Spreadsheets and Checklists and Files, Oh My!

One of the hardest things for neurodivergent people (NDs) to handle is the constant worry about how others view them. The stereotypes are everywhere. 

Individuals with ADHD can’t sit still.

Those with OCD wash their hands excessively.

People with autism don’t make eye contact and can’t control their emotions.

What's more, neurodivergent conditions are considered disabilities. The understanding is that people with them must not be able to function well in the real world.

Those who meet me for the first time would probably not guess that I am neurodivergent because I look like I have my sh*t together. I’ve been an elementary teacher for 20 years. I am happily married with two grown, well-adjusted children. My house is (mostly) free from disarray. In short, it would be hard for others to believe I’m neurodivergent if they didn't already know.

For many NDs, the chaos of our conditions isn’t evident from the outside. For one, we are experts at masking it. For another, we have learned to compensate for our “shortcomings” and often are pretty successful despite having brains that work differently than most.

Masking My OCD

Anxiety has been a big part of my life since I was young. My mother died of cancer when I was in the third grade. Shortly after that, my father moved my two younger siblings and me to another state. We moved several times after that, so being the new kid in school was a frequent occurrence. I was a target for bullies, and I never quite fit in. Unfortunately, dealing with my anxiety didn’t get easier.

By the time I was in seventh grade, I had developed some habits that I now recognize as classic symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I twirled my hair incessantly—and still do to this day. I had repetitive behaviors (like touching things) and compulsive behaviors (like excessive hand washing). In school, I pressed down with my pen so hard when writing in my notebook that the other side felt like Braille. Over the years, my compulsions changed, but the urge to do them didn’t. 

I have since learned that developing OCD is not uncommon after trauma (such as losing a parent). Managing my OCD as a teenager, then as a young adult, and into the early years of parenthood was difficult. Only those closest to me, though, really knew about my condition.

I was able to hide it from most people. If I had to mentally complete a certain counting sequence before getting out of a car or leaving a room, I pretended to look for something. If I had to touch something until it “felt right,” I talked about the texture or acted as if I was stretching my fingers on it. I’m sure I wasn’t fooling everyone, but it helped me get through those particular compulsions.

Over the years, however, I have internalized my compulsions (counting, touching, checking, etc.). I've put them into routines that are so much a part of how I think and what I do that I don’t even realize they are part of my OCD. It's almost like the feeling of having a song that gets stuck in your head and unconsciously singing along to it.

But Wait, There’s More!

It wasn’t until much later in my life that I discovered I also had ADHD. To me, over-preparing, overthinking, and over-organizing was normal. Plus, I was doing well socially and professionally, so how could I have ADHD? It turns out I had so many symptoms that I don’t know how I didn’t figure it out sooner.

For example, my entire life I have always been 10 minutes late for everything. Every party, every lunch date, every gathering. I’m sure many viewed this behavior as a sign of rudeness. I knew when the event started, how long it took to get there, and what time I had to leave. All I had to do was walk out the door. And I couldn’t.

But I wasn’t being rude. At its core, chronic lateness is a time management issue, which is a struggle for those with executive dysfunction, a key of ADHD.

There were other signs, like my inability to make decisions (crippling fear that I would choose the wrong thing), difficulty listening when spoken to (I might appear to be paying attention, but I am thinking about something else), low frustration tolerance (I can’t tell you how many things I’ve broken in my house due to this). I had the usual ADHD attributes as well: easily distracted, being unable to sit still for long, interrupting others, etc. The list goes on and on.

It wasn’t until I sat down and made a literal list of my symptoms that I realized how much I’ve been compensating for many of those behaviors my entire life. Much like how trying to mask my OCD has become second nature over the years, I discovered that I had built elaborate organizational systems and created well-honed routines to manage my ADHD. 

The Art of Compensation

For anyone with ADHD—but especially neurodivergent writers—staying organized is paramount. My mind and daily life are filled with so many details that if I don’t give them a place to land, they will scatter to the wind like confetti.

And because my brain is not a reliable place to store information, I have other tools:

Digital calendar: Any plans or appointments go directly into my smartphone’s calendar or there’s a 93.5% chance I will not show up or schedule something else at the same time.

Reminders/alarms: If I actually want to remember to change my laundry, call my sister, or pick up milk on the way home from work, I will create a reminder or set an alarm.

Sticky notes/lists: No task or idea is so small that it won’t end up on a sticky note. And any self-respecting OCD-er has somewhere between three and 487 lists going at any one time.

Notes app: No time to write down that random fact or perfect sentence I just thought of? My smartphone lets me dictate them right into the Notes app for future reference.

But the pièce de résistance of organization is…

…A SPREADSHEET!

The Magic of a Spreadsheet

Some might think spreadsheets are only for number-crunching eggheads who took pre-calc in high school for fun. But a spreadsheet's usefulness extends far beyond calculations. Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or whatever your spreadsheet of choice is…it is an organizational wonder! 

Everything in One Place

A spreadsheet allows me to compile all of those scattered sticky notes and voice memos (plus the random emails I send to myself and those middle-of-the-night scribbles and wherever else I jotted something down!) in one beautiful document. It’s like a digital filing cabinet I can actually keep track of.

Flexibility

Spreadsheets can be as simple or as complex as needed. I can create a tab or a new spreadsheet depending on whether I am plotting a story, keeping track of agent queries, creating character profiles, making a schedule, calculating word count, or compiling resources. I also love adding links to relevant Google Docs or websites. Plus, everything can be rearranged on a whim!

Visual Clarity

I am a visual learner, and all those lovely rows and columns can be resized and color-coded to help me see what I need to do. If a task seems overwhelming, I can break the steps down into spreadsheet cells to make them manageable and have a checklist to work with! (Pro tip: Most spreadsheet programs have a “checkbox” feature with actual boxes to tick!)

Best of all, the organizational magic of a spreadsheet makes my OCD very happy, and my ADHD doesn’t have any excuses!

A Mixed Bag

There are times, though, when organization can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes I’ll spend hours perfecting a new organizational system instead of doing the actual task it’s meant to support. That’s task paralysis disguised as productivity. And oftentimes, I don’t realize that’s what’s happening until I’ve wasted too much time!

It’s taken some trial, error, and a lot of sticky notes, but I’ve been able to find tools that help me work with my brain instead of against it. My ADHD and OCD still throw curveballs, but I’ve learned how to catch most of them. And honestly? I’m proud of the way my mind works. It’s creative, resilient, and uniquely mine—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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About the Author:

Karen is a writer, teacher, audiobook lover, and Wordle enthusiast from New Jersey. When she's not completely distracted by something shiny, she fixes broken stuff around her house. But her favorite activities are spoiling her granddaughter, traveling to warm climates, snort-laughing with friends, and sipping a good cosmopolitan. Visit her online at www.karenkinley.com.