Paired downloadable tool for “Your Workspace Is Assistive Tech.” Ready to build as a download. Render via Worksheet Template v2.
Tool concept: A five-area self-audit checklist that walks you through your real workspace one sensory lever at a time. For each area you mark how much it currently drains you, then pick from a menu of small, no-cost or low-cost shifts. The output is a short personal action list: your top three drains and the one shift you are trying first. The goal is not a perfect command center. It is a room that asks less of you than it did yesterday.
Audience: ND adults / professionals designing a focus space (home or office).
Format note: Checklist + rating scale + small-shift menu per area + a closing action plan. Designed to print on two pages or fill in on screen.
How to use this audit
Go area by area. For each one, rate how much it drains you right now in the space you are auditing. 1 means no problem. 5 means constant drain. Then skim the small-shift menu and check any that you could realistically try. At the end, you will pull your top drains into a one-page plan.
There are no wrong answers. You are the expert on your own nervous system.
Space I am auditing: ______________________________
Area 1: Lighting
Rate the drain (1-5): ____
Check what is true for you: – [ ] Overhead fluorescent or LED light I cannot turn off – [ ] Light flickers, hums, or feels harsh even if others do not notice – [ ] Light is too bright or too cool (blue-white) – [ ] Light comes from above my eyeline and feels like a spotlight – [ ] No natural light / no window nearby
Small shifts (check any to try): – [ ] Turn off the overhead and use one warm lamp at desk height – [ ] Move my seat toward a window for steady natural light – [ ] Block the light from my direct sightline (screen position, brimmed hat, partition) – [ ] Swap a harsh bulb for a warmer, lower one – [ ] Add a small task light only where I actually need it
Area 2: Noise
Rate the drain (1-5): ____
Check what is true for you: – [ ] Unpredictable sounds keep pulling my attention (calls, doors, notifications) – [ ] The space is too quiet and the silence feels loud – [ ] Constant low noise I cannot control (HVAC, traffic, chatter) – [ ] I process sound differently and competing sounds are hard to sort
Small shifts (check any to try): – [ ] Add steady sound (fan, brown noise, long looping track) as a floor – [ ] Use noise-canceling headphones or simple foam earplugs – [ ] Move away from the unpredictable sound source – [ ] Ask for or claim a consistently quieter spot – [ ] Batch or mute notifications so sound is predictable
Hearing note: If you process sound differently, your fix is steadier sound and less competing noise. That is auditory processing. It is separate from Deaf accommodation, which is about access to information through captions, written text, or interpreters. If both apply to you, treat them as two different needs with two different solutions. Do not collapse them into one.
Area 3: Posture and Body
Rate the drain (1-5): ____
Check what is true for you: – [ ] My feet dangle or have nowhere flat to rest – [ ] My screen is below eye level and my neck strains – [ ] My chair is uncomfortable or fights my body – [ ] I am often too hot or too cold to settle – [ ] My desk is too high or too low for my arms
Small shifts (check any to try): – [ ] Get my feet flat (footrest, box, stack of books) – [ ] Raise my screen to eye level (stand, books, a riser) – [ ] Add a cushion or adjust my chair – [ ] Keep a warmer or cooler layer within reach – [ ] Adjust desk or keyboard height so my shoulders relax
Area 4: Movement
Rate the drain (1-5): ____
Check what is true for you: – [ ] I am expected to sit still and it leaks my focus – [ ] I have nothing for my hands or feet to do – [ ] I focus better moving but feel I am not allowed to – [ ] I get stuck in one position for hours
Small shifts (check any to try): – [ ] Keep a fidget, footrest, or wobble cushion within reach – [ ] Stand for part of the work – [ ] Pace while I think or take calls – [ ] Take a short walking lap between tasks instead of forcing stillness – [ ] Work alongside another person (body doubling) for a steady anchor
Area 5: Digital Overload
Rate the drain (1-5): ____
Check what is true for you: – [ ] I have many tabs open that I am not using right now – [ ] Notification badges (the little red numbers) keep tugging at me – [ ] My screen is visually cluttered while I work – [ ] Pop-ups and pings interrupt me constantly – [ ] My desktop or files are a wall of visual noise
Small shifts (check any to try): – [ ] Close every tab I am not using right now – [ ] Turn off badge notifications – [ ] Work in one full-screen window – [ ] Mute or batch pings during focus time – [ ] Clear my desktop or hide icons while I work
Your action plan
Look back at your five ratings. Pull your top three drains here, highest first.
- Area: __________________ My one shift to try: __________________
- Area: __________________ My one shift to try: __________________
- Area: __________________ My one shift to try: __________________
Start with number one only. Change that one thing. Try it for three work sessions. If it helps, keep it and move to number two. If it does not, pick a different shift from the same area and test again.
The first shift I am doing, and when: ______________________________
Remember
Your environment is assistive technology. It does not fix your attention. It changes the room so the attention you already have can land. You were never the broken part.
You’re not broken. You’re not too much. You’re smart and capable. You can do anything with the right tools.
Want to work through this with a community that gets it, plus body doubling sessions where the focus is borrowed, not forced? Start your 7-day free trial of ND Hive.