To feel like I only have motivation to tidy / clean when others come round

[Grumpytoady]

I am generally a very functioning adult but find it so hard to get motivated to clean and tidy my house. I do this to a minimal level because I don't want to live in filth but it's not the best most of the time. However, when people are coming round (parents, friends etc) I'm able to get loads of motivation and will scrub the house until it's gleaming. Am I the only one?!

No you’re not the only one. As long as it looks ok when people do come round, I don’t see the problem.

No I have a partner. They are a bit better than me but have an antisocial hours job so it can get a bit chaotic.

We do this. Give the house a general clean, floor hoovered, surfaces wiped and a general rule but if someone comes to stay we go all out.

This is 100% me!!!! Glad I'm not alone - ha ha!

You are definitely not the only one.
Day to day I do enough to keep salmonella at bay.

But if we never had visitors we'd live in borderline squalor.
(OK, I exaggerate for effect but it's almost true.)

I only tidy every 2 weeks because I have to before the cleaner comes.

I always say I need visitors otherwise we’d live in filth!

I do not enjoy cleaning - in fact DP was desperate for me to get the nesting urge when I was pregnant but it never happened!

OP you are not unreasonable!

If I had a cleaner, I would definitely clean more.

Get a cleaner!

I hopefully get a pay rise this year so am definitely thinking about a cleaner. I grew up really working class though and feel a lot of guilt around this, there’s only two adults and two cats we should be able to keep it clean!

I am one adult and a very hairy dog and have a cleaner, and I am also from a working class background. I got one when I was commuting 2-2.5 hours a day, and working/studying full time and a single parent, and I couldn't be without one now, even though I only work 3-4 days a week and a lot of it from home 🤣🤣 and I'm now a grandmother. My cleaner is paid a decent wage, and it allows her to earn money while she has young children at school. In the school holidays, she can bring her children with her if there is a childcare issue. Traditional employment might not fit around her needs or be sustainable.

I could have written your post OP. Fortunately we have lots of guests!

Get a cleaner if it is easier for you. I do some cleaning on the side and I love it it's my favourite excercise im also super organised so will sometimes sort out their wardrobes and stuff at the same time. If you hate it let someone else do it and take the hassle off yourself.

We only ever really tidy up on a Sunday because our cleaner comes on a Monday.

I once invited friends over to dinner to make myself clean the house.

No.need for guilt
I.lived alone and had a cleaner. Was not on mega bucks but prioritised a cleaner.

Yep this is me too.
Ds20 came in yesterday and immediately knew people were coming round because the hallway was tidy!

The house is never dirty as such, it's more clutter / things not put away / shoes in the hallway etc. I try, but struggle to keep on top of it when I'm working, an whilst ADHD Dh is brilliant in many ways he's very good at leaving a job half done, for example he'll do a load of ironing but leave the ironing board up, or do the hoovering and leave the hoover in a random place. I've accepted that this is the way he is and it's just because his brain has moved on to something else...but it makes a tidy house hard work to maintain!

As I cleaned yesterday ready for friends over this morning, I did think maybe I should be more sociable!