Does anyone else struggle to clean and tidy their house?

Me. I work almost full time, 3 kids at home, 3 dogs. I just cant be bothered really.

Look into The Organised Mum Method. Someone recommended it on a different thread a couple of months ago, and it has made such a difference for me. 15 minutes of daily tasks plus 30 minutes in a focus room.

Also, advice I read somewhere else is if you see a job that will take less than a minute, do it straight away. Amazing how much gets done without it feeling like you're doing housework.

How old are the kids?
Because life becomes much easier when they can pile the dry washing by person, and put theirs away. Ditto for loading/unloading dishwasher, or stripping beds.

We do minimal over the week - clothes washed, kitchen wiped down.
Bathrooms, propper kitchen clean, vacuuming gets done at the weekend.

What level anemia?

You’re not alone I think these feelings are common. You are onto a bit of a loser starting cleaning late and staying up late. I would knock that on the head and work out a realistic plan first off.

I find setting a timer works. I’ll set a timer for 15 mins and see how much I can get done, quite often it gets me the zone and I’ll do more but if I don’t I’ll just set another timer a bit later. I will caveat that though by saying I have a small house and my DC are teens who keep their own rooms clean and tidy.

I’m the same. Full-time work, two kids (4 and 20 months), and a big house and garden. I think I might also have a bit of a problem because I’m quite obsessed with things being organised and tidy.It’s hard – very hard. I rarely get to bed before 11pm because I’m tidying, preparing lunch boxes, cooking, cleaning, etc. So after a full day of work I just keep going (my husband too, with other tasks), and then we’re up again at 6am.
I guess it’s just life. If we want it all, we have to do it all.
In a few months I’m planning to drop a day from work. It will mean less money, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on things (or at least have some time for myself) so our weekends can be more fun.

I'm anaemic as well. Don't take the tablets every day as you don't absorb the iron it just...passes through. Take it 2 or 3x a week max, at night and with a glass of orange juice. No caffeine.

Give yourself a break, clean the bathroom when it needs done, put the dishwasher on daily and put a wash on. If your kids are old enough get them doing stuff. Hoover now and then. Maybe at the weekend.

Anaemia is debilitating and running yourself down trying to maintain (possibly) too high standards will just make you ill.

Your best bet is not to let things get dirty (I know that sounds like a twattish thing to say but maybe book a one off clean)

But stuff like doing the kitchen while the kettle boils and wiping down the sinks with a spray and cloth once every few days after using the loo really helps.

Then for the stuff that's too exhausting like the shower, you can rest on the sofa while dh quickly does it (again, tack it on to taking a shower).

Sorry ypu feel so knackered. Fwiw, while my house is normally like a show home and I'm always pinging around the house, I have definitely had points where I'm so exhausted that I literally cannot move when I'm.oit of whack so I sympathise that even a wipe around is literally impossible when you're having a particularly bad day so be really kind to yourself.

My advice is to really be gentle to yourself because it's awful to feel so crap, and that's before you mentally beat yourself up 💕

I have a cleaner. No kids (desperately trying!) but three messy dogs 😂

Both me and my OH out the house 8am to 8pm 5 days a week and in all honesty, I’m not giving up my weekend to clean.

Lazy, most probs. Exhausted, most definitely.

OP, maybe if you give us an idea of what your week looks like, in terms of being out of the house, how many children et cetera we could help you devise a simple but effective plan. I have a very tidy and clean home BUT I caveat that by admitting that I am one of those people who actually uses pottering around and tidying things up as a form of relaxation. Having said that, I also always find that systems and routines have to be simple to my working in the long-term.

If you’re on iron tabs from the docs, may I recommend these instead https://amzn.eu/d/0b08YC41

gentler on the tummy, have bit C for absorption and much better than what the GP prescribes.

but I feel you. I feel like I’m chasing my tail to just do a basic level of clean

Depends how much you think you need to do

Im frequently amazed at what people think is 'cleaning' on here, moving furniture, skirting boards, something called a 'deep clean', windows, etc

All unnecessary in my view.

Clean toilet, clean sinks, clean cooker hob (once a week), hoover the bits you can see, quick mop now and then.

Worktops wiped once a day, washing up once a day (some things only need a rinse)

Put a wash on a few times a week, shake vigorously before hanging and dont iron a thing

Change the sheets weekly if you can, if not fortnightly will do.

Everynight, spend 10 mins and no more, putting things back in their drawers and cupboards so they're put away.

Thats it.