My house is a tip...where to start??

[FatPatsCat]

I have been going through the most difficult time of my life and I've let my house get into a complete state Can anybody help me to motivate myself? Where do I start??
There is too much stuff, there are kids, there's the dog... every time I start a task there's a distraction!

Hoarding level of mess or do you have elbow room to work?

Google Team TOMM :-) life saver! I did bathroom, kitchen, storage areas. Two runs to the council tip later and I'm ready to tackle the living room next weekend :-)

Get rid of 27 things a day for 9 days. It's a great way to start.

thriveglobal.com/stories/a-minimal-ritual/

Pick a room and completely gut it...maybe a bedroom? Do a set of drawers a day...or even just a drawer, change the bed, dust round, be ruthless with clothes you haven't worn?

Good luck!
I am decluttering to sell as we're downsizing and my tip is to put anything half decent on selling groups, I have sold lots of stuff for no effort at all really!

Yes, you've got to start with getting stuff out.

Don't feel guilty for throwing things away. Sometimes you have to prioritise different things and in the situation that you are in, the environment can't be your priority.

Also, try not to associate throwing something away with the money you have already spent on it. The money is gone and keeping the item doesn't change that.

Yes to Team TOMM. And how old are your kids, can they help?

And to you. I am sorry to hear you've had such a tough time. You will feel a little bit better in a tidier, cleaner house I hope.

@RickiTarr

Hoarding level of mess or do you have elbow room to work?

Sorry I probably exaggerated there! Nothing like hoarding, just too much 'stuff' and not enough places to put it!!

Then there's the actual cleaning too, I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day!

Thank you for all the advice everyone, I'm determined to get back into routine!

And if it is stuff you do actually need: find a place for it. Even if it means getting extra cupboards...

@StarsandStones

Yes to Team TOMM. And how old are your kids, can they help?

And to you. I am sorry to hear you've had such a tough time. You will feel a little bit better in a tidier, cleaner house I hope.

Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm hoping a cleaner and tidier house will equal a tidier mind too! Kids are 3 and 8, they like to make a LOT of mess 😭

Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as much as you can in that time. Tell kids no interruptions and put dog outside. Do this every day. I’d start with the lounge and entry way
I’m guessing you also have a tonne of laundry to deal with? Get the kids involved. Take all the clean stuff into the lounge and fold it together while you listen to music. Kids can put everything away while you put the next load on
If kids are still of age where they need supervision in the bath, clean other parts of bathroom while you’re in there
I use dinner prep time to work on the kitchen. So last night I threw out the out of date stuff in the fridge while I waited for the veges to cook. Other things you can do while you’re waiting for stuff to cook includes wiping down front of cupboards, cleaning the toaster.

If it’s not too bad, just “life mess” but you’re unmotivated, set a kitchen or iPhone timer for short bursts and so twenty minutes or half an hour only at a time.

If it's cleaning, I'd say clean as you use.
Give the bathroom a clean before going to bed when you use it.
Clean bits of the kitchen when you cook and while you wait for it. As you tidy things up after dinner, add some more tidying up.
Same with throwing things away. As you take the bins out, do a once over to see what needs to be binned.

Book a cleaner for a day once week for a few weeks. Then the day before she comes you do as much prep work as possible to enable her to clean. On the day she is there, you work with her sorting, moving chucking, while she cleans (obviously trying not to get in her way).

I do this every so often and it's brilliant. Really helps tackling it together as a team.
It might mean you have to take a days' holiday from work!

Also for storage use height if you're short on space. So tall cupboards or shelves up high, above doorways etc. If you have an attic put as much as you can up there (unless it can be thrown out!).

Brilliant ideas and advice here, thanks so much everybody!!

Allocate a bag for life / box for keep, one for charity, one for bin, one for recycling and one for not sure.

Take a small (2m x 2m but depends - if you only have 30 mins start smaller) section of a room and work methodically through the area. So if it's a surface, sweep it all onto the floor then sort and chuck everything into a bag.

Put the keeps back. Take bag to charity / bin / recycling and leave the maybe bag on the landing / spare room.

Next day, do the same with next 2m x 2m square.

If it's a drawer, empty contents onto floor, sort into bags.

Unless you really have next to no storage at all do not buy anything to store things in.

Go through the storage you have & see what is taking up all your storage space.
Things you haven't pulled out in ages may well be things that should either go or be in a box in the attic.

If you buy 'storage solutions' before you've sorted things out, you'll just end up drowning in them.

If it's basic mess I like putting a movie on the iPad and getting stuck in after the kids are in bed. If you're doing 1 room have a box or bag for throw, donate and sell ready, and separate piles for other rooms so you don't get distracted putting things away and see more to do.

Yes, kids make a lot of mess! But I would get them involved. Let them chuck their own clothes in the laundry basket. Let them put their own toys away. I always wanted a big box to put all toys in. But actually, Montessori style, having a 'shelf' for specific toys worked better. My DD put her truck, plane and animal figures back yesterday. And trust me, work in progress, she also chucked all the beads and building blocks on the floor. We cleared the floor together. I found I was becoming the default cleaning person... she would make a mess, and let me clean it... so I make her help more...

TOMM is good for maintenance but a bit weak imo on the nitty gritty of getting out of the mess and the process of decluttering.

Unfuck your habitat is a great place to start when you don’t know where to start.

Decluttering at the speed of Life is about decluttering without making a bigger mess.

Thanks all, I'm ready (and actually looking forward) to getting stuck in this morning 😱
@snugglepumpkin I think that may be my problem - buying more storage, when I should in fact be working with what I have!

Hope you had a successful morning!?

Start nearest the front door. It's the first thing visitor's see and everything will have to be taken out the house that way.

It was very successful thank you! Started with the room which was irritating me most, and already feel more relaxed!

I've also printed out the TOMM free printable sheets, so will definitely be starting with them, it seems like an easy enough method!

Now you have made some headway, establish morning and afternoon/evening routine to maintain. If you are following TOMM, you could do level 1s in the morning for example (depending on work commitments) and level 2 in evening.

I do the following, work 35 hours per week and have two DC at school (might help for ideas)

AM - before work and school run
Empty dishwasher
Make beds
Swish and swipe one bathroom
Tidy clothes away etc

PM
Load washing - 35 minute cycle
Fold washing and put away from previous day.
Floor check - quick hoover high traffic areas if needed
Cook
Tidy kitchen before kids' bath/bedtime
15 - 30 mins level 2 - don't always manage full level two but 15 mins is better than nothing.
Level 3s are inconsistent for me but do make a massive difference when i do them!

Looking at that list, not sure how i fit it 8n but just try to get into a flow. If miss anything, sometimes have to catch up after kids in bed or an hour Sat morning. 5 minute room rescue is also good.

Best wishes.