Untidy house = major stress

lutzi1

mambo69 wrote: »

One tip I saw was pick it up, every time you are sat watching the adverts instead of making a cup of tea just decide to tidy up and put away a small piece of the room.

I do that, even when you are relaxing watching the telly (and you are allowed to do that sometimes!), get up in the adverts and dash abut for 3 or 4 minutes - it's astonishing what you can do if you get a wiggle on, and it makes it fun too! (DH thinks I'm mad and dogs run for cover, but what do they know?) :rotfl:

Seriously, I think we all know that horrible feeling when it all gets on top of of you at one time or another - and the trouble is, it never stops, there's always a job to do. One thing I found helpful earlier this year was for several Sundays we had a really good clear out, all the family, and a trip to the tip. You could also institute a "Friday Tidy", when everybody has a job or two to do for an hour, then reward yourselves with some home made pizzza and a DVD or something. If it's time limited and there's reward at the end, it's less daunting. Otherwise, tackle one area at a time and get on top of that, so you have somewhere that's nice to walk into, then take it from there, and have a quick go at the bathroom whenever you're in there so it doesn't build up. Am now off to follow my own advice if you'll excuse me....

maltesers_2

jinny wrote: »

Do remember to have a day off from cleaning or any house work.

I took a year off - which is why I am in such a mess:rotfl:

I find flylady's lists and your daily routine far too daunting. The very thought of it wears me out. Even when I was well I didn't clean the paintwork or windows etc every week:o

I think the standard should be what makes each person feel good in themselves.

jinny

Emm-in-a-pickle wrote: »

Yes it IS stressful when you are surrounded by mess. Worst offender is DS, but not worth the stress as we always row when I try to get him to clear up. When I just battle on and do it myself I do feel better, but that`s a binge thing on my days off. I work full time, irregular shifts, so it gets left for days at a time - and to be honest, I am disorganised.
ANY flat surface here is a magnet for clutter. Even the log basket which is not exactly a flat surface - as I type there`s a box of catfood pouches, DGD`s slippers, and a stapler (??) perched precariously on top of the logs.

Ha Ha that made me laugh like i said earlier my babies have flown the nest oooh how i long for those days you have a life and yours is what i call a home.....
My dear mam used to say if visitors dont like it then they dont have to come back!!!
My grannie used to scrub her front step every day or you would get talked about!!
they say dull women have clean homes!!!

jinny

maltesers wrote: »

I took a year off - which is why I am in such a mess:rotfl:

I find flylady's lists and your daily routine far too daunting. The very thought of it wears me out. Even when I was well I didn't clean the paintwork or windows etc every week:o

I think the standard should be what makes each person feel good in themselves.

Thanks for your comments you are right its up to everyone what standards you have. Its good to read everyones way of coping though.
Like i said i dont do all that every week but once the paintwork ect is clean it only takes a quick wipe after that. I wouldnt have the energy to scrub hard once or twice a year. That way just works for me to keep up on top of everything.
I am not having a very good day today healthwise and so I have not done anything therefore i am in bed on mse instead. The bedroom day will or will not get done next Thursday. However I find if i leave things too long the jobs are over whelming and if i dont clean stuff no one else will. (I have dusted the bed head with my pyjama sleeve though!!!) so yes my bedroom got done today- level 1/2 :0)

Tibbie's_mum

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

Ok, first off lets tackle the laundry.

........Do this:

Get a bin bag and put in any summer clothes - put them in the bag. They can be dealt with at another time. No point in stressing over clothes you aren't going to wear for at least 6 months. Put them in the loft or something in the meantime.

From the remaining pile then find the bulky items - wash them first. I do this ie I do a big towel wash as they take up more room in the wash basket and make the problem look bigger than it is. The beauty also is that towels don't need ironed.

So your pile should now be decreasing. Decide what amongst your washing is priority ie needed soon and do it first.

Aim to put on a wash every night before bed and stick it in the dryer/on the line or whatever the next morning and put another wash on.

You'll clear this in no time.

If at the end of all this you have loads of ironing stressing you then considering sending it to an ironing service...........

I love your advice on washing, why have I never realised I should get those bulky items done first?

Ex-Spendaholic, you've really inspired me to crack on with my huge piles!!

I also have a cluttered, untidy house, although the majority of our stuff is in storage in one of those huge shipping containers, but we still seem to be overrun with junk. But as we are renovating our house I'm ignoring the chaos to a certain degree, but it's still embarassing if I get visitors.

The washing advice is going to help out no end, thanks once again Ex-Spendaholic.

esmy

Wow - these great long lists just make me feel more overwhelmed. My tips are - when you don't know where to start, do ONE thing, ONE job, doesn't matter what. Doesn't matter if you don't get around to anything else for a day or two - you've made a start. And something I discovered recently and wished I knew sooner - keep the floors clear, and if you can bear it, clean. Makes the untidiest of rooms look so much better for relatively little effort.
Good Luck!

Psykicpup

I find that the thought of doing an entire room can sometimes be too daunting:eek:, so I pick a corner or area; ie the sideboard or the area that gets junked up under the telly, & clean that 1st. I make it an area I can see easily from where I sit to have a break, because looking at my sparkly sideboard often motivates me to 'just have a quick tidy of the .....' when I've finished my tea! I find once done, if done properly, it will stay that way for a week or so, so it just needs a quick flick of the duster as I pass.

The other thing I do is 'race the kettle', basically I put the kettle on & try to empty, reload, turn on & put way all the stuff I took out of the dishwasher before it boils. Some days I can do it all & some I cant & somedays I have to re-boil the kettle as I forget to make the tea cos I'm ingrossed in my cleaning.:p
I put away the clean washing up last, but dont fret if I cant get it all put away before the kettle boils.....I almost certainly will be having another cuppa at some point & the putting away & wiping the surfaces can be race number 2 of the day

I would love to flylady but working a 10hr 4 day week means I'm barely in the mood to cook when I get home let alone do housework ! but I often look in there on my day off & try to get as many level 1 jobs done as I can. :A sometimes I slip a sneaky level 2 or 3 in there if it ties in with which ever room I have decided to attack that day :rotfl:

morganlefay

I forgot to say earlier that I had a little breakthough recently. I used to put my summer clothes and my 'clothes I can't quite get into but will be able to anyday now' clothes in new binbags and then I got muddled up as to what was what so then I started using those transparent bags, but they look really untidy. So I have now started to put things I want to keep in those huge, cheap, sort of 'tartan' bags with zips and handles you can buy in those shops which have stacks of boxes and buckets outside. They look much neater, stand up straight and tidily and can be moved about easily if you need to. My really awful spare room looks a lot less awful now as there's just a row of these big bags (they come in 3 sizes) lined up with labels on them so I can see what's what quickly. They made me feel a lot better !:)

teetee_2

my house was in a right mess some time ago so this is what i did/do now,
*set up the ironing board in my bedroom to iron things when needed, (find i can cope with ironing just the things needed for the day in morning or last thing at night)most thing dont need ironing when theyve been hung up straight away.

* at first i did 1 or 2 washes a night till all was done , i put them straight away once dry( not ironed).

*put all the clutter mess in carrier bags and put them in a corner in bedroom, then each night i sorted and put away 2-3 bags.

i than tattled the cleaning, 1 room per day. (i just shoved things into draws cupboards/carrier bags to sort later)

once all the rooms were done i made a rota. eg;

Mon = vac,dust whole house+washing clothes/dry /put away un-ironed

Tues= change and wash beds + clean fridge

wed= wash towels(we all have our own towel which is hung on back of the door) clean bathroom and loo

Thurs=mop kitchen floor + washing clothes/dry /put away un-ironed

Fri= dust vac whole house+ clean bathroom and loo

sat= clean 1 window(that way in about a month whole house is done) + garden

sun = wash /clean car +washing clothes/dry /put away un ironed

once you get ito some sort of order you can sort 1 drawer/cupboard/box/bag/ wardrobe at a time to de-cluttering and perhaps iron uniforms on a Sunday!!

ixia

Do your washing and then just put it away neatly in cupboards and just iron as you need it. This works for me as I can't bear ironing for hours on end. sometimes I find if I hang it up as soon as it's dried I don't need to iron it.