House keeping tips

If this is out of topic I ask the mods to please remove this thread or replace. I didn't know where to put it.

This is maybe a stupid question that might seem obvious to everyone but I'm having trouble with it due to anxiety, lack of motivation and stress. I've always had problems keeping on top of the house keeping despite living alone (I know, I have no excuse). My house is not disgusting but I have this tendency to accumulate stuff and it gets messy. I'm not a hoarder like those on tv but I can never keep things in place. I tend to have papers and clothes everywhere. I also think I don't clean as frequently as I should.

If someone comes to visit (rarely because I rarely feel comfortable with it) I'll have the house looking perfect but besides that I lack motivation.

This inability to keep the house organized and pretty brings me down and makes me anxious. And I also feel bad about myself because I know that there's no excuse. I shouldn't procrastinate so much on doing these stuff.

So I'm asking if someone has tips or most importantly a cleaning and organizing routine. I want to keep on top of everything but sometimes I feel too overwhelmed. It doesn't come natural to me and I feel that I should have a routine. I've been working at a new job and a new language with lots of new responsibilities and away from friends and family and I feel very stressed and this stresses me even more lol

Thanks everyone.

Have you read up on hoarding disorder? It's not about the extreme cases depicted in the reality shows. It's about the distress it cases to the point of not having visitors and feeling stressed out in your own environment.

It was once classified as a subset of OCD but has since been treated as a diagnosis unto itself. Brain scans reveal a very different pattern including great distress and intensified anxiety at throwing anything out including trash.

So it's not about laziness or messiness or procrastination. Therapy is the only way to treat the underlying causes.

I have this tendency to accumulate stuff and it gets messy. I tend to have papers and clothes everywhere. If someone comes to visit rarely because I rarely feel comfortable with i. This inability to keep the house organized and pretty brings me down and makes me anxious. And I also feel bad about myself because I know that there's no excuse.

I had never thought about it on that perspective. I'll give it a look. Thanks.

So I'm asking if someone has tips or most importantly a cleaning and organizing routine. I want to keep on top of everything but sometimes I feel too overwhelmed

I think a lot of this has to do with discipline. My cleaning routine is something I learned from my grandmother, passed down to my mother etc. She always said the easiest way to keep on top of things is to take care of things immediately, rather than leave it "for later". Once you "leave it for later", you find it never gets done.

When my hubby and I have breakfast, or any meal, we clean up immediately after. Dishes are done and everything packed away. Dirty clothes is immediately put into the laundry basket, NOT on the floor, or the bed, or over the chair. At night, before we go to bed, we tidy up the lounge after watching TV, straighten up everything which needs tidying, kitchen is clean etc, so that we don't have to wake up to a bomb site. It does my head in to wake up to chaos first thing in the morning - I can't handle it, lol. Chaos stresses me out. Like my grandmother used to say ... "a cluttered place makes for a cluttered mind", lol.

If you discipline yourself to tidy up as you go, you'll always be on top of it. It only takes minutes, compared to days and days of cleaning a hoard of clutter.

It may sound silly but I'm a big fan of a cleaning chart. It's basically a list of what needs doing, broken down to individual tasks, and I sign off my initials as I do each one. The dates are at the top, so I can see what has been done when.

I really dislike cleaning! But this appeals to a certain part of my brain. I'm detail orientated and can get bogged down on trying to do one thing just right , so this helps me keep in mind a bigger sense of being on the right track or not. I can look and see' oh the toilet hasn't been cleaned this week, I'll do that first!' Or 'wow, I actually did clean most things already! ' even if one thing looks so looming.

It's whatever works for you. Maybe one of our ideas will resonate.

It may sound silly but I'm a big fan of a cleaning chart. It's basically a list of what needs doing, broken down to individual tasks, and I sign off my initials as I do each one. The dates are at the top, so I can see what has been done when.

 

I really dislike cleaning! But this appeals to a certain part of my brain. I'm detail orientated and can get bogged down on trying to do one thing just right , so this helps me keep in mind a bigger sense of being on the right track or not. I can look and see' oh the toilet hasn't been cleaned this week, I'll do that first!' Or 'wow, I actually did clean most things already! ' even if one thing looks so looming.

 

It's whatever works for you. Maybe one of our ideas will resonate.

Yes- I have postits but not a fullblown chart and think this is a great idea. Also I make myself do what I hate first or earlier on. And I am constantly throwing things out - it feels good -just as you go through your house, your routine, make it a habit never to leave a room empty handed. I mean my husband seems to have this unfortunate disability where he can only bring one thing at a time into a room but my stint of waitressing helps me have confidence in balancing - mostly....

Exactly. This is the point. All the mops, brooms, lists etc are pointless if you have psychological distress from the cleaning and the mess. What is good about this is that you have insight into this conflict and distress. Most people just live like this and get in conflicts with others living in a house because of it. Although there are several degrees of it from mess and clutter to infestations and evictions the sine qua non is the distress the mess and cleaning causes.

I'll have the house looking perfect.

You can read some articles on it: https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/dual-diagnosis/hoarding-a-compulsive-mental-disorder/

I find it helpful to take 5 minutes in the morning and again in the evening to do a quick tidy up - mostly putting things back where they belong (clothes, shoes, papers, knickknacks, ...) but also straightening out cushions, cleaning surfaces that look grubby, etc ... Five minutes is such a short time that it doesn’t feel like too much effort, but it really does help keep the mess at bay. I love being in a neat and clean house but do have a tendency to get messy (mostly due to not putting things back) so taking a little time each day helps.

I'm not a neat freak nor am I a slob, tho I do wish I was a little tidier. The idea of a chore chart doesnt really work for me but I assign myself a day or a morning to clean/tidy X amount of my house. It's a pretty big house and just two people in it, but it can get a little out of control if I dont discipline myself in some way to tidy up.

You could try picking one room at a time, get it done to your standards, then move onto another room. You dont have to do it all in one day. Pick something doable for Monday, then something else for Tuesday etc. Every day throw out junk like newspapers, junk mail etc. Put your recycle bin to use. Some sort of workable routine would probably help you.

I despise cleaning but I despise a dirty place even more. So here are some tips for you.

1) Organize things in a way that keeping tidy is easy and natural. For example, have a dirty clothes hamper conveniently where you undress so you can drop the clothes straight into it and not have to go out of your way to take them to x place. The makeup that you wear daily, if you tend to leave it all over the counter, then get a pretty decorative box and put it in there. It will keep things in easy reach, no time needed to put in proper place and leave your counter instantly tidy every single day as you drop it right back into the box. It may seem small and simple, but you'd be surprised how effective these kinds of little things are and how much they remove the sense of it being a chore to do. Lots of little things like that you can do around the house - kitchen, living room, etc. Just be sure that you create for yourself a natural easy flow, what works and makes sense for you. Don't do things that will be inconvenient for you to use. The idea is to make keeping things tidy very very convenient to the point where you can't help but keep it tidy.

2) I'll second that some things are just easier to keep clean immediately. Dishes and cooking pots and pans definitely fall into that category. It's so much faster to clean up as you cook and immediately after you've eaten than to leave it for later. Later, you are dealing with a pile up and harder to clean dried up stuff. Takes more effort and time. That really does take self discipline. You simply make yourself do it immediately. Good news is that once you create that habit, it becomes easy. Creating the habit takes time and willpower.

3) For more heavy duty house cleaning, I simply dedicate one weekend day to "chore" day. It doesn't actually take a day, more like couple of hours. It's just about creating a consistent routine.

If you do 1 and 2 during the week, then you really don't have that much to do on the weekend and your house will always be guest friendly.

If you work a lot and long hours, consider getting maid service. You'll still need to do 1 & 2 for yourself, but maid service can take care of all the other stuff nicely.

Making a weekly cleaning/organizing schedule might work for you

My bf isn't a big cleaner which leads me to take on the bulk of the household chores. Obvi that didn't fly with me so we typed out a daily chore list. It's helped so far.

Cluttered and/or dirty houses are awful to live in. Do you ever notice when you clean from top to bottom, you feel so much better? That's why I clean so much. I can't stand dirty dishes, piled up laundry etc.

I do want to mention the ramifications of having a dirty house so I'll share a story. At my last home, my upstairs neighbor was super messy. I got a glimpse inside her apartment (the top floor, I lived on the bottom floor) there was trash everywhere! I was shocked. Not too soon after that, guess what I saw on my bathroom wall...a roach!!!!! Now, I come from upper class suburbia, pristine moved lawns and spotless houses so when I saw that that thing I immediately looked for a new place, packed all my things in plastic air tight bins, sprayed 2 gallons of pesticides to prevent those nasty things from getting in my packed belongings. I threw out my couch, T.V, nearly every piece of large furniture I had so I wouldn't bring those things with me. It was a NIGHTMARE. Then I moved to a single family house in a nice neighborhood and thank GOD I haven't seen one since I moved into my new place over a year ago.

So if you want some motivation.... keep in mind the creepy little things that can enter your home if you're not cleanly

I've been purging things and it helps tremendously. Donate unused and unnecessary things to charity.

(I've been doing some remodeling and updating which has basically forced me to move out and move in a couple times, while at the same time trying to live in the middle of all of it. I've had absolutely no mercy over `stuff')

The less you own, the less there is to mess up. I have managed to free up a lot of space and organize things better. It makes cleaning not only easier, but almost enjoyable.

Try to do one thing a day and not save it for miserable all day cleaning jags - that pretty much everyone hates.

I do have (an inexpensive) housekeeper every two weeks. It's kind of comical because I clean or straighten up for the housekeeper. Ultimately there isn't much for her to do, but it forces me to stay on top of things. I went a year without one and I learned the hard way. She was just at my home on Friday and she pretty much went over what I already had. But like I mentioned, without it, I'd fall behind.

And you are right, when the house is messy I feel agitated and a little anxious. Nothing nicer than coming home to a clean house.

I'm moving soon and I hope I can keep up with it. I purged lots of things before the move but I still think I could purge more. I think that as Wiseman said my problem might have to do with mental issues (and I actually think it has and it doesn't only affect my housekeeping and organising capabilities but other areas of my life but that's a subject for another day), but I like the idea of the check lists. Having a check list with everything I need to do broke down into steps usually works for me in other areas.

Does anyone know where I can find good lists online with everything broken down? I know I could do one myself, but I know that I often forget some areas or some steps.

I also agree that I need to have things placed conveniently so it's easy and convenient to put things like dirty clothes or other stuff in place.

Does anyone know where I can find good lists online with everything broken down? I know I could do one myself, but I know that I often forget some areas or some steps.

Try websites of cleaning companies. They like to be 'sticky' and offer tip articles and lists. Also, magazine sites, such as Better Homes, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Good Living...

To solve my resistance, I plan special teas, juices or cocktails that I can ONLY have during 'project' time. So now I've adopted a view of housework as a calming, meditative reward I'm giving myself rather than a chore.

My biggest motivator is 'PRETTY'. I section up parts of the home as 'projects' that I plan with lists (or pics from magazines) to take on one-at-a-time. I shop HomeGoods or ChristmasTree or BedBathBeyond to find pretty bins, trays, boxes or baskets for a given space. This inspires me to clean, edit and organize in that project.

Wasted vertical space above top shelves of closets was my biggest question mark. BBB has a set of inexpensive but sturdy wire panels that you can snap together to customize. So 4 large cubes across the top shelf added a whole second shelf. These 'cubes' also work for rear of under-stair closets and other hidden spaces throughout the home. BBB also sells inexpensive sets of large clear boxes with front doors for shoes. I stacked these all the way up to ceiling on my other closet shelf. Now I can 'see' all my shoes and easily reach them with a pretty folding step ladder.

I use a large set of bookshelves to help me group like things together for setting into large clear storage bags with zippers. I gather everything into stacks that I can 'see,' then I rearrange things together before setting them into the cube-like bags (Rubbermaid). These are easy to stack in bins and drawers, and this alleviates panic when you need to FIND things again. Perfect for changing clothes for the seasons.

Also consider using a cleaning service once a month, or every two months. This keeps you in line, because in order to enjoy the reward of coming home to a fabulous clean, you'll need to stash any clutter you've grown throughout the month. You'll learn new trick and create new organizing spaces and methods over time, so it gets easier and easier.

One idea to keep yourself on track: consider using this thread to journal your ideas or progress. It could keep you accountable and generate new ideas and feedback.

Go you!

I hesitate to give advice here as I'm borderline OCD and cannot function unless myself and my surroundings are spotlessly clean 24/7, all day, every day. I have my daily cleaning/tidying routines; if I put them on paper they'd probably seem way over the top for most. For me it's simply the way of life, the only way to be and it all takes me minutes to do. Put it this way, if you were to leave a square inch sized piece of paper on the carpet and ask me to spend an evening watching TV with it sitting there - nope. I'd cave in in about half a minute; I'd HAVE to pick it up and put it in the rubbish bin - wouldn't have been able to enjoy my evening otherwise.

I've now moved to a new home and still haven't finished unpacking and have lots of things to buy yet. Beginning to feel overwhelmed... but I hope to keep on track. But the fact that I moved to a new and nicer house makes me want to keep it nice, I just feel a bit overwhelmed not knowing where to begin but I'll try to take it step by step.

Don’t be too hard on yourself! I know how difficult it is when life becomes overwhelming. It is so easy to be overcome by everything that we have on our “to do” list that we feel like we get nothing accomplished and then berate ourselves for it. Life is short and so precious that we need to focus on the things that really matter. Yes, having a clean house is nice, but it is not essential for our happiness and self-fulfillment. My advice is to schedule 15 minutes a day and focus on cleaning up just one thing. Before you know it- your house will be tidier and you will have satisfaction in making process! You can do it!

Messy and dirty environments are not for me. However, I dislike some forms of cleaning like mopping or vacuuming. Anything that takes too long isn't really my cup of tea. My love for keeping things organised has helped me come up with a plan for keeping a tidy home easily.

1. Medium sized to large containers or baskets (plastic, fabric, whatever material you fancy) are your best friend. Labelled containers and baskets keep things clean, organised and are easy to reach.

- Plastic ones are easy to clean.

- Clear ones allow you to see what's inside.

- Lids protect content from dust, humidity or any unwanted insect. Plus, if there is a spillage the only thing you need to clean is the container.

- Fabric containers / baskets looks nicer than plastic.

2. Storage bags with zippers are excellent to store smaller items and great to use in conjunction with containers/baskets. Plus, storage bags protect items (such as cables) from dust and humidity.

For example:

- Storage container labelled ELECTRONICS, includes one storage bag for your iPhone cables, one for your headphones, one for your batteries, etc.

- Container labelled BEAUTY PRODUCTS, you'd use one storage bag for headbands, one for sample sachets, etc. It's practical to have one storage container with beauty products you use every day and another one for products you only use every once in a while.

- Storage container labelled CLEANING SUPPLIES (the ones used every day), then another storage container for SPECIALTY CLEANING SUPPLIES (the ones you use seldom). You can even separate it by areas, one for the kitchen, one for the bathroom, etc.

You get the gist. You can use this easy organizing method in the kitchen, office, bathroom, with medicines or whatever area you want to.

Another really good tip: Extra Large laundry baskets are great for dumping dirty clothes in before washing. You just dump clothing item in the correct basket. That's it. E.g. Delicate items go in one basket, another one is for underwear only, etc. So when when it's washing time, everything will be already sorted.

3. Other tips:

- Clean as soon as you have used an item. That way things won't stack up.

- Turn each clothing item inside out before dumping it into the laundry basket. That way you will save time when it's laundry day.

- Use clothing pegs to close opened bags such as cereal, cookies, etc.

- Mint boxes are great for storing bobby pins, clips and a myriad of other tiny items.

- Cover the top of the microwave or the fridge with plastic wrap. Once it's full of dust, simply remove it and chuck it into the bin. No cleaning will be needed.

The hard work is to label each basket / container. But once that has been done, finding items and putting items back in place will be extremely easy.

You can have a cleaning service come once a week. But there are basics they won't do regarding clutter and garbage accumulation. So check which services include what. And prepare for their a services, for example they may not clean floors if they are strewn with your stuff.

Also make a point of inviting people over at least once a week for dinner, lunch, coffee, movies, parties, whatever so you have a reason to keep the new place presentable. Try to break the cycle of isolation, making the clutter and mess your "friends" who comfort you. Also it wouldn't hurt to explore any distress, anxiety and isolation that is created by the mess or cleaning it.

I'm moving soon and I hope I can keep up with it.

You can have a cleaning service come once a week. But there are basics they won't do regarding clutter and garbage accumulation. So check which services include what. And prepare for their a services, for example they may not clean floors if they are strewn with your stuff.

Great suggestions, WM. Even if you just view hiring cleaners to be temporary, you'll overcome the mental barrier to hiring. I was happy to learn that I didn't have to BE THERE for the initial cleaning, I could just leave them keys in an agreed location. They estimate first cleaning price over the phone based on some lifestyle questions, and then after cleaning they'll leave you a postcard that breaks down continual service pricing for weekly, twice a month, and monthly. You can choose from there what you'll want.

I started weekly, but I found it to be overkill and too much to live 'around'. Same was true of x2 per month. But once per month is my sweet spot. It's enough to keep me mindful of clutter, yet I'm clean enough to just start needing that kind of surface work right before they come.

Also make a point of inviting people over at least once a week for dinner, lunch, coffee, movies, parties, whatever so you have a reason to keep the new place presentable. Try to break the cycle of isolation, making the clutter and mess your "friends" who comfort you. Also it wouldn't hurt to explore any distress, anxiety and isolation that is created by the mess or cleaning it.

Yes! Isolation compounds the problem, making it cyclical. Cleaning for visitors becomes so much of an effort, you'll curb invites, yet NOT having people over builds a reclusive mentality that sinks you into fortress-building.

Unless you have other therapeutic needs, the same money you'd pay a therapist to talk 'about' the problem you could instead pay to cleaning people who'd put in the elbow grease to SOLVE the problem. Then if you still find yourself isolating and cluttering between cleanings, you may want to consider addressing the mental side of the issue.