agree: cleaning can be a nightmare for those of us blessed with both distractibility and attention to detail. No one really loves cleaning, of course. At best, it’s a gratifying, though often repetitive, activity. But with ADHD, it can quickly spiral into a deep pit of overwhelm, sometimes ending in binge-watching Netflix or being surrounded by an entire closet’s worth of belongings on the floor that retires your motivation for the day.

Picture this: you only meant to give away a few winter jackets. You approached your closet with a bag and determination. But when you pulled some out, you noticed a pile of things stuffed in the corner that you meant to deal with last Christmas. You stop to clear those out, which opened up floor space. This makes you realize it might be a good time to put away more shoes so they aren’t tripping you up at the front door. Before you put them away, though, you might as well clear the whole floor so you can add some shoe racks you purchased last year, right?

Anything sounding familiar yet?

As you step back and survey the scene, your eyes drift upward to the packed overhead shelf. You can’t remember what’s up there—looks like a sleeping bag, some magazines, and a few other mysteries. You decide to pull it all down too.

Now you’re surrounded. Your entire living room is covered in stuff and the coats still haven’t been sorted. In fact, you’re not sure where the coats are anymore. And, upon closer inspection, the rod in the closet looks like it’s pulled slightly out of the wall and will need to be reattached properly before any of this can be put away. Overwhelm and dread at the scope of work has begun to settle in.

Let’s step back. The original task was: “Go through the coats to see if there are some I can give away.” Somehow, it’s become: “Remove everything from the closet, put together shoe racks, move shoes, fix the rod, and sort through all of this stuff.”

A few things have gone sideways:

1. You still haven’t completed the original goal.

2. You’ve created a lot more work without a plan, tools, or a strategy.

3. You’ve made a huge amount of visual clutter.

Visual clutter is the enemy of many ADHD brains—it’s like a visible to-do list you can’t unsee. It adds to overwhelm and stress, and many of my clients report feeling less peaceful at home and in relationships until it’s dealt with or they’ve learned strategies to manage it.

Here are a few ways to navigate this situation:

Preventative Measures

• Be clear about your objective and stick to it. Ask: “Is this part of the goal today, or is it something else?”

• Have a “parking lot” for extra ideas or discoveries—like the closet rod or shoe rack. Table them for another time. Some of us fear we’ll never come back to them, but pulling everything out almost guarantees we won’t want to. Overwhelm can trigger fight, flight, or freeze—none of which help.

• If you think you might have the energy or time to do more, define the scope clearly. For example: “I’ll take one box out of the closet to go through now or sometime this week.”

In the Moment (Everything is Already Pulled Out—Oops)

• Finish the coats. It’s the original goal, and completing it will give you a win.

• Take a break. Tune into how you’re feeling. Set a timer, make tea, go for a walk, then return with fresh eyes.

• Tackle low-hanging fruit. Remove trash or items that clearly belong somewhere else. Sort these into bins that can be moved out of sight.

• Contain the spread. If you’re not ready to finish, it’s okay to put things back in the closet or into baskets and bins until you have the energy to return.

Post-Care (When It All Blew Up and You Couldn’t Finish)

• Practice self-compassion. Try: “When I take on big projects unprepared, I get overwhelmed. This tells me I need a plan and smaller stages next time.”

• Make a plan for next time. Here are a few quick strategies:

  • Set a ten-minute timer

  • Use a body double (someone to keep you company while you work)

  • Try this foolproof ADHD-friendly cleaning method we wrote about here in the article: ADHD Cleaning Without the Chaos.