#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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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 de