ADHD and Leaving the House: How to Stop Going Back for Your Phone, Keys and Charger

What's happening

ADHD and leaving the house can turn a two-minute exit into a loop. You shut the door, get halfway down the road and start patting your pockets. Back for the phone charger. Out again, then back for the travel card. Then at the bus stop you can't remember turning the hob off, so you go back again. Leaving means holding several things in your head while you're already thinking about where you're going, and that's when things slip.

How to get moving

Pick one launch pad by the front door, like a hook, bowl or shelf, and make it the only place your keys, wallet, travel card and meds live when you're home. Pack your bag the night before and put it in front of the door, so you can't leave without tripping over it. Anything that can't go in yet, like a charger still plugged in or lunch in the fridge, gets a note left on top of your shoes.

Then use the same short check every time, said out loud with your hand on the door: "phone, keys, wallet, meds". Same words, same order, so it runs on habit rather than memory. If you've got an iPhone, the Reminders app can alert you when you leave a location, which is handy for one-off things like a parcel to post. Google Keep on Android no longer does location reminders, so you'd need a separate app.

Important tip

Before you walk away, take a photo of the hob switched off and the front door locked. When the doubt kicks in halfway down the road, open the photo instead of walking back. It only works if you're actually looking when you take it, so give each one a proper glance rather than snapping on autopilot. Your phone shows when each photo was taken, so you know it's from this morning and not yesterday.