To be fascinated by tidy people

It's true, when it's a habit, you actually don't spend time tidying.

Tidy/clean as you go.
Everything in its place and a place for everything!
I don’t have stuff!! If it’s not serving a purpose or looking pretty I’m NOT keeping it.
No eating anywhere except the kitchen table.
and a general “just do it now…attitude”

I spent a lot of Sunday on the couch and most evenings to be honest. I can do things very fast because my house is clean, tidy and organised. It’s actually time saving to be this way.

I think tidy people tend to spend most of their day tidying. I spend up.to 2 hours a day and barely sit down. It's still messy.

Honestly, tidying barely takes me any time at all because nothing ever builds up. When I leave the room, all my rubbish etc. goes with me. So if I got up now to go for a wee, I'd take any empty wrappers, cups etc. to the kitchen on the way, and wash them up on the way back.

If I get something out of a drawer to use, it goes straight back once I'm finished. Everything has a place so nothing ever needs to be left on a surface unless that's where it belongs.

I'm the same.

Little jobs every day (bathrooms, light dusting, hoovering)
Dish washing and kitchen wipe after every meal.
Mop floors 2x week
Dust ceilings, skirting etc 2x month
Rota 3 big cleans for after Christmas, Easter, Summer holidays (ie under sofa, pull out beds etc)
Wash and iron as soon as ONE whole load is in the basket. Dry and put away immediately.
One touch rule- don’t open post then shove in a drawer or leave it in a “filing pile”- put it in the file immediately.
Get rid of any shit you don’t need- sell or give it away if:
a) out grown
b) you haven’t used it during the season it intended.
Put shoes in a cupboard, bottom of wardrobe- only one pair out at a time.
Kids need to tidy their own crap or it goes in a bin bag in the garage for a week- they soon learn to put away.

The less crap on display, the less you have to clean around. Nothing is too difficult if you do it regularly and keen on top.

I am a very tidy person, always have been. I like things to be neat and ordered. I had to share a bedroom with a sister who was very messy and I hated it. My Mum was messy too and I was forever hoovering and tidying the house.
I don't like things out of place, or disordered. It doesn't take much to maintain my system.
A place for everything, and everything in it's place.
There's no need to throw stuff out, just keep items in place. I keep tables and surfaces clear.

I agree with above posters, I think being tidy is inbuilt. I physically and mentally cannot relax until my house is clean and tidy and everything in it's place.

'Don't put it down, put it away.'

Mess stresses me out and makes me feel uncomfortable and unable to relax.

I tidy as I go, so as soon as I come home from work, everything gets put away - dirty clothes in the laundry, shoes on the rack, dog stuff in the cupboard, coats on the hooks. When I leave a room, I take any rubbish with me, put dirty dishes in the sink. While I'm waiting for the kettle to boil, I'll wash dishes, wipe the sides, put a load of laundry on or sweep the floor. After I shower, I'll spray the shower down and wipe the glass. It's just automatic.

I also have a routine of doing certain things on certain days, so Friday is always the day we change the bedsheets, for example, and Thursday is when we wash the towels. It just means nothing ever builds up because it's always done.

I also do things as soon as they need doing, so as soon as the washing machine beeps, the clothes get put out to dry, or in the dryer. Once the drier beeps, clothes are taken out, folded and put away. If I leave stuff until later, I know I'll forget or not bother, so I find it easier to just get off my arse and do it straight away.

I think tidy people tend to

• spend most of their day tidying. I spend up.to 2 hours a day and barely sit down. It's still messy.
• have household members than can be "trained" or are naturally tidy themselves.

• have enough space for their stuff and are ruthless about keeping things
• do significantly fewer exciting things in their lives as they are consumed with tidying.

I say this despite really wanting a cleaner house and putting a lot of effort in. I recently had my eyes opened to just how much time people are willing to sacrifice for a tidy house.

Tidy as I go. Yes I have a child and pets so the house isn’t perfect, but my 2yo enjoys tidying up toys once she’s finished playing with them, before getting the next load out. She has a play area with LOTS of storage so that everything has a place, before she goes up to bed all her toys are tidied away. I feel like it’s slightly OCD, but also she’s learning to be organised in a fashion.
All other stuff has a place. My house is small, I have ALOT of things, but there is a place for it all. I try to keep up with the washing, it winds me up when I am looking for an item of clothing and it’s washed and dried but not put away, so I put the clothes away soon as I have a pile.
I have been called OCD but I wouldn’t consider my house that ‘tidy’ in the slightest, I just do it as I go so when child is in bed it’s my time to chill!

My DW and I are both tidy people, we have 2 DC but neither one of us can abide mess and clutter. We just don't let clutter build up, everything in our house has a place so it's easy enough to keep on top of things. We wipe down daily and hoover daily.

Organisation, storage and keeping on top of it.
Delegate things like photography and listing to your husband.
Make sorting bags out when you get home a thing you do with the children, make it a game, swimwear in wash bin, rubbish in bin, bag to its designated hook or cupboard.
Change bag and husband’s work bag each have a place to go. Off the floor, clear floor is easier to clean and looks better.
Three prams?
Get a kallax unit and have dedicate cubby holes for each thing.
Yes sit down and recover but move every so often and do just 15 minutes, one room, pick up everything that doesn’t belong there or is out of its place and put it away. Any time you have surfaces clear take the chance to wipe/polish whatever.
Baskets and storage boxes are wonderful and allow quick tidying of toys etc.
Last thing at night tidy the living area, plump up cushions etc.
Once you get on to of it maintenance takes less time. Conversely one something has sat out you stop seeing it and clutter builds.
It is much more pleasurable to sit and unwind in a tidy place.

I make myself keep on top of it all, hoover every second day, washing up in the dishwasher, washing as and when.
of I don’t then home quickly resembles Stig of the dump

Never leave a room empty handed… my mum used to say this and it has served me well. There is always something that needs putting away, washing up up or dumping. I do
it without thinking, oils the cogs. I see friends come in dump a bag say and then somebody else dumps another one, the mail gets dumped on that and then somebody’s jacket etc, this is how it starts. I always unpack my bag, sort my nail, hang my jacket up all without thinking. My house is mostly tidy, most of the time.

My house growing up was quite messy and so was my bedroom, but as I’ve got older mess makes me quite stressed. That’s my motivation, to create a nicer looking environment which is more pleasing and calming. I’m not neurotic about it though, I have 2 kids back from uni, one who is worryingly messy a primary school child, dog, husband and full time job not working at home.
once you’ve got routines it doesn’t take too long. Time it and you’ll see it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

I’m tidy and lazy, basically I tidy/clean as I go and with my goal being that when I sit down there is nothing left to do.
Your example of coming home, my kids will abandon shoes, water bottles etc in the hallway but I’ll grab everything straightaway, put the shoes away along with mine, water bottle straight into the dishwasher, wash hands, then empty my handbag in the box in the hallway where I keep keys/tissues etc, empty shopping bags, remove tags from newly purchases items, on the stairs for items that go upstairs, put the rest away where it goes on the ground floor. Then I sit down.
Same after bath time when they were younger: I would seat the kids in bumbo seats with a toy while I rinsed the tub etc, basically I wouldn’t leave the bathroom until it was tidy. Then bedtime: tidy the room before saying goodnight.

Parents were tidy . I guess it’s what I’m used to. I was a messy teen and so were my DC. I just shut the door on their rooms. I’m not fastidious but I just put things away. After dinner, everything is either washed up or in the dishwasher, surfaces are wiped. I sweep the kitchen floor daily. In the bathroom I have cupboards( under sink and around the boiler ) so all toiletries are away apart from shower/ soap etc.

you can see jokes about putting laundry away going round.

I don't understand it. If you have dry laundry, why not putting it away there and then? It takes a few minutes, then it's out of your head and everything is easy to find. I run a load or 2 first thing in the morning, it dries during the day, fold and put away in the evening - usually bath time or around the time I make diner if it pre-heat the oven or something.

My mum is cleaner than Hyacinth Bucket.

It has skipped a generation let me tell you.

Sitting down is fatal op.

I had 3 under 2 and I don't know how I did but my house was much tidier when they were small.

They are 17, 18 and 19 now and well, no chance.

Don't sweat it.

Regular routines, fairly big house, plenty of storage, dishwasher, utility room and a weekly cleaner. Very tidy husband brought up in an extremely tidy family. A place for everything. No pets. Naturally Monica Gellerish tendencies. And having grown up with none of the above, a pathological fear of my own house looking anything like my mother's!

It's impossible to relax in a messy environment for me. So there's nothing to be gained by sitting down when there's tidying to do. I'd just be sitting there stressed!

Same with all the shite in your hallway. It'd stress me. So I don't come through the door, dump my stuff to deal with never later and sit down. I come through the door and put things away. Children have to learn the world doesn't revolve around them and whatever they want or need can wait 5min while I put things away.

If you tidy up regularly it does only take 5min. If everywhere is tidy, cleaning is a matter of picking up the duster/spray/vacuum/mop and getting on with it. If you've to spend an hour tidying up first of course you then don't have time to clean. You're sabotaging yourself by not tidying up.

Everything is tidied before I go to bed. I wake up to a tidy house. All items are put away after I've finished using them. Whether that's children's craft supplies, that Amazon parcel that arrived or the laundry I've just brought in off the line. If you deal with everything right away, it's only ever a little bit. It's leaving it to build up that causes the problem and suddenly you need to find a solid two hours to tidy and clean in order to look like you've achieved anything.

Have a shoe rack and coat hooks. Then use them! If there's too many shoes and coats, declutter some. Unpack bags right away when you come in and put items where they need to go.

Wash up or load dishwasher after eating and wipe down worktops and table, then sit down afterwards.

If children have finished playing, toys straight back into the box/cupboard etc. Too many toys to fit, declutter some.

Sort your outfit in advance before the event, so you're not rushing and have time to rehang the reject clothes straight away.
If you're spending too long choosing, have a uniform that you wear for everyday.
Eg for summer I wear dresses. 10 dresses, pick one, when it's dirty it goes into the washing basket and once a week they're washed.
Winter it's jeans, 5 pairs all in the same style/colour and one of 8 jumpers, due to the bulky nature the laundry basket sometimes gets full before the week is up, so its done then.
Spring/autumn is 2 skirts, 3 different pairs of jeans in various styles and 15 tops that will match with all of them - if it won't then I don't buy it. There's no decisions to be made about what goes with what, I just grab something clean.

Laundry folded and put away as soon as it's done. Or hung out as soon as the washer is finished. I put a load on before breakfast, hang it out before work, fetch it in once home again and put away while dinner cooks.

All dishes done before bed, left to dry overnight and put away in the morning before breakfast.

Beds made when you get out of them.

Clean your floors minimum weekly or more often if you've got pets. Clean up spills right away.

I do a version of the Swedish Death Clean every year. If I haven't worn it, read it or used it for a year, out it goes. I iron clothes and hang them up immediately. Dishes get put away once cleaned. Nothing is left lying in rooms. It's easy because I live alone. I can't abide clutter. I tend to tidy at the adverts on tv, so three minutes will empty the dishwasher or load it. Three minutes will make a bed or strip it. It's surprising how much you can get done while being a tv watching sloth

I know from bitter experience that the worst thing you can do is waste time scrolling on mumsnet when you could otherwise be tidying up! 😂

What’s the one touch rule?