You've been told to be more careful your whole life. And sometimes that's genuinely the fix. But for a lot of people, especially ADHDish brains, being more careful doesn't actually help, because the problem isn't attention.

Case Study
A client of mine named Shira had a problem I personally had for a while.

She would constantly crash into things.

Sometimes she’d get into the shower and notice black and blue marks on her arms and legs and have no idea where they came from. Then she’d remember, oh right, she walked straight into the kitchen counter again.

At the grocery store, she’d bump into people with her cart.

Walking through crowded areas was chaotic. She’d misjudge how much room she needed, turn, and suddenly someone’s shoulder was getting clipped by her bag.

And when she had her baby, she struggled greatly with setting up the nursery.
Where should the crib go?
How much space should there be between the dresser and the changing table?
Would there be enough room to walk through if the rocking chair were there?
She’d move furniture around over and over again.

Something would look right… and then once it was there, the room suddenly felt cramped or awkward. The flow didn’t work. She kept rearranging and couldn’t understand why something that seemed so simple was so hard.

She thought she was just clumsy. But this wasn’t clumsiness.
This was a thinking skill.

Specifically, the thinking skill of orientation in space.

Understanding Space
Orientation in Space (Understanding Space) is a thinking skill that covers many areas, including:
Understanding rights and left,
Reading maps
Following a GPS
Knowing how much space something takes up and the ability to see how it relates to other items around it.

That last part is the part Shira struggled with. She could read a map, no problem, but struggled to comprehend how much space something takes up.

When Understanding Space is weak, your brain misjudges distance, so you bump into things. You miscalculate how much room you need to turn or move.

And planning physical spaces can be super hard to visualize.
Shira has been told her whole life, “Be more careful,” but really all she needed was to improve her brain's understanding of space. Once we did, she didn’t need to be more careful; she automatically had an easier time navigating spaces.

Improving Orientation in Space
Here are three exercises I did with Shira to help her improve orientation in space:

Exercise 1: The Doorway Drill
Once a day, walk to a doorway and stop.

Notice 3 things:
- Where are your shoulders?
- Where the door frame is.
- How much clearance do you actually have?

Your brain usually runs this automatically, but if the thinking skill is weak, it doesn’t calibrate well.

By consciously noticing the space, you train your brain to start mapping physical boundaries more accurately.

Then reach out your hands.
How far away are you from the closet item? Can you reach it? How many feet are between you and a piece of furniture?
Spend 60 seconds just being aware of you, your surroundings, and the space between.


Exercise 2: Room Mapping
This exercise is perfect to do right after the last one because you also need to stand in a doorway.

Stand in the entrance of a room, close your eyes, and visualize the layout.
Where is the couch?
Where is the table?
How far is the TV?
Now open your eyes and check how accurate you were.


Exercise 3: Predict the Fit
Next time you're organizing a room or putting away groceries.
Pause.

Look at all the items around you, look at the space it’s going into, and predict.
“Will this fit here?”

Then place it and see if you were right.

The key is to predict first, test second.
This helps your brain actually think about the space instead of just trial and error. The goal is, over time, to get more accurate so your brain can predict the space as soon as you enter it.

After Improving Orienation in Space
When Shira started doing these exercises, something interesting happened.

Not only did her bruises start disappearing, but she also found it much more enjoyable to go shopping. No longer was she overwhelmed by everything around her, as her brain knew how to navigate each situation.

Also, if you’re struggling with this right now, I just want to let you know, I feel you deeply. I struggled with this aspect of orientation in space so badly that I totaled a car. After that, I’ve worked on this thinking skill, and let me tell you, life is SO MUCH easier.


Cheers to Peak Brain Performance!
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