My home is a mess

ScarletRaven

Thank you for the kind welcome and advice

I completely forgot about the good old 'box method' - I'll certainly give that a go as it's been effective in the past. I'll try my best to stick to one room at a time as I know that would be the best way to get through things, I just have a tendency to attempt too much at once then give in altogether. No more making that mistake from now on though hopefully. Not picked a room to start with yet, but the living room seems like a good place to begin as our front door opens into it so it's the first room everyone sees and the one we spend the most time in. Tomorrow is the first day of a long healing journey, for both the house and it's residents.

fannyadams

Welcome ScarletRaven,
like everyone else says, very small baby steps are the answer.
Have you seen SoWorried's idea of doing something each hour and posting on here?
It's brilliant - it's really motivating and you can look back on what you achieved in one day just by doing something each hour. I'm finding it really helpful for days when I CBA.

GO FOR IT!
--
aches and pains for me today as the gardens at the old people's home were a bit more overgrown than I'd imagined (that'll teach me not to scope out the job beforehand). but the lads were awesome and the areas we were working on have been cleared and we've been invited back to plant up etc in September (as it was the last day yesterday). In some ways I really don't want to get a proper job as I'm having too much fun with my volunteering (I am holding out for them giving me the paid job as I am 'more qualified' than the instructor who is teaching the course). But I know I am going to have to go back to work sooner rather than later. plus I got a call yesterday about rehoming some greyhounds, think they might be with us sooner than I thought. :j

A day with the bay of E today. DS#1 & #2 have been really good decluttering their unwanted DVDs so I'm going to bite the bullet and list them today, hopefully people will want them for the school holibobs.

Training tonight for my 10mile walk for Willen Hospice. If anyone would like to make a donation please click here - I've managed to get £100 sponsorship so far (that's enough for one nurses shift) so I'm really pleased.

Happy Thursday everyone,
FA
x

Soworried

ScarletRaven wrote: »

I hope people don't mind me stepping in here - I saw the title of this thread and thought 'That's me!'. Following a miscarriage and loss of job all within the space of 3 months, I developed depression and along with that came severe laziness This created a vicious circle, as the more messy the house got, the more depressed I got, and the less things got tidied, etc.

Thankfully, despite it being a long road, I am recently having a lot less 'down days' and feel I am beginning to pick up health-wise. I want to make the most of this and hopefully keep the depression at bay by sorting the mess out that has taken over the house. But being home all day alone (while my fiance goes out to work) means I may end up lacking the motivation to keep going. I'd love if I can pop into here just for quick chats and updates with people in a similar situation

I've also taken a look at the Fly Lady thread (which pre-depression I used to follow anyway) and the 1 Bag a Month Challenge which looks like a good way of decluttering without getting too stressed from it.

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated

Hi, that sounds like my first post on here. Mental health is an awful thing to deal with. My cloud is only just starting to lift, I now know when I'm starting to give in to it and can force myself to move so it can not set in bad.
Sonastin told me a great tip of just do something very little, a baby step then reward yourself. So that is what I am doing. I have gone from sitting like a zombie to at least getting up, dressed and doing a little task every hour no matter how much I have to force myself. Some days are harder than others but at the end of each day it is so motivating to look back and see just how much I have done compared with giving in. I win both ways, I am helping keep the cloud at bay and stopping the house getting any worse.
It is not getting better yet but as long as I keep fighting it it will :j
Bearcub also sent me some pictures of her mess which helped me see I was not alone, everyone is so kind. You will get better and so will your home x

Thankyou farmerswife x

FA, sounds like you had a very good day and hope you get the gh soon x

1st hour today, cups moved from front room in to the kitchen and buns made up for lunch and salmon pulled out of the freezer for dinner. Rewarded with a coffee and a read of OS.

2nd hour, dishes washed, worktops washed and cleaered of recycling. Hob washed down. Rewarded with a second coffee and more reading of OS.

3rd hour, Ironed an outfit to wear plus 1 etxra thing. If I can do that every day or every other day even it will stop the ironing mountain becoming everest

4th hour, shopping at Morrisons for the £1.80 cheese offer x 4 and lunch made.

5th hour, Kitchen floor swept and washed.

6th hour, bed made and curtains opened.

7th hour, dry towels put away in the airing cupboard, PJ and underwear put away in draws.

8th hour, oiled the lock on the bathroom door that has been sticking.

Another day done and not giving in to the mess and cloud :j

farmerswife75

Hi all,

beautiful day here today!! SoWorried - i've been working to your plan :j!!

1st hour - emptied dishwasher & reloaded with brekkie dishes and emptied washing machine!

2nd - hung washing out and put another load in to wash.

3rd hour - located the dreaded paperwork from the office :eek: and have made a start sorting it out!

I'm very please with my progress so far, it's the kids end of term performance this afternoon so i'll have to skip a couple of hours later! (my youngest daughters costume is a wetsuit, snorkle & flippers, I dread to think what she's going to do when she gets up on stage!!) :rotfl:

x

Fruball

I need your help ladies.

I have somebody coming this afternoon (5.30) and I HAVE to get the whole living room sorted :eek:

I have 5 hours to do it (time out for school run) and I desperately need a plan.

Any ideas how to methodically work through this please?

xx

ScarletRaven

FA - Thank you for the welcome and tips

Soworried - Thank you for being so kind. It's good to know there are people in a similar situation (I mean that in the best possible way of course, not actually wishing mental health issues onto others ) - it's just good to have the support of people 'in the same boat'. Thank you so much for the advice, I think I am going to give your little plan a go, and see how it works out for me. That, added to the Fly Lady thread ideas and the '1 bag a month' declutter challenge, should be more than enough motivation to keep some sort of flow going. So, on that note, I'm off to make a start

alec_eiffel

Frugal wrote: »

I need your help ladies.

I have somebody coming this afternoon (5.30) and I HAVE to get the whole living room sorted :eek:

I have 5 hours to do it (time out for school run) and I desperately need a plan.

Any ideas how to methodically work through this please?

xx

Start with the easy stuff - Open the window to get some air in, get a bin and shove the obvious rubbish in it, put the recycling (if you do it) into a recycling box/bag. Get it out of the room. Next put any laundry into a laundry basket or shove it in the machine (no need to switch it on). Move any dirty dishes to the sink/dishwasher.

Get a laundry basket, box or something and put the stuff that doesn't belong in the living room into it, put it at the door. What's left should be dust and things that need to be put away in that room. Put the stuff away then wipe the surfaces, shake out any rugs, plump cushions and sweep/hoover the floor. Have a cuppa.

Soworried

farmerswife75 wrote: »

Hi all,

beautiful day here today!! SoWorried - i've been working to your plan :j!!

1st hour - emptied dishwasher & reloaded with brekkie dishes and emptied washing machine!

2nd - hung washing out and put another load in to wash.

3rd hour - located the dreaded paperwork from the office :eek: and have made a start sorting it out!

I'm very please with my progress so far, it's the kids end of term performance this afternoon so i'll have to skip a couple of hours later! (my youngest daughters costume is a wetsuit, snorkle & flippers, I dread to think what she's going to do when she gets up on stage!!) :rotfl:

x

:j Yeah, well done, you should be very pleased :T

Fingers crossed the kids play goes lovely. I always used to be so proud I'd blush when mine did plays

Emm-in-a-pickle

Scarlet Raven welcome! You`ve had a bad time hun, but it`s good to hear you say the healing process has begun. Keep believing that, keep reading & posting here, it`ll help.
SoWorried is doing great already, and inspiring others. Well done all.
FA*1 - I`m sure your aches feel worthwhile, well done and good luck on the hospice walk. I love greyhounds, with their Cleopatra eyes and elegant faces. I love scruffy `ugly` dogs too though...

Snookey - the 4 box method is great but I don`t have a space to put 4 boxes!
Frugal, I`d love to offer helpful advice, but I`ll just confess what I do in those circs - just gather armfuls of !!!!! that`s in the way and shove it all in another room out of sight "for now"...

Messy status report-
Yesterday after drains were sorted I did 2 WM loads for DS, they are now dry & put away this morning. I was informed DS`s GF is coming tomorrow for a few days so that means he`ll do some cleaning up tomorrow. I`ll do a proper shop before my weekend at work tomorrow, and some cleaning (stuff he leaves.)
Today -
washing put away
kitchen cleaned/pots done
fed the birds, the cat, the Daftie-dog and the dustbin. Poo-picked.
There`s a nuthatch on the peanut feeder again, plus all the other usual suspects who eat themselves silly out there! (It would be such a WASTE if I didn`t spend time looking out of LR window to watch them!)
Plan A-
pub with OH this evening (5 till 8-ish) so an `easy`supper (green Thai) and cook leg of pork for tomorrow at same time. Leaving farmshop till tomorrow so veggies will be fresher.
It isn`t raining, none forecast for today, so methinks a few jobs outside, I`ll do a bit of tidying after shifting stuff out of the drain-men`s way yesterday. also...
Need to pluck chin - light`s great outside.
Need to trim Daftie-dog`s toenails.
Write my shopping & `to-do` list for tomorrow.
That lot should keep me busy for a while...
Have a nice afternoon Messies xx

Soworried

Frugal wrote: »

I need your help ladies.

I have somebody coming this afternoon (5.30) and I HAVE to get the whole living room sorted :eek:

I have 5 hours to do it (time out for school run) and I desperately need a plan.

Any ideas how to methodically work through this please?

xx

Hi
Stand at the door and tidy the first messy thing you see. Give yourself a pat on the back and have a treat, then repeat until the kids are home.
Now comes the blackmail :eek: Find the sweetest treats you have in the cupboard or freezer and set the kids a challenge of the most they can tidy in 15 minutes for a treat. :A
They will feel involved and it will help you feel like you have support.
Please let us know how well you are doing :j

Well done Emm, you have done quite a bit.