Managing ADHD, Work & Mom Life
Sometimes my ADHD brain feels like having 37 browser tabs open at once.
I need to do the laundry. But the kitchen is messy. Oh, I should put that away. While I’m in here, I might as well clean out this drawer. Wait, I forgot to respond to that message. I need to make lunch. Did I start the laundry? Why am I standing in this room again?
And somehow, after all of that, I can feel like I did absolutely nothing.
As a wife, mom, part-time employee, and photographer in Northeast Ohio, there are a lot of different things competing for my attention. Between working part-time, running my photography business, taking care of our home, being a boy mom, and trying to actually have a life somewhere in between, my brain can get overwhelmed pretty quickly.
For a long time, I thought the solution was to become more organized, more productive, and better at keeping up with everything.
But the more I’ve learned about my ADHD, the more I’ve realized that I don’t necessarily need to do MORE.
I need to make life LESS overwhelming for my brain.
Less really is more.
I’m simplifying our home.
I used to think having extra plates, towels, clothes, toys, and basically everything on hand would make life easier because I wouldn’t have to do laundry or dishes as often.
But for me, more stuff actually meant more to manage.
More laundry. More dishes. More clutter. More decisions. More things to put away.
Having what we actually need has made our home so much easier to maintain, and I’ve realized that simplifying my environment also simplifies my brain.
Especially as a mom, I’ve learned that a home doesn’t have to look perfect to be a good home. Life with a toddler, work, photography sessions, and everything else that comes with everyday life is going to get messy sometimes.
And that’s okay.
I’m learning to stay with one thing.
One of the first things I started working on after realizing I had ADHD was noticing what happens when I start a project.
I’d start something, walk into another room, notice something else, start that, get distracted by something completely different… and suddenly I had ten unfinished projects everywhere. 
Now I’m practicing slowing down.
If I think of something else I need to do, I’ll write it down or make a separate pile for it instead of immediately switching tasks.
I’m not perfect at this, but simply noticing when I’m doing it has made a huge difference.
I’m building routines that work for ME.
I don’t need a perfectly optimized morning routine or a schedule where every minute of my day is planned.
I need routines that I will actually follow.
As someone who works part-time while also running a small photography business in Northeast Ohio, I’ve had to get more realistic about what I can actually fit into a day.
I’ve slowly figured out what works for me, and I’ve learned that I’m much more successful when I don’t try to do everything in one day.
Music, podcasts, timers, and cleaning my workspace before starting a project also help me get into that focused zone.
Sometimes my brain just needs the right environment and a little stimulation to cooperate.
I’ve stopped trusting my memory.
If something needs to happen later, I write it down now.
Because “I’ll remember that later” is a dangerous sentence for me.
Notes, reminders, lists, and little piles have become extensions of my brain. Instead of expecting myself to remember everything, I’m giving my brain somewhere else to hold it.
And honestly, this applies to photography, too.
Between client messages, editing, scheduling, emails, keeping up with my website, and remembering what needs to happen next, there are plenty of things I could easily forget if I tried to keep everything in my head.
Writing it down helps me keep my photography business and home life from becoming one giant pile of mental tabs.
I’m making food easier.
As a busy mom who works part-time, runs a photography business, takes care of a home, and tries to take care of myself, it’s surprisingly easy to realize I’ve gone way too long without eating.
Having easy meals and snacks available makes it much more likely that I’ll actually eat regularly instead of waiting until I’m completely drained.
I’m learning that taking care of myself doesn’t always have to look complicated.
Sometimes it’s a real meal.
Sometimes it’s a snack because I forgot to eat.
Sometimes it’s making coffee at home and taking five minutes to actually enjoy it.
Sometimes it’s stepping away from my computer after editing photos and giving my brain a break.
I’m learning to work WITH my brain instead of against it.
I still have overwhelming days.
I still get distracted.
I still walk into a room and completely forget why I’m there.
But I don’t feel like I have to fix my entire life every time that happens.
I’m learning that managing ADHD isn’t about forcing myself to function like someone who doesn’t have ADHD.
It’s about understanding what makes my brain overwhelmed and finding ways to make those things easier.
Less stuff.
Less multitasking.
Less pressure.
Less perfection.
More simple routines.
More notes.
More realistic expectations.
More grace.
And honestly, I think motherhood has taught me a lot about giving myself that grace.
Being a boy mom has reminded me that life is rarely going to go exactly according to plan. Some days are loud, messy, chaotic, and completely unpredictable. Other days are slower and calmer.
I’m learning to make room for both.
Getting support matters, too.
Learning about ADHD has been incredibly helpful for me, but I also don’t believe we have to figure everything out completely on our own.
Therapy has been one of the resources I’ve used to better understand myself, work through the things that overwhelm me, and learn healthier ways of coping.
And when medication is appropriate, I’ve also learned that using that resource doesn’t mean I’m failing at managing my ADHD.
For me, it’s about utilizing the tools that help me be the best version of myself.
Sometimes that looks like therapy.
Sometimes it looks like medication.
Sometimes it looks like simplifying my house, putting on a podcast, setting a timer, writing something down, or eating a snack before I realize I’m starving.
None of those things make me less capable.
They’re tools that help me function better.
I’m not trying to make my brain work like everyone else’s anymore.
I’m learning how to make my life work better for my brain.
And maybe that’s something a lot of us need to hear, whether we have ADHD or not.
As a wife, mom, part-time working woman, boy mom, and Northeast Ohio photographer, I’m realizing that I don’t need to perfectly balance every part of my life.
I just need to find a rhythm that works for me and the life I’m actually living.
It’s still a work in progress.
But for once, I’m okay with that.
Looking back, I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that she wasn’t dumb.
As a kid, I remember wondering why certain things felt so overwhelming. Why I would get so frustrated or upset that it would end in tears when I couldn’t even explain what was wrong. I didn’t have the words for it then, and I definitely didn’t understand what was happening in my brain.
I do now.
And if you’ve ever felt that way too, I hope you know you’re not alone.
There are so many resources available today to help us better understand ourselves, whether you have ADHD or are navigating any kind of mental health struggle. You don’t have to have everything figured out, and you don’t have to fit someone else’s idea of how you’re supposed to function.
You’re not broken. You’re not weird. You don’t need to be fixed.
Your brain may simply work differently, and there is nothing wrong with taking the time to understand it.
For me, that has meant learning what overwhelms me, what helps me focus, what routines actually work, and when I need a little extra support. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m no longer trying to be someone my brain was never meant to be.
Maybe that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned through all of this:
You don’t have to work against yourself to move forward. Sometimes, you just have to understand yourself better. 
Megan Wray
Hi, I am Megan, a family and lifestyle photographer serving Cleveland, Grafton, and Northeast Ohio. I specialize in relaxed, natural sessions that focus on connection rather than stiff poses. My goal is to create images that feel genuine and timeless while making the experience easy and enjoyable for your family.