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

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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.

Oh yes, I definitely feel like my house = representation of my mind!

We tried a cleaner when 2nd one was born, but it didn’t seem to help much, as we could only afford them to come once a fortnight. I think they’d have to come daily for it to make enough of a difference (and unfortunately, our budget isn’t up to that!)

By rules, I mean the ‘declutter often’, ‘only touch once’, put it away, not down, ‘tidy as you go’ ‘5 minutes tidy before dinner’ etc… all very straightforward, none that I actually keep up with.

I’ve definitely improved as the years go, but still not enough to feel on top of things most days.

Thanks! I do the ‘declutter often’ thing but it doesn’t seem to make much difference with all the kids stuff! It still spreads somehow!

What does only touch once mean?

One touch means you put it where it belongs rather than putting your coat on the bannister to then move it to the cupboard for example.

One touch rather than 2+. It means things are always put where they belong so you never have to actually tidy.

Thanks for that explanation 😊 Makes sense! Now to put it into practice!

When i realised it was making me feel a bit anxious.
When messiness started impacting other areas of life when i couldn't find things easily.
Also, DH was much tidier than me, that changed me as i saw how much nicer
it was.
When someone at work mentioned how messy my workspace was.

I became a lot better when I moved in with DH who gets very stressed if the house is not clean and tidy. He lowered his standards a bit and I raised mine!

Mice.

I came on here to say mice @stayingaliveisawayoflife! We had a baby just learning to crawl and along they came. I started hoovering every day and it went from there!

When i noticed a correlation between my mental health, and career development. Tidy room, tidy mind and it meant I could focus more on the things that matter rather than cluttering my head with looking at an untidy room. I noticed that a lot of my colleagues are very neat and and organised too.

It's a process (I hope.)
I'm practicing daily.

@CookieDoughKid that’s interesting, I’m supposed to find time to work (self employed) while the toddler naps/ at bedtime, but the state of the house just means I have no energy to do anything productive!

Can you start with one surface, your work table for instance?

I found the "a slob comes clean" website helps. It is very American, but the woman running it almost definitely has ADHD, which I have too. For me, some of the concepts (the container concept, how to declutter without making more of a mess, plus others) helped me in a way that other systems did not.
In theory, I should be able to follow TOMM. But in reality, I just found it like torture (why? it is only 30 minutes a day, I really don't know). But now I follow many of "a slob comes clean" tips and it has really helped.
Having a cleaner helped too, because it made us tidy regularly, just as posters above noted.

Doing a little bit every day. If something needs doing, do it there and then as no one else will.
Much easier when kids have grown out if they toys phase

I've discovered having as much furniture as possible fitted rather than anything free standing to keep floor space clear. Wall lamps and frames on walls to keep surfaces clear. That was a big penny drop moment for me and is a massive time saver if you're not moving things in order to clean.

I realised having a messy house was affecting my sleep. I only slept well when the house was tidy! Bizarre I know…
I also taught myself to put every thing I use back in its place immediately (sounds like the only touch once part). I had to force it at first but now it is second nature. TOMM works really well and would highly recommend it.