What was your click point that turned you from a messy/untidy person to a tidy one?

[Times10]

I’ve always been messy. Add 3 DCs to the mix and the house is more often chaos than not. I go through phases of trying to keep on top of things, but never managed to keep at it long term.

What was the trigger that meant you changed your ways? I know all about the different ‘rules’ to stay tidy but would like to know what was the turning point that meant things finally clicked, and stayed tidy from then on.

I am still waiting ..........

When I got fed up with never being able to find anything and when I found it, it was dirty or creased or damaged.

Also, my husband is very neat. So, I raise my game. Albeit his mother was very house proud. He doesn't mind my, um, relaxed approach to housework as it's an, 'up yours' to his house proud mother and the way he was raised !

I'm not into Mrs Hinch or Marie Kondo or The Fly Lady. All useful of course.

Paying a cleaner £££ a month to clean my house on a weekly basis. I'm now much more likely to keep on top of small bits and keep tidy in between visits to make the most of their time on cleaning rather than tidying and also to make it worth the money. It also doesn't seem so overwhelming when all I need to do is sweep kitchen/wipe counters down/tidy toys off floor rather than a full clean of a 4 bed house

Moving house several times in a few years and having to face all the junk and disorganisation. It made me upset with myself and led to a huge declutter.

I wouldn’t say that we are perfectly tidy all the time (children) but we are so much better than we used to be. Having less stuff is a major factor and being more thoughtful about what we let in. We are much more organised which means we can be tidy with less effort.

Finally getting my adhd diagnosed and actually somewhat under control at the grand old age of 31.

Absolute game changer. Turns out it's doable (still with some effort mind you) when you are not distracted by every tiny thing and can just crack on with the task at hand, even if it's not enjoyable.

Getting my own place helped but getting a cleaner sealed the deal. She comes Tuesdays and Thursdays so the place is usually a bit messy by Monday but it’s so much easier to keep on top of. Even my fridge is tidy!

Discovering minimalism via zenhabits, bemorewithless, becomingminimalist and co.
Has changed my life!

Kids getting older needing less stuff, massive declutter & purpose built utilityroom, having time & space for friends coming round for dinner/ BBQ ... somehow I really like a clean tidy house now!
But I found one of the issues of the untidy house was to much stuff and not enough storage.

Realising that the state of my house was a good mirror reflecting my mental health. When I'm down I tend to give up cleaning and tidying. When I am happy the house is a lot more presentable. But equally a messy house can bring down my mood, so even if I don't feel like it I force myself to do a quick clean and tidy, and I'm always happier afterwards.

When I realized that minimalism gives me peace of mind.

Moving house a few times. (The hell on earth that is packing when actually you forgot you had that item). Getting a cleaner. The night before and sometimes at regular intervals we do ‘big mad family tidy up’ as it’s not the cleaners job to tidy, just to clean. And everything having a place makes family life a lot better so if someone asks where something and you answer in its place they know where to check.

Buying my own flat. Not only was there a certain level of pride but it was too small to be messy as you'd just trip over everything.

A chaotic childhood gave me a good dose of OCD in my teens which taught me how to have some control over my personal space.

I am not top level ocd by any stretch but having a clean space just makes something in me just go ‘aaahhhhh’.

Getting a cleaner. She is amazing and I LOVE my house when she’s been. I feel like I’m in a hotel but it’s my own house and that’s not because I have an amazing luxury house, it’s just clean and clutter-free. We have to tidy before she comes as otherwise she can’t clean properly so that’s the incentive to do it.

By realising how much faster it is to keep things clean when there is no clutter.

Teens reaching 17 & 18 years of age. They got rid of about two thirds of their childhood things and wanted to invite friends around more often, so we renovated their rooms. It's a new phase of life with them leaving home in a year or so.

The house went through phases of being tidy & being cluttered when they were young, but we wanted to make sure they remembered their last years with us fondly as they have forgotten a lot of the early years when the house was immaculate and we had lots of parties etc. They remember best the cluttered late primary years when I went back to work!

Counselling, I had a breakthrough moment when I realised I was not only ready to let go of emotional baggage but that my house was crammed full of physical baggage from my past that I was keeping like a security blanket but of things that only reminded me of negative events or made me feel nostalgic or guilty. I then had a massive declutter and am now as minimalist as is possible with small kids. I love Marie Kondo's method because for me what I keep must bring me happiness.

Another one who is only tidy because the cleaner is coming each week. 1) she can't do her job and 2) what would she think?!

@Goldfishmountainclimber

Moving house several times in a few years and having to face all the junk and disorganisation. It made me upset with myself and led to a huge declutter.

I wouldn’t say that we are perfectly tidy all the time (children) but we are so much better than we used to be. Having less stuff is a major factor and being more thoughtful about what we let in. We are much more organised which means we can be tidy with less effort.

This! Must admit we're still TTC so can't claim to have dealt with an avalanche of kids' things yet. But I was NEVER a tidy person, then we moved between several 1-2 bed flats in relatively quick succession. Now I'm all about decluttering and having less stuff. It just massively decreases the size of the challenge.

Husband was tidier than me when I met him and I got tidier as a result and I am now tidier than he is. He also has odd things he has a thing about like never using the loft for storage which is good as it means we get less clutter and have to be more ruthless.

Growing up we had to have a mass tidy on a Sunday night but I do tidy as I go now and have a daily extra tidy of anything that escapes that before work and again while we make tea.

I like tidy but not so good on the cleaning front.

Comment from an in law three years ago who came to help clean our house when I'd broken one leg and had a torn cruciate on the other (I say this information to let you know that I actually needed the help).

She said the house was a disgrace and we were both lazy. I felt sick with shame.

It wasn't actually a disgrace and I actually spent 10 hours on a Saturday cleaning each week only for it all to fall apart by Monday evening.

Once recovered, I started TOMM and haven't looked back since. So that's 2.5 years of constantly acceptable (even by MIL standards) house.

I do 45 mins a day of cleaning, 15 minutes on a Saturday and same on a Sunday. I have zero ironing pile. I'm on top of all paperwork constantly. I also work 40+ hours a week and have a five year old, a dog and four guinea pigs.

It hasn’t happened yet…

@Times10, I’m intrigued by all ‘the different ‘rules’ to stay tidy’. Could you share?!

I agree that having a cleaner helps because it gives me the discipline to tidy up beforehand, but in between it descends into chaos! I just feel it’s a constant battle against the kids and their mess too. I just can’t keep on top of it.

@CoffeeChocolateWine

It hasn’t happened yet…

@Times10, I’m intrigued by all ‘the different ‘rules’ to stay tidy’. Could you share?!

I agree that having a cleaner helps because it gives me the discipline to tidy up beforehand, but in between it descends into chaos! I just feel it’s a constant battle against the kids and their mess too. I just can’t keep on top of it.

My house is a mess just now but because I've been decluttering for years i know that in about 40 minutes ill have it looking spotless. Now i just need the odd hour to declutter and slowly stay on top of all the storage but it has taken years of hard work to get to that point.

Definitely getting a cleaner. Can’t leave the place in a state or she can’t do her job properly so forces us to stay on top of things.