Help me organise my life/house

[Parotpie01]

I will start by saying I know I lack motivation to start what needs doing - or more I just don't know where to start

I am a single parent to DD who is 8 and DSwho is 5, I also work full time leaving the house at 8.30am and not getting home til6pm Monday to Friday.

My house is becoming a shittip I just don't know where to begin turning it into the house I want, mainly because I am shattered by the time I get home each night but also but the sheer task fills my with dread !

Can anyone give me some hints and tips how to get going and how to make my housework easier so I don't end up like this again.

I want to set a better example to my children.

Thankkkkk youuuuuu

I find flylady.net really useful. It has a routine to follow and does house areas in small manageable chunks.

Thank you will take a look

I would second flylady. The best thing is that she advises that you don't ever try to do it all at once. Before flylady I used to drive everyone mad by leaving it until it was unmanageable and then trying to make everything perfect in a day/morning/hour. I must confess that I never did the baby steps properly but her monthly routine of focusing on one room/area at a time has really worked for me. Also the 'swish & swipe' routine for bathrooms means that I can always rely on the bathrooms being presentable for unexpected visitors. She also recommends a lot of decluttering which is surprisingly therapeutic.

Sorry, I should add that the only negative thing about flylady is that it's very twee and she bombards you with emails. If you can't handle that the home routines app follows a very similar pattern.

Thank you will look at that too!

I am notorious for letting stuff build up and get out of hand but usually I get a sudden need to clean and tidy and get it all sorted but that's just not happened yet ! Think it's since Christmas and all the bloody toys the kids got !

I don't really follow my own advice but here are some ideas that have helped me over the years!
1 Flylady selected bits and doing things for 15 minutes
2UFmy H
3Motivated Moms app
4 taking before and after photos
5 imagining someone's coming round
6 asking people round
7 making a list
8 making a shorter NOW list of next six things
9 throwing a dice to choose which of things to do next
10 buying attractive storage
Told you I had a problem with motivation and procrastination! Oh and
11 hiring a cleaner for a kick start in some rooms
Good luck

Come and join us on the flylady thread here in the good house keeping section!

We have a cleaner. She comes Wednesday mid morning and I like to have to house v tidy for when she comes. After all, she's a cleaner, not a house-tidier and I think it's only fair to her that she can at least get to floors and surfaces to actually clean them!

Aaaaanyway, it means that on a Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we all (well me and DH, the DD's are 6m and 3yo) have a huge push of tidying up. It sometimes feels like unnecessary pressure but it means the house is reset / tidy / clean once a week and it's easier to then keep on top of the rear of the time.

Kitchen is cleaned every night once the DD's are in bed, floors swept, surfaces wiped. The rest of downstairs is tidied. The bedrooms get tidied in the morning, once we're all dressed but before we go down for breakfast. We're still working in keeping on top of the clean washing

Maybe I need a cleaner ! Though id have to blitz the house first before letting them in!

Washing is the absolute worst, the washing drying bit i don't mind it's the folding putting away that really grates on me !

I do the majority of my housework on a Sunday, I try to organise everything I can for the week on a Sunday to all the ironing, polishing ect and I usually cook a midweek meal to go in the freezer and make sure I cook enough for leftovers on Monday.

I've pinned a Rita up in my kitchen with 3 or 4 jobs per day. That way I can feel guilt free if the bedroom is untidy because I know its on the rota for tomorrow (for instance).
I also subscribe to the organised housewife who emails me a small job 5 times per week such as wipe down skirting boards in two rooms. Quick and easy but keeps me on top of jobs that are easy to forget.
I also delegate small jobs to DD (6) such as watering the plants, tidying her room or sorting the washing. I often have to re-do it myself, but it gets her to appreciate that housework is everyone's job.

I think a rota sounds good.

I struggle with getting the kids to help-they would if I asked but I don't like asking (but that's a lot to do with my childhood) but I am worried I am making a 'rod for my own back' if I allow them to be untidy now they'll get worse as they grow up.

Don't get my wrong, they're not trashing the place !

Get them to help. We had a nanny who did everything for us and both me and my brother are dreadfully lazy untidy. I'm getting better but it doesn't come naturally.

Honestly, having the cleaner helps because it forces us to tidy. Then she cleans. I rarely polish, hoover or mop in between her coming and I'm at home with two children all week. If you're all out at work and school then it should stay clean enough til the next week.

We try to stay on top of the clothes-putting-away by putting stuff straight on to hangers from the washing machine and spending 10 mins putting stuff away when we go upstairs after dinner before bath/bed. But we still usually have more clothes on the spare bed waiting to be put away than actually in wardrobes/drawers!!!

I've struggled with flylady, I just can't make it work alongside working full days. Maybe it's just my laziness. One thing I did borrow successfully was the 'home blessing hour'. Pick 6 simple jobs - flylady recommends some but I picked a slightly different set - and do them all in 60 mins once a week. You have to rush, but that's the point. Eg 10min each vacuum of hall & reception room(s), empty bins, dust living room, spot clean kitchen floor with disposable wipes, put away clutter on kitchen surfaces, strip beds.

Then we moved to a bigger house, I started working longer hours and it all fell apart a bit...

I go against the grain of 'do a wash every day' school. I prefer to avoid it completely for 5 days of the week and blitz it on dedicated wash days. It seems to reduce the amount of washing hugely, I think it's that I'm no longer washing half-dirty pjs etc to 'make up the wash'. You have to hold your nerve and refuse to start washing early, or it all unravels somehow. Consciously eking an extra day out of pjs, jeans etc helps too.

My best advice is: don't make a plan yet.

Get a bin liner and go to the nearest drawer, then just get rid if everything that you don't use or want. Keep going and going. Go upstairs with separate bin liner for clothes just throw in what you don't wear/want and the dc clothes that no longer fit.

Next move onto the toys. Get rid of all your junk.

Do your laundry on a Sunday morning. Use your quick wash. After drying make three piles, one for you, dd and ds. Since you hate putting away ask the children to take their own clothes upstairs.

When your house is a tip the worst thing you can do is think about it IMO. You just need to get up and start somewhere, anywhere really.

It doesn't matter if it's the living room or whatever, you pick something from the floor in the living room and just go, go, go.

Another great tip is to put some of your favourite music on and sing along! It will spur you on.

Tidy house. Tidy mind.

My top tip is to get rid of stuff. It's easier to stay on top if you have less stuff

Have a look at the Marie kondo thread on here, there are lots of tips . Everything has a place and only keep what brings you joy.You start with clothes first , maybe socks and only keep the ones that make you happy. When you fold clothes you stand them on their side and you can see at a glance what is in the drawer. I was amazed at how much space it has saved .

Wow thank you so much for all the replies! Definitely feeling a bit more positive about the situation

Think I'm just going to bin all the crap tbh and be done with it!

I absolutely do not stick to any plan I start, but the most effective one I came up with (&will one day take up again!) was adding a 'ten minute job' to the end of every day - so it only had to be 10 minutes but sometimes once I got into it I would happily do longer: the good thing was that even on late nights or when really tired, 10 minutes always seemed manageable - might be just to clear 1 surface of junk or wipe down kitchen unit doors but it was at least progress...good luck - sounds tough there :-/

www.unfuckyourhabitat.com/

20/10's are good at the weekend and my 2 year old does them on Saturdays and Sundays pottering around the front room.

She helps out with carrying laundry to bedrooms and passing to me to put away.

We have a sticker chart system so if she helps willingly or without being asked she gets a reward for acquiring set amounts of stickers.

It works for us
Good luck!

I would agree with doing a massive declutter first otherwise you are just shunting rubbish from one room to another. We decluttered prior to moving and I had to tell the family to imagine we are emigrating and can only take stuff we used!! It worked - even though we were only moving 2 miles up the road!! It's seems a huge task but it will make your weekly cleaning so so much easier. And although the decluttering seems a big task, it is so satisfying. You could donate stuff to charity so you feel even better about it.
Also would recommend Ruth Field's book (or download to kindle if keeping clutter to a minimum!) Get Your Shit Together. Does exactly what it says on the tin!!! Good luck.

For keeping on top of washing I have found that having a plastic tub per person is most useful. All washing gets sorted from the dryer or line straight into the tub. It then goes to the right room and although not necessarily put into wardrobes straight away it does mean there's smaller piles to look through for uniform etc . I'm hoping as my children get older they will do the last stage and put their things away!

I'm a recovering hoarder and agree with previous posters that less stuff is truly the long term plan to make tidying and cleaning easier.

organised mum calenders and wall organisers are a huge help for remembering things and shopping lists ect.