Does clutter and extra jobs HURT to think about?

[grannyinapram]

I have loads and loads of horrible jobs to do, diy, decluttering and then more obvious like windows, washing, sorting through the children's clothes and getting rid of the small ones.
but when I think about all of the jobs that are not necessary to keep the house running (basically anything other than washing up) I get a bad headache and just can't be bothered. feel overwhelmed. don't know where to start.

Can anyone share any tips with me to sort the house out before Christmas? I can't even be bothered to trim the tree because its just another job thats at the bottom of a long list.

I feel this way every single November. I want a perfect Christmas but the jobs accumulate throughout the year and there is too much!!!

A cry and a cup of tea sounds heavenly

I set the oven timer on Saturdays. 45m on, 45m off. I make everyone clean for that 45. Usually do three cycles. Also advert cleaning when watching TV, all adds up

Also once u have fairy lights up it kinda masks the mess, it's a very forgiving lighting!

Sometimes a big “brain dump” type list helps me a bit. I often feel like I have so much stuff in my head (all the millions of things that need sorting) that there’s no room for anything else, so getting it all down on one bit of paper helps.

That said sometimes it just makes me more anxious as I have all this stuff staring me in the face 🤦‍♀️

I find writing a list even say 5 item list so you don’t get overwhelmed. Then do 1, give yourself a time to do it.
Think how much time you’re wasting when you could just do it!

Just a mental tip if you are feeling overwhelmed or fatigued. Instead of getting out of bed and thinking of all the things that you need to do like "climbing a muddy mountainside" with people offering support from sidelines and no hands on help think of the situation the other way around. Pretend you are on the top of the mountain and each job that needs doing feels like a mountain. You will start to feel the job has been done but work backways going down the mountain.

I think you need to be ruthless as well, don’t save bits for later on. If it’s incomplete, or won’t fit much longer get rid of it.

I’m going to go against the grain. If you truly feel overwhelmed, sit down and have a cup of tea.

Make it a glass of wine and you won't give two fucks anymore. This is my style of housekeeping.

I am trying to do my kids wardrobes by season so at least twice a year I clear out the stuff they have outgrown. Sort into hand downs. Sell on Ebay or donate to a local FB community clothes bank.

30 minutes timer on the iPad. Team Tomm during the week to make sure I rotate the rooms.

My house is still a tip but much better than doing nothing

diy, decluttering, windows, washing, sorting through the children's clothes and getting rid of the small ones

I doubt that any of these jobs really need to be done before Christmas. Little and often is the way to go

Marie Kondo decluttering book is helpful www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-effective-clutter/dp/0091955106/ref=sr_1_1?hvlocphy=9046897&hvnetw=g&keywords=marie+kondo+book&hvadid=259188610001&qid=1606664896&dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqo3-BRDoARIsAE5vnaKe62uWzYpJDLBU2NfcJeXLsWEbBymSlbOfkhUIKScZT7scKLZFaMEaAktyEALw_wcB&hydadcr=11862_1766779&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-296023051350&adgrpid=54888064738&hvrand=9409242716590173271&sr=8-1

And pomorodo technique might appeal to you
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Make a list, take an asprin, start with the first job.

Am in the same boat as you OP, so no advice I'm afraid but here to see what others say.

I feel this so much, esp when you have younger kids. They create so much additional short-term chaos, that you sink really quickly. I see the jobs as daily/weekly/monthly/annually.

With kids, you get loads of extra daily/weekly stuff to do (e.g. tidying away the floor, cleaning the kitchen table, washing bibs etc, bath time), so the longer-term chores just never get a look in. Things that you might do monthly/quarterly (e.g. decluttering living space, changing to summer/winter clothes, getting rid of out-grown stuff) or annually (e.g. unpacking those boxes in the garage that have been there since the house move, getting the paper filing up-to-date) drop to the bottom of the priority list, and never quite make it to the top.

My kids are 9 and 6 and all that longer-term stuff has built up. I desperately need to make time for some of those chores. I have bags of old clothes in the garage that need to be sorted through, my paperwork is in three massive piles instead of one neat filing cabinet, and the house is full of ~3x as much 'stuff' as we need.

I'm trying really hard to carve out time to do it, but I feel your pain.

Inspired by this thread I just went and sorted out a pile of paperwork that has been waiting months for my attention. Got halfway through it and had to stop - we have a senior cat with dementia who has funny turns and she's been having one of those for the last half an hour. Yowling, pacing up and down, bumping into furniture etc. You have to follow her about and make sure she doesn't hurt herself. Finally she's settled down on my lap, and now I can't move until she decides to get off. So I'm back on here again.

I find the best time is a couple of days before the black bin goes out.. so I can dump my rubbish in other people's bins in the dead of night (they all get put outside my back gate throughout the day and picked up at 6am the next)

I am very much a potter-er. I'll start one job then move on to something else entirely. But forget about the first job until I go back in the room.

My 2yo tips everything out. Nothing is safe with him around. It is a nightmare!

Agree with others.
Pick one thing at a time and it will seem less overwhelming
Lower your standards, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Be proud of what you achieve even if it’s something small.
If you can afford to outsource anything try that even just in the run up to the festive period

Same in my house. There's just so many toys and so little room. Might get a couple of storage boxes out of poundstretcher and empty the kallax in there ready for a refresh.

we brought some under the bed plastic storage boxes to help a few months ago.
helped enormously for a week before toddler decided that it would be great fun to jump on them and crack them

not sure what to do

short of buying a mansion and a team of help, we did just blitz the hallway and bedroom and kitchen. living room was trashed while we were at it though

Write a ‘to do’ lists. In fact write out 3.

At the top of each least put your most preferred task first followed by a task you don’t like, repeat across the 3 lists. Stick them on the fridge or wherever fits for you and work through the first list, then the second then the third.

Crossing each task off as you do then of course but the lot is split into 3 manageable chunks.

Park a big box somewhere safe to be your donation box (I keep mine under the kitchen table and it fills my mates boot and is approx 64l box) dump stuff to get rid of in it and when it’s full deal with it then repeat the process. This breaks it all down into smaller bits and stops you being overwhelmed. Anything but actual rubbish can go in this box that you want gone.

Right now I’ve 2 massive a4 sized to do lists on my wall and I’ve been tackling 1-2 of those tasks every day. At 4am today I was putting up blinds because I was up and it was a quiet task. I do things when I can even at silly o clock in the morning.

I'm exactly the same OP. I keep getting irritable cos of all the SHIT everywhere. Things fall out of cupboards when I open them, there's just piles of stuff everywhere.

My problem is that when I start I will spend hours on it. So I dont start anything cos I know it will be 3 hours of activity. And I dont have 3 hours to spare.

My suggestion is to do 20 minute blasts every day and make it a rule you have to stop after 20 minutes. No cheating. It focusses you on doing as much as you can and prevents creeping into a huge undertaking.

big kids fill the sides daily with toys and mess and bits and I don't know what or how
they get out a hundred separate cups for water which all need washing

Right

This sounds like a massive time drain and source of stress.

How old are they?

Even littlies understand being given ONE nice water bottle that must be reused throughout the day. Hide all the plastic cups.

Give everyone a weeks warning. After that allToys on sides get removed. Sweep them all into a binbag, and quarantined for a day/ week depending on how harsh you are feeling.

I make it easier for mine, in that they have a cupboard of doom in each room downstairs and it is OK to just sling stuff in and slam the door.

Thats 2 big hassles reduced.

How old are your older dc? Give them a bag and tell.them to go round the downstairs picking up everything that is there's and putting it in the bag to go upstairs.

Just before bedtime, have "tidy up time". We put the mission impossibly theme tune on the tv and blitz downstairs. Mine are 3 and 5 and do manage quite a bit. Then at least it's tidy for when I come down after bedtime.

I totally get it, I'm seperated, 2 small children, every time I try to get on, there s an argument, or a toilet need , or something to interrupt.

I love clearing things out. I'll come help if you really can't face it

Otherwise, start at the top and work your way down. Kids rooms first, then yours, bathrooms (you'll be surprised how much you don't need if you don't regularly declutter/find a space for everything), then downstairs. You might have gained some room upstairs for some odd toys or books/stationary bits.

Declutter first then you'll have a blank canvas to reorganise/clean etc. It's so therapeutic getting rid of stuff. I have a bag for the charity shop or facebook marketplace (free if you want it gone quick), then one for clothes bank/recycling. Anything else straight in the bin. Good luck!

I always struggle with these jobs, they're so boring. Fine with the things that immediately show a difference - I've loved putting up my Christmas tree and DGS new nativity scene in the sitting room and likewise a tree and various decorations in the hall. Will do the kitchen tomorrow with bits and pieces including salt dough hand decorations from last year of baby's handprints. But, this creates chaos of its own - where to put displaced furniture - ended up shoved in the spare bedroom. Anything in drawers will be firmly left there until the spring. It's so miserable at the moment, I see how hard my lovely daughter has it at the moment - working from home, bringing up our darling grandson and running her home which she does amazingly. Her husband is lovely and helpful, also, before anyone says anything - but he has a workaholic boss, so is working himself 24/7. I would say, don't expect perfection, cut yourself some slack, just make it look good enough - who worries about tidy drawers and cupboards? Do the stuff that requires minimal effort for maximum impact.

who worries about tidy drawers and cupboards? Do the stuff that requires minimal effort for maximum impact.

I actually find having tidy drawers and cupboards makes it easier to put stuff away as there is space and a home for them.

If the insides are a mess there's nowhere to put anything so it all gets left out,