My house is a mess - please help/encourage

[Illbefinejustbloodyfine]

I'll preface this by saying I feel totally burnt out with life, single parent, work, animals, financial difficulty/long running divorce. My get up and go left a long time ago.

I used to do TOMM. And am trying to get back into it, but the house has too much stuff and is not tidy. I suppose this is the real issue. I can blitz the house and it look great, but I really really struggle to keep on top of it. Lots of things out of place. Clothes, shoes (so many shoes!) Toys, books, a bag comes into the house and just gets put down.

DC are older primary so at an age to chip in.

Today I am going to focus on my bedroom. It should be pretty easy, put all clothes and shoes away, sort out a little pile on the floor, give a good clean.

But any advice/tips etc on keeping on top of things daily?

Does your husband have a brother? Asking for a friend… 😎

@juststrutting @Lurkingandlearning the organised mum method. It breaks everything down into a routine, daily basics and different rooms to keep on top of things. There’s a bootcamp too for when you need a bit more and TOM rocks which is guided cleans. Kind of like having a little voice on your shoulder encouraging you. There’s an app. Probably explained it awfully but it works for me.

I try and fill 2 bin bags one weekend
One charity shop one waste
Try to have a one in one out policy when buying new stuff ( doesn't always work)
Or one in one store in the attic policy and if I haven't missed the old thing 6 months later out it goes
I'm a shopper and husband is a hoarder/ keeper so terrible combination really

Well done, op! It’s so hard to keep on top of when you have a busy life.
I do a big declutter once a year (30 day declutter challenge downloaded from internet which tells you a different area to focus on each day / spend about 15 - 30 minutes per day) and then try to keep it up with monthly mini declutters that I programme into my phone. I also really like the Flylady idea of working for two minutes on a ‘hotspot’ each day - a place where clutter builds up eg kitchen table. Very satisfying. I use my timer on the oven or phone a lot as don’t want to:can’t spend too much time on it as also work full time.

I do follow TOMM but the ‘lite’ version now on TOMM rocks which is level 1s each day (15 mins) and level 2 lite (another 15 minutes). I occasionally do the deeper cleans on TOMM rocks and house resets. There are also some declutterring sessions on there. It’s really good.

My house is managed most of the time, though two members of the household are pretty messy so that’s a challenge. I need to minimise clothing. I recently volunteered in a donation centre and it was pretty shocking how much is donated so determined to buy fewer lower quality clothes now that we get rid of quite quickly and more higher quality pieces that we get a few years’ wear out of.

Good luck. Well done for starting as that is hard. Keep going and maintain by doing the two minute hotspot thing, 5 minute put sways each day abd maybe a monthly mini declutter or whatever works for you.

Thank you all for the support! Today I have completed TOMM - it's taken longer than it should because I'm at the start but that's ok. I've also put more stuff away, doesn't sound much but I can see the difference already.

Tomorrow usually long day at work, I won't get home with the dc til about 8 so I not aiming for anything more til weds.

Good luck OP. I’m in different circs to you but we have a simple routine that for us at least keeps the house generally ok:

Every day

Morning before leave house:
make beds
tidy / clean breakfast stuff and kitchen

Afternoon/evening while cooking & after dinner:
dishwasher
washing out / in / on
straighten & tidy lounge

Pick stuff up / put stuff away / spot clean any spills etc as you go

Every couple days

vacuum wherever needs doing (include surfaces, window sills etc with brush attachment so less actual dusting / cleaning to do of those)
try to keep bathrooms tidy / quick wipe round / leave in shower spray after every use / loo rim blocks to keep fresh between cleans
empty bins

Every week (at least)

pack washing away

Every couple of weeks

clean bathrooms (I have a cleaner for these now as we have 2.5, but before that I used to speed clean them all in 45 mins)
Clean bedrooms inc change beds

Every month

Anything else that needs doing

Also, buy time-saving products that do job for you, eg: daily shower spray from
Tesco is all I use every day between bathrooms being properly cleaned.
Also a nice smelling multi surface cleaner like Zoflora (if you like those sorts of things) so you get a little bit of enjoyment while using and afterwards.

Have a clear out of the stuff that the DC have grown out of or no longer play with. Get them to help. Ask them to put out stuff that is "too babyish ". They can have a yard sale and earn some money.

Thank you all for the support! Today I have completed TOMM - it's taken longer than it should because I'm at the start but that's ok. I've also put more stuff away, doesn't sound much but I can see the difference already.

Tomorrow usually long day at work, I won't get home with the dc til about 8 so I not aiming for anything more til weds.