Back-to-Life After Chaos: My ADHD Overwhelm Reset (and Why I’ve Been MIA)

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, the short answer is:

Photo by Hannah Fleming-Hlll on Unsplash

🔥 buried under a school-year avalanche 🔥

The long answer…well, grab a coffee, friend...

BTW, If you’re like me and survive on small-but-mighty cups of sanity, this is the tiny coffee pot I use every morning — it’s been a lifesaver during this whole chaos-filled season. Find it here: Mr. Coffee Programmable Coffee Maker 5 Cups

The start of this school year wasn’t just a “rough patch.” It was a full-blown, multi-sensory, emotionally-charged roller coaster with no seat belts and a sticky floor. Between my public school job adopting approximately 47 new software programs (none of which worked, mind you), homeschooling my neurodivergent teens, and launching into my own season of ADHD overwhelm, my brain said, “Nope! System reboot!”

And that reboot knocked me straight off my blog for a while.

But the chaos taught me something important—something worth sharing now that I’m crawling back with slightly more coffee and slightly fewer tears.

When Life Implodes:

A Behind-the-Scenes Peek at the Mess

Let’s start with honesty (because that’s kind of my thing).

This was the worst, most stressful start to a school year I’ve had in my 14 years of teaching.

Homeschool plans? 💥 Exploded.

District tech? 🧨 Crashed.

My sanity? 🫠 To be determined.

I had spent so much time crafting a homeschool plan I was genuinely proud of…and my kids lasted about eight minutes before I realized:

“Ah. Yes. This is not going to work. Not even a little.”

Meanwhile, at my teaching job, the district rolled out new programs like Oprah hands out car keys:

“You get a platform! You get a platform!”

Except none of them worked. At all.

And all of that alone would’ve been enough to derail my focus, my routines, and my writing.

But then… something bigger hit.

The Mental Health Crisis I Wasn’t Expecting

Here’s the part I was hesitant to share but refuse to hide: a few weeks ago, I had a full-on mental health crisis.

Not the “I need a nap and a bubble bath” kind.

The “my nervous system has exited the chat, and I don’t recognize myself” kind.

Thankfully, I was able to see my doctor quickly, and we adjusted some medications (because yes — medicine works for some of us, and there’s no shame in that). Within days, I started feeling more like me again. Not magically fixed, but back in my own skin. Back in my own brain.

If you’re someone who has been white-knuckling your way through overwhelm, please let this be your sign:

You don’t have to wait until you’re falling apart to get help.

The ADHD Overwhelm Reset That Actually Helped

Recovery wasn’t instant. Resetting didn’t come from one big overhaul.

It came from small, realistic adjustments — the kind my in-the-works book is all about.

Here’s what that looked like:

1. Google Tasks Saved My Butt

   
   

   For real. I leaned HARD into Google Tasks.

   
   

   I trained myself to be okay with accomplishing just two things on my list each day:

   Two work tasks.

   Two personal tasks.

   That’s it.

   
   

   If I did more? Great!

   If I didn’t? Still great.

   
   

   This one shift was a game-changer for both my mental health and my ADHD productivity. It gave my brain permission to stop drowning and start rebuilding momentum safely.

   
   

2. I Kept My Kitchen Clean (Which Shocked Even Me)

   
   

   During all the chaos, my kitchen was somehow the one room that stayed mostly clean.

   
   

   Every night — even on the days I cried in the shower — I reset the kitchen.

   It became my grounding ritual. My “proof of life.”

   And after my meltdown, my husband stepped up so much more with helping in the kitchen.

   I cannot tell you how healing that support has been.

   
   

   Plus, keeping the kitchen reset meant something else:

3. I Actually Cooked Dinner at Home

   

   
   

   Through ALL of the chaos, I still cooked at home most nights.

   Not fancy meals.Not Pinterest-worthy meals.

   Just… real food.

   
   

   In this economy, that alone saved us a small fortune.

   And it helped me feel like I was holding one corner of our life together, even when everything else felt like a soggy Jenga tower.

4. I Held My Kids Accountable for Chores

   
   

   This one shocked me almost as much as the clean kitchen.

   
   

   But I realized something important:

   When my kids don’t follow through with their chores, the entire home starts to sink under the weight of the mental load I carry.

   
   

   Now that they’re back on track, our home feels just above water — which, honestly, is a win.

5. I Let Myself Reset Emotionally Too

   
   

   I took naps.

   I rested without guilt (okay, without as much guilt).

   I played cozy games.

   I watched comfort shows.

   I did nothing useful — on purpose.

   
   

   Because ADHD overwhelm isn't just about tasks. It’s about nervous system overload.

   And healing requires gentleness.

Why I’m Sharing This Now

Because someone reading this is in the same place I was.

Someone is overwhelmed.

Someone is ashamed they “fell off.”

Someone is holding on by a thread.

And you need to hear this:

👉 Your crisis does not define you.

👉 Your reset doesn’t have to be pretty.

👉 Your routines will return — slowly, gently — as your brain recovers.

You are not behind.

You are not alone.

And you are absolutely worth taking care of.

What Now?

Now, I’m rebuilding.

One task at a time.

One reset at a time.

One honest blog post at a time.

And I’d love to know:

What’s one small ADHD-friendly reset you’re doing this week?

Tell me in the comments — or email me if that feels safer.

We get through this by sharing our stories, not hiding them.

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TL;DR

The school year chaos pushed me into a mental health crisis. Medication adjustments helped me feel like myself again. My reset included using Google Tasks, focusing on two items a day, keeping the kitchen reset nightly (with more help from my husband!), holding my kids accountable for chores, and sticking to home-cooked dinners. If you’re overwhelmed too, you’re not alone — and you can reset anytime.

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