I'd also like to thank insideout for starting this thread. I'm also a terrible housekeeper. "A clean house" has been on my goal list since ... well, since I first moved from my parents' house at age 19. So over 30 years now.

Glancing through the posts here, it seems like there are a variety of reasons we have untidy/not-so-clean homes. In my case, I do lack time, but I suspect that's half excuse. If I were home all day, I'd still have a messy house.

I'm not depressed, so that's not my issue. And I'm not a hoarder. I could still stand to clear out some clutter, but I do some of that regularly.

I'm actually naturally organized, but as applied to housework it's spotty. For example, my clothes are arranged by color - the rainbow ROY G BIV, with black at the end. I keep my washclothes together by color and rotate them, putting newly cleaned ones to the back and moving ones that have been there longer forward. So, I have these little bits that are organized, but the rest of the house is chaos! Aside from making sure the dishes are done, the clothes are washed, and the worst of the rubble is cleared away, little gets done.

I think part of my problem is that my mom and dad were also not good at housework. So I never learned how, and I never made it a habit. (I did manage to make a new habit a couple of years ago-- I decided I hated coming home to an unmade bed, so now I make it every morning before I leave the house. And that habit has stuck.)

I like the idea of confining myself to short periods of cleaning which some have suggested. If I just set the timer and cleaned for 15 minutes on weekdays (and two 15 minute periods on weekend days?), it would be better - not great but better.

The thing is, some jobs just take longer than 15 minutes no matter how you slice it. My carpets need to be cleaned so badly. I don't even know how long it's been. I wish I could afford to tear them all out and put in something that can be mopped (not that I keep up with the mopping either, but I'm better at that). Carpet cleaning is a long chore. Rent the machine. Move the furniture. Clean them. Clean the machine and return it. Wait for the carpet to dry. Return furniture to its place.

Yesterday I moved the stove and the fridge and mopped under them - which badly needed doing. And wasn't that big a deal. Here's the thing-- coming from a family of poor housekeepers: how often does one do that? I know I need to do it more often than I do, but how often? Monthly? Once a year?

Another issue I have is that my house is falling apart and I can't afford to repair or replace anything right now. It feels so pointless to clean things that are falling apart. Also, it forces me to look closely at things that I can't afford to fix.