Forming a routine?

[hiriki]

Hi everyone! I'm going to admit something that's very hard to admit: I've been struggling to form a routine with my four cages/six birds.

In my last home, I had frozen fresh food "smoothie" that I transferred from the freezer to fridge before bed then fed when I woke up. I did all water dishes before bed and then spot cleaned throughout the day. I had it all figured out.

Then I moved.

It's been three years or so and I've yet to form a routine that sticks. I do water at random times when I remember during the day, and fresh food has been utterly neglected. I've tried to form a routine similar to what I used to do, but my birds are on a different floor from the fridge and dish washer, so I don't have visual reminders/cues. It's been frustrating.

I want to hear what you guys do in terms of routine... especially from anyone who has adhd, or in general struggles with remembering tasks a and forming habits. TIA, I always appreciate the feedback I get here.

 

[Cottonoid]

I think this is a great topic and I hope you get a lot of good ideas! I have so many friends who have struggled with routine and focus as things change in our lives (me too).

For myself over the years, I've tried to find the "sticking points" where routines break down.

For you it seems one big change you've identified is the fridge and dishwasher being further away. Do you have any duplicates of their dishes? What I did once when I lived on the top floor was to use a cheap dish tub for my dishes. I'd just put the dirty dishes in it at night, then in the morning take it down with me and "restock" it with clean dishes for the day.

I also bought a mini fridge to keep upstairs - this time of year they might be easy to find if you live in a college town.

I've also become way more of a paper planner user as I've gotten older. Checklists and all! I've tried setting alarms and routines on my phone but I tend to dismiss them.

I definitely have struggled finding a good routine with my pets after a major change and i'm always surprised that trying to go back to my "old" way never works

 

[hiriki]

Thank you!

I'll definitely give the dish tub a try. I've bought quite a few spare bowls so I should be able to make this work. If I can just toss the dirty dishes aside in a tub instead of taking them straight upstairs to the dishwasher I think it'll be one less obstacle.

I also have a mini fridge set up... I made chop last night, and fed it successfully this morning, so it's just a matter of... doing that again tomorrow, and the day after...

 

[Cottonoid]

The more you can link those actions to things you already do as a routine will only help. And just starting again if a day goes awry. Easier said than done, I know

 

[hiriki]

Today was day 4 of successfully feeding chop! It took a few days for the birds to recognize my new chop recipe as food but today they went to town. It helped that I put a little bit of mango in the bowl as an extra, lol. I think the biggest lifesaver has been all of the extra bowls I've purchased so I don't have a need to stay super on top of dishes in order to prep the next day's fresh food.

 

[ravvlet]

Oof! I have ADHD also and moving always screws me up unless I immediately get everything set up and going - and I mean IMMEDIATELY. The birds remained a top priority when I moved this last time, but my exercise routine went right into the toilet…

I’m glad to hear the mini fridge and dish tub are working out! I have a plain sheet of paper taped to the wall next to the light switch that has my deep clean schedule for the cages - I change paper and spot clean daily but I like to roll everything outside once a month to scrub, disinfect, and dry. The fact that it’s by the outlet (so I see it every time I turn on and off the light in here) has really helped.

As for everything else, the only thing that works for me is making sure I don’t sit down for coffee/breakfast until the pets are taken care of. Otherwise I’m liable to get on my phone or whatever and forget! But the motivation of knowing once the dogs are walked/birds fed/litter box scooped I can SIT DOWN and just stare into space is really helpful!