If you are naturally messy and lazy how do you keep your house tidy?

[justwondering23]

I am very disorganised. I try to be tidy but I think I
am quite lazy and I have to really try to put things back in places! I'm starting the Marie kondo method to try and declutter and I've taken to trying to keep surfaces clear to make them easier to clean but I always have a mad panic every time someone comes around. I would hate anyone to just drop by unexpectedly as my house is not to the standard I want it to be!!!

Are there any lazy girls / cheats tips you can share if you have managed to make it work for you?

Thanks

[Huffpot]

I'm the same and find The Organised Mum method helps a lot
You have small, manageable tasks every week day and they start to make a huge difference (she's on FB or just Google)

[colditz]

YOu have to just force yourself to do it. There's no magical alternative to cleaning. Making lists and buying products doesn't cut it. You can clean your house with a rag and a bucket of soapy water, but you need to stand up and go and DO it.

[WooYa]

The Organised Mum Method! It's transformed my life 45mins (at most) each day in a different room. It's a blog but it's on Facebook and Instagram too.

[ScreamingValenta]

I don't . Thus place marking for tips/kick up the arse. Strangely, I am super-organised at work, and good at planning for a specific task or event in my life, but terrible at keeping on top of day to day housework.

[BertieBotts]

Erm I married somebody who is much neater than me

Sorry. I am a pretty hopeless case, though. I have a list of priorities for what NEEDS to be kept on top of, in what order and that helps. But there is no way it would be in any state most people would consider tidy if it weren't for DH.

If it doesn't bother you I would urge you to not care about what other people think. But any parts you do care about you should prioritise.

[justwondering23]

The thing is it does bother me. I have one ds (6) and I need to really encourage play dates to ensure he is not lonely and I don't as much as I should because it's such an effort to tidy house before they come.

I wish people could just drop by and house looks great. I need to get better at it.

[userabcname]

We have a cleaner! Means I have to tidy (so that she can clean) and I find it easier to clean when it's already quite clean iyswim? So a thorough clean by her once a week and then top-up cleans by me. Although she is on holiday for 2 weeks at the moment so the house is an utter tip!

[MinaPaws]

I use Flylady's 5 minute room rescues and 15 minutes to company-ready techniques. % min room rescues are a quick whizz through a room, sorting out the worst most obvious mess - big stuff: coats, bags, shoes, newspapers in living areas, dirty laundry and crockery, toys on floor etc. in bedrooms; pick up towels and polish mirror and taps, chuck out empty toiletries containers and swipe the loo clean if in bathroom. You just tidy as fast as you can for 5 mins. It's amazing what a difference that makes. And inspiring because you know next time you make a 5 minute effort you'll enjoy the difference.

15 mins to company ready is imagining you have guests turning up in 15 mins. So you do a 5 min room resuce then also a quick hoover and dust/polish, plump up cushions and clear surfaces.

It works. It's never daunting. My house is rarely the appalling tip it used to be.

[rebelrosie12]

Basically got rid of everything I own. If it doesn't have a home....got rid of it.

[Littlechocola]

Unfuckyourhabitat is good

[holidaylady]

Me too!
Omg I am constantly embarrassed about the state of my house.
Found TOM from other Mumsnet posts and so far, so good.
Day 2 and it's going well. The truth will be after week 2 and month 2 though.

I struggle with depression and just totally loose motivation and energy. And lose it more when the house is messy. So it's a decreasing spiral. Am really hoping this will send me the other way.

Also discovered I hate hoovering coz it makes me really hot.

Plus I never set our to be a sahm, so feel a bit pissed off at having to do housework. Ah well

[Strawberrybelly]

I am naturally messy and lazy and have to really force myself to do housework. I have a minimum standard that has to be done no matter what and that just about stops it being too much of a shit hole.

[JudgeRulesNutterButter]

Invite people over. LOTS. The resulting panic-cleans get more effective the more you do them.

[holidaylady]

And we are doing a Marie kondo on the house. Less stuff = less stuff to find a home for, tidy away and clean.

Lots gone to the tip and charity shop already

Agree with playdates bring really tricky coz the house is too awful to have people over :(

[holidaylady]

And dd best buddy's house always looks like a show home. Honestly. Soul destroying

[Hedgehog80]

The organised Mum method
A cleaner
A PA
A gardener

That’s the only way I can cope. Serious issues with housework and being organised to the point I wonder if there is something actually wrong with me as I’m not lazy I just can’t do it

[EgremontRusset]

We have a cleaner and we wipe the kitchen a bit etc. But it’s clutter that makes our home look bad not dirt. I’ve found I need to:

• get open storage - trays, baskets, nothing with a lid
  
• look carefully round the house at the places where different types of clutter naturally accumulate
  
• put the open storage in the place where the clutter naturally happens (makes it look magically tidier and also means you can pick it all up in one to wipe/hoover under).
  

We’ve recently moved house so I’m starting afresh with this, in our old place it was down to an art. So, I’ve noticed in the new house letters and magazines end up on the right hand kitchen counter, so I’m going to get a nice bamboo tray for them to land in so they look ‘on purpose’, like they’re meant to live there. Shoes here all end up in the conservatory so I’ve got a big open basket that now lives in the spot where they get kicked off. Etc.

[Borisdaspide]

One of the simplest things that helped me is 'its not leaving my hand until it has a home'. Stops me just leaving stuff everywhere. Shame 3yo doesn't do the same!

[LooksBetterWithAFilter]

I had to really train myself hard. If it didn’t have a home or I didn’t use it I got rid of it. And I do the basics every day and the jobs that need to be done as soon as they need done like dishes. I am soooo lazy and realise that rather than having a mad turn every few weeks in the King run it is actually much less effort to just spend 5 minutes getting it out the way. It helps get dh is not lazy at all and will just do things as he goes along so I wanted to be more like him.

There is a simple solution just do it. I’m not saying it was easy or came naturally but one week I hired the whole house and have gone from there.

[rookiemere]

Robohoover is a great help except new puppy barks wildly at it

Bathroom cleaning foam I just spray it around all the stuff and wipe it off half an hour later

Having a cleaner and a tidy DH helps a lot

[Keeptrudging]

I married someone tidier, plus we have a cleaner. I also have mad turns where I gather all the small items which belong elsewhere and use DD as a runner to take little piles to whichever room they belong in. This stops me getting side tracked in different rooms.

[WhenDoISleep]

I don't and I'm completely and utterly ashamed of that fact. The DC can't have anyone over and I can't spontaneously ask anyone to have coffee after the school run.

I'm currently slowly decluttering but for the rest of the summer holidays while the DC are around I'm in a holding pattern mode (basics are being done i.e. dishes, laundry, high traffic areas vacuumed, loos cleaned), but I already have plans of what I'm going to tackle when the DC return to school, with the aim of having the place decluttered and completely shipshape by the Christmas holidays.

[pickingdaisies]

Another one who uses flylady. Little routines that don't take long, using a timer so I don't get distracted, decluttering and giving everything a home.

[DesperatelySeekingSnoozing]

I am really lazy and the house often looks like a shit tip but lately I've been trying really hard to declutter.

I've been setting a ten minute timer the minute I walk through the door and dash round the living room and kitchen and put things away/throw things away/chuck stuff that doesn't belong in those rooms into a laundry basket.

DH then gets given the laundry basket when he gets in to redistribute to the correct places.

I do this every week night and then at the weekend I do the same thing in the upstairs rooms. Ten minutes each so I can keep on top of things.

When I'm boiling the kettle in the morning I empty the dishwasher from the night before.

Not perfect but easier to keep on top of things.

[holidaylady]

Inspired to clean some grot.
Washed the recycling bin out and put zoflora in it!
Cleaned all around the bin bin. Not revolting any more.

I think that is an actual weight lifted