Please help the domestically challenged to get motivated to clean the house!?
Question:I am domestically challenged. I hate cleaning, and I'm not very good at it. I get distracted easily. I'm so disorganized. My house is a disaster...I need some motivation! I clean up whenever someone is coming over but I wanna keep it clean all the time, so I'm not embarresed about all the clutter when ppl come by unexpectedly. I've always been a messy person ever since I was little, and my mom is the same way...there is clutter all over the place lol. So I guess I never learned the right way to clean. Help!
Answers:
Make yourself get up and put away things you see for 15 minutes and then reward yourself with some time on the internet. Do this at least 4 times a day and before you know it, you will have the house clutter gone. Then, for maintenance, do it 15-30 minutes a day. Like, 15 minutes in the morning, put things away and then again before bed. In the in between, spend a little time dusting and vacuuming. When doing laundry at home, after starting the washer, do some chores around the house. Then, when you put the clothes in the dryer or hang them to dry, take a coffe or tea break and check your emails. Then, do another chore, and then look at Y answers for about 30-60 minutes, then, fold and put the clean clothes away and keep doing this until your laundry is done and the house looks passable, maybe even clean!! Then, do something special. Make yourself be happy when you accomplish getting the house looking nice, even if it is having a cup of coffe or tea and reading a book or just taking a walk. Reward your own good behavior to encourage yourself to get it done!! Start a little at a time so you don't get overwhelmed.
get off the internet
rearrange the rooms that makes it a more interesting project. think about plants in the house. or cut flowers from the yard or grocery store. think about how romantic a clean house is to come home to. if you have cluttered spots , this is probably the reason ..you don't know where to start and it seems over whelming . only do one project at a time. one step at a time . the first couple of steps have to be forced but then you will want to finish each step. make sure the whole day doesn't pertain to cleaning. at night , plan one little project for tomorrow and do it.
I don't think too many people love cleaning, it isn't the funnest chore out there but its necessary for the health of the people living in the house. When I get ready to do some heavy duty cleaning, I'll turn on some of my favorite music, turn it up loud, and sing and have a little bit of fun cleaning. If you've got kids, have them help clean up their toys. My sister used to put a sticker on their charts under their names when they helped clean up their things. Turn it into a game. Cleaning may not be fun but it doesn't have to be torture...its all in the mindset. Another motivation...clean takes away all the critters that come with a dirty house...you know, like cockroaches and mice.
Start small. Pick a drawer or cabinet, dump it completely, and then sort the contents into keep, throw away and donate. You'll get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a clean, organized space and want to do another. Plus, then you'll have somewhere to put stuff away.
Start with the easiest (least cluttered) room first. You won't be so overwhelmed. I always do the bathrooms first and the
ktchen last.
When cleaning a whole room, keep a laundry basket at the door for things that don't belong in the room. Instead of running all over the house to put things away, just throw them in the basket and then put the whole basket away at once. If you keep leaving the room you're cleaning, you'll likely get distracted elsewhere in the house.
Be ruthless. Having a perpetually cluttered house is hugely stressful. Is the item in your hand really worth all that stress??
Keep like things together. Hairbrushes in the bathroom, instead of one in every room, for example. You'll be surprised at how many of each thing you have when you start doing this.
Once you start combining you'll see that you can donate/throw out a lot of stuff. That will help you get to the root of the problem, which is essentially--too much stuff! Really consider whether you need all of the stuff that is coming in on a regular basis. This includes (especially) paper. Do you need magazines and catalogs, or can you get them at the library or online when needed? How many pairs of shoes do you really need? Etc. It will be easier to stay picked up when you have less to pick up. Sounds obvious, huh?
My sister was a complete packrat and we cleaned her place up using these tips. It worked for her and it can work for you.
I would start by downsizing your things. go thru everything & make 3 piles-- yard sale, keep, and throw away. The less things you have to keep clean & organize, the easier it will be for you to keep organized... good luck!
I clean houses and offices. By the time I get to my house I do not feel like cleaning my house. What I would do just keep the clutter cleaned up like newspapers clothes etc. I usually take one room at a time. I have a husband and son that could do a bit more too.
GOod Question... I do things in projects throughout the day like a schedule...like when I wake up take the dog out... and clean the kitchen, then around 12 my bedroom, 3 my kitchen, and 4 my bathroom.or sometimes when I have a really busy day, I just try to do it in 30 mins, like its a race against time.
turn on the tunes and start a daily routine of picking up a little bit here and there. also if you need to buy a few storage bins and sort out all your clutter. if you need to ask a really organised friend to help you out.
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Don´t worry , we all have to learn. This is the best way I know to get your house clean and organized. Pick a room or 1 thing to do. Set your alarm clock to go off in 15 min´s time. Say the bedroom, all dirty clothes in a pile next to the door , you can take them to the laundry room when you have finished what you are doing, along with anything else that does´t belong. All clean clothes to the closet. Jean´s jumper´s skirt´s top´s belt´s& don´t forget the shoes from under the bed. STOP. If you think you have had enough for the day , then stop what you are doing , have a rest , sit with your feet up , have a coffee, watch the TV, but if you think you would rather carry on , then do the same again . Set the clock for another 15 min´s . Just remember when ever you finish doing any job around the house , reward yourself. Always makes you feel better. 15 min´s here and there makes a great difference,.. It work´s for me try for yourself. Also once you get yourself a little more organized., and you want to get rid of clutter, Do 1 room at a time using the 15 min´s. take 3 boxes, No1, is for I love it & want to keep it No 2, is I hate it so I will throw it, No3 is for I don´t use it, but it might be good for someone else. Hope this help´s you out
if you look at everything at once, you will become overwhelmed and blow it off. Take one little project at a time, a draw, a counter, a sink.
I personally love cleaning my place because I have OCD *lol* but I easly get overwhelmed with it and blow it off sometimes till it gets to nasty.
Or you can watch Clean Sweep on TLC, that always gets me off my butt!
Good luck!
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