[insideout]

Do you guys have a list you go by to make sure your house stays clean?

I cant keep up with mine and im tired of living in filth.
i have a hard time even taking a shower sometimes, and i just really want to change things for the better.

how do you guys do it? please share your methods and tips with me!!!

I need your help!!!

Lists are always good, but for routine household chores I don't really need a list because the things are pretty much the same. For me, it's Routine, routine, routine... Always the same, I don't even think about it. Same order, same days... I've got ADD, so losing track of time is common, HH chores are BORING, two Really bad things for an ADDer.

I know it is easy for me to say now, because it took me years to figure it out. When a project is just over-whelmingly big, I used to just freeze, have no idea what to do first... Then I would just start the kitchen sink. I HATE stuff piled in the sink, then I'd have to empty the dishwasher because of the stuff in the sink, then the counters, and so on. Once the ball gets rolling, then it gets easier...

I hope it kind of makes sense

[BonnieJean]

Originally Posted by YYZadd

Lists are always good, but for routine household chores I don't really need a list because the things are pretty much the same. For me, it's Routine, routine, routine... Always the same, I don't even think about it. Same order, same days... I've got ADD, so losing track of time is common, HH chores are BORING, two Really bad things for an ADDer.

I know it is easy for me to say now, because it took me years to figure it out. When a project is just over-whelmingly big, I used to just freeze, have no idea what to do first... Then I would just start the kitchen sink. I HATE stuff piled in the sink, then I'd have to empty the dishwasher because of the stuff in the sink, then the counters, and so on. Once the ball gets rolling, then it gets easier...

I hope it kind of makes sense

I do the same - sink, dishwasher, counters. I try to empty the dishwasher when I'm waiting for tea water to boil or the toaster. Then it is easier to empty the sink contents into the dishwasher. From there I always seem to want to do the counters. If I also sweep that area of the floor it is a whole little space that is done.

I chop other chores into little blocks. Like starting on the smallest room which is the bathroom. Putting the towels in the washer is usually a way I get started cleaning up the rest of the smallest room. For other tasks that i really avoid but must get to, I sometimes set the stove timer for like 20 minutes or half an hour and either race to see how much I can accomplish of it in that small block of time or work knowing there will be a quik end to it. Sometimes the momentum keeps me going after the alarm goes off.

No easy answers. Good luck.

[Perna]

I currently have cleaners in for the second day "deep cleaning" my house (a tiny 2 bed, 1-1/2 bath townhouse); took them 4 hours yesterday to get the nicotine off the walls, ceiling, surfaces of my husband's smoking porch. They wash the walls, I only had them do the stove and microwave in the kitchen as the other appliances are "new" (refrigerator and dishwasher) and they got the stove looking better than when we moved in here 7 years ago. Bleach in the bathrooms and all the gunk from behind the toilets where I can't get; it's heaven!

No, I don't do the cleaning either; I moved here because it was so much smaller and "easier" than my old home but can't get down on my knees anymore, bend for very long, or have the energy for the harder stuff (have almost died the last 2-3 days just sorting, trashing, moving everything out of their way and into my car so they just had to clean, not move stuff around but now I have to move it all back in the next couple days; I'm getting tired just thinking about it). I only do an occasional vacuum job and toilet clean (when I have guests coming) and make sure the area where food is prepared is clean.

I made a "game" with a piece of poster board, pictures from magazines, numbers and a game dice (that had 8 sides/numbers) and did pictures of 8 "areas" of housework I wanted to do like "cats", "kitchen", "bathrooms", "filing", "general upkeep", "vacuuming", etc. and threw in a "free" day off and a "dollar store" one where I had to go out to the dollar store and buy only 1 item, bring it home and use it :-) Every morning, first thing, I'd roll the die/dice and have to work for 30 minutes on whatever number I rolled; the areas of the poster board depicting scenes about each "area" and a large, colorful, stick-on number told me that area's number (and they were all over the board in random sections to make it a little more interesting to find what the number meant. But it was kind of nice, too, having a collage of nice looking kitchens from magazines (so I could daydream of turning mine into that :-) or cats and kitty litter, etc., took me several hours to make the board (I still have it).

After a week or two of being faithful to it I started to feel "silly" like I was a kid who needed an adult to tell me what to do. I could "think" what I wanted to do for 30 minutes and work on it, theoretically, but, after I quit using the board, my doing the work petered out too. I do remember my therapist's words though, "No one likes to clean bathrooms!" so I don't feel quite so alone and like I'm the only one who lives like we do

[Bmee2]

Oh my heavens! someone else is having trouble keeping the house clean.
i cannot tell you enough how glad i am to see this post. insideout, i relate all too well. Some of my problem is the constant clean up after my aging parent. Plus doing everything else too besides the cleaning, cooking, keeping doctor appointments, giving medication, and trying to squeeze something other than sleep for me. Thank you for helping me not feel so alone and horrible.

[MissMaggie]

I can completely relate to not being able to stay on top of the household stuff!! I work full time and am in school, plus responsible for all the household stuff and it just seems like there isn't enough time in the day. I find it helps to have good music blasting, or some sort of talk radio that you're interested in on in the background. You get distracted by what your listening to, and the work doesn't seem so bad. Although I still can NEVER manage to get everything done. Seems like I always make it through the main rooms and that's it lol *sigh* maybe one day I'll make it to those dark dusty corners!

[Yoda]

I go to another community that focuses on cleaning and clutter and in chat we make small goals that can be completed in fifteen min. We support each others' accomplishments which means alot to me.

[HappiestGirl]

This a sore subject with me an my partner. The hardest thing I realized is that it doesn't really take that long once you get going. I put on some music and tell myself to clean up for 3 songs, that's only like 10 minutes. By the time I pour bleach in the toilet, wipe down the sink and do a quick mop the time is up. I do that one room per day. Don't feel pressure to add more time because it's NEVER ALL done. Also, don't feel guilty about not doing enough!

[tigerlily84]

InsideOut I know exactly how you feel! It's hard to feel the urge to clean up when you're depressed. I had to move back in with my mom to help care for my grandmother with Alzheimers. And cleaning up was nearly impossible since the house was already dirty from years of my mother's hoarding. It's not AS BAD as some of those people you see on tv, but it's bad enough that I'm embarrassed to invite people inside. So little by little I am working on it. Just chip away as much as you can. Even if it's a little thing like sweeping the floor, you'll be amazed at how good you feel afterward. Good luck!

[LiveThroughThis]

Insideout, THANK YOU for this post. *bows*

Tigerlily, I have your problem down to the t. I am naturally an organized (though not necessary sparkling clean) person when it comes to my living space. I grew up that way---both my mom and grandmother are very tidy people. My mom's house is covered in dust, but by god there's nothing out of place! And to be honest I like it that way myself---I function better that way.

My bf, unfortunately, is not. We live together. And while he's not gross like most guys, he will let donut boxes and empty 2-liters litter the floor for days. Also he is obsessed with clothes (he used to be obese, and lost a ton of weight), so he's always buying SOMEthing (he is very thrifty, though, so it's always for cheap). We have a bedroom we're not even using because 1) It became our clutter room for stuff we don't know what to do with, and 2) This winter we had a mouse problem and they cohabited in that room.

Long story short there is always ***** EVERYWHERE. It gets so overwhelming. Bf works 12 hour days 6 days a week, so it's up to me to clean, and I've been a borderline basketcase off and on for months. I'll get a wild hair and clean the bathroom/livingroom to tiptop, then it all falls apart again in a matter of days.

I have yet to really figure out the solution. Once the bedroom's cleaned out that will help enormously, but that takes him and me working on it.

Otherwise when I can clean/up to it, I crank fast/hiphop/rock music (I make a playlist on Youtube) and it's amazing how much I get done while the songs play.

But yes, it is really hard when it's just you anyway, having absolutely no motivation. I used to live alone and I struggled with that (like the kitchen, having no dishwasher, will not elaborate).

[tigerlily84]

LivethroughThis, I crank up the music too when I clean. Let's face it, cleaning is BORING. If someone reading this likes to clean, then more power to you, but I am just not one of those people. I always had more motivation to clean when I was living with roommates. When I lived alone I was depressed and thought, "well no one else is doing to see this but me, so what's the point?" If you come up with a solution on how to keep things clean, please share it with me lol.

[tigerlily84]

Originally Posted by Yoda

I go to another community that focuses on cleaning and clutter and in chat we make small goals that can be completed in fifteen min. We support each others' accomplishments which means alot to me.

Hi Yoda, I was just wondering what the name of the community is that you're a part of. I really need some encouragement in that area!

I have some problems with this too,

I make lists and I also order them by number, I order the tasks by what I can multi task on. Like get the dishes piled neatly and sink filled, throw laundry in the washer, wash the dishes, laundry in the dryer, then sweep and mop, put dry dishes away ect. This seems to help cut the time, and keep me going so I don't get off task.

Also I start at the front door and work my way across the house, room to room, and then upstairs. I work the rooms from top to bottom and make sure I have all the supplies with me, so I am not running back and forth to grab things I need.

Now I just need some motivation.

[willmarcus]

I keep a list for everything I have to do lol

[costello]

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.

[tigerlily84]

My house needs major repairs too, Costello. Well actually it's my mom's house, but we'll overlook that detail.
There's no money so we do without. I wish I knew what to tell you. I want to paint the house inside and out and rip out the carpet and throw out all the furniture and start fresh. I agree, it feels pointless to clean things that are falling apart. My mom wasn't a very good housekeeper either, so my grandma (she lived with us) would do most of it. I think I'm just lazy.

[danaflett]

It's just such a never ending cycle,i have some days that are better than other,but due to my mood slump,i dont feel like doing too much these last seven days.
I do write list's and usually get through them,something i can manage in a day,so i know that i can complete them,nothing worse than feeling like you have failed.
Write small list maybe one big task followed by smaller tasks,and if the rest can wait to the next day,then leave it too the next day.I hope my mood picks up so that i can add more tasks to this smaller list that am working with.Good luck.

[Anika.]

Finding the motivation is the hardest part. I have trouble with that sometimes and with time. I do part time housekeeping now so I'll share what we do, maybe it will help a bit. I posted in this thread already which is now anonymous32507. I have a very love and very dislike relationship with cleaning. It's either on or off.

I clean 5 star hotel rooms, some of which are over 2000 sq feet, and condos and houses that are in the million $ at a mountain resort, some are massive yikes. Right now we are deep cleaning them which is hard work, tedious, and they have to be show room perfect. I'll break down the chores to make it simple. We have to get through an entire home pretty quickly so most of it is about getting organized.

I use a duster on a long handle to clean the blinds, just run it down each side a few times, next the windows, sills and tracks. then the wood oil if you have wood frames, or furniture , which I will then move onto dusting the baseboards and spot washing the walls at the same time. then I dust the lamps, bookcases, frames, whatever needs dusted, and head to next room until all the dusting, spot washing, baseboards, doors windows etc are finished.

In the bathrooms I first put cleaner in the toilet bowl, then some on a rag and rub down the shower stall, and leave it. Next I dust the lights ceiling fan, clean the mirror, work down to the counter top and sink, wipe the cabinets out and throw away what ever needs done. Then onto the spots on walls, baseboards, then outer toilet. After the a little scrub to toilet bowl, a few jugs of water to rinse the shower and tub. give the taps on the sink and tub a little shine with a dry cloth. this actually only takes about 15-20 minutes in a fair sized bathroom.

The kitchen is the most time consuming for sure, but I have got a routine down that makes it much quicker. First I start with the oven, if you have self clean.. so awesome, other wise spray down, remove burners and soak. Run a cycle through dish washer with some vinegar. Put some vinegar and water in coffee maker, kettle, tea pot what ever you have and run through at same time. The empty the fridge ( throw out what needs to be. Wipe from top to bottom, remove drawers wipe and put everything back. Next pull the fridge out, vacuum back of it, and the floor, wipe sides and top down and push back. Start at the top of the cupboards and work your way down, wipe insides and doors, counter top, and then bottom counters and drawers. take garbage out, wipe down trash can. Spot wash the walls and baseboards, back splash. Empty the coffee maker. kettle.. next the oven and burners and pull the stove out just like the fridge. Wipe down microwave and dishwasher if you need. And the a little cleaner to the sinks rinse and polish up. ~ If you attack the kitchen in an order from longest job first to smallest last and multi task it saves tons of time. It take me about 1.5-2 hours to do the entire kitchen which are quite large, plus I have to polish all the silverware, and make sure the pots, glassware etc is spotless.

The rest of it is all pretty simple, dust the washer & dryer, hot water tank, furnace, vacuum around them. clean the closets and vacuum or sweep them. Next vacuum inside the couches, under the furniture and the room. Start at the top rooms and work your way through each one. After that mop what needs mopped, same thing work your way through top to bottom. Take out the trash and your house should be pretty clean.

Cleaning like this saves a lot of time, which saves tons of energy. I used to clean my house one entire room at a time. Which was not very fast at all. If you make sure you have every thing you need and group jobs together and do the same job in every room together it will be so much faster. A few rooms are better to do on there own like the kitchen and bathrooms. You can throw laundry in when you start one group of jobs and switch it when it's done and just sort of mutli task with it. The places I clean are pretty fancy yes, but they are also pretty dirty sometimes, some are also lived in. For regular cleaning just omit the things that don't need done to often, like the windows and tracks, pulling out appliances etc.

You can try doing this, breaking the groups of jobs down into days. doing it all in one day is a lot. I am not so great with the motivation part, except that when my house is messy is makes me down, which that motivates me a bit. I use the time I spend cleaning working on my mindfulness meditation and stuff like that. Might as well put the time to good use, I noticed that it is a great time to work on that because that is really a time the mind will wander off into places it doesn't need to.

I hope some of that might be helpful to someone. I have cleaning on the brain right now.. doing my own house on my days off right now. Sorry for the huge post.. oh brother.

Costello, I totally understand, my last home needs lots of repair and it was just ugh when you are cleaning. I pull out my fridge and stove about once a month, but I have three kids, they tend to loose stuff under them. With you and your son maybe every few months would be good enough. Or if you don't have a lot of dust or pets in the home maybe less.

[LiveThroughThis]

<<<Anika>>> Thank you for the post! You're a mom, working, dealing with lots of stuff right now, and to take the time to post that means a lot.

[fabienne.mai]

Wow! That is so spot on for me too!

I only recently moved out on my own but housework and showering have always been difficult for me to keep up with. I don't know why, because after I do it I feel so much better!

But yes, I have a grid of things I need to do everyday separated into three sections: morning, evening, anytime. Seperating the chores throughout the day made it more manageable and it has become part of my routine. If I do it, or if it doesn't need to be done that day, I get a check. I also have an empty space on the bottom where I write special chores that come up and reminders. This has worked really well for me as its very nice to see a page full of check marks. But if that's not reinforcing enough, you could develop some sort of points/reward system. For example, if you have 20 chores a day, each check is worth 1 point and after you reach 100 points give yourself a small, inexpensive gift. I keep my list posted on the wall so it's out in the open and I have to confront it everyday.

I hope this helps!

As for the showering, I still am having trouble with that. Focusing on the clean pleasant feeling that comes after having showered helps me to be more motivated.

Good luck!!

[insideout]

I have been doing better with my housework since I changed my medications, and also because I have been using lists.

I remember when I was a kid I used to love my chore chart.
I found one online for housecleaning and I like it.
Eventually I will get caught up with my cleaning and be able to just do daily cleaning tasks.

http://www.moneycrashers.com/weekly-...art-printable/

I think it's important to figure out what has to be done daily, weekly , monthly, seasonaly, yearly, etc.

Fabienne.mai, I love the idea of dividing the chores up by different times of the day!
I am going to try that.

[ECHOES]

Originally Posted by ECHOES

I wanted to share that I once had a therapist who started me on list-writing, one way of setting short term goals, although I just realized that!

He also taught me to break down tasks and list them that way. For example, 'clean the bathroom' became 1. scrub the tub, 2. clean commode, 3. clean sink, 4. wash mirror, 5. scoop the litter box, 6. empty the wastebasket, 7. exchange used towels with clean towels, wash the floor.
After I finished each specific task, I crossed it off the list.
The result was a feeling of accomplishment, greater than if I just had written down 'clean the bathroom'.

I still use this method, especially on days I have trouble with motivation. It makes my tasks seem more 'doable' and I get more satisfaction from doing them.

I also try to make my list positive, a list of what I want (and not a criticism of what I don't do, or a scolding of what I 'should' do).

I replied to another thread in this forum before reading yours, insideout. So I am pasting my reply to share and in hopes that it is something helpful.

[Ladyzero]

Now I do feel guilty. My depression has robbed my motivation to care for anything. My house is a tip, filthy and house work never occurs to me now.
All part of the 'why bother?' frame of mind I've been in for a year.

Dust, vacuum, wash floors, clean bathroom, clean bedroom, clean kitchen, wash clothes, shower, dress.

Why bother ?

And I just don't care.

How bad is that ?

[ECHOES]

Originally Posted by Ladyzero

Now I do feel guilty. My depression has robbed my motivation to care for anything. My house is a tip, filthy and house work never occurs to me now.
All part of the 'why bother?' frame of mind I've been in for a year.

Dust, vacuum, wash floors, clean bathroom, clean bedroom, clean kitchen, wash clothes, shower, dress.

Why bother ?

And I just don't care.

How bad is that ?

I don't think it's bad. It's just where you are right now. It's hard to do things when the energy isn't there.

"why bother" is something interesting to explore with your therapist

[cjmccray]

There are 3 people living at my house, myself, my husband and my sister. My husband travels for work through the week and is home on the weekends. My sister works. I am on disability. It's very frustrating to me to clean up the kitchen or bathroom or front room, etc., then to have it completely trashed as soon as my sister gets home and as soon as my husband gets home. I really try to keep up but I have more bad days than good. I smply don't know how to deal with this. I completely understand about making lists. How do you overcome frustration with having a clean house and having a really bad day? Thanks for starting this thread. I just need to have a housekeeper to come in to do the big jobs I think.