Shopping can be an overwhelming experience when you have ADHD. It can get even worse during the holiday season when there are so many shoppers in the stores and so many decisions to make.

Yesterday we talked about making grocery shopping easier; today we’re going to talk about the mall.

Whether you’re doing holiday shopping or just running in to pick something up quick, shopping at the mall can be a difficult experience when you have ADHD.

Malls always make me feel a little dizzy and light headed as though I’m about to lose my balance. And by the time I leave I’m usually exhausted.

A few days ago my husband and I went to the mall because I needed some new socks. I would have settled for Target, but my husband – who’s weird that way – wanted to go to the mall.

It took us an hour. For plain white socks. There were so many choices and so many prices. We went to 3 stores before we finally made a purchase and went home. Can you imagine what Christmas shopping is like for me? I feel like I need to come home and lay down for a while.

This year, I’m going to take some positive action and do something about this. Here’s my plan:

Shop early. My goal is to have everything done in the next 2-3 weeks. The sooner the better.

Shop early in the day during the week. No trips to the mall on the weekends for me.

Shop at strip malls rather than the big mall. That way, I’m only exposed to one small store at a time. It limits choices and overwhelm.

Shop online whenever possible.

Even if I choose to shop at a store rather than online, I can start my shopping online (at home) and narrow my choices before I get to the store.

Use a theme. My daughter Caitlin was born on Dec 17th. That year I had everything done by Dec 1st so I could relax and just concentrate on my new baby. I used a warm and cozy theme for gifts that year. The gifts I bought were things like sweaters, robes, slippers and mittens.

Shop with cash. My family doesn’t use credit cards, but we use our debit cards a lot. When there’s a lot of shopping to be done, it’s easy to lose track of what you’ve spent. Cash in the wallet makes budgeting a lot easier.

Keep track of what you’ve bought. I keep a running list of what I’ve bought and spent. That way I can keep things balanced.

Try these tips for yourself this year and see if it helps. Got any you want to share?