How can I get on top of the mess in my house and stay on top of it?

[spookycharlotte121]

I keep coming up with these big plans of how Im going to sort the house out but when it comes down to it they never happen because Im too busy with the kids, or im doing coursework for uni.

Im sick of the mess. Its driving me mad!

Please can someone help me come up with a sollution. Thanks.

Try Flylady.

lists - and actually do the things on the lists, crossing off as you go - not massive things - just small things that will all build up, then once its tidy, have set days that set things happen on, eg Thursday is hoovering day, bathroom on x day etc.

How much time do you have in a day or a week? Could you aim to do two kinds of things: the routine stuff needed to keep things clean and the bigger jobs that need doing less often? So if you had say half an hour in a day, clean kitchen + clean oven, next week on teh same day clean kitchen + sort X cupbard and so on...

I ahve tried fly lady but I dnt really like it. Yes you can shine your sink but then when you do the dishes its bk to square 1 again and I really dont have time to shine it everyday.
Hollytree, I do have lists but they are never small. I hoover most days just because ds is very messy so it is required but I spend ages working through the llists and making the place loook nice and a week later its a tip again.

It makes me feel like a failure.... I know that sounds pathetic but there are people who have much busier lives than I do and their houses dont look like mine does.

I don't do lists. Just makes me feel overwhelmed.

Instead, I set myself one small project to tackle each day, something that will take about 5-10 minutes.

Then I usually find that gets the momentum going and I get other stuff done.

Just start with say, one drawer.

I'm also ruthless about clutter. I get rid of it asap.

I flog stuff on amazon, play.com and gumtree and ebid.

Also boot sales.

It's not much, but it's better than nothing and I don't feel bad about getting rid of stuff then because I put the money towards something fun for the family - a day out, a meal, etc.

tiny bits at a time!! ive promised myself so many times that im gona blitz it all in a couple of days off... never happens, life gets in the way. but if you do small pieces as you hav the time it will soon get sorted. have you tried flylady? she recommendeds only starting something that you know will be finished in 15 minutes. phsychologically its good cause you think watever turns up i.e; kids, visitors. then you'll only have to devote 15 minutes to your task, which is nothing really. also, i found that by thinking really carefully about what we're putting in the wash, we are now doing far less and it means i have more time to do other things. we were just taking everything off evryday and putting in wash when really, alot of stuff didnt need washed. and we are all reusing our towels a few times before washing them. it really has made such a difference to the rest of the house. it will all happen if you just chip away at it slowly in manageable chunks. it wont be overnight, which always annoyed me, but now that i have the house sorted, its ticking over nicely, nothing builds up so that its too much to handle. good luck and dont expect too much of yourself.

I sympathise with you. The untidyness in our house drives me mad some days.
I have set up some kind of system tha thelps though. Things like keeping dirty and clean laundry in one place, one place for all the toys, and I'm trying to train the dcs to follow some simple rules. It helps but not enough. I try and do one room a day but this doesn't always happen.

I just keep everything minimalised. If kids want to play with toys they do so in bedroom or they bring them out, play with it in the living room and put it back before getting anything else. I clear everything off work surfaces when ever I can. I hate clutter.

We've just moved house so we de-cluttered when we got work done on last house, de-cluttered again when it went on the market, and again when we were packing to move and again once we'd got here. That's a huge amount which would never have gotten done if we'd been sitting quite happily.

I try and get housework done when the kids are sleeping so about 2 hours a day. And then when theyre in bed I try and get uni work done..... but i also end up getting destracted and coming on here or watching a movie.

The other problem I have is that I cant sleep atm and I end up going to sleep at about 2am so dont wake up till late and end up slobbing about for hours because I feel like crap. Im trying to gradually go to bed 15 mins earlier every night untill I get it to about 10.30-11.00 as i think that is a fine time to go to bed. But becuase I have been getting up late, so have the kids and its totally screwed their routine.

The thing that helped me the most was getting a skip and chucking out anything that didn't get used regularly.

It wasn't until I did this that I realised just how much crap we had.

It was brilliant, and although I am still not the worlds most tidy person, it is loads better than it used to be and easier to maintain.

spooky you sound like me!!! that is spooky!! im trying to retrain my bodyclock aswell at the min, best thing ive found is getting up early rather than trying to go to bed earlier. wheni go to bed earlier i cant fall over and end up getting up again. but if i get up early one day, say 7/8 then i get lots done, and im wrecked by the evening but dont let myself go to bed till 11. and do the same the next day. you will be shattered for a good week maybe but it will get you all reset bodyclock wise.

maybe do a room a day?

2 hours sounds an awful lot to me , maybe aim for 30 mins on routine stuff (pots, tidying up) and 30 mins on the room/task for the day? You could get a lot done on 30 mins every day for a week (and it's less daunting than hours)

Oh and put on some cheerful music, helps motivate me!

yes music is great help. i cant do anything with tv on but radio on and off i go!

I find I get lots done in teh mornings as well (when not at work). I do a lot of the weekly housework (most things get done once a week in the Perine household) first thign Sat mornign while DS is happily watching tv.

Right well the kids are in bed so im going to grab some lunch and then try and straighten out the lounge and kitchen. Thanks for the advice