To ask for help with organising myself - calling all houseproud people

[Mahanii]

I need help with my shit tip house. I used to send photos of each room to my sister who would bullet point instructions for me and I'd follow them. It worked really well but I don't feel I can ask her any more as she's so busy.

I'm a single parent who works full time and I'm naturally very messy and disorganised. It takes all my energy to get my kids up and out every day, be on time to work, make dinner, take kids to after school activities and do bedtimes without losing my shit. I spend every other weekend doing nice things with my kids and the other weekends at my new-ish boyfriend's. I also have a couple of hobbies that I love. I'm not willing to give up any of that to make time to clean and tidy. So my house is a shit tip.

What I'm looking for is VERY QUICK AND EASY hacks! Let's say 5-10 min jobs that I can easily do a couple of each evening and a few slightly bigger ones for the weekends that I'm home. And I'm not talking dusting window sills and skirting boards - my standards are very low.

Anyone care to help?!

@OnTheBrinkOfChange it took 8 mins but I enjoyed the challenge!

Hooray for you OP! You can do it 👊

Now if someone could just help me with the other corner

In that corner if you have the energy now- start with rubbish! Just look for rubbish

maybe you won’t do it all tonight but just get rid of obvious rubbish :)

I hope you've been inspired.

Years ago I used to start threads to motivate us to clean and tidy. We'd go away for say 15 minutes and come back and say what we'd achieved. We'd put music on to get us going.

8 minutes fantastic. Set your timer for 8 minutes and sort out that corner too.

Trick is- to do the dishes again tomorrow.

This one took me 28 minutes. I'm so easily distracted!

There are certain jobs that have to be done every day, for me that's make sure the kitchens straight, clothes are washed and sorted and living room is fairly tidy.

Then every few days I run the hoover round and once a week I'll do things like clean the bathroom.

You have to get rid of clutter and chuck useless stuff away.

I'm a single parent and I'm haven't got massively high standards but can keep on top of it by doing the above.

Welcome to ADHD land!
Well done!

I'm going to post more pics tomorrow as this was really helpful.

This is how I do my bathroom. (I have a small bathroom with a shower over the bath)…
Take phone with you and play a podcast.
Take soap, toothbrushes etc off sink so it’s completely clear and clean with bathroom cleaner and cloth.
Clean mirror and shelf above sink with glass cleaner.
Wipe over soap bottle etc as I put them back.
Bleach in toilet.
Clean seat/toilet bowl etc with spray and kitchen roll.
Wipe window sill. Use glass cleaner on window.
Get everything from sides of bath and chuck into the bath.
Clean around sides of bath and shower head etc with spray and cloth.
Wipe over any shampoo etc as you put it back, and get rid of any empty bottles or anything you don’t need/use.
Clean inside bath.
Hoover.
Mop.
The key is having minimal “stuff” so there’s less to move and wipe over

Try Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. It’s like Flylady but it uses index cards …which are easier than faffing about printing lists and you can add things in more easily.

I just started trying to be more organised with this yesterday! Tried several apps (including Flylady and Housely) before finding Clean My House. I like it because it's simple and easy to use.Agree with previous posts that decluttering is key, I'm always trying to throw/give stuff away. Hard because I'm a bit of a hoarder, but having less stuff makes it much easier to keep tidy

This is my current list (all tasks - there is a separate list for tasks that are just due today/ tomorrow)

I like it because you can easily edit the categories etc. I've only just started so some of these things will need changing as I figure out what works.

You need less stuff, one touch appropriate (don’t put it down, put it away or in the bin) and yes to boring routines.

My kids are 3 and 6 and they play their part, shoes, coats and bags away, 3 yr old sets the table and 6 yr old does drinks, put their used plates next to the sink, toys tidies after dinner, dirty washing in the basket (sorted into light and dark). This makes a huge difference.

I went from messy to tidy 20yrs ago when we moved in together. I followed flylady. The principles are good, it's about habit setting.

My tips are;

• have a bowl of hot soapy water while cooking. Wash as you go, makes it easier.
• stick some music on and cleaning as less of a chore.
• don't put something down for later, bin it / hang it up/ file it away. JFDI.

Having looked at your pictures, I think you mainly just need to get into the habit of putting things away immediately, instead of allowing them to build up on your surfaces.

Think of it as an investment into your and your dc's mental health. Growing up in a very messy house is not conducive to this.
Years back my dc was very ill in hospital and I was on survival mode for 18 months. 'Out of sight, out of mind' was my motto. I didn't have time to keep on top of anything other than basic hygiene, so storage bins became my friend. One bin for clean clothes (didn't put clothes in drawers for 18 months), one for toys, one at bottom of stairs for stuff that needed to go up, one at top for stuff that needed to go down etc etc. At least this way floorspace was generally clear and rooms less stressful.
You do need to keep on top of tidiness in kitchen/bathroom to make sure it is clean. This shouldn't take more than 15 minutes a day. Put dishes away before you start new ones, wash dishes, wipe down worktops. Keep a magazine storage box on worktop for paperwork. I always watch a YouTube video when doing this and the time flies in.
Watching cleaning YouTube videos always motivates me.

I find just doing a general 10 min tidy up each evening once the kids are in bed makes a massive difference. Beats wading through a sea of Lego and toys.

We have a "crap" basket for all the stuff that needs to go back upstairs and I chuck stuff in there and usually sort through it/put stuff back when the kids are in the bath as I'm imprisoned upstairs anyway whilst they are in there.

If I'm feeling knackered I'll just stack the washing up in a neat pile and leave for the next day. Even though it's not done, stacking it up makes the kitchen look so much better.

I am an almost reformed slattern.
My tips:
Buy time if you an afford it, so food shop on line, pay someone to do the jobs you hate (mine was ironing)
Clean the bathroom while kids are in the bath. Dose of Bleach down the loo, wipe around sink and loo, chuck any empty bottles etc, brush around the loo and rinse the brush as you flush, wipe the bath when they get out.
Keep floors clear, and cupboard doors closed, amazing how much better a room looks.
Good luck!

@Mahanii well done lass! Keep going.

You like challenge. Do you work to your own challenges? That's the trick with me (I have autism and have the constant pain of wanting everything to be neat and not having the motivation to do it). I don't know, I remember watching youtube videos constantly about keeping stuff tidy and just picked up stuff that worked for me. Like never leave a room without something in your hand. It sounds annoying because you think you always think about housework but it becomes second nature.

And everything having a home. Chucking things into random drawers or cupboards doesn't work for me. Also just removing barriers to places. I always had things in spaces that were just hard to access. I either made them easier to get into or stopped using them full stop. Being lazy takes dedication! In the same vein I love hooks. I have them in every cupboard and wardrobe, they are a godsend in my storage! I have hooks for scissors and sellotape, all my cleaning stuff, towels and dressing gowns, bags and belts.

Bin as much rubbish as you can as soon as it comes into the house. Don't let it live with you unnecessarily.

Also I make it into a game, whenever I watch programmes with adverts I tidy around for the length of them.... (You can always tell when I'm watch BBC or netflix!). I say I will put away 10 things in 2 minutes. And I set timers for everything. Just to give you a reality check on how little time you need for most jobs. Doing the dishes seems like a massive chore but I can get them washed dried and put away in less than 20 minutes - I used to think they took over an hour when I wasn't checking the clock!

You are doing good, I will have another read through see if I can find another idea that sticks!

Sorry for the long post, I don't know how that happened!

Welcome OP you e done great so far. Keep the pics coming and slowly you won’t have any corners left to do

Setting myself challenges doesn't work I just tell myself to give up! But if other people challenge me then I absolutely have to do it.

So this morning I did the rest of the kitchen.

I'm not really happy with that corner but not sure where to put the papers and books as my daughter uses them every day.