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Busy Brain Manual Strategic Hacks & ADHD-Friendly Systems by Emmy-winning news anchor & ADHD-er Diane Macedo

09/23/2026

It’s so simple, but cleaning in categories has made such a difference in my day to day life.

09/22/2026

We so rarely pre-tape on my show that my ADHD brain cannot be trusted to remember to wear the same dress.

So I have a weird but simple system for continuity:

The dress I need to wear lives at the office until then = zero chance of forgetting it at home.

But, I still put on another dress at home first.
Because if I leave in pajamas, there is a 100% chance I forget my bra, Shapeware or who knows what else.

Then the dress I wore to the office becomes my dress for the next time I have a pre-tape.

It might sound inefficient, but it actually saves me tons of time compared to doubling back for forgotten dresses or apologizing and explaining once again why I don’t have them.

As the navy seals, say “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”

What’s your favorite “this makes no sense but it works” hack?

09/21/2026

When I say I treat Future Me like a toddler, here’s what I mean:

I don’t expect her to remember everything, make a bunch of decisions, stay on task, or follow complicated steps.

Instead I set up systems so the right thing is obvious and easy.

Because especially with ADHD, sometimes thinking is cheap and sometimes it’s expensive.

Five minutes of thinking when I’m rushed, distracted and juggling 15 other things costs me more than 30 minutes of thinking when I have bandwidth.

So I try to do the thinking when thinking is cheap.

In calm moments I take the time to think about things I repeatedly struggle with, what makes them hard, and how to make them so easy a toddler could do it.

I buy duplicates, create friction-free homes, make tasks visible, recycle decisions, and set up my environment to remember things so I don’t have to.

So yes, it’s actually MORE work upfront.

But it saves me bandwidth when I need it most and KEEPS saving me time every time after that.

Well worth the upfront effort.

What do you want to make toddler-level simple?

09/18/2026

When I call a system “ADHD friendly,” this is what I mean.

The life cycle of fresh food in most homes involves:

• Storing the food somewhere hidden (drawer) or where it can easily end up hidden (shelf)
• Remembering to cook it before it goes bad
• Moving it to something else to cook
• Transfering it again to serve
• Finding another container for leftovers
• Repeating it all over again when you reheat and re-serve
• Washing all those various trays, pans, containers, and lids
• Remembering where all those separate pieces are

That’s a lot of steps, decisions, transitions, and opportunities to get sidetracked.

This system removes almost all of them.

I use the same container to store, cook, serve, and reheat the food.
Then it goes through the dishwasher and right back to home in the fridge.

And because it has an easy, intuitive home, everyone else puts it back there too.

I'm never going back.

Comment "Fridge guide" for details on my full ADHD-Friendly Fridge Setup.

09/17/2026

What if your ‘bad habit’ is actually a smart ADHD strategy?

I was thinking about my dirty dish basket hack when I realized something: ADHD brains don’t just procrastinate—we batch tasks to avoid task switching.

For ADHD brains, switching from one task to another is like slamming the brakes and restarting the engine each time. It disrupts focus, drains energy, and makes it harder to get back on track.

That’s why advice like “just clean as you go” doesn’t stick. It assumes switching tasks is easy.

That said when things pile up too much, it leads to overwhelm, and even more avoidance.

So if there’s a task that keeps piling up on you. Ask yourself:

1️⃣Am I avoiding it, or is my brain trying to batch it?
2️⃣If it’s batching, how can I build a system around it that helps keep it from getting overwhelming?

I’m realizing this has been one of the determining factors in creating new hacks and systems that actually work for me.

So what tasks are you struggling with? Let me know and let’s swap ideas in the comments! 

09/16/2026

The real test was asking my husband to find my keys… 😂

This purse system has been a game-changer for my ADHD brain.

09/15/2026

I spend so much time getting “camera-ready” and almost no time helping my skin recover from it.

So grateful to my niece for getting me this gift certificate and the friend who came to town pushed me to go with her.

Maybe that’s the hack: surround yourself with people who remind you to pause.

09/14/2026

I finally found a way to get boring stuff done... and it has nothing to do with willpower.

My weekly “Sh*t I Don’t Wanna Do” meeting with works because just having someone there, even on Zoom, makes it so much easier to start and stay on task.

And when we're not sure which task to tackle, we pick for each other.

Now whenever I have an important task that’s not urgent or interesting (ADHD kryptonite), I just save it for Thursday because I know I’ll actually get it done on our call.

It’s simple, but it works every time.

09/11/2026

…any second now
 
Can you relate?

If you organization system only works when you're at your best, it's a bad system. So when a routine falls apart, skip b...
09/10/2026

If you organization system only works when you're at your best, it's a bad system.

So when a routine falls apart, skip beating yourself up and treat the breakdown as data:

Ask, "Why did this end up here instead of where it belongs?"

Is it because there are too many steps to put it away... make it easier.
Is it because you want to remember to to something with the item... create a "To-do" basket
Is it because you're not sure where to put it? Create a "Things that need a home" basket.
Is it because you left the room to put something else away? Create a "Put Away" basket.

Swipe through the 5 friction audits to run on your home or workspace this week. And save this post for the next time a system starts unraveling.

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