[jojogal]

I go through depressions, most of the time, and find it very difficult to NOT let my house get filthy. I can't find the energy to throw away the empty soda bottle, or the empty grocery/shopping bags, or pick my clothes up. I won't let anyone at all in my house it is so bad. I am afraid one of the neighbors will call the health department and they'll take away my babies (pets) and force me to move into an assisted living facility.
My therapist says I should set a very small goal toward cleaning just one thing at a time, and set up a reward for myself when it's done. Shoot, I just don't even have any interest in any stupid reward to get the job started. At this point, it's very overwhelming for me. I am Bipolar and Borderline personality disorder, and just find that nothing interests me. NOT even a clean house...... sigh. And right now i don't have the money to hire a cleaning crew. Any suggestions?

[greenfairy]

i live in an impossibly small space for four people and clutter accumulates at the drop of a hat. sometimes when i'm really down i'll stop cleaning for a day or two and then its just a horrid mess. heres my method and i hope it works for you.

i start with the garbage, three bags. one for recyclable plastic, one for papers, and one for other garbage. i go through the entire apartment and pick up every scrap, every bottle and can and broken toy until thats taken care of.
then its laundry time. i have two piles, one for whites and one for colors. i go through each room and gather the laundry and put it all in one place, divided and ready to wash.
last i do the hard part. putting stuff away. i make piles first because i'm a making piles kind of person. cds in one, books in another, toys, magazines, papers that need to be kept and filed, clean laundry. and i tackle one pile at a time.
by dividing the chores into small steps i find its easier and less overwhelming to get the place clean. and if after one chore i'm feeling like i've had it, i take a break but at least one thing has been taken care of and you'd be surprised at how much of a difference the little things make.
good luck!

[eskielover]

Right now, I vote for using a bomb & setting it off, taking out everything in the house so I don't have to worry about any of it anymore. I have been down for months now & with having 11 dogs now, they don't help with the mess either. I have a 5 month old puppy who has his own toys but I am trying to organize my things including beanie babies & he seems to find the beanie babies rather than his own toys to chew apart.

I am for ever tripping over things that are in my way of walking around my room. I have just given up & just can't get myself to find any energy for anything. I even got a new cell phone that needs to be updated & I can't even do that so I am looking all over the place for any phone #'s I need.

I have just given up & am staying in bed with my covers over my head except when I have to go to the ranch where I do have to take care of my horses. My oldest horse who is 26, needs to be ridden or his arthritis gets really bad so I have to force myself to go ride.....besides I am trying to work my horse dressage training in to my life but haven't felt like even doing that.....& a mare who is going to have a baby in april & I have a 1 1/2 year old filly that I realize I have to start working with because she is going to be huge & I can't let her realize she can boss me around. Trying to clean out my Mothers house (she died just over 1 year ago) so I can sell it......& trying to clean out my house because I think it's going to be refinanced & rented out....then I have to buy a ranch for all my animals.

I need to have so many throw away bags I vote for just blowing up everything I excaping to never never land.

I know exactly how you feel......didn't think there was anyone else as bad as I am...I feel so sorry for you.....it's horrible...I want to give up

Sorry you are feeling the same way...it is horrible isn't it?....sorry no suggestions, but mayby your post will help me tool

Debbie

[Lexicon78]

I think that the best thing to do to prevent any more stuff being accumulated is cleaning up after yourself for now. That in itself can be quite a task.

[h0kie]

I have 2 suggestions. Both work well for me when I have no desire to clean, but really should.

First, set a timer (I got this from FlyLady.net).

Start with 5 minutes. Clean for 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, you're done. Then you can gradually raise the amount of time you clean.

Once I've gotten the cleaning time working (as in, I'm doing it), I will set the timer again after I finish my set cleaning time and then do something else. For example, I clean for 20 minutes, then I watch tv/surf online for 20 minutes. It makes me much more aware of how I am spending my time. If I clean longer than 20 minutes, yay for me! But I set the "reward" time for 20 minutes.

The other thing my mom did with my brother and I as children (and it works well still for me to this day). If we wanted to watch a tv program, but Mom wanted us to clean, the deal was during the commercials we would pick up/throw away 5 things. Now, I even do it when I get up off the couch. Heck you could just clean in the commercials and make a good dent in cleaning.

Good luck!

[(JD)]

I like the flylady.net site also. One thing I put effort into is to throw 28 things away each day. These can be papers, small cluttering items, empty bottle, old soap etc... but the 28 # is catchy, to me... keep counting

[kimmydawn]

Hi, gal, and welcome

i would try to start with one room...pick one room for the week. pick one thing that you'd like to do in that one room for the day. Then the next day, maintain what you'd done the day before and pick one new thing in the same room.

i know it's VERY difficult to do, but if you can just start small, it will feel so good to have accomplised and will help all the way around.

you can even post your goal here and we can give you your kudos.

i wish you so much luck on this. i was in this position once, and it was so hard. that's the only way i could get on top of things again.

be safe and, again, welcome!

kd

[Azalysa]

Hi, jojo...welcome back!

Arrrrgggghhh, I can totally relate. I have a black & white personality - I want everything perfect or just won't deal with it at all. And since I haven't dealt with the house stuff for awhile it's all piled up. I thought I would win "most cluttered house" award but sounds like it comes along with the depression.

I like your idea Kimmy. Keeps the cleaning/clearing confined to a manageable area. I tend to start with one thing, then go into another room to get something, see something there that needs to be attended to, and never finish the first thing.

I like the flylady site as well. A kind of variation of her 5 minutes is when I'm watching TV, I see how much I can do during the commercials. Generally it's either loading or unloading the dishwasher.

Good luck!!

[January]

Cleaning during commercials really helps. Also, put on some fast paced music you like and turn up the volume. It really helps.

I hope everyone feels better very soon.

Hugs,

Jan