I can relate and wanted you to know that you are not alone. When i get depressed the first thing that goes is housekeeping. I too live a lone and just don't mind the mess, except of course I'm too embarrassed to have anyone see the state of my apartment.

I finally about 3 weeks ago, cleaned my kitchen for the first time in approximately 4 months. It was hard but it felt so good, that I've managed to keep it clean. then this past weekend I tackled the fridge - I threw out 6 bags of garbage from the fridge alone, it literally had no room for anything fresh in it. Then I went out and did a big grocery shop and bought a ton of fresh and healthy foods, and I've been cooking healthy meals for myself.

Tomorrow, I'm going to start tackling the living room - not even giving it a thorough cleaning, just getting all the old recycling out. That will make me feel better.

I have a bit of a self imposed deadline. I'm going inpatient at a hospital next Wed. and I want the apartment cleaned up before then, so that I don't have to come home to a dump and so that my landlady doesn't come up when I'm gone and see how bad the place is.

If you even have 15 min. of motivation a day, that's a start. Don't think about cleaning the whole place - it's overwhelming. Think about cleaning up a table or a corner of a room. Throw stuff out. And once you've got a piece of space cleaned, keep it clean.

You can do it, if you just think about it in small enough chunks.

Good luck.

--splitimage