Hello, brains! Oh, I have to go grocery shopping.
[Bags rustling]
[Keyboard clacking]
And... done.
[How to ADHD Theme song]
There's a bit of a stigma a lot of us feel when it comes to getting things delivered
when we could just go get them ourselves.
But using our time and energy efficiently isn't lazy. It's smart.
And what looks like a luxury can actually be a really effective accommodation.
The key to making delivery services work for us is to recognize when they're
cost-effective.
Meaning they either save us money or they save us enough time
or mental or physical energy that in terms of our overall resources it's actually cheaper to spend the money.
Everyone's ADHD is different so only you know which ones will be most worth it for you.
But here are my top 5 things that ADHDers can get delivered to make our lives easier.
By the way, Dollar Shave Club was kind enough to sponsor this video
and their delivery service is what inspired it.
The others I'm going to mention just because I've either had a great experience with them personally
or they were recommended by the community
I live in the U.S. so this is going to be very US-centric, but if you are international,
please let us know if there are similar services in your area so that we can all kind of help each other out.
I have no idea what to order in Denmark.
[techno music]
One Same Day Groceries
ADHD brains aren't great at filtering out distractions.
So we have to fight a ton of visual noise to find what we're looking for.
We're also impulsive. So we often end up with way more than we intended to.
So a lot of ADHD years including me get their groceries delivered.
I use Instacart for this, which works with hundreds of stores all across the US and Canada.
I pay $9.99 a month for Instacart Express Monthly which gives me unlimited free deliveries over $35.
All I have to do is pay for the groceries and tip the shopper.
What I really like about it is you can change your order
right up until they start shopping in case you forgot something
and the next time you go to order groceries you can see what you ordered last time
which makes it so much easier to find it again.
I've also found it saves me money because when I regularly have groceries in the house,
I spend a lot less on takeout.
If you enjoy grocery shopping yourself, or you're picky about produce this might not be right for you.
Every once in a while I'll ask for one kind of onion and get another.
But for the most part, you get to approve any substitutions.
And the shoppers that I've had have been really great about texting if they're not sure.
To get started go to Instacart.com
or download their app and sign up for their 14-day free trial.
Two Toiletries
"Simple" things like showering, shaving and brushing your teeth can actually be
a real struggle for ADHD brains.
And what makes it even worse is when we don't have the things we need to be able to do it.
Either because we forgot to pick up more body wash when we ran out.
Or because we don't trust the razor that's been sitting in our shower for months.
Dollar Shave Club is a great option for men -- or women who like me could use some help prioritizing
their self-care as long as you don't mind that the products aren't overly girly.
[no sound]
[swoosh sound] I don't shave my face.
But I do like steak, and taking advantage of their handsome discount is a great way to avoid the pink tax.
They also have a really good deal right now.
You can get any of their oral, shower or shave starter sets for just five bucks each.
Two weeks later, assuming you like it, they will send you a restock box with the full size versions.
I really like that they send a trial version first because
for me personally, the scent on the face cleanser a little too strong.
And it's nice to find that out before dropping the money on a full sized version
but everything was really high quality.
The travel sizes are perfect if you're about to go on a trip.
And only having to drop five bucks for a nice razor, 4 blades, a Body Scrub, Shave Butter and Post Shave Dew
is a ridiculously good deal.
Where to start? Go to dollarshaveclub.com/adhd
to get this deal and to support them for supporting this channel. All this info is also in the description below.
Three Laundry
My new friend Dani Donovan who does awesome ADHD webcomics on social media
told me about this one.
I actually don't mind doing laundry.
But I do regularly forget to switch it to the dryer or fold it.
And I have gone months without my favorite clothes because they're hand wash or dry clean only.
I used to think this was just me but actually,
Laundry is one of the most difficult things for ADHD brains
because it's not something you can tackle all in one fell swoop.
It requires something called "set switching" or "task switching"
which is basically the ability to unconsciously shift your attention between one task
like making dinner and another like changing laundry.
If you also struggle with this,
there are services that will come pick up your dirty laundry from your house
and bring it back to you clean and folded. Dani says this has been life-changing for her.
Getting caught up on all the laundry is an amazing feeling and once you do,
it's not terribly expensive to keep doing.
Dani says doing all of her laundry cost like 30 to 60 bucks a month.
And since most places charge for wash and fold services by the pound,
if you're tight on cash you can weigh it all yourself ahead of time
to make sure that you won't spend more than you're comfortable with.
You can let them know if you have any preferences like unscented detergent
and some places even have dry cleaning as well.
So you can just send them everything that you've been procrastinating on dry cleaning as well.
Did you know that coats are supposed to be cleaned?
Also, make sure you don't send something that you might need to wear right away.
I have one pair of pants.
I'm not wearing pants.
Where to start? Google laundry pick up and look for services in your area.
Give them a call and see how it works. Some places offer discounts for students.
So that's something to look into as well.
Four Meds
Getting ADHD meds often involves a nightmare amount of hoops that we have to jump through every month.
Because it's a controlled substance, stimulant medication requires getting
a new prescription every single refill.
It's not always in stock.
And when it isn't, I've had to drive from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for it.
because they won't tell me if it's in stock over the phone.
You also can't fill them early.
So, often we're doing all of this off of our meds.
Thankfully some insurance plans allow you to get meds -- delivered.
And you can get up to a 90-day supply.
It's not great for those who are new to meds and might need to tweak them more often than that.
And whether or not it's available depends on your insurance plan and where you live.
But if you've been taking the same meds for a long time, and you can be home to sign for them,
it can be worth looking into because you can save money on your co-pays.
Ninety days cost less per pill than thirty,
and you won't have to remember to drop off and pick up your prescription every month.
Where to start? Google the name of your insurance plan plus medication delivery and see what comes up.
I saw my insurance used expressscripts.com
So, I signed up for an account and called the number for telephone orders
to see if my medication would even be available -- which it was. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Five Help
Okay, sometimes we just need help.
and especially for those of us whose income depends on our productivity,
paying someone to help with stuff that we're not great at or procrastinate on,
can actually be cost-effective. When I was still waiting tables
I realized that it took me way longer to clean my house than it did to work one shift.
And since in one shift I could make enough to pay for a maid,
it actually was smarter for me to pick up a shift and to hire a maid than to try and clean the house myself.
If you don't need the entire house clean, but you do need help with a specific task,
there's something called TaskRabbit.
Back in December, I used TaskRabbit to have somebody come and help build my IKEA furniture.
Which was really worth it because I am terrible at it.
In some cities, there's even a service called "Friend That Cooks"
that will send an actual chef to your kitchen to meal prep for you.
Whatever you need. There's probably a service that delivers it.
So, if you're burnt out and overwhelmed or just want to be more effective.
Make a list of tasks that are hard enough for you to do that they're worth paying somebody to do them.
And then do it -- with zero shame. Because our ADHD challenges are real.
Our accommodations should be, too.
That's it for this week. Check out the description below for links to all of this.
Thank you to my brain board and all my Patreon brains
for making it so that I can be super picky about the brands that I work with. Really appreciate that.
Like, subscribe, click all the things. and I will see you next time.
Bye, Brains!
[Outtro: How to ADHD Theme Song]