72: 5 Organizing Observations for ADHD Brains at a Vacation Rental

What My Vacation Rental Taught Me About Organizing

We recently stayed at a stunning oceanfront beach house, mostly white throughout, calm, streamlined, and clearly well thought out. As a professional organizer, I couldn’t help noticing how the space was set up, and it led to some genuinely surprising observations about my own brain.

Less really is more

Everything in that kitchen was utilitarian and pared down, just enough to function, nothing extra to sort through. There was something calming about opening a cabinet and seeing only a handful of matching white items instead of a crowded jumble. Even more surprising, I found myself calmly meal planning and cooking six nights in a row, something I genuinely don’t do at home. With only five or six realistic dinner choices in front of me each night, deciding what to make felt easy rather than overwhelming, and leftovers naturally became the next day’s lunch. Limiting the choices available removed the friction that usually makes meal planning feel like a chore.

It doesn’t really matter where it goes

My husband, who is naturally neat and detail-oriented, actually got frustrated in that kitchen, even though it was more organized than our kitchen at home. The difference was muscle memory, at home he knows exactly which cabinet holds the glasses; here, everything was new territory for both of us. My own reaction was the opposite of his: with plenty of empty space and only so many cabinets to check, it didn’t feel risky to put things wherever made sense in the moment. Neither of us was wrong, we were just responding differently to the exact same unfamiliar system.

Fewer choices bred more ease, not less

The lack of overwhelming options extended beyond the kitchen. Packing light meant getting dressed each morning was just walking to the closet and grabbing something, no decision fatigue involved. Limiting my choices, in food and in clothing, quietly removed a layer of anxiety and distraction I hadn’t fully noticed I usually carry at home.

Watching how differently everyone else adapted

It was fascinating to watch different family members respond to the same unfamiliar space. One relative kept everything exactingly in place, just as she does at home. A guest lived comfortably out of an open suitcase the entire trip. I noticed I felt more inspired to keep things tidy on vacation, not because I felt obligated to, but because the space itself made it feel easy and even enjoyable.

Bringing a piece of it home

The real question worth asking is how to bring even a small piece of that feeling home. One idea: when deciding what to keep in your kitchen, ask yourself whether you’d include a given item if you were furnishing a vacation rental. Do you actually reach for that single-purpose gadget, the dedicated pineapple slicer or avocado cutter, or does a basic paring knife handle the job just as well? Fewer, more versatile items mean opening a drawer to see twelve things instead of digging through twenty-seven to find the one you need.

There’s also something worth noticing in how easily I stepped into being more organized and pre-planned for just six days, with zero pressure to make it a permanent identity shift. That’s worth trying at home too: give yourself permission to experiment with a different way of operating for a short, defined stretch, four nights of planned cooking, a week of minimal choices, without treating it as a rule you now have to maintain forever.

Your practical, actionable step

Pick one drawer or cabinet at home and ask yourself, item by item, whether you’d include it if you were stocking a vacation rental for guests. Pare it down to only what you’d actually pack, and notice whether that smaller, more curated version feels calmer to use.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.