To ask how much I can realistically achieve in 4 days?

[Ajaxe]

I'm off work for most of next week.

I have what feels like 1001 jobs to do at home. I started making a list but it was overwhelming...but to give you some idea:

I started decorating my hallway and stairs last year but never finished it, I need to gloss all the woodwork on the stairs, paint all the doors and architraves, need to do some filling round one of the door frames...

I need to completely decorate my spare room (which I use as an office) and another room downstairs needs doing, and there's some other finishing off/touching up to do in the living room.

Then I've got a load of stuff in the box room (some pots I got to recycle, other things that need fixing or throwing away, the whole room really needs a Good clear out.

Then outside my garden is a mess, a lot of it I won't be able to do as I don't have tools but the stuff I could do is mow the lawn, strimming of some other patches, my decking needs oiling and I also need to stain all my fences. Oh and jet wash all my front driveway/weed the edges and so on.

Plus the whole house could do with a bloody good clean.

I look at that list now and already feel overwhelmed and have no idea how or where to start. I don't want to waste this time off like I did my last break and end up achieving nothing, just wasting the week sitting around on my fat arse.

So if you were me where would you start and how much do you think a fat, slow person like me could reasonably expect to do in the time available?

Are you working today or can you dedicate some time to the jobs today?

Can you pay a teenager to mow the lawn or get a gardener in to do a lawn & tidying & then you maintain it.

Finish the hall as that will have a massive positive impact on you every time you open the front door to come home.

I would spend an hour or two each night after dinner tackling the junk in the spare room. Separate into piles: keep, broken & donate. Then you've got whole days free during your week off to do charity shop & dump run.

I remember a friend smugly painting her entire flat when I was struggling to get one room done over a bank holiday weekend, but she had a tiny and empty one bed flat and I had the world’s most awkwardly shaped room full of furniture. Don’t compare!

Personally, I would do anything urgent first. It sounds like the decking falls into this category as it's weather-dependent and if it's bad now, another winter could push it past salvageable = more time and money. You could miss the autumn window if the weather turns. Don't worry about jet washing then finding more leaves the following day - they just need a quick brush off before oiling.
Next prioritise unfinished jobs. I would get the hall done, then this area can be recarpeted. You don't need to paint all rooms before you carpet them all, do one at a time.
Lastly, I would wedge the smaller easier jobs into dead time around the decking and hall. Eg finish jet washing at 11am (needs to be left to dry), it's too early to stop for lunch but don't want to start painting the hall with only an hour until your break, so mow the grass/clean the bathroom etc. Then after lunch start the hall. Basically don't waste long stretches of time with the little jobs. Any left over little jobs can be done one an evening if necessary after your time off is over, even the cleaning (do one room/area a night).

Don't bother with gloss, it's messy. Use eggshell or I think it's called Satinwood, does the job just as well and is easier.

Maybe mow the lawn but leave the rest of the garden. It will die down in October and then you can clear it up.

I make lists and have great satisfaction in crossing the jobs off. Sometimes I do an extra job which wasn't on the list, but write it down just for the satisfaction of crossing it off.

To put it in perspective we've had a quote from a professional decorator who says it'll take him 2.5-3 days to paint the hall stairs and (tiny) landing walls and woodwork.

Id give myself a day for little wins jobs and the remaining for 1 of the big jobs.

I think it depends on what else you have on. Do you have children? Can you do 12 hours a day on the stuff you want to do or do you realistically have the 6 hours of school time to do this?

If I had full days and a list that long I'd get up early, stick the music on and power through as much as I could. I managed to sand and paint the skirting and window trims and bannister in my living room and dining room in about 16 hours (across 2 days) with the help of a hired handheld electric sander. I was shattered but it was a huge chunk of work done.

If you can dedicate full days, put your list in order of priority and go for it from top to bottom. If you don't get through the list, you've got the main things done. If you can dedicate an evening to sorting out the spare room prior to your day's off, you'll be ahead of the game.

If you have any of those days that are going to be good weather, could you jet wash very early in the morning then oil the decking early evening after a full day of sun?

Then I would focus on the hallway, it’s the first place you see when you walk in so will make you feel better when coming home.

I would also be looking for a joiner and try to get one booked in for the skirting. It’s not a big job to take off and either replace or get new skirting. Then you can order carpets and think how nice and cosy it will be for when autumn/winter comes.

That’s plenty enough jobs to be done a few days, after that I would spend a few weekends doing general decluttering before tackling your office. (Or even just make the spot behind your laptop look nice, maybe rejig the furniture or a new picture or a bit of colour blocking etc)

I'd be tempted to start with a good clean and tidy and then try to keep it that way by disciplining yourself not to put things down but put them away. A tidy house always looks better than an untidy one, whatever the state of the decor.

@Peregrina

I make lists and have great satisfaction in crossing the jobs off. Sometimes I do an extra job which wasn't on the list, but write it down just for the satisfaction of crossing it off.

I thought I was the only person who did this

Some really good tips here thank you.

I have some time this weekend to start so I'm going to use that for the decluttering, cleaning etc. I have very little storage anywhere in the house so everything is always 'out' there's nowhere to put anything away. I am very envious of homes with fitted wardrobes, big cupboards, etc.

The endgame in all this is that in a few years (could be as little as 2, but possibly more than that) I'm going to be selling this house. But I want to enjoy it living in it 'finished' for a while before that, if that makes sense? I'm also a perfectionist (but a lazy one which is not a good combination!). I can see every imperfection in everything which is quite wearing! So even when I finish things I'm not satisfied or just see all the faults.

One of the things I'm struggling to organise/ keep tidy is garden 'stuff' - so currently I have a very small brick built 'shed" which can be accessed from an internal door (it also has an external door) this is where I keep garden tools, lawnmower, jetwash etc. Which is fine, enough room for all that. But I also have 2 bikes, a garden parasol, garden furniture cushions and so on which currently are all in a room downstairs. If I shove all that in then it all just ends up a mess with stuff piled up to the ceiling and every time I need anything from there I have to empty the whole bloody thing out, which is a pain. One of the bikes needs to be sold, it's my eldest (adult) DCs but he hasn't got round to it despite my nagging...it's some kind of collector's item (retro BMX type thing) which is worth about £200 so I can't just give it away but it is a nuisance. Although without that I'd still have the other bike which is needed. Do I need to get another shed or where do people keep this stuff/ keep it tidy?

I'd get another garden store box or shed.

I’d start with a good clean then do the outside jobs if the weathers with you, indoors can be done over the winter and you’ll feel better every time you look outside.

With the collectors item bike ask your son to find a specialist platform to sell it on. Or you can list it yourself on ebay with a reserve price of £200 so hopefully it'll fetch more. Also list it as collection only so you don't have to think about organising delivery for it.

A. Don’t be so horrible to yourself
B. Be realistic… one job that will make you feel better is plenty
C. Your house sounds a bind, would it be possible to sell and move somewere lower maintenance, then you can enjoy your time off?

@lljkk

you spend a lot of effort comparing yourself with others. Tsk Tsk

Sounds like you have recognised decking as truly most urgent job; also weather dependent, so if the weather is good, I'd go for that.

As long as you are using the time productively then you are making progress which is all that happens in any home. Progress not completion.

Don't allow yourself any TV viewing time in the 4 days and limit social media/MN time to max. 20 minutes every 4 hours. You'll be amazed how much time you have.

Yes but clock off and have a few hours to relax in the evening

I'll get DS on to the bike when he's back. I'll say it needs to be gone by the end of the month, that might spur him on. Like me he works better to deadlines

The goal is to move to an easier (more finished) house next time but I can't do that for a few years and I still need to get this done first.

Tradesmen round here are either good and permanently booked, so you can't even get them to quote, or shit and available. So I end up doing stuff myself, and the things I can't do don't get done. Which is annoying but I'm kind of used to it now.

For garden storage, would some racking (heavy duty shelving) in the shed help? Or a bike hanger mounted on the wall? Are you utilising the vertical space? You can also get wall mounted brackets that tools clip into. It might make it less of a jumble.

I thought about a bike hanger but the walls are not solid brick so I'm not sure it would hold. Might give it a go though.

It's a really small space that with the opening doors and the things that couldn't go on shelves like the mower and other tools, jetwasher etc there's not much space left on the floor for a unit (and again I can't put anything fixed to the walls). I do have a small shelving unit that I could put stuff like charcoal, small tools, paints etc on (if it fits in the space) which might tidy it up a bit.

You have so much buzzing round in your head OP. It would really help, I think, if you could switch some of it off. Limit yourself to a few things each day. The garden storage can wait and I think the bike is a bit of a red herring. Focus on what you can deal with, by yourself, this week, and leave the rest.

Clear first. Pointless painting the woodwork/skirting if it all needs taking out to re-fit the floor.

I would do the room you use most first. Clear it, sugar soap the walls if they’re filthy then paint.

@TwoLeftElbows

You have so much buzzing round in your head OP. It would really help, I think, if you could switch some of it off. Limit yourself to a few things each day. The garden storage can wait and I think the bike is a bit of a red herring. Focus on what you can deal with, by yourself, this week, and leave the rest.

I always feel like I have a million things to do! And despite being a middle aged woman I can't organise myself to do things in any kind of coherent pattern and while I'm doing one thing my head is nagging me to start another. I've always been like this though, the only difference is it takes me longer to do things now.

I've caught up on washing today, half cleaned my kitchen, and done the food shopping. Oh and realised my windows and blinds also need a good clean trying not to add too much more to the jobs list.

Also considering whether I can sand my wood floors as that will be easier than replacing and taking all the bloody skirting up, my ex who put them down years ago said they could be sanded but I'm not convinced (as he is a grade A pillock and I don't trust his opinion).

And now I'm thinking about sanding floors and the mess it will cause! Need not to think about that now. This evening I'm having a sort out of clothes and other bits and bobs - wearing, keeping (out of season and/ or currently too small) and charity shop. Not much in latter pile so far but will persevere 😊

Do some kind of hooking system to find and store gardening lighter tools. I managed to use an over the door hook system for things like rakes and brushes. My friend taught me how the mower folds over and it can be hung up too. (Der)
Have things where you can actually see them. Old shelving has helped.

Just a thought about your storage room.
You say it’s small with an external and internal door. Can you ignore the internal door and just use the external door to access( or vice versa). It’s amazing how much extra space that gives.
I agree hang stuff from walls. I use command hooks and make loops from small cable ties to make hanging easier.

Mowing the lawn could be reasonably quick and very satisfying. I would normally want to decorate hallway last as lots of people will be walking through it. Invest in water based gloss (so much easier to work with) prime first (likely saves time). Complete jobs. Your list is so long be kind to yourself and realistic and praise yourself.