From Aspiration to Everyday: Medication Rituals That Work With Your Nervous System
I used to think alarms were the answer. I set them on my phone, my watch, even tried apps. But instead of helping, they made me feel nagged. Every snoozed alarm became another reminder that I couldn’t even manage something as “simple” as remembering to take my meds.
If you live with ADHD, CPTSD, or any kind of executive dysfunction or demand avoidance, maybe you know that spiral too? You want the stability your medication offers, but the reminders feel heavy or easy to ignore. And then comes the thought: If I can’t even get this right, what chance do I have at anything else?
That’s why I stopped trying to fight who I am and started looking for ways that actually worked for me, regardless of whether they worked for others. I rooted this in Michael Smull’s Person Centered Thinking, which I was certified to train from 2014–2020. Applying his practice, I discovered that medication reminders don’t have to be alarms or sticky notes. They can become rituals and routines, moments of care woven into the day instead of one more demand I’ll never keep up with.
Why Standard Reminders Feel So Heavy
I remember the sting of yet another alarm going off while I was already overwhelmed. Instead of supporting me, it felt like a scolding. Sticky notes weren’t better; my brain stopped seeing them after a day or two. And with CPTSD in the mix, sometimes an alarm didn’t just annoy me, it triggered resistance or shutdown.
What all of these “solutions” had in common was this: they assumed I could run on reminders the way other people do. And when I couldn’t, I blamed myself.
If that’s your story too, I want you to know the problem isn’t you. Sometimes “one size fits all” doesn’t fit all sizes. Those of us it doesn’t fit are left out in the cold, feeling the isolation. But we don’t have to do that here.
Rituals That Feel Like Care
When I stopped trying to force alarms, I started looking for things I already did that felt grounding. For me, coffee was the obvious one. That first sip in the morning has always been its own kind of ritual, a pause that feels like mine before the day gets going.
So instead of letting my phone yell at me, I made coffee the anchor. I keep my meds where I make my coffee, and now the act of pouring a mug naturally cues the act of taking them. It doesn’t feel like a nag or a chore. It feels like a small kindness woven into something I already look forward to.
That’s what makes rituals work. They don’t demand that you build a whole new system. They piggyback on something that already feels like care. For someone else, it might be feeding a pet, or slipping into a favorite hoodie, or pressing play on a morning playlist.
The point isn’t what the ritual is. The point is that it belongs to you. It ties medication to something that feels safe, comforting, or grounding. And that connection turns the act from another thing on the list into a way of caring for yourself in real time.
Routines That Remember With You
I used to carry the whole weight of remembering myself, and it was exhausting. And truthfully, some of the “classic” advice never worked for me. I don’t keep a pill case on the counter. I don’t reliably take my meds when I brush my teeth. Honestly, I don’t even like brushing my teeth. Standing still for two minutes feels unbearable, and it highlights how much I’d probably benefit from developing a meditation practice.
What did work was noticing something else: every day in the shower, I put conditioner in my hair and wait two minutes. And every day, I felt restless in that wait. That’s when it clicked. If I brushed my teeth in the shower while the conditioner set, I’d be solving two problems at once. It saves water, saves time, and suddenly brushing my teeth no longer feels like dead weight.
That’s what building supportive routines looks like. Not copying what “should” work, but noticing the natural rhythms you already have and finding where the “important for” (health, stability) can tuck inside the “important to” (efficiency, flow, comfort).
The goal isn’t to build a perfect morning routine. The goal is to build one that remembers with you.
The Overlap
The real magic happens when important to and important for overlap. Coffee plus meds. Conditioner plus tooth brushing. Everyday rituals that make space for care instead of forcing it.
That’s when something that once felt aspirational — “someday I’ll get this right” — becomes everyday. Not perfect, but possible.
Try It Yourself: The Rituals & Routines Tool
This idea comes from Person Centered Thinking, a framework developed by Michael Smull and colleagues to help people design lives that reflect both what is important to them and what is important for them.
If you’d like to see more about the origins of this approach, here’s a short video where Michael Smull explains the importance of understanding Rituals & Routines framework: Watch on YouTube.
Here’s how to try it for yourself:
Map each part of your day in detail. Write out every step, from waking to winding down. Get specific.
Circle what’s important to you. The rituals that bring comfort.
Highlight what’s important for you. The supports that protect your health.
Find the overlap. Where can you combine them? Coffee mug + meds. Conditioner time + tooth brushing. Evening skincare + meds.
Find room for your accommodation. If mornings are hectic, shift the timing. If visuals help, make it beautiful.
👉 Download the Rituals & Routines Tool
This isn’t about willpower. It’s about designing your environment so your daily rhythms hold your care with you.
From Aspiration to Everyday
I used to believe consistency in self-care was beyond me, something other people managed but I never could. But it wasn’t, I just needed to look at what systems would work for me.
The moment I stopped forcing alarms that didn’t fit and started weaving care into my own rhythms, I felt the shift. From aspiration into everyday. From frustration into possibility.
That’s liberation, not because everything suddenly became easy, but because I no longer had to fight myself to meet my needs.
Now it’s your turn.
Start by downloading the [Rituals & Routines Tool] (Insert Canva link) and map your own day. Notice where “important to” and “important for” can overlap, and experiment with weaving care into the rhythms you already have.
And if this post resonated with you, there are two ways you can support this work:
☕ Buy me a coffee and give fuel for me to keep creating free tools like this one.
🌱 Explore my services if you’re ready for one-on-one support in building self-accommodation that fits your life.
Medication isn’t just important for your health. It can be important to your wholeness. And when you hold both, you build a daily practice of care that is not just possible, but sustainable.