If like me you get overwhelmed with household tasks..

[peanutcrumble]

What have you done recently that has helped you? Even if it's just short lived.

We are a family of 6. My main issue in life is washing, it overwhelms me to the point I block it out until the whole house is over run with dirty washing, wet washing, washing that needs to come off the line, washing that needs to come out/go in the tumble dryer. Clothes that need folding, sorting out into piles, carried upstairs and put away. I can never get to the bottom of the washing baskets before someone comes along and dumps more dirty washing in them. And that just clothes that's not including bedding for 5 beds. Dogs bedding. Towels (oh the endless towels) it's just never ending.

Today I bagged everything up ( 5 ikea bags and two big baskets) and took it to the laundrette. In 2 hours I got the lot washed, dried and folding into each persons bag. It would have taken me a week to do all that at home inbetween sorting kids/dogs/housework. I came home and packed the lot away in 20 minutes and my laundry bins are empty for the first time in forever 😁 I can't tell you how happy that makes my feel, I'm actually buzzing my tits off!!

How sad am I but I don't care.

That's great!!

We just had a very strict system. One wash load pretty much every day, dried overnight mainly on coat hangers then the kids helped sorted and out away before next load went in the wash/whilst washing.

That's fab!

Are you going to make that the routine from now on?

I also struggle with washing but unfortunately no laundrette near me.

You're not sad , it sounds like a sensible solution .

I think your way of getting on top today is awesome.

There’s a book called something like “how to keep house whilst you’re drowning” or something similar - I think there’s a Ted talk in it too. It helped me get rid of some of the guilt and mental weight.

Yes I was going to say one load a day from
shoving in wm through to putting away but it sounds like one dedicated day a week might work better for you op! And of course anyone over twelve does their own washing. cutting down on the amount of clothes helps too.

The one thing that has helped me with overwhelm is very boring but it’s sticking to a weekly routine. It doesn’t matter if it’s TOMM or Flylady or your own system but having a morning and evening routine and a set simple housekeeping activity for each day of the week, eg
Mon = laundry
Tuesday = floors and kitchen
Wednesday = bathrooms
Thursday = sitting room and hall

Friday = bedroom

(you choose your own) and sticking with it even when it’s the last thing I feel like, is the most helpful thing in the world.

I also have a list of tasks that I work through at weekends which are weekly fortnightly and monthly and bi annual and annual tasks such as:
-washing dog blankets and kitchen bin and and clearing out fridge (weekly)

-cleaning dw filter and washing machine and td (monthly)
-and cleaning windows (quarterly) for example.

The thing is, I never truly understood the importance of a routine before. I would look at the floors and think “they are quite clean and can wait for another week” and then a week or two would go by and everything was sticky and messy and the job would take a whole morning to tackle rather than 45 mins.

And I would only clean when we had big family events or friends over and it really ruined those occasions for me as I would be stressed and exhausted.

Especially with a relatively large family op, it’s much more efficient and pleasant to spread your energy in short bursts over the week rather than have a hellish, massive exhausting panic cleaning job once a month or something. The other thing is that if you keep on top of things it’s much easier psychologically to start, whereas I would dread starting once everything had got out of hand.

So I would recommend TOMM op. It’s not expensive for what it is. It’s fairly simple. Lots of printable. And the guided cleaning podcasts on Patreon are a game changer for me. Helps keep me on track anyway.

Good luck.

How much did that cost to do though?

I use the TOMM podcasts on patreon too. It’s literally the only thing that’s made any difference after trying lots of cleaning schedules on the internet. It’s £3 a month so not too bad but it’s the only subscription I pay for. The TOMM book is good but the podcasts show you how you can actually fit cleaning into a very short timeframe.

I also liked Decluttering at the Speed of Life for decluttering (which I got from the library).

I also use the launderette weekly. Each Friday I strip the three beds and also take all the used towels and any other dirty laundry. It works out about £20 for wash and dry. I pick up on Saturday or Sunday. A routine that I love!!

@wineschmine im going to try that's for sure. Bedding and towels I'll try wash at home, I think I can manage that, it's just the clothes.

@butterpuffed thank you 😊

That sounds great OP if you can afford it then keep using the laundry.

@Youthinkyoureuniqueyourejustastatistic @Verilyshesaid thank you both I'll have a look at those. I forgot to add that I have bpd, ptsd poor mental health, anxiety. Some days I can get through it all like a whirlwind but if I have a bad few days then everything mounts up and I feel like I'm drowning in all the household chores. Routine is really hard for me because when (and it's never if) I do take a dive it all just unfolds and I'm back to square one.

@tothelefttotheleft £40 to wash and dry it and I know that's a lot but it's so worth it to clear my head 🤦🏻‍♀️

@jclm it washes the clothes so much better or is that just me thinking that lol. Saying that I probably overload my washing machine at home and the clothes aren't getting properly washed 🤦🏻‍♀️ and that's a 10kg washing machine 😬

@AdoraBell thank you I think I will 😀

I would second that book. I got it from Google books, but from your update I think it is a book you could really relate to.

In response to your update op, have a look at Sarah McGlory on Instagram who runs a website called “Adaptive cleaning” for those with chronic illness or mh conditions. It’s v helpful.

sarahmcglory on Instagram

Was about to say don't even think about doing that yourself. Sack that off. Outsource it.

We have an Airbnb property on our land and a small studio we rent out and that's 6 bedrooms plus towels that need a wash a week and the lot goes to the laundrette.

It's magical. What would take 6 loads at least and a day of logistics takes a couple of hours done by someone else. Equivalent of £30

As for other household tasks I minimise any feelings of being overwhelmed by happily accepting slovenly lower standards (in our own home) and don't really do them until its really really REALLY necessary.

Half the stuff people have mentioned in this thread I've frankly never done in the two years we've lived here never mind weekly.

I recognise that feeling of needing a routine but what do you do when the routine falls over? I've a much simpler set-up at home now (youngest about to go to uni) - but the buildup of stuff that started when I had a bad patch years ago continues to make it very difficult to get sorted out. It starts to work when I get a clear sense of what I'm going to do which day of the week no matter what, so at least those things are always done. Ongoing aim is to deal with little pieces at a time and add them into the routine once they are manageable.

I love one hour clean with me podcasts

only one hour but makes such a difference. Going to do one later today as a group of visitors have just left (but more are arriving on Friday!)

I have a blackboard in the kitchen and as we use stuff up it gets added to the board. Then I either add it to the weekly online shop, or if I know I’m going to do a top up shop (e.g we’ve run out of milk/bread) I take a photo of the board before I leave, so when I’m in the shop I know we also need coffee/eggs/whatever.

There are a growing number of websites on housework, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Choose the one that works for you and stick to it, I still like FlyLady, but cheesy and American, but I've got used to its routines now.

As of yesterday I bought a big diary/ planner and today while I'm at home I'm going for form a strict routine and divide up weekly,monthly bi-annual stuff. For me it's the constant need to check things, I can't even take a shower without mentally checking it, laundry is always on my mind and the kids constantly 'forget' their chores even though they do very little. I'm hoping by having Monday as clean floors day for example I will get to not think about laundry or bathrooms on Monday and so on. Hopefully it will reduce stress. Kids chores will be scheduled better with strict conditions eg WiFi switched off til done because I'm sick of asking and arguing, they completely take the piss. They are back at school next week do going to have a family meeting in a few days to work it out and hopefully have a less stressful September

I allowed my ironing to get to a massive amount, and it was so overwhelming, so sent SOME to one of these ironing places last Friday. They collected it and weighed it, told me the price straightaway, and I gave him some hangers. It's back (25 items), all on hangers and covered with plastic bags. It's such a relief (I did some ironing myself - 18 items)