[scatterbrained04]

My house is a complete DISASTER. My Christmas tree is even still up. I'm pretty sure my son is the messiest kid on the planet. I've had no energy for months now. I do have some today though.

I am so overwhelmed. How do you guys manage housework when you have no energy?

Hm-m-m-m-m... scatterbrained04... well... I am embarrassed to admit... my wife does it... If housekeeping had to wait for me to do it... I would probably be living in a very dirty, tumultuous place!

Prior to about 3 years ago, I used to do almost all of the housekeeping. But for the past 3 years or so, it has come to pass that I simply lack both the interest and the energy to do it. I do, however, do other things. I take our dog out for his daily walks. I dry the dishes. I do some cooking, & I even help out a bit with the cleaning here-&-there. However, even the thought of doing it by myself, sends shivers up my spine.

[Eva_Star]

I read about doing 10 minutes of housework at a time. 10 minutes doesn't feel so overwhelming...10 minutes feels doable. Set a timer, just do the 10 minutes per hour...or just clean during commercial breaks. It's all about cutting the workload into bite sized pieces that we can handle. You would be amazed at how much you can get done in 10 minute increments.

[~Christina]

Set a timer for 15 mins. Its amazing how much you can do in such a short time. Like ...

Wash a sink full of dishes, sweep the floor and wipe the counters down.

Take a laundry basket and walk thru the house and toss in anything that doesnt belong in that room.

Depending on your sons age , If hes a toddler he can pitch in, play a game of putting toys in a basket. If hes older then he can be responsible for more.

Dont look at cleaning everything at once that's terrifying ,, but a week of doing the timer trick , it is amazing how things move along.

Having the timer is a mental thing, You know its going to go off, it reminds you don't have to start and not stop until its clean.

Small amounts of time can make a huge difference. Small nibbles instead of huge bites.

Good Luck ! Welcome to PC

[scatterbrained04]

My son has mental/behavioral health issues too. Some days he will help here and there with out much fuss. Others it will be a huge fight. I feel like what little I get done gets messed up as soon as I do it. Then I get super angry and still have a messed up house!

[Junia]

For me, it helps a lot to do the highly visible stuff first. Get the laundry off the couch, or the dirty clothes off the bedroom floor, or the dishes in the kitchen washed/in the washer.

Making one place look orderly, that's important to me. Having said that - for the last two years, I've hired someone twice a month to really clean the bathrooms and the floors, because I know I'm not going to do them. It's a splurge, I've cut out some other things to do it, but - it really helps, and I do a better job of keeping things up as a result. I can judge my mood by the state of my house.