House is a mess, need motivation, helppp

[fatlazycow]

House is a mess top to bottom, I have time but I’m sat here on my phone. Don’t know where to start.

where do you begin when you have zero motivation?

Same here. I'm starting with a spreadsheet. For each room I visualise what I want it to look like, what I want to go into each room, and then list the tasks required to complete this. I sort them into "things that can be started now" and "things that need other things to be done first." That gives me a list of smaller tasks that can be done immediately, and breaks the job down into smaller chunks.

Is it possible to tidy but you just have let it slide for a week or 2, or is it several years accumulated permanent mess?
If the first, start at the front door and go round each room sorting as you go.
If the second it will need a bigger plan.

Honestly, I watching cleaning videos on YouTube and get my motivation that way. Emily Norris, anything that says 'clean with me'.

And start with just gathering up the rubbish and putting it in the bin, and putting on a load of laundry.

Maybe a guided clean would help?

www.patreon.com/rockthehousework

You stick some headphones in and clean along. Good if you need direction! There are all sorts of one, but the one-hour house reset might be a good place to start.

The organised mum method does a decent bootcamp printout, it splits it down to do an area each day; living room, kitchen, halls and stairs, bedrooms and bathrooms. But really there is no time-limit you just do that area till you've done all the jobs you wanted to.

I start by setting a really small goal such as “right now I will get up and tidy ten things away” or “I’m going to do 10 minutes of tidying up when I next have a wee”.
if I want to carry on afterward (often yes), then I do. If I don’t, then I do the same thing the next time I get up.

sometimes setting a massive goal is just too much and doesn’t work. Just put on some music and allow yourself to stop when you feel like it.

Dont be too hard on yourself, we’ve all been there

put some music on and set a 15 min timer, I usually start with kitchen or living room as these are the areas I spend most of my time….it feels like I’ve achieved something then, I get loads done in 15 mins and usually carry on after

I set myself the task once or twice a week of putting washing away while Dc are in shower (I can see them from where I stand)

I sort the washing into piles when I’m sat on the toilet, the movement helps things move along!

Put some music on and get moving. It’s the only way. Do you have DC who are old enough to help?

id put on a load of washing, pick a room and clean until the washing has finished. Then hang it out and have a cup of tea. If your DC are of an age where you need to supervise their bath, do the rest of the bathroom while they are in the bath. Otherwise I’d do the bathroom first then the lounge

Get in the habit of cleaning bits of the kitchen while you are making dinner. There’s usually a few minutes while you are waiting on things to cook that you can use to wipe down the front of cabinets, clean a shelf in the fridge etc.