What is your cleaning schedule? Struggling with my mental health and untidiness

[CrankyCow]

I say schedule, but that sounds a bit rigid. I just mean can people share a general idea of what tasks you do daily, and then say weekly, that helps you keep things tidy? I need something very simple broken down into chunks because I just can't manage to make it tidy.

I am having a bit of a down time thanks to an awful lot of external worries and waiting to start some medication. The house being a mess really doesn't help, it makes me feel awful and I just want to take to my bed to not have to see it or try dealing with it. I'm supposed to be job hunting, I get panicky because I'm so overwhelmed and feel ridiculous at the thought of sitting among all the chaos trying to focus on job applications let alone actual work for an employer.

I just feel really hopeless about it I want it to be tidy.

We did a couple of hours cleaning on Sunday and it just looks a complete mess again now. If we weren't in Covid times I'd be so fucking embarrassed to have anyone over.

Please help. Where do I start?

Who is 'we' - partner, kids (ages) and what kind of space do you have?

We (me, OH, two smaller kids) tend to go for everything in the right room but the person who's room it is decides how it gets sorted from there. So the kids bedrooms are pretty messy, but not my issue. Same with our work/study desks. I'm pretty pedandic about the dinner table but don't care about the living room as I rarely use it.

Having our own space helps loads. Could you start with that? carve out a space that is yours and try to just keep the mess at bay from your own space.

Daily - a load of washing/quick wipe down of kitchen worktops/loading the dishwasher/hoovering hard floor throughout downstairs/general tidy up of toys etc

Every 2-3 days - put away all clean dry washing/bleach kitchen/empty bins/bleach bathroom/mop hard floor downstairs/Hoover upstairs

Weekly - wash bedding (do the kids' one week and ours the next so the bedding is changed fortnightly

This is a kind of brief thing that I do nothing is rigid, nothing has a specific day but I find that if I do the above regularly it keeps the house ticking over. Yes deeper cleans are needed and happen when required but if you're not feeling great then j think the above is more than enough!

I hope you feel better soon

Daily: Dishes, washing on, beds made, rubbish emptied, put things away
Twice weekly: wipe down bathrooms, dust and hoover as many rooms as possible
Weekly: mop hard floors, decluttering one drawer/cupboard etc

Ok this is what keeps me sane. I do more when the mood takes me but this is what has to happen or else things start to spiral.

Daily:
1 wash load
Counter tops wiped at least once a day
Dishwasher loaded and emptied
Kitchen bin emptied/recycling taken out.

All the above happens straight after dinner. It’s my routine now and I just do it automatically. It’s so much easier now I have a set time for it rather than never relay deciding when to do it and then it was never done

Weekly:
Downstairs dusted, hoovered and mopped
Bathroom cleaned

Happens on a Saturday morning- DC help- we do a room each.

Fortnightly:
Beds changed

Usually Saturday

Search up the Organised Mum Method (or Team TOMM on Facebook). She’s great for simple, easy to follow routines. You don’t need the book. All the advice is free on her website

I am struggling massively with this at the moment too, having the kids at home constantly and being indoors ALL THE TIME makes it so difficult! So this is my kind-of-routine although I’m finding it hard.

1. Encourage the kids to tidy with me through the day
2. I do the dishes every night before bed (dishwasher) and empty them first thing
3. I vacuum once a day after we’ve done a quick tidy up
4. Every weekend we do a big ‘bedroom tidy’ it takes a couple of hours but every toy gets put back in the right place
5. Mop floors a couple of times a week
6. At least 1 wash load a day MUST be done or I get swamped
7. Bathroom full clean top to bottom once a week, toilet wiped daily

I think that’s it? It sounds like a lot but it really isn’t. So long as it’s tidy enough and there are clean clothes and dishes you’re winning.

Not sure if this is the answer you're looking for but can you give yourself a break and live with some untidiness? Appreciate it may be worse for your mental health to live somewhere untidy than deal with it but be kind to yourself.

I've given up on cleaning tbh. I've enough on my plate trying to clean, cook, home school, work and exercise. Something had to give and I chose cleaning! I do the dishwasher and wipe the counters and that's pretty much it at the moment.

Thank you, I'm just reading through now and they're really helpful.

"We" is me and DP. I think the maybe the main problem is we have two flats worth of stuff squeezed into 1 from when we got married over a year ago, and inadequate storage.

But everytime we buy a new storage thing (huge shelving unit, another chest of drawers, etc) they just seem to fill up without making any discernible difference to the amount of stuff we have.

@sandieshaw

Search up the Organised Mum Method (or Team TOMM on Facebook). She’s great for simple, easy to follow routines. You don’t need the book. All the advice is free on her website

Tbh I found (still find) TOMM overwhelming. I realise none of it is compulsory btw, but the whole 30 minutes things and prescribed way of doing it is just a whole lot of pressure I don’t need when I’m already struggling and just trying to survive.

@CrankyCow

Thank you, I'm just reading through now and they're really helpful.

"We" is me and DP. I think the maybe the main problem is we have two flats worth of stuff squeezed into 1 from when we got married over a year ago, and inadequate storage.

But everytime we buy a new storage thing (huge shelving unit, another chest of drawers, etc) they just seem to fill up without making any discernible difference to the amount of stuff we have.

Having less would definitely help, could you do a big clear out maybe one room at a time?

@CrankyCow

Thank you, I'm just reading through now and they're really helpful.

"We" is me and DP. I think the maybe the main problem is we have two flats worth of stuff squeezed into 1 from when we got married over a year ago, and inadequate storage.

But everytime we buy a new storage thing (huge shelving unit, another chest of drawers, etc) they just seem to fill up without making any discernible difference to the amount of stuff we have.

I think if would be worth setting side a day or two to go through the apartment and discuss what you can get rid of and then starting doing it.

OK so what you really need is a serious declutter. Decide keep, sell (ebay if you can be bothered), charity. Go with the 'does it spark joy' thing if need be. Just think you only want to surround yourself with lovely useful things, not stuff you might need 'one day' or that someone gave to you - get rid.
Then going forward you need to find or create a home for everything and then every time you use it put it back in it's home. If you buy something new get rid of something old.

Not sure if this is the answer you're looking for but can you give yourself a break and live with some untidiness? Appreciate it may be worse for your mental health to live somewhere untidy than deal with it but be kind to yourself.

You definitely have a very good point, but the thing is the chaos is making me so anxious.

At the moment I'm looking at an armchair that has a couple of books, a yoga mat, a tub of protein powder, a purse, a stack of papers....all just sitting there. There is literally no place for them to go - I need to find and make spaces somewhere, but it's like wading through treacle. I suspect it's so hard because I'm a bit depressed?

This kind of random collection of shit is on every single surface. It makes me so tense there's just no proper place for all our stuff.

I'm craving calm, clear spaces, and I'm also craving KNOWING where all our stuff is when we need it rather than having a mad scramble trying to find it.

Ok the more I read and post the more I'm realising it's a clutter problem.

I'm struggling with this atm as I'm a single mum working FT about 9 hours/day (from home) and home-schooling.

Honestly there are good days and bad days.

Good days:

all dishes washed, dried and put away
all counter surfaces wiped
Toilet bowl and sink cleaned
Living room and bedrooms superficially tidied
Hoovering
A couple of washes and linen put away

Bad days
all dishes washed, dried and put away
One wash done
That's about it

I'm not super anal but I find mess progressively stressful. But at the moment to be honest some things have to give so I'm making a point of not beating myself up too much.

Don't keep stuff.

I dislike clutter and I am pretty ruthless about keeping "things" to a minimum.
Whether its clothes, shoes, books, crockery, I only keep what I need and use.

You can use the OLIO app to give things away from your doorstep or Facebook selling pages whilst charity shops are closed.

I try and keep on top of the washing, bin/recycling, washing up and hoovering as a minimum. Anything else is a bonus!

I find it really hard to know where to start as well. I did well decluttering in lockdown one but it’s all crept back and feels just as bad as ever.

One thing we did recently was make a chore wheel, it’s divided in four for me, DH and the older two DCs but you could do one split in half. We decided the four most important things that need doing daily that we are all capable of doing - wash up, clear table, sweep the hallway (due to buggy/mud and leaves) and hoover the living room. Then each person moves round the wheel every day so there is no argument about unfairness.

Laundry is done pretty much daily (I would think with the two of you it could be say twice a week?) but even though the older two do their own I find putting ours/youngest’s away to be a total drain and it builds up. I read the tip on TOMM to only ever start a load of laundry once the previous lot is COMPLETELY put away - makes sense to me and yet I haven’t managed to stick to that rule yet 😳

I'm the same op. Admittedly I dont do much on a daily basis. I feel overwhelmed with work, homeschooling, childcare. It's doing my head I that I cant close doors properly or find things. Aaaargh.

My problem is also too much stuff. I'm not getting any charity bags through the letterbox either so cant shift stuff. I feel your pain.

I turned our house around with this blog/podcast a slob comes clean
She started out with a huge amount of stuff crammed into a small space too, and she has brilliant strategies for managing house and decluttering. She has two books that spell out her methods very simply and clearly, but it’s all in her podcasts too if you don’t want to buy them.

Definitely declutter first. DH & I have argued about all the piles of stuff but since we cleared a lot at Christmas, it’s been better. I really did start to feel quite down about it all. There’s a way to go but our main living areas are vastly improved. I’m with you on the storage problem though. Modern houses just don’t seem to have any!
As far as cleaning is concerned, I don’t have an official routine. The kitchen gets done most days eg surfaces wiped down, hoovered etc. I do a load of washing daily at the mo as DD12 is at home all the time. I try to clean the bathroom weekly ( and the loo when it needs it). Hoover through when it needs it. We have laminate flooring which tends to get very grubby. Bedding changed not as often as I should! Very rarely dust, although you can write your name on my keyboard so it does need doing!

Reading the previous posts I might be a bit of a slob but I also have a chronic health issue which means I can’t/shouldn’t do too much. When I’m relatively well....

Daily generally keep the place tidy, put clothes in laundry basket, arrange cushions on sofa, clear surfaces etc

Daily load or empty dishwasher so effectively loading and emptying on alternate days.

Daily Sink dishes and put away

Daily wipe down kitchen side if really needs doing (more often alternate days)

2 loads of washing a week, usually at the weekend and then save up and put all dry clothes away at once

Once a week wipe down surfaces which don’t get done every day such as window sills

Hoover once every fortnight (sometimes longer as I find this difficult - hand held hoover is great for doing a quick surface hoover or cleaning up little messes)

Bleach the toilet once a week, wipe down bathroom sink once a week, clean the bath once every 3 weeks

Empty the kitchen bin whenever it’s full, empty bathroom bin and living room bin once a week

Wash and change bedsheets once every two weeks

Mopping is likely once a month or 6 weeks!

I think just doing things when the mood strikes you and it looks dirty and starts to bother you is perfectly acceptable. Don’t beat yourself up too much about things and let them get on top of you. 20 mins running round with an anti bac wipe and tidying up a bit can make you feel a lot better Doing a really intense clean every week or 2 weeks just seems crazy to me. It gets dirty again so fast, it’s never ending and life is too short! As long as the main surfaces are anti bac wiped every few days the place looks tidy and appealing to the eye, I think that’s fine x

Just me and DP plus a very hairy cat. We do:

Daily - sweep kitchen floor, wipe down surfaces, bed made, wash any pots and pans
Weekly - hoover, mop, dust/polish, strip bed, wash towels
2/3 times a week - clean bathroom, other washing, run dishwasher

Tbh the hoovering should be more ref cat hair.

Laundry-wise I tend to do a wool wash one day, bedding one day, towels one day, then two loads of other stuff. I know MN doesn’t iron but I do and do it as I go along - much easier now DP is not wearing work shirts.

If it’s clutter rather than dirt, have you tried the Marie Kondo method?

I’m tidying one drawer/shelf/corner a day.

I can clean entire house in 3-4 hours on a Sunday afternoon
However I don’t very often! I have a 3 hour cleaner every other week
In between I keep tidy
There is only DS and I most of time and we are out at work all week so not exactly creating a need to clean
I have a bit of a routine for Sunday’s - change bedding n towels - clean bathrooms - clothes washing etc
How much else is needed?