Need some help, please

franney

Hi,
I really need to get in control of my housework and i know i saw a post recently about planning a cleaning schedule but i can't for the life of me find it!
Does anyone have any tips on where to start with this? My house is a mess and i need to find some way of organising myself as i tend to start a job then get distracted by something and go off and start something else then i get distracted and go off and start something else... i have lots of half done jobs and nothing ever gets finished
Please help me! How do you plan your housework rota?
A bit of background information - i'm a "housewife" (i use the term loosely) at home 24/7 in a two bed house with wooden floors and a shedding dog and a grumpy bloke who works weekdays
Happy New Year all, thankyou in advance for any help and advice x

kiwichick

I dont know if I've done the link correctly but I thinkmthis might be what you are looking for????

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=123524&highlight=flylady

I also find housework overwhelming.I try to do the downstairs first as this is where I spend most of my time and I am annoyed by the mess when here. Pick up the big stuff first is what I do, I also run around with an old tesco bag around my wrist chucking away rubbish I find. I find hoovering helps as it makes the floor look tidy at least. I now try to put away my washing up as soon as its done cause having it sit on the bench can look cluttered. Dont really know if any of this helps in any way

jcr16

all i can suggest is , don't get worked up by it otherwise your never get anything done. but just do one room at a time, and say to yourself, i will do as much as i can in 1 hour. then u won't get distracted in such a short time. but it amazing how much u can do in 1 hour when you set your mind.


HTH

[Deleted User]

I had to do a lot of housework when young (long time ago) as I was the eldest of 7 children. I used to wonder how to tidy a very messy room so I started in one corner and worked out. It always worked.

If your solution is to be more permanent then you need 3 piles (if you want to declutter) one definitely out, one definitely keep and one maybe. The first and third piles are easy to deal with. Bag the first and put the third away properly. Then take your time with the second.

Don`t feel guilty at any time. Life is very short. I had one of those big carry all bags in my study and I dumped stuff into it. Half mended items, badly fitting shoes etc. I was going to sell the lot on ebay but one month after another this bag was still there taking up too much space on my floor. I took the whole lot to a charity shop and phew!!! I suddenly felt a load lift and the guilt went with it

Another solution when I had 3 babes was to always try to do one positive thing a day, perhaps a bit of mending etc. Just one thing. Cleaning isn`t positive. Don`t let it grind you down

blessings3

Hi - Can I suggest Flylady.com - she helps you set up simple routines to cope with housework - lots of great advice (included moneysaving!!) can be a bit Americanised but definatly works

coffeeandfags

jcr16 wrote:

all i can suggest is , don't get worked up by it otherwise your never get anything done. but just do one room at a time, and say to yourself, i will do as much as i can in 1 hour. then u won't get distracted in such a short time. but it amazing how much u can do in 1 hour when you set your mind.


HTH

I agree with this. Work in one hour (or half hour if you find it too overwhelming) stints and promise yourself something nice at the end of every hour (i promise myself a cig every hour and a cup of coffee to go with it every second hour).... it really works!
Wooden floors are such a pain in the bum, i wish id never got mine! But, it is easier to sweep and mop every day than to leave them for days at a time, then they really need a good clean which can take ages!

coffeeandfags

coffeeandfags

Oh yeah, just to add.... If you can keep your hall and one room as clean/tidy as possible, you will always have somewhere to invite guests into without being embarrassed!!

frosty

My house use to be a tip,the only way I have managed to get on top of it is to de clutter,I also have 2 wicker baskets at the bottom of the stairs which I put things in that belong to my sons and each person has to take their basket upstairs each day and put their things away,the basket is then returned to the bottom of the stairs anything still in the basket at the end of the week i put in the bin.
I always put on some loud music,something happy sounding and dance away while your cleaning.

franney

KiwiChick - Unfortunately it isn't the right discussion but thankyou for the advice, i'll incorporate carrying a rubbishbag round with me into my new "regime"
jcr - thanks for the advice - 1hour batches of cleaning sounds achievable, i will try it every day this week in a different room
kittie - thankyou also for your advice, three piles sounds like a great idea and something i am sure i can stick to and i could really use a good decluttering! I have piles of magazines going back about 4 years that i don't need anymore so i think i'll start by freecycling those
blessings - thankyou, i have seen flylady before but it's all a bit over my head and she makes me want to punch someone too which probably isn't a good thing
coffeeandfags - having wooden floors with a dog who drops hair with every step is the best thing for us, if we had carpets they would have to be black as he really does shed that much!
frosty - thanks for the basket idea, i'm not sure my bloke would be too happy if i did that to him though as he works all day and the last thing he wants to do when he comes home is tidying up, that's what i am here for (well, theoretically anyway!) I will definitely take your advice of loud music though, i always used to have Meatloaf on for housework but slipped out of the habit, i shall have to dig out my old tapes

As you come in our front door you are straight into the living room so i shall make that my priority and hoover the living room, stairs and landing and fling a duster round every morning and make sure there are no piles of letters/newspapers/stuff on the desk or shoe-cupboard.
I'll try and work out which room to do each day and spend at least an hour tidying and cleaning and hopefully i will get myself into a routine and there'll be some improvement in tidyness!
Thanks to all of you who've responded so far, i know i shouldn't feel guilty, but as i am home all day it's my job to keep the house clean and i've just let it go (and myself) due to being generally under the weather and "stuff", most mornings it's a struggle to get out of bed let alone make it!
Anyway, i shall go and work out a rota of some sort and let you all know how i'm getting on if you wouldn't mind me doing that, i reckon that bit of encouragement will keep me going and i won't get any from my other half!

starlorna22

Franney I think this is a discussion I started about 2/3 week ago, but I don't know how to add a link to it.
If you do a search by my username you might be able to find it, otherwise I think someone like Squeaky might be able to add a link to it.
I think the link was titled 'How often do you clean'

Hope this helps

Wirenth

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1247232#post1247232

Is this the thread you were referring to, starlorna22?