Everywhere I look something needs doing

Primrose

You reach a stage where you realise life is too short to worry about some of these things. I'm aiming for an eventually decluttered life where surfaces are clear so that running a duster around can be done occasionally on minutes. The sheets get washed when they look grubby or sweatyand not to a timetable.
I make a list and try and rick a few things off every day but make sure I own the housework schedule instead of it owning me!

trailingspouse

You need a plan. I have a list of jobs that need doing, and a daily/weekly/monthly plan of when they'll be done.


So - there are some jobs that need to be done every day. Do these first thing in the morning (or maybe even last thing the night before!). And it's amazing what you can get done while waiting for the kettle to boil!
There are some jobs that only need to be done once a week, so decide which day you will do them, and stick to that day. This means that if the ironing pile is growing, you don't need to feel guilty, because you know that tomorrow (or whenever) is your ironing day, and it will get done then.
There are some jobs that only need to be done once a month, or less. I have a rolling programme for this, so one week I'll tackle the cooker, the next week I'll tackle something else and so on.
And finally - you don't sound like you particularly enjoy housework, and why should you - why should anyone? If you can possibly afford it, get a cleaner. Mine comes once a week for 2 hours, and in that time she hoovers and dusts throughout, and cleans the bathroom. £13 an hour, money very well spent. It also forces me to tidy up before she arrives...

Don't let it overwhelm you. Other things that can help are deciding what you're going to do the day before. Then, when you wake up, you have a plan, and things are less likely to get on top of you. Also the flylady idea of spending 15 minutes on a task works very well - it's amazing what you can do in 15 minutes. And at the end of the 15 minutes you stop.

Make sure you have time for yourself - if you can't find time at home, try going to a club or similar that interests you. It forces you to get out of the house and do something for fun!!

Nargleblast

I also write lists of jobs for each day, it's the only way to keep track of things. Sometimes during the day I'll have a rethink and shift something to another day, or I'll bring forward a task I would have done later in the week. One thing that can eat into your time, though, is going on the Internet, especially social media. I don't normally do it at this time of day, I just happened to have half an hour to kill waiting for an important email to arrive, but normally I try and restrict keyboard time to about twenty minutes in the morning then nothing over the day until the evening after dinner. Housework is a never ending task, like washing and ironing, food shopping, no sooner than you've got up to date someone puts something in the laundry bin, or you run out of milk or bread. It would be alright if the family didn't eat or wear clothes!

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I know the feeling very well. I have 2 sons, a 22 month old and a 7 month old. I don't feel like I ever stop yet the house is always a mess. When I manage to get them both to sleep at the same time, I want to sit with a cup of tea and relax but then I feel guilty as I know it's the best time to get stuff done. I definitely need to get into a better routine for housework.
The only other option is doing it when they go to bed in the evening but by then I just want to go to bed myself!!

WeeMidgie

You might benefit from reading this post.
written by a very frank and funny American woman whose blog is called A Slob Comes Clean. It's exactly as trailing spouse says, you need to divvy up daily tasks, decluttering and then cleaning. They are all separate categories, and I think it's all too easy to exhaust yourself trying to do all three at once.


Oh, and remember, don't go for perfection, think good enough. That's a real sanity saver!

LameWolf

phryne I know exactly where you're coming from. I find I have less and less time to do things, as I become more disabled, and things take longer and longer to do (did that make sense? It did when I was thinking it). To the extent that I'm usually doing two things at once - like typing this post while I wait for a survey page to load.

Unfortunately, my nature is that I always do "the nastiest job first" to get it out of the way, so it's always the things I'd actually like to do that never get done at all. :cool:

caronc

My motto when it comes to cleaning is "keep it above the dysentery level" (a phrase from a book I once read):rotfl:. I find if the place is tidy and my kitchen surfaces and bathroom clean, I can live with odd dusty bits which I do as and when I am able to- if I don't wear my specs I can't see them anyway;).

Primrose

And perhaps we should be grateful for rainy days with no sun because they dont show up all the dirty smears on the windows.......in this house anyway!

Siebrie

Every day, at work, I make a list on a tiny post-it, of 3 things to do that evening. To me, that makes it non-threatening, doable/achievable. It also makes me put the absolute priorities on that list, and gives me a feeling of accomplishment afterwards.

If I have not finished my list, I just throw it away anyway and start a new one the next day.

Just getting started on that list often leads to doing more.

Can you start somewhere small and keep that area clean and clutterfree, and work from there? Flylady suggests the kitchen sink, I prefer the bathroom sink and tv table.

When you do start to declutter, it makes life easier if stuff keeps moving. For instance, if you decide to go through a pile of papers, make sure you have a cardboard box for old paper, that you close and put by the front door when it is full. Next time someone leaves the house, take the box and put it into recycling. Try not to let the stuff pile up on the way out.

I try to make the living room nice every night before I go to bed: plump up cushions, fold blankets, put toys away, put remotes in decorative box, etc.

phryne

I'm not really a clutterbug, I just need to get on and do some cleaning and tidying.. while trying to retain my sanity