So the thing that I have learned about meal planning - because that is been my struggle for 20 years of marriage and being a homemaker is that if you have any bit of Neurodiversity (which includes ADHD, etc.) or chronic pain or fatigue that meal planning is the hardest thing. It is so many moving parts. It is not been until I could do my grocery list online with the grocery app that it has helped me a ton. I have inattentive ADHD not hyperactive type. So I do sometimes get frustrated people say “have a meal plan!” Because to me that is like saying have “your house perfectly clean and picked up all the time with kids around” it’s just not possible, it’s not easy and it is a huge struggle for my brain. Not meeting this as a criticism but just to say, we are planning is a great help, but it is such a huge thing that it is frustrating to hear that as a hack because if I could do it without losing my mind, and tearing my hair out, I would. Most moms I know that meal plan? It’s just easy for them.
I love that you know yourself well enough to understand that "meal planning" the traditional way doesn't work for you. I struggle with many traditional organizational things because of my ADHD. If things are tucked away, I will never remember to get them done...hence my struggle with to-do piles. As far as meal planning, I have a more in-depth way of doing it. I created a recipe binder with all our favorite easy meals, and then I use that to plan meals for each week. I make my grocery list at the same time. I've personally found that this helps. If I don't keep that meal plan visible then I don't remember what meals I have all the right ingredients for. I have a whole meal planning course mapped out that I haven't recorded the videos for. I'd be curious if the tips in my free Sanity Savers for Moms book would be helpful. (Let me know if you get that and it helps) Just know that my brain operates much like yours - I get that we are both uniquely different and have to find ways to make a system work for our brains. All my organizational hacks come from a heart (and brain) to help moms try different ways of doing things so they can figure out what works. But I must say - where has Walmart food pick-up been all my life??? I love it!! Thanks so much for sharing your heart with me here.
@kristiclover thank you for not taking my comment in a offensive way. I did not know you had ADHD as well. Yes, those to do piles are a problem. I have been watching decluttering videos over the past many years and I know one of them was talking about banishing surface clutter, and I busted out laughing because I was like well if you can change my brain and make the ADHD go away then I probably wouldn’t have surface clutter.
I will check out your free e-book. I may already have it in my files and just not know it. I tend to be a resource hoarder lol. I love the idea of a meal planning course however, that would require that I sit down long enough to do the course and then follow through with the work to put the binder together. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
