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Housekeeping

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Original poster

2024 will be my year to Get The House in Order

67 replies

BloodyAdultDC · 19/12/2023 17:02

I'm sick of living like this. Too much stuff. Untidy kids, messy cat. Lazy and CBA when I finish work. I need a virtual support crew to give me the kick/support to get off my arse and Get Shit Done.

I've tried Kondo but get overwhelmed too easily. I don't have any sort of routine for anything. Even grocery shopping. I have diy jobs to do but don't have the time. I've stopped seeing the mess.

I like lists. I need a simple tick-list app that covers everything including clearing out the car, shed, keeping on top of the garden in summer and boxes of stuff from my mum's in the loft.

I could use a personal assistant just to come up with a master plan, and to whip me into shape.

Anyone want to join me? Or any tips for such an elusive app?

OP posts:
thesnailandthewhale · 19/12/2023 17:06

I have declutterred an awful lot which has helped a great deal but I still need to sort out the storage in my bedroom or I will never got this thing nailed down.

BogRollBOGOF · 19/12/2023 18:18

The Organised Mum Method might work for you.
She's got an app that has a one-off payment where the routines are built in and tickable, and customisable. The website has free printables or there's a book, so the routine can be accessed freely.

She also has TOM Rocks which are basically podcasts that guide you through cleans and tasks. Some are set up to support the method. Some are free standing. I tend to do these free-style depending on what needs doing. These are on monthly subscription at about £3.60 per month. There's a Rock the Housework chat thread if it sounds an interesting strategy to look in to. I love it because it takes so much thinking and faffing out of the equation, and it's finally made looking after the house managable.

HouseofHolbein · 19/12/2023 20:57

I've been decluttering my kitchen cupboards over the last few days. Plan is to use it as a kick start to the whole house. Planning on tackling the under sink cupboard tomorrow. Wish me luck!

chloechloe · 19/12/2023 21:22

I know the feeling! I’m planning on trying to get things on track again after Christmas. For general cleaning I would second the TOMM app.

For decluttering I’m planning on following the 30 day decluttering detox here:

https://www.oprah.com/home/the-30-day-home-decluttering-detox-plan_1

Basically it’s a list of areas which you work on for 15 minutes each day (or more if you have time) - eg Day 1 paperwork, day 2 hallway.

I find a lot of plans are just too overwhelming or time consuming if you work. This one sounds doable. It doesn’t have to be perfect but even a little bit each day should make progress.

The 30-Day Clutter Detox Plan

This daily routine from the author of "The Home Decluttering Diet" takes just 15 minutes a day to clear out the items that are clogging up your home.

https://www.oprah.com/home/the-30-day-home-decluttering-detox-plan_1

NotInTheMoodForIt · 19/12/2023 21:33

How To Keep House While Drowning has good things said about it, the author is on tik tok (KC Davis where she has other tips there).

I think a lot of her tips are geared towards those who are neurodiverse and/or have mental health struggles. I've just added the book to my kindle and I hope to read it over the next few weeks.

JobMatch3000 · 19/12/2023 21:40

Hire a skip.
Get rid of half your stuff.
Make an allocated place for everything you keep.

Seren2023 · 20/12/2023 07:47

Third seal of approval for The Organised Mum. It may help but does take about 45 mins a day so is hard if motivating yourself is difficult (like it is for me).

I have also found Flylady Kat really good and motivational. She has a version for ‘payroll homemakers’ and you can focus on daily rituals and decluttering. You can’t clean clutter so have to get rid of it first while maintaining daily ‘rituals’.

If you have loads of things to throw away, get a bag and do 27 fling boogie (Flylady idea 😆 awful name but motivating - not sure why it’s 27, seems random but any number is better than nothing !) Find 27 things around the house as quickly as possible to get rid of. Anything broken, rubbish, not needed, don’t overthink it). I did this and it’s very satisfying. Just do that to day plus a put away session.

  • washing up done/ dishwasher loaded/unloaded.
  • one load of laundry if needed.
  • clean kitchen work surfaces
  • swish and swipe bathroom
  • make bed
  • hoover/ sweep three - five minutes one area.
Will take about 20 mins.
  • build in one pick up and put away.

Then, once you have got that established, you can work on more routines.

Got to go and sort out my own routines!

HelloandGoodMorningPlease · 20/12/2023 10:23

I have been following Flylady for years and if I stick to it, it works brilliantly. Your home is divided into 5 zones for each month and within each zone you declutter and deep clean for 15 mins a day. You also have your daily and weekly regular cleaning.

DifficultBloodyWoman · 20/12/2023 10:31

I’m in.

I have to say, I’m not a fan of The Organized Mum Method. It’s a bit too commercial for me - subscribe here and buy this etc. it’s a shame because if I go past that it might work well for me.

Flylady, despite also selling stuff, comes across in a less commercial way. I can see how it has grown over the years. It is much more ‘me’ and the systems do work.

MercuryRising · 21/12/2023 07:31

I will join you. I went full-time at the end of October and I'm really struggling to keep up with everything. I am a single mum with 3 children at home and it is really hard. I am doing The Organised Mum bootcamp today ... It is meant to be done over a week but I'm aiming to get it finished by tomorrow... I need a clean slate so I can hopefully declutter in 2024 and find a routine I can keep up with.

OhIlovetosew · 21/12/2023 08:03

I’ll join you. I’ve been trying to get on top of the house this past year, we’ve had lots going on so although I’m not as far in as I’d hoped im getting there in certain places.

washing has been biggest issue for me. I now have separate bins for colours, whites and darks. My tights go right side out and in a zipped washing net when I take them off. I have a little bin by my bedside and I empty all pockets at night.

I do a swoop, throw five things away, I do it when I’ve a couple mins spare before say going out, going to bed, etc. I go upstairs thirty mins before DH and do things just for me, tidying my side of bedroom because I’m messy, beauty, etc. I try now not to dump stuff but actually put things in the place they need to go at the time I pick them up and I think that’s been a game changer for me.

ive a bag to go to the charity shop always on the go and once full I pop it in the boot of my car so if I find myself in that area I take it in. I’ve also got a tip bag as well for torn and stained clothes.

sometimes I feel it’s all a bit too much and OTT, but then yesterday I glanced in our home office and was pleased at how it looked, it’s still a bit messy but at least you can now get in the door to do some work.

im trying hard not to buy random tat, just stuff I need, working on a one in one out policy on clothes too but I’m struggling with that so I’m just trying not to buy new clothes. lol.

Original poster
BloodyAdultDC · 21/12/2023 08:05

Hi again. Thanks for the suggestions. I've (re) downloaded TOMM and the flylady app. The TOMM one I couldn't get into before but I'm liking flylady so far. I've spent an evening procrastinating adding in my own daily tasks and tweaking some others.

Yesterday I decided to thoroughly 'do' my dining room, mostly because it's the tidiest room in the whole house. I added bits to the app and removed some and in about 2 hours cleaned it top to bottom (except hoovering the floor as it was too late by then). I have a kitchen/diner so tonight I'm going to really critique the kitchen and Make A List

OP posts:
pelargoniums · 21/12/2023 08:22

I’ll join you! I’ve just been made redundant on maternity leave and am in the lucky position to afford to pack DS off to nursery anyway and then start the job hunt, so I’m spending the last month of mat leave making plans, then once I finally have childcare I am THROWING EVERYTHING AWAY. Stuff really is the problem: our tidiest, cleanest room is the one with nothing in it.

The trouble is the getting it out of the house – at the moment the decluttering spot is my office/spare room, and I’ve just been shoving stuff there frantically during naptimes, and now it’s chaos. I want a service that just comes and takes everything, instead of having to drool around to charity shops, the tip, deal with Olio and Freecycle timewasters, etc.

But a 2024 thread will be very motivating when I attempt to spend my out-of-work time rewatching Friends and enjoying my first hot cup of tea in a year.

WinchSparkle80 · 21/12/2023 08:29

@pelargoniums for this, anglo doorstep collections is your friend. Pop in your postcode, book a slot, put it outside your home and they take it away. General recycle and resell and send abroad and they make a little bit of £ for charity.

pelargoniums · 21/12/2023 09:26

@WinchSparkle80 Thank you! 🩷

Yes, I’ve used them before and it’s been invaluable. But there’s stuff they won’t take, eg nightwear or threadbare clothes for which you need to get to the fabric recycling at the tip, for instance. I’ve just found it impossible to get rid of certain things around the baby’s naps/meals/feeds/etc (mess with his routine at your peril, basically) and I’m champing at the bit for the freedom to pile stuff in the car and GO/answer the door endlessly to Freecycle people. It’s that combination of big stuff like the next-to-me crib and little random things that are impossible to get rid of, you have no idea how you’ve acquired, and feel too guilty to bin. How I long for a skip and a clear conscience…

The day Anglo doorstep took three boxes off my hands was manna from heaven, though. Empty space looks better than anything else! I’m already excited about taking down the Christmas tree for the sense of “my sitting room feels like it’s had an extension”.

blitzen · 22/12/2023 14:47

I'm going to join you, OP. I'll be back in the new year with my plan.

FlowerTink · 22/12/2023 17:33

Same here! I've been decluttering a bit but after Christmas I need to get a routine for cleaning and the clutter! Two DC, one nursery age one primary, and so there's a lot of toys out. I'm thinking perhaps an improved storage system might help

HouseofHolbein · 22/12/2023 18:34

I've just cleared another kitchen cupboard and have given a friends daughter a load of (very nice) crockery as she is moving into a flat with her boyfriend.

Have some for the charity shop and am aiming at doing the cleaning cupboard of doom this evening

Shf · 22/12/2023 18:39

I’ve never really got on with apps or lists or methods. I try and do the little tips I’ve seen on here - don’t go upstairs empty handed if there’s something on the stairs, wipe something down or empty the dishwasher while waiting for the kettle to boil etc. Someone said, if you see it, do it, and that helps.

The biggest switch for me was realising a year or so ago that I needed to stop seeing housework as “wasted” time. If I want my house to look nice because that makes me feel better and happier, I need to do the tidying. Quite simple really but it’s taken me over 20 years as an adult to understand that.

Pibolar · 22/12/2023 18:49

Time finder
and Google keep
…. wouldn’t get anything done without them

stayathomer · 22/12/2023 18:50

I’ll definitely join op!!!

trulyunruly01 · 22/12/2023 19:05

I shall be going into The Eaves next year.
I was supposed to tackle The Eaves (yes, I say that with the capitals) last January but...well, I don't know what happened.
The Eaves were filled with stuff when we moved here in 2013 and there it has stayed.
Come January it's on the move - straight to the dump.

Lavenderosemary · 24/12/2023 11:25

The Tody app is great, as its fully customised. I actually paid for it which I never do...about £4 something. Sometimes I forget about it for months, then return to it and it makes catching up seem easier.

Anjelika · 26/12/2023 13:22

Shf · 22/12/2023 18:39

I’ve never really got on with apps or lists or methods. I try and do the little tips I’ve seen on here - don’t go upstairs empty handed if there’s something on the stairs, wipe something down or empty the dishwasher while waiting for the kettle to boil etc. Someone said, if you see it, do it, and that helps.

The biggest switch for me was realising a year or so ago that I needed to stop seeing housework as “wasted” time. If I want my house to look nice because that makes me feel better and happier, I need to do the tidying. Quite simple really but it’s taken me over 20 years as an adult to understand that.

@Shf I have had the exact same realisation but about decluttering and decorating. I realised the only person who can make my house look nicer is ME. No magic fairy is going to declutter those cupboards, those rooms etc or do the decorating. Although I'm not entirely there (by a long shot!) I have got 2 rooms decorated and a lot of stuff out of the house. Not sure why it took me so long to come to this realisation!