Adult ADHD and Hyperfocused Cleaning

Ahhh! It's 10:27pm on a Sunday night and I have just spent hours CLEANING. Yes, cleaning is very important to me. I like to have a tidy house that has everything in its place - and happens to be kitty litter and dust free. No, that doesn't happen very often. I have Adult ADHD and along with that often comes inconsistency. It's a Catch-22 really: I feel better and think better when things are clean and tidy, but I find it hard to be consistent with keeping things clean and tidy.What exactly about my cleanliness is hyperfocused? Like I said, I just finished cleaning around 10:30pm ... There are people who rent the apartment above mine and I was definitely vacuuming with wild abandon way too late at night. I had to clean. I couldn't read a book or sit down to watch a show. I had cleaning on my brain and cleaning I had to do.

I even managed to take a break at one point. I asked good-wife-Sarah what I should do to make the cleaning hyperfocus stop and she suggested Jenga. She lost the first game; I lost my first ever game to her at Jenga; and, then, I pouted through my second victory of the night. After a few glasses of water during the game, I used the facilities and before I knew it ... I found myself on my hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor. From Jenga to cleaning in less than 25 seconds. That must be a world record!

What did I do? I gave into the cleaning. Like I said many posts ago, sometimes it's good to give into the hyper-monster if you just don't let it go too far. I got some really good cleaning done and, even though I want to do more, I know I've at least gotten some done. I also know that if I give into my cleaning-hyper-monster any more it could get out of control. I have to get up early on Monday morning to go do some physical therapy observation - I need to look fresh and not hung over from cleaning.