Where to start when house is completely upside down?

[exhausted1234]

I am ashamed to say this but my house is absolutely upside down. A mix of clutter that has steadily crept in, and then having the flu/covid last week and being in bed most of the week it's just built up as nothing's got done. I literally cried this morning looking at my house. My utility room floor is just a mountain of washing. As in, you literally can't see the floor. Every single room is full of stuff/toys/things that need putting away. There's not one room downstairs that I can walk through in a straight line without having to step over stuff. Both bathrooms need cleaning. My hallway is just strewn with bags/coats/shoes that my little ones have dumped. Where would you start if you were me? I'm getting completely overwhelmed because every task I think "yeah I'll start with that" it seems like the other jobs are more important... like do I tackle all the washing first so we've got clean clothes? Do I tackle the bathrooms so we can wash in a clean shower? Do I pick up all the shit off the floor so it's safe? I don't even know where to start 😩 Help! Someone tell me what to do first PLEASE.

One room. One battle.

Start with the hallway, get everything off the floor even if you just chuck items into the right rooms for now. Hang things up.

Then clean one bathroom.

Then clean down the kitchen worktops and the floor.

Then stop, see where you are, and pick the next battle.

Also look for baskets or boxes for each child to use as a dumping location for shoes, coats, bags, whatever in the short term while you work on hanging stuff up with them.

Aw 💗
First coats shoes bags away so you can walk through the hall
Then pop on a load of washing (do you have a tumble dryer?)
Then give the easiest bathroom a clean - spray mirror and wipe, spray sink and wipe. Scrub toilet, replace toilet paper and towel. Ignore shower/bath/floor

Have a cup of tea

How old are DCs? Get them to pick up their own toys. Make a game of it if they are too young to just be told.

Are you a single parent? I'm going to assume so, otherwise you have bigger problems than this.

What would make the most difference to your life right now? Tackle that first, even if it's something really small. So it may be doing a load of washing, or it may be clearing a space in the lounge so you can sit down for 5 minutes, or it may be clearing a single worktop in the kitchen.

Leave the bathroom unless there is poo everywhere. A gleaming bathroom is low on your list of priorities right now.

When it all seems overwhelming, just pick one small thing to do, which you will be able to SEE the difference. One small corner of a room. The dining table. Whatever, just something small. Stick at that until it's done. Don't do a bit of this and a bit of that because then it will all still look just as bad, which will discourage you. You need to be able to see the benefit of the one bit you've done, which will spur you on to do a bit more.

Cleaning the mirrors is the last job to do, not one of the first. It won't harm anyone to look in a smeary mirror for a while, whereas it might harm them if they trip over the piles of stuff on the floor.

Great advice. I watch a lot of those declutterring shows and they say (as above) pick one room at a time and be kind to yourself about the others while you are doing that one room. Stick with your room. Don’t deviate or it will get overwhelming.

The problem is as you have suggested - you bring a cup into the kitchen from the bedroom and then the surfaces are dirty, so you wash the dishes and the tea towels are dirty and you go to wash them and there is a mountain of clothes and the whole thing is overwhelming and you can’t make a dent because everywhere is messy.

The shows say you should have a keep, toss and donate pile. Once you have sorted into these groups it will help declutter and then you will know what you are dealing with.

Have a plan. I find writing things down in priority order helps. Good luck.

This, although I'd get a load of washing in the machine as a very first job.

Halls, landings, porches and bathrooms are the easiest and quickest to declutter and clean IMO, and enjoying the results of even the easy wins spur you on to tackle the harder rooms. For the really overwhelming rooms, pick a shelf, drawer or category (eg 'clothes' or 'books') to do first, then another and another until you can finally see the woods for the trees. As more rooms get finished, it's easier for the subsequent ones as it is quicker to find the place to put stuff that is being tidied.

I think it's an instant improvement for ten seconds work

I feel like this every time I get ill. Somehow the house falls to absolute bits within a couple of days, every single time.

Washing on first, that will take a while to process so just keep going on with it bit by bit.

Generally speaking, I'd do tidying before cleaning, and cleaning before declutter.

Aim for a first pass through where everything is "good enough" tidy everywhere before you go back room by room for dusting/hoovering/cleaning etc (although I do wipe down surfaces in the kitchen at this stage). Can wipe the sinks and bleach the loos, but if the bathrooms are already needing cleaned another couple of days will make no difference.

Then go room by room to clean starting with living space, kitchen, hallways, then bedrooms. I do bathrooms last.

Once everything is clean and tidy it takes a lot less time to keep them that way, and it's only then that I have the time/energy to tackle decluttering.

And most importantly, make sure you have nice biscuits and tea waiting :)

Good luck!

It sounds like you've got space to organise things. Put a wash on and make piles of the rest colour wise etc.
Clear kitchen work tops,wash up.
Clear the hall way.
Collect things that don't belong in one room and clean.
Move along to the next.
Hang washing up, next lot in etc
Keep going.

You have decision freeze. jobs overload.

Put one load of washing on, set a timer to 10 mins before the washer finishes. Loud party music on and start in one room for 15 mins only, take a bin bag and basket, put away in the room, bag rubbish and basket stuff that belongs elsewhere (the trick is to not get sidetracked by walking out and moving stuff around), next room same thing for 15 mins etc.

When the timer goes off, sit with a brew and chill for 10 mins until you unload the washer, hang it up/ into dryer, put next load on and go again.

Short bursts of 15 mins mean you can achieve quite a lot and you're often trying to beat the timer in a crystal maze style, there is a reward of a chill.

Don't panic! These things happen.

It depends on the kids ages.

If any of the stuff on the floor is a safety hazard for them, tackle that first.

Then id put on a load of laundry. Pick a small area (one that would make a big difference to your functioning, e.g. kitchen surface) and tidy that. Then celebrate.

Then repeat.

If you're struggling with the size of the task, set a timer and just do that long, then have a rest.

It doesn't matter what you do first. Pick a thing. There are no wrong answers.

My take: stick a wash on first, then smash out 15-20 mins in each room as a starting point, trying to clear the floors and surfaces. Put away anything that belongs in that room item by item. Everything else goes into one of: bin bag (rubbish), supermarket bag (recycling), laundry basket(s) (things that need putting away elsewhere in the house, maybe subdivided eg one for upstairs, one for downstairs.). Personally I wouldn't bother with the donate pile/box unless you know you are getting rid of good things. I would treat this as tidying, not decluttering at this stage. You shouldn't need to be making a lot of decisions, you're just resetting not reorganising.

Once you have done that in each main room, including emptying the bin in each, throw out the rubbish bag and recycling, and go round the house with your laundry basket putting away the things that were in the wrong room.

Have a drawer or plastic box as a temp home for paperwork, and anything that doesn't have a place yet.