No clear surfaces!

[MrsHende]

I've just realised this morning that there is not a single clear surface anywhere in my home .

I have a toddler and a newborn and the mess is beginning to really stress me out.

Other than 'Clear them!' do you have any advice? My instinct is to gather everything that isn't in its correct place and make a huge pile on the spare room bed and work my way through it. Another part of me realises that I'll never get through it!!!

Any advice?

When my house gets like that (which I often with 4,6 and 7 year olds) and I have a whole day available I start in one room with a big ikea and put anything that doesn't belong in there. On to the next room tidying as I go, anything ou in bag and anything that belongs in that room gets taken out and put away, repeat until last room and then whizz around rooms again with bag putting things away.
Theoretically you should en left with an empty bag but what happens is half a bag of stuf with no'proper place' and it gets shoved in a corner to languish and mock me.

I have a room full of crap-cleared-from surfaces . So am hopeful someone else can advise...

My tip is to tackle it, don't leave it. My pile is now over two years old .

I did that. I put everything in boxes, crates (and heaps) in my bedroom in an attempt to keep the rest of the house tidyish. Never did deal with it and it's a bit overwhelming. Baby and toddler are now in their twenties. It wasn't my greatest plan! Can you get rid of small amounts at a time? I'm trying Flylady and unfuckyourhabitat - especially the 15/20 minute timer thing. Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself. Life is busy with wee ones.

Sympathies OP, I've got a toddler and a baby and I rarely have time to set aside a day for tidying. I think you're right about the spare room, if it were me the pile would never get sorted!

I read a brilliant piece of advice on here which is "never leave a room empty handed". I've stuck with this and my house is a lot tidier as a result. Every time you go out of a room, just have a quick look to see if there's anything that doesn't belong, and take it with you. You get far fewer empty cups/odd socks/random bits of toys in the wrong place that have to be collected up at the end of the day (or not at all). Similarly, a basket at the top/bottom of the stairs which you can fling things in saves you going up and down all day with bits and bobs.

X post with cloudhowe63, the 15 mins tidy is good advice, much less overwhelming than trying to tackle it at once. In fact, just 2 or 3 minutes sorting out a small area while you wait for the kettle to boil can make all the difference if you're doing it several times a day.

You could try this. Go round the surfaces and reduce the number of things on each one by 10% or by a quarter depending on how bad they are. Or take say three things from every surface and put them away. I don't think clearing everything off at once is a good idea if you are overwhelmed.

My tip is to choose one or two surfaces that you will commit to keeping clear at all times. So then you hopefully get into a habit of not dumping stuff and putting it in its proper place.

I chose the radiator cover in the hallway which is a great place to dump post, keys, phone and other various shite. And also the kitchen table. I have to admit to moving stuff from there and just dumping it on the counter sometimes, but usually would make an effort to put dishes in dishwasher, food back in cupboard/fridge.

It works well mostly and I feel a lot happier seeing those (few) clear surfaces. I'm hoping the habit grows and spreads to other areas but I set my expectations low :)

If that was me and I put all the stuff on the spare bed, that pile would never be sorted and other stuff would creep on to the cleared surfaces and it would get out of control!

I love the ikea bag plan.

I'd also thought about going through the house and collecting everything for one room - eg collect all toys and clothes meant to be in DD's room. Then do the same again, later, with everything that belongs in the kitchen etc.

I also need to get on top of paperwork...