Looking for your phone while it’s in your hand. Ten minutes becoming forty. Three trips back to the house before you actually leave.
Dyspraxia affects planning and sequencing, and that isn’t only about movement. Organising your stuff, your time and your day uses the same skills.
Planning is praxis too
People are often surprised to learn that dyspraxia affects organisation, because it’s usually described as a movement condition. But the skill underneath both is the same one: working out the steps and putting them in order.
Where did I put it? When do I leave? What comes first?
And if you’re AuDHD, ADHD adds its own twist.
Everyday chaos
Disorganisation tends to get treated as a character flaw. With dyspraxia, it’s better understood as the same planning difficulty showing up in a different part of life.
- Losing things: Keys, phone, wallet, glasses.
- Time: Underestimating how long things take.
- Clutter: Piles instead of places.
- Planning: Knowing where to start.
- Packing: Always forgetting one thing.
- Switching: Moving from one task to the next.
The daily scramble
If your mornings regularly involve a frantic search and several return trips, you’re not alone. These are some of the most commonly shared dyspraxic experiences of all.
- Looking for the phone in your hand: A classic.
- Ten minutes becomes forty: Time is slippery.
- The floordrobe: Clothes do have a home. It’s the floor.
- Three trips back to the house: Keys. Phone. Oh, the bag.
Work smarter
The trick is to stop relying on memory and in-the-moment judgement, because those are the parts under strain. Put the system outside your head and let it do the remembering.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Remembering where things go. | A labelled home for every item. |
| Guessing how long things take. | Timing tasks once, then planning. |
| One giant to-do list. | Just the next three things. |
Organisation helpers
A handful of simple tools can carry a lot of the load. None of them need willpower to use, which is exactly why they work on the days you’re tired.
- A key tracker: Find it by phone
- A drop zone by the door: Keys, wallet, bag
- Visual timers: See time passing
- Leave-by reminders: Not just start times
- Clear storage boxes: See what’s inside
- A door checklist: Before you leave
Go easy on yourself
All of this goes more smoothly if you drop the idea that there’s a correct level of tidiness. The standard that matters is whether your home and your day work for you.
- Tidy enough is enough: Functional beats perfect.
- Add buffer time: Plan to be early, arrive on time.
- Reset little and often: Five minutes a day beats a weekend blitz.
- Get company: Tidying with someone else there is easier.
Wrapping up
You’re not disorganised. You’re organising with a brain that plans differently.
Being organised isn’t a moral quality. It’s a set of systems, and some brains need more visible systems than others. Building ones that suit you isn’t a sign that you can’t cope. It’s how you cope well.
Next in the series: Dyspraxia and Getting Around: Directions, Travel and Getting Lost
This post is for general information and isn’t medical advice or a diagnosis. If it resonates, speak to your GP or an occupational therapist.