by Laura Wheatman Hill
December 17, 2022
from Apartment Therapy
I recently started seeing videos in the ADHD corner of TikTok about “doom boxes,” an ominous name for something I thought everyone did, regardless of their neurotypical or neurodivergent status. Turns out, maybe not.
“Doom” is an acronym for “didn’t organize, only moved,” and a “doom box” is a space where you store these random unorganized items, just for the sake of putting them away. I have a doom closet, and I know people with doom rooms too. While a doom box may seem like an organizational no-no, you can make this habit work for you.
Why do some people create doom boxes?
Some people, especially those who have conditions like ADHD, occasionally beat themselves up for being disorganized and creating simplified methods of hiding clutter. However, it is perhaps a strength that they have in their ability to cope.
Dr. Gregory Young, a pediatric psychologist at Franciscan Children’s in Boston explains that “individuals with ADHD have deficits in organizing, planning, and general executive functioning. As a result, people with ADHD utilize multiple ways to reduce laborious organizational demands.”
Read the entire article on Apartment Therapy.