Perpetually messy but need reforming- how to start? !

[Mumfortoddler]

Hi all

I am really quite messy, I try to be tidy but find ds (6) leaves a trail wherever he goes as do I. My house is not a contestant for 'How clean is your house' but I am so embarrassed I have stopped inviting people over. How can I build in little timesaving habits that stop tidying being such a humongous task?

At the moment I do laundry every day and dishwashing daily. That's the only things I do daily although toilet is almost daily.

Bathrooms is monthly and kitchen once a week for a thorough clean. I am desperate to restore order but tidiness just doesnt come naturally to me.

Any tips on where to start?

I work 4 days a week, single mum so timesaving and energy saving ideas really appreciated! !

Thank you! !!

tagging along...

Lurking too.

Ooh I would love to help!
First of all be brutal - if you don't need or use it, it has no sentimental value or monetary value get it binned or to charity. Then if you have things which are worth something but you don't need stick them on eBay!
Write down your plans - kitchen cupboards for what, lounge storage for what etc and stick post its around so you know what goes where. Clean areas before you put things away and you're off to a great start!

My house was very messy up to a couple of years ago, still not quite there but better by miles!
What helped me:

1. major declutter - Kondo method worked wonders where I'd failed last time.
2. don't put it down put it away!
3. don't do 95% of a job - don't just take the dirty dishes to the kitchen counter, put them in the dishwasher.
4. try not to leave a room empty handed, there's always something to go to the room you're going to.
5. a place for everything and everything in its place. It becomes habit, so tidying is something you do as you go about your day, not something specific you carve out time for.

I need to do a major declutter! I used to be very organized and neat. I had to be or lose my mind...six kids.
But now that they are grown and gone, I find I have just sort of stopped. Not that things are dusty or floors are dirty. I do basic cleaning. But deep cleaning, no, I have very little interest.
I'd rather do so many other things than declutter!
But it has started really bothering me, so I have decided to do the worst room. That always makes the others seem much easier to do, after I have tamed the biggest disaster.

Following with interest too!

Have you tried unfuck your habitat? She recommends short periods of activity which I find fit in well with a busy home.

unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com

Tagging along too - I used to have such an organised house! Four kids and a terminally untidy dp have put paid to that. In sick of being everyone's cleaner and washerwoman, and also sick of droning on at them to TIDY UP!

Yes declutter as less stuff to clean, also do stuff as you go along i.e when waiting for food to cook clean up your prep area/empty and reload dishwasher. Also i always 'quick blitz' house before i go out so you come back to a clean house. In 10 mins i can manage to grab laundry and chuck in utility, load washing machine. Grab a small bin bag and chuck any rubbish in it into main bin, make bed, chuck any dishes in dishwasher. Also i find if you do stuff before bed every night its easier next day and your not waking up to mess. For example always try and get dishes/kitchen cleaned before bed and empty/load dishwasher. It does feel like your constantly do8ng things, but 10 15 mins twice a day is better than 3 hours once a week. Also i find its easier to do if you 'reward' yourself, i.e: after ive done x y z i will have a bath or watch a programme. Also agree with enlisting ds to help, even though at the start the 'helping' is going to slow you down, iin the long run your instilling good life skills and hopefully wont be as hard when older to get them to clean room etc. I tend to clean bathroom everyweek and other rooms get a hoover/wipe down once every 2 weeks.

Note: i too had a child-husband for a while but had to have a few very stern talks with him as i said i didnt sign up to replace his mum when we married! It took along time to get across to him that clean8ng/tidying didnt mean shoving it under the bed... but it has paid off and hes brilliant now. We have a 4 month old who doesnt sleep and the other day he got up at 6am, took over so i coukd sleep and totally blitzed the house for me. So i would say really get on at a dh who doesnt help enough as its supost to be a partnership!

If everything seems too overwhelming and stressful I suggest just doing a small thing each day of a couple of times a day and eventually you can get back on top of things :)

I find that an extra clothes horse or two has meant that I can actually do more than one load of laundry a day, therefore I can get back on top of things if the laundry mountain suddenly gets out of control.

Everything really does need a home, and it can take a while and some trial and error, but once you are happy with everything it can really help when you're tidying up, you really can have a purpose when putting things away, rather than just shifting things around and around.

At six years old your ds is old enough to understand if he tidied up after himself he is helping mummy and can earn pocket money for doing so :)

EXASTRIS
Im going to make one of your points my mantra from now on - don't do only 95% of a job. This is exactly what I do so often - ie sweeping the kitchen floor towards the bin but not using the dust pan and brush but leaving the dirt there.
New start for me -thank you

... and another tip I got from here: put 10 things away. Even if you don't fancy it, just do it. It'll take less than 5 mins, and if you do that even once a day, every day, think how much tidier it'll be in a week.

Link it into an existing routine, eg when you come down from putting DS to bed or while he's putting his PJs on, or last thing before you go to bed.

Also dishwasher on every evening, emptied every morning. I try on that one but not always successfully.

I think the key is little and often. You can get a huge amount done in just 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there.

If you are a single, working mother with young kid(s) you probably don't have a lot of time/energy for housework so you will find that every little bit helps.

The only way I've been able to improve is by writing down the list of jobs I want to achieve in a day and then ticking them off as I go.

But instead of giving myself mountains to do I started small, just three simple jobs. Then as those have become habit I've added more and more to my lists each day. It really motivates me to get it done if I can look back and see how much I've done

I don't sit down in the evening until the kitchen and living room is tidy.
I have 3 kids and they have to help every evening.
They clear their own stuff from the table and put it in the dishwasher. They tidy up all toys and arts stuff from the table and tidy their own room.
We hoover and mop then chill for a bit with the TV. Then bath and bed etc. that way I get to relax once theyre in bed or I'll only have a bit to do.
The house is then usually presentable for guests.
All the other jobs get done as and when.