Yes, Flylady is good Hoochie M (aside from evangelical wierdo parts) but the problem is I keep falling off the wagon (if that's the correct expression). I know it makes sense ... if only I could be consistent ...

Solid days Foxy???? Crikey, I thought I had problems but yes, in my case (Catholic) guilt always gets you in the end ....

I find that if I spend a few days solidly MNing guilt takes over and motivates me.

Aha - countinggreyhairs - I have read the whole thread waiting for someone to mention Flylady and you finally did in your (great!) poem!

I know it's all a bit American and god-bothery, but the basic priniples are sound ('except the whole get dressed to shoes' conundrum - wtf?!)

Thanks Mme P ; so let's summarise everyone's words of wisdom (in no partic. order):

- do little and often and keep at it every day
- monitor and cut down on how much time wasted watching telly and at computer
- don't sit down at end of day until majority of chores done
- balance your activities between, work, chores and your own interests to avoid mood slumps
- ring-fence regular times for cleaning
- start early as possible in the day
- listen to podcasts while cleaning or use the time to think of other more interesting things
- clean in short sharp busts interspersed with planned breaks and mini-treats
- make sure you have something else horrid to do which makes cleaning look more attractive option!!
- try and ensure you have enough storage and get rid of clutter on regular basis
- enlist the help of friends for 'clean swap' mornings
- invite friends and family around often and tell everyone it's ok to drop by unannounced!!
- keep a journal at end of day titled "achievements"
- look at interior magazines for inspiration
- force yourself to clean and tidy on a regular basis UNTIL it becomes natural
- and LucieMule's v. good suggestion which I missed out early on is "adopt mind-set of doing a professional job and pretend you are doing it for someone else"
- bear in mind time spent playing with children more important than dusting

OK, OK, so I'm sloping off now to put money where my mouth is ....

Great poem!

meant to say Chefswife, that your sculpture sounds amazing ...

... I know it sounds like yet another excuse but I think because I do so many things in the day that I don't want to do (I'm the creative/artistic type too (although you wouldn't know it from the poem )) but I rarely do anything creative or artistic, apart from coordinate crafts at dd's school) that I find the rest of the stuff so difficult and perhaps it's that that lowers motivation all around ..

.. and yes, the ongoing renovation doesn't help ...

Hey ho, time to face the week methinks and start counting my blessings instead of complaining ....

A Mumsnetter's lament to her untidy house ...

So I've girded my norkage
And donned my Spanx
I'll try and do chores
But won't receive thanks
There are toys on the parquet
And crumbs in the bed
I'll listen to a podcast
To calm thoughts in my head:
"You must weave lentils for tea
And wash dd's socks
You must starch your thongs
And polish your Crocs
And then when you're done
And the dc are a-bed
Do it all again
'Cos your grey matter's dead."

This Flylady's crashed
And burned on the floor
She's drowning in chaos**
And yet there is more ...

When she could be sorting
And dusting
And sending Boden returns
Here she sits (horror emoticon)
... Mumsnetting while Rome burns ....!!!!

* Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome (from Flylady)

OK, so I'm no poet but give me credit for advanced procrastination ....

thxs for the verse Jebelmum (my own - not so uplifting - contribution follows)

Waycat I admire your discipline!! A similar method was practised by a friend of my mother's who used to get up very early 3 mornings a week before the family and clean for England. She said her motivation was she could then pretend she hadn't done it (if that makes any sense)...

I have one day a week to do my thorough clean, and that's a Friday - my day off work, so to speak.

I start at 5.00am and finish at around 1.00pm, and that doesn't include rooms like the dining room or spare bedroom that don't get used every day.

Yes, it takes about 8 hours but I find that if I put the radio on, and just get stuck in I can work until I've finished. Then it's time for ironing, cleaning the dustbin (Friday is bin day) and doing some gardening should the weather allow.

I try and get all that done before my boys get home from school at 3.30 - oh, and also I try and pull in a trip to Sainsbury's if I can, but that doesn't always work.

My main motivation is the fact that I just want to get it done! Luckily I don't mind housework, so that's a big help.

nice

Here is a wee poem for you, read it when you are feeling swamped! It's called A Mothers Wish!
I HOPE MY CHILD LOOKS BACK ON TODAY, AND SEES A PARENT WHO HAD TIME TO PLAY, THERE WILL BE YEARS FOR CLEANING AND COOKING, BUT CHILDREN GROW UP WHEN YOU'RE NOT LOOKING, SO SETTLE DOWN COBWEBS - DUST GO TO SLEEP, I'M CUDDLING MY BABY, AND BABIES DON'T KEEP.

I use mannequins and PVC plumbing, melding the two elements to create sculptures that reflect a particular inspirational point. One I am working on right now has many legs (knee bent) and will be painted bright yellow, called ‘Offenbach’s Nightmare” . He wrote the Cancan. Because I work in my kitchen, I must clean up after myself everyday because I hate to think that DH comes home after working 12 hours to a stinky, dusty mess. I am a very tidy person anyway, but we live quite minimally. No figurines and stuff… that’s just more stuff to dust. All my friends are making bets how my place will look after babies. I hope I am able to maintain without being crazy about it.

Did you say you were renovating? That can certainly make any attempt at housekeeping futile.

Gosh! Just catching up with all these interesting posts having been away for half a day. Thanks for everyone's responses.

ditto MyDingaling*!

*LOvemygirls - sorry I missed your deal - but v. happy to take up the challenge another time!!! Maybe we should initiate a regular "ready, steady clean & see you back in 45 mins thread"?!! I know they do that on the Fly threads but I get slightly intimidated by the long lists of tasks achieved by 9am!! I think what you say is wise - getting in to a cleaning routine at certain times of the day - say morning and evening and other ring-fenced times is really helpful. Then it becomes more automatic and its not so overwhelming. Agree - it's a total bummer coming back home to a bomb-site ..

I know the feeling Esme*!

*PhD - mmm - something to ponder there - but if the considerable guilt I already feel hasn't motivated me so far, I think I may be a hopeless case ...

That's a good point - again - CoV - time can just fritter away so easily ... it's frightening ...

Solidarity Mylittlepudding, 2girls and Butterflygirl !!! (Hope your bathroom is now shining Butterflyg ...)

Spero you have hit the nail on the head. We don't have adequate storage here (renovating) and all the crappola simply gets moved from one room to the next ... .. and couldn't agree more about calm, tidy home = calm/relaxed mind ... hence my burgeoning worry lines and wiry white mane ...

Cat64 - thx - that's a great suggestion!! Particularly as you wouldn't be able to slide out of it if friends were making an effort to help you ... mmm... I think I'm going to try that one ...

great post mymblemummy

a genius suggestion *Madame Platypus* - thxs - I could listen to all the Radio 4 stuff I miss on a regular basis ...

chefswife - I know what you mean about not being able to truly relax amidst 'rubble' ... once children come along I think there is a definite equation between sheer determination to get things done v lack of sleep, post-partum mood/stress-levels, ability to multi-task. I was quite good in the early years, but things have got on top of me incrementally. Sounds as if you have a better attitude/handle on things!! What do you sculpt btw and in what medium???

*Haven'tsleptfora year* - your post makes so much sense. My anally tidy sister & bil have a rule that they don't sit down until the chores for the day have been done. It really works for them. If I'm honest, once I slump in front of computer/tv I know I'm doomed. As a fully paid up member of perfectionists/procrastinators anonymous - it's good to know there's hope ....more teeth-gritting from this end required I think ...

BossyBritches thanks - appreciated - think I'm getting a handle on this - regular bite-sized chunks of ring-fenced time interspersed with treats ...I did have success for a while listening to a language learning CD for 30 mins every day while ironing and felt very virtuous for having tackled two birds with one stone ...think I'll go back to that ... (I think I would fine films too distracting.) Taking your post a step further - perhaps a journal at the end of the day noting "tasks completed" could be a useful motivating tool too ...I certainly spring out of bed more happily if I've been productive the day before ... it's the rolling stone effect ...

Twoddle we are kindred spirits in the cleaning department!! Yr point about 'mindfulness' strikes a chord. I'm sick of the way I'm mis-managing things and have to change. Somehow if my "house/base/centre of things" is untidy/disorganised then the adverse effects creep in to every other area of my life: stress at work and with dd, social life, organising for trips away, it dampens spontenaity too ...got to get a grip on this...

Oh yes StarlightM my house was at it's tidiest when I was supposedly editing/re-writing very boring documents relating to pipe gas lines in Kazahstan ....Even my onions were organised in neat rows in the vegetable basket. There must be some way to harness the "should be doing something else effect" ... mmmmmm

Thanks all. I'm duly motivated!! Dh has taken dd off for 3 or 4 hours and I'm going to do some serious sorting ....please tell me to b*g off in no uncertain terms if you see me back on here before tomorrow

I think that’s called procrastination. like what I’m doijng right now. Laundry just finished and I’m farting around here.

If you think of something much worse to feel guilty about not doing, then you'll absolutely not get around to doing it because you just cannot start it until the living room is tidy etc.

I found when I was studying my house was the tidiest, - particularly around assignment times!!!!

I’ve always thought it’s amazing how clean your house looks if your dishes are done. Specially seeing as how when people pop in for an unannounced coffee, 9x out of 10, you’ll sit in the kitchen. I grew up in a home where kids toys, en masse, stayed in your room. My mother was a bit obsessive. If she caught us with our hands on the walls or doorframes, all hell broke loose. Needless to say, she was very angry when she saw all the drawing I did behind my dresser

Really interesting post. Glad it's not just me. I have always been messy myself (another perfectionist/procrastinator), getting really untidy and then having a "project" tidy. I have ds (3) to tidy up after too. I hoard. And I'm now separated so the tidying and cleaning up after two messy people is down to messy, unmotivated me!

Needless to say, we live in a tip most of the time with not just ds's stuff strewn around the place, but mine too.

I don't have that little-and-often thing going on; that mindfulness to tidy. It simply doesn't occur to me, in the moment of dumping a bag in the hall/papers on the table/dirty dishes on the worktop to deal with them there and then. They build up, and then I notice and think, "Oh bugger."

I also find that kids fragment the cleaning/tidying process: my mind would be all set to do it just so, and then mid-process, I hear, "Muuuuum!" Tidy over. I don't dip in and out of tidying very easily: I think I'm a project, "in bursts" kind of person.

Maybe it does come down to one's brain working the tidy way or not.

It's funny/gutting how, when I've had a blitz, friends comment when they come over: "God, you're looking really tidy!" But I love going to other people's messy houses: they usually feel relaxed and homely. Daft.

I have realised, though, how much I hate being messy and an unmotivated cleaner. I feel out of control, slovenly, ashamed of it - so reading a novel and drinking coffee on the sofa, mid-mess, doesn't make me a happy mummy. But tidying and cleaning seems unrelenting, when you do it properly, and then I'd feel guilty for not playing enough with DS.

It comes down to this: acceptance of self, complete with messiness; or learn to change the habits of a lifetime and be different. (Or find an obsessively clean and tidy new man ... ) Argh.

Watching this thread with interest. I do empathise, Countingthegreyhairs.

Ah yes… nothing like a good ironing session and an old movie.

I have zero motivation to clean and tidy. Absolutely none. I have to force myself off the sofa to do things and only because the place is in such a state that I HAVE to do something.

That's on the FLOOR of course.....

I've had just a day as suggested. Got loads done but interspersed with "treats" like a cuppa & a few pages of a nice book in the sunshine after putting out the washing! (or MN!!)

I can do loads of ironing for example if there's a good film on or someone comes for a coffee so I can natter & do stuff then I don't feel guilty!! I save favourite/ DVD's to put on when I have a pile of ironing,or washing to sort. I even take piles of veggies in to the sitting -room sometimes & have a bowl for peelings & a saucepan next to me on the floo & get the veggies done while watching a film!!

ALso I do think breaking things down into "bite-size" chunks is therapeutic. Then at the end of a day you can say well I've done this & this & this, rather than be depressed at what you HAVEN'T done!!

RE : your question about whether it comes naturally or if you have to force yourself.

I definitely fall into your category of perfectionist/procrastinator.

I have really been forcing myself to do things recently and some of it is finally coming naturally but it has taken a while, maybe even months !

For eg. tonight as soon as the kids were in bed, I was tempted to slump down on here for a while and THEN get on with the "jobs".

Instead, I gritted my teeth (and held my nose!) and went to put the nappies in the wash, then again forced myself to go and brush my teeth and take my make-up off, close the blinds etc.

It all sounds like easy stuff, but if I hadn't done it straight away, I would have had it all to do at 10.30pm (hour ahead here) and it would have been overwhelming and it would have been 10X worse.

Am hoping this will all come naturally soon

chefswife... just wait. It is a whole other world.

It is good to know others struggle. It surprises me just how much I struggle about this sometimes. But as said below - a happy mummy in a messy house - I'd have one of those any day.

I am one of those crazy broads that loves cleaning to the point that after a big, weekly clean, I actually sit back and admire my work. Don’t sit on the couch; you’ll ruffle those fluffed cushions.

Anyhow… although I don’t have children right yet and I know that makes a difference, I have instilled a pretty good routine. Plus, I work from home and find I will procrastinate work to do cleaning. As soon as I get up, I make the bed. Then I put the kettle on and do the dishes. While coffee is brewing, I grab my EcoVer spray, spray a some on a cloth and go through the living room, not worrying about figurines and stuff, just flat surfaces, tv, door handles. All this takes about from start to finish, 15 min. Way better than a big clean weekly/bi-weekly. I always do dishes right after meals as well. You have immediate energy and you can truly relax without that nagging feeling of dishes that need to done. Plus it’s great for digestion and your body starts to burn calories. When I work, I have to vacuum and mop everyday because I’m a sculptor and although work in the kitchen, I manage to track it stuff all over the floor. The bathroom usually gets done during a commercial break everyday… just a quick wipe down like the living room. Once a week, the ‘big’ clean doesn’t take more than 30min.

I’ll let you know after bambino’s if this regime is still functional.

Podcasts. I like craft podcasts (Creativemom, Cast on, Craftsanity) and geeky podcasts (Battlestar Galactica, Lost), but I think that there are so many podcasts available that there must be something for everybody. Its like listening to the radio, but you can choose something that really interests you. This doesn't really help when you have children around, but if you have a spare hour to get stuck into a big job or a boring job (tidying the cupboard under the stairs, tidying up after children have gone to bed), I find listening to a podcast is like going on mumsnet, but you can do other things at the same time. Now if only there was an intereactive mumsnet podcast, my life would be transformed.

Spring clean and de-clutter ruthlessly once a year.

The rest of the time invite people round to galvanise yourself into action beforehand.

But, don't go overboard, my children would rather have a mother who's in a good mood because she's been guzzling coffee and a detective story, than one who's cranky because she's been scrubbing floors.

A friend of mine (a SAHM whose children are now at school, so I suppose that helps) has an arrangement whereby she and two friends arrange every now and then to all go to one person's house to do a big job (clean the kitchen even behind things like toasters and including an oven clean etc.). She says it works as a) you have to keep going when people have put themselves out to come and help you b) it's always less tedious to go and do a job like this in someone else's kitchen c) it's great as you can have a good gossip as you go along d) it is possible to finish in a shorter time with 3x the workforce so you can bribe yourself with lunch or coffe and cake or whatever. I said I'd think I'd be concerned about other people seeing my mess and she said that's fine as a) they've all known each other quite a long time, and b) they are all as bad as each other, so no-one is horrified!

I think the real problem is if you don't enjoy it then the difficulty is getting yourself motivated. I find great satisfaction in housework because it is one of the very few things in life where i think you can get immediate good results from relatively little effort.

but over the years I've made a real effort to get organised and throw stuff out - basically you can't keep a place tidy if you have got no where to put stuff, so unless you've got good systems in place it will all go to pot pretty quickly.

so i think you've got to bite the bullet and tackle the big jobs like the heaving cupboard so that there is room to tidy things into, if you know what i mean.

then it should just be a relatively simple job of chucking things where they should go, giving surfaces a wipe etc. I think the idea of giving yourself a time to tidy up with a 'reward' to follow is a great one.

I think there is a definite link between feeling happier and calmer if your living environment is clean and tidy so that should be a good motivator. I get less stressed because I have a pretty good idea where everything is.

Thanks for starting this thread-it is such a breath of fresh air to realise that I am not alone in my resentment/lack of motivation reagrding housework. I will post later when I have something useful to add-and when I've cleaned the bathroom!

I only get motivated by pretending it's a job and I do it as though it's somebody else's house!

I find that I am more productive if I start first thing in the morning, after I get back from the school run. If I procrastinate eg have a cuppa and a quick check on mn I never seem to get going. You are right, once you get started it is amazing how much you can get done in a short space of time.

My dh works full-time and is studying evenings. In between, he helps me feed, bathe, dress and get ds to bed.

I motivate myself mainly by thinking, that otherwise all I would do all day is sit around playing with ds and reading crappy novels, and somehow that just doesn't seem fair.

EsmeWeatherwax - I'm going to hang some washing out and clean the bathroom fancy joining me? We can do 2 jobs report back then another 2 and so on?

(I'm really in need of a kick up the backside today!)

I'm watching this thread with interest, hoping to pick up some tips too! I hate housework, am currently sitting in a tip. Just toys lying about the living room mind, but the rest of the house...urgh!

I was quite mortified yesterday when my best mate came over a bit early, I wasn't ready so she went into the living room to wait for me, and when I came downstairs, she was tidying it!

Very nice of her but she is very pregnant at the minute...maybe nesting!

Mine isn't looking its best today would take me an hour or 2 max if i got off my backside....... dp is out, dd2 is in bed dd1 has gone out with my dad for a bit so I should NOT be sat here!

I'll do a deal with you though Countingthegreyhairs I'll do 30mins then come back here for an update on how much we have done? Have a cuppa then do another half an hour? ( i usually find once i've made a start it's much easier to get it done)

I have times of the day when I tidy and the times in between I just don't stress, I always try to make sure the place is reasonable before we leave the house so I don't walk in to a bombsite when I get home otherwise it really pulls my mood down usually because i've been out, been busy and just want to have a cuppa and sit down for 5 mins but if the place is a mess i feel i have to sort that before i can sit down!

All of my friends think that my house is always clean and tidy, if only they knew the truth. I spend hours cleaning before anybody comes to visit. Any other time I panic when the doorbell rings!

OK Martini82 so it looks like a ban on computer use in general, and Mnsetting in particular, is the way forward ....(although not sure I should say that now this thread has reached the home page!!)

... oh it's going to be a tough one ..

the only way i get anything done is by turning the pc off! the thought of watching cbeebies with the kids suddenly makes housework more appealing!

You are dead right MirandaG ... but I wish you weren't .... it's the constant day in day out stuff that I find most tedious of all and those are the very things I suspect I need to keep on top of the most ...

... groan ....

My little pudding - I think I shall instigate a dd out with dh day once a week - and try and capitalise on that (and resist Mmsnet!!)

Wierldly, PelvicFloornomore - the cupboards in the rooms we use frequently are very tidy indeed - but that's largely because the stuff that should be in them is spread all over the rest of the house ...sigh ...as for decorating and maintenance ... don't even go there ....

I've had this conversation so many times with my tidy friends and it seems they tidy all the time. I watch them - it's constant - they never let anything build up and religiously throw things out. I try to do this (unsuccessfully). I think it's something that comes naturally to you or not! I do sort of get satisfaction out of it if I do a big tidy up (eg when having a viewing) but most of the time I find it tedious and thoroughly unrewarding, especially the Groundhog day aspect...

I have no problem motivating myself or having time to do housework,it is done daily.It is the bigger jobs such as sorting out cupboards and decorating /maintenance jobs i have a problem with.There just is no time left for these plus the dc mess in everything.

I am hopeless too. Since I have been back to work I have been able to afford a monthly cleaner which helps, and do the rest little and often. But tis hard to, say, mop the floor, with a toddler! As for the big stuff the only solution I have discovered is that either you or DH takes the child(ren) out whilst you get in the loft etc. I have a DD who is far to interested in all that is going on otherwise.

sorry x posts BigBadMouse - yes - oh yes - 'tis the relentlessness that gets you down ...dh and I fondly remember the days when we came home from work and everything was where we left it ....

and forgot to say - wd have no problem at all with that strategy PointyDog .. could right my name in the dust on some of the surfaces here

thanks Eekamoose - that makes me feel a heck of a lot better!!!

Yes, visitors (unexpected or otherwise) are a definite motivator CoV ...depending on my state of mind/state of house, I enjoy having friends drop by (I live very close to dd's school so this happens regularly) but sometimes ... whispers conspiratorially ... I have to hide when the doorbell rings ....and then I feel even worse

It's ridiculous really because I visited a new-ish friend of mine the other day (pre-arranged visit didn't drop in) and she apologised about the state of the house because she was having a bad day - and I felt really happy and almost "honoured" (if that doesn't sound too pompous) that she'd let me see her like that (previously considered her to be real super-mum type)!!

Hey ho, would like to get the house under control most of all for my own sake though tbh ....

What bugs me about it all is that you do something which seems to take forever and is incredibly dull to do, then five minutes later it is all undone again .

Every now and then I like to find something to clean / tidy that is actually going to stay that way for a while - a cupboard the DCs can't reach for example. It's hardly the most exciting thing I do but it is nice to come back the next day and find it still clean and tidy!

I could have posted your OP counting. Sometimes I am in the mood for tidying and cleaning but MOST times I am not.

I find it all a crushingly boring chore tbh and as a result we live in a very untidy house that gets a bit grubby sometimes (although not unhygienic, I do have some standards).

Despite the chaos, I don't regret being a SAHM for the past 7 years. When things get on top of me and the most I can achieve in a day is looking after DS and staring out of the window going la la la la la, I make a point of reminding myself that having unmade beds and sinks full of dishes and dust on the mantlepiece does not make me a bad person. I just have better things to do with my time.

Still, given that this is not very helpful to your original question. Well, I have three rules: do a load of washing every day, feed the children and cat in a reasonably healthy way, clean up sick, wee or poo asap.

Anything beyond that is a bonus.

I have several friends who often drop by unannounced for coffee which helps keep me motivated to ensure the house is always spick and span

I let things get noticeably dirty and that motivates me to clean it.

Sounds like you have your hands full COV ...I would love to work from home but I don't think I have the discipline ...

Am anal about cleanliness in kitchen and bathroom but I need to extend that to rest of house!! In some ways, I think I do housework more efficiently now I work p/t as my week is more structured but everything goes to pot when something "extra" happens such as illness or we have visitors ....

Oh excuses, excuses ...!!

I felt the same when I went part time, like I wasn't giving my all to either "job". Am very content as a sahm (although am in the throws of setting up my own business from home now that the ds will be at fulltime school by sept 09 and dd is currently in year 1). I do spend a lot of time keeping the house up to scratch though (but I am rather anal about cleanliness/tidyness to the point of obsession ).

Too true ComOV. Part of this has come about because I had v. unrealistic ideas of what it would be like to be an sahm. I loved being at home with dd for 2.7 yrs but I missed the intellectual stimulation of work after that.

Now I'm back at work pt I feel I'm not doing a good enough job there (too rushed - not enough hours) and not doing a good enough job at home either ...

Apologies for the whinge fest

It is because it is soo boring. The trick isd little and often. If you let it get out of control it is so hard to motivate yourself to get it back on track.

For eg, a close friend of mine has 3 children and works 5 hours longer than me per week... and her house (albeit admittedly an easier house to clean - it's modern and doesn't have so many stairs) is 10 times more organised and clean and she is currently learning the cello...

I just need to stop whinging and buck up ...

Agree Buda - mmnsnet is just far too enticing!

Time isn't the real issue though if I'm honest (I only have 1 child and I'm lucky enough to work part-time, term times only, so have no valid excuses at all)

that's why I feel so utterly crap about it all frankly ... I SHOULD be doing so much better ...

I have to force myself. And bloody MN doesn't help! So much easier to just keep on here when I should be doing stuff.

Thxs for responses so far - much appreciated

That makes sense ComeOVeneer - I think I'm being too impatient/unrealistic - want everything done NOW and when I don't achieve it I get dispirited - OK so will aim to break it down step by step and doggedly work through it...and keep going ....

Interesting Tigana that you include things you LIKE doing in yr schedule. That's a good tip. Again, I think that's where I've been going wrong. Being too perfectionist/rigorous on the days when I'm up for it ... and then I don't look forward to repeating the experience ....

Force myself.
I set myself a little schedule, for example:
15 mins tidy lounge
30 mins doing something i want to do like gardening
15 mins kitchen
30 mins MN ( usually stretches to about 60)

Only really do domestic stuff when ds is asleep or distracted by DH/tpys/tv other wise he want to 'help' and it all goes terribly wrong!

Don't look at the big picture, tackle one task/room at a time. The big picture seems to daunting, and overwhelming.

Thxs cleaning lady. I enjoy it "in theory" or rather enjoy the results, and I have periods of being really organised and on top of things ... and then either illness strikes or work gets busy (I only work p/t) and it all goes to pot again ..then it gets me down and then I procrastinate ... at my age I should be doing better!!

does anyone have any anti-procrastination tips please??

I think some people are more motivated than others to do houseworks really tbh!!

i enjoy cleaning/tidying (hence nickname ) but i also buy those house interior magazines and when my house is a bit untidy etc a quick read through motivates me to sort it out !

The bigger jobs are harder though - my dc are a pre school and school so do have time to do it otherwise helpful family members to take dc off your hands while you do the bigger jobs helps!

er, meant daily chores obviously

dazzle-y ones wd be more interesting ...

I don't need help with routines just with motivating myself to stick to them. (An adaptation of flylady works well for me when I can stick to it - but I get too easily demotivated.)

Do you have to really force yourself yourself to do the housekeeping chores or does it come naturally to you?

If the former, what incentives do you give yourself to get the housekeeping chores done, day after day? With me, it's all or nothing and I want to break this habit and motivate myself to use my time more evenly and effectively.

Also, I need to do some huge de-cluttering exercises in various rooms in the house. How do you do this when you have children around? (I mean clearing out dirty dusty roof type jobs - ones you have to wear all-in-one overalls for - not projects you can plug away at for an hour a day.)