I have this problem and try to search some psychologics and all sort of motivation to do it..any idea or tips will be appreciated
I have this problem and try to search some psychologics and all sort of motivation to do it..any idea or tips will be appreciated
Invite picky guests for the weekend. . .that usually motivates the heck out of me! lol
Or invite your mother to come spend several weeks with you over the summer. You will either get it done before she gets here, or she will do it while she's here. LOL
(On my list to do before she comes...paint small bathroom, and paint tall spice shelf. Maybe paint den if I have any paint left over by then.)
That sounds like my friend's mom, who is constantly cleaning. She's run out of things to clean in her house so she washed her walls. Then, she decided to clean all three of her kids' houses because dust on the baseboards in the spare room set her off. :lolsign:Quote:
Originally Posted by MortgageQueen
cath007, just do one project a week. Assign yourself 30 minutes max per day to work on it. Like this weekend, clean all your upstairs windows. During the weekdays, do the downstairs windows, or something like that...
It's a good topic. How much cleaning is enough? I spring-cleaned my 4 yr old's room in February. It's not even summer yet, I swear it needs to be done again. There are rooms I haven't even "spring-cleaned" yet. I could go bonkers.
I sent my kids away for the long weekend and literally cleaned for 4 days straight. Steam cleaning the carpets. Dusting places that are overlooked. A deep scrub to everything. I was EXHAUSTED after.
The kids came back, it's a month later and you couldn't tell I did anything.
Flylady has some good tips.
Set a goal to do 5-10 things a day. After a week that is about 70 things total and your house should be clean by then! :)
Think small. I get overwhelmed (Thanks ADHD) but I make a list of everything that needs to be done and I'll warn DH that I'm on the war path and will be cleaning the house so he can expect to come home to an "in progress" mess. If I have papers to sort I'll get an basket / bag of each area that the papers are for..ie house receipts / car receipts / craft stuff. I make sure I gather stuff for like rooms in one space so when I'm going to that room it all goes into the basket and with me.
I also love being organized, so it doesn't take much motivation for me to do it, just to stay on one task at a time. I get the urge to organize everything at once :-)
If all else fails, I invite my ADHD mum over and then it's a whirlwind off activity.
Any spring cleaning is good. Just think that for every five minutes you spent recycling old magazines or wiping down a countertop, your home is five minutes cleaner than it was before. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by AmberLab
No amount of cleaning is ever enough until you can close your house completely, and have a giant vacuum suck every piece of dust from your carpets, floorboards and vents. Then, have an automatic steam cleaner steam all your carpets, upholstery, and curtains. Finally, that spell that Dumbledore uses in Harry Potter to put everything back in it's place in about five seconds is needed to make your home just like the cover of Home & Garden. :cheesygrin:
Cleaning is one of those never ending tasks that you have to do continuously to keep clutter and mess at bay!
Thanks you all of you for yours comments and tips and point of view!!!:) Very Appreciated:)
I usually wait for everyone to be out of the house, so nobodies in my way... then i crank the music and get right to it. :P
Anyone have a coupon for a Dumbledore?
It's a British only freebie..
i cant stand a messy /disorganized house. which is extremely hard with three kids. So i do a top to bottom clean every other day. ( sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting, organizing, polishing and the whole shebang)! totally stinks but well worth it.
Gourmetsue makes a good point about being overwhelmed-that happens when I try to tackle a pile of stuff that is stored but never used though it is kept because it might be needed (college notes/books).
One task at a time--I'd suggest clearing a table surface and while removing things off of it, toss out empty containers, recycle expired flyers or shred mail that is not needed. Put the remaining things in one pile on the floor. Wipe, vacuum, polish. Wash hands and take a sip of a favourite drink. Look at the pile--are there things you can put away/file? What items need a place of their own? Is anything having to go back to someone? What are you feeling when you are looking at those things--are they even all yours (you might have someone else's stuff and how long has that been?)--something to figure out for later as it may help you to find a way to get keen to clean.
Personally, I like to toss an old clothing item or pair of shoes if I get a new item/pair of shoes into the house.
You probably know which areas you have multiples of things and it's up to you to determine if you need one or none of each, and find a way for the other units to depart (garage sale, donation store, scrap metal yard, hazardous waste site trip, etc.).
Take advantage of long weekends, if you are not going away.
Plan ahead to do one major cleaning task. No more.
Use one of the long weekend days.
Relax and have fun on the other two days.:)
This takes care of 9 months worth of major cleaning tasks. March, June and November don't have any long weekends so you're off the hook.:shade:
Today, I got inspired to organize/clean/declutter the bathroom. It's not a huge project, but there's a three-shelf closet that I keep my toiletries stockpile in. I can't remember when the last time was that I cleaned behind it all. No one ever sees them, but I know the dust bunnies are there, breeding and growing bigger by the month. I cleared everything out, cleaned the baseboards, swept the floors, reorganized, and also took anything out of the bathroom that didn't belong to toss or donate. I made so much room that I was able to pull down heavier things from the other shelves.
It looks so much better, I feel so much better about the weight distribution, and even DH remarked that it "looks really good". If he noticed, it must be a big deal!
One of the things I'm going to donate is a lovely curling iron that worked so well for me in the past, but I don't use anymore. It's just clutter if I'm not using it, so out it goes! I also found a gift for my sister, who had her eye on something in a shop once and asked me if she thought she should get it. Well, she can have mine! I haven't used it since I bought it and forgot I had it. As an extra super bonus, I'll make someone else's day.
One room down, so many more to go! I suggest for one of your first projects, that you pick something easy that would make a big difference. :top: I was staring at that closet for weeks, but today, I sucked it up and just did it! Now I'm excited to do more! :blob5:
I'm a huge advocate of this. It really helps to filter out the excess 'stuff' you have. Especially with things like kids toys which can mutate like Gremlins. Every 6 months or so, go through the stuff and make a donation bag and bring it to your local charity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciel
Totally off topic, but about 15 years ago, when I was working at a retail store, a new management associate was hired and boy did he slack. Loved the breakroom, he did. My friend, Bob, described him as a 'whirlwind of inactivity'. :cheesygrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by gourmetsue
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweet sparrow
:icon_scratch: :eek: :zip:
My mind wandered...sorry.
:lolsign:
That's okay. I'm sure it's just the street walker in you talking. :cheesygrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by walkonby
It's a bottle of Lubriderm for her dry hands. :tongue:
Remind me to invite you if I ever have another wedding shower though. :lolsign:
oh sweet sparrow! I logged in just now, totally forgot my naughty post last night, I laughed so hard at the wording in your paragraph, yeah you are right...just the " streetwalker " in me talking. lol!!!
Oh walkonby, you're going to make my mother question the company I keep... :yikes:
I went through all my coupons and took out a few in my personal collection and added them to my trade list. It's not as visually pleasing as it is to do the laundry, but it tidies up the mail area and office desk somewhat. I recycled all the old flyers, and began moving things that belonged in basement storage.
I also did a load of laundry, which does wonders for decluttering. Even gathering everything to one place and sorting them by colours makes a big difference, especially if you have family members that seem to leave a trail wherever they go. (Picture someone who's continually moving dishes, clothes from their place to somewhere it doesn't belong, and me following with a basket, picking it all up.)
Now that DH has gotten rid of the huge brown spider in the basement, I can continue the cleansing process. :cheesygrin: Remember to celebrate the small victories, everyone!
Next to clean out the garden of weeds!
declutter everything first and organize
the cleaning will be easier
nothing more revolting is clutter.
If you see that your garbage collection schedule allows for extra bags/containers on certain weeks, hello decluttering activity! ;)
That is permission to get those extra bags/containers filled so they can go to the curb for collection i.e. worn-out clothing (salvage any good buttons first) and shoes, textiles that you cannot use for rags or painting jobs, plastic tote bags that have shredded and lost their use, kids' artwork or projects (remove names first) that have no space or audience (you'd probably encourage a couple of pieces to stay for the sake of a memory chest, scrapbook or portfolio), broken plastic ware and pet toys, broken dishes/glasses (taped securely into corrugated box or sturdy food plastic tub, marked "broken glass/ceramic" and closed), and odd things from the junk drawer/cutlery drawer (like too many bread bag tags, old twist ties, dodgy elastic bands, takeout cutlery of questionable age or old condiment packages, kitchen utensils that have more "scars" than use left, rusty paring knives or peelers (safely wrapped for disposal) and whatever else you can find and see that its time to leave is now.
The day before collection, I check the newspaper pile for issues ready to hit the blue box, flyers that missed getting filed "blue" when the mail was brought in and any takeout brochures that probably won't see heavy use to add to the recycle bin. If paper messages or offers are kept on the fridge top or with a magnet on the doors, I check them too to see if they get shredded, kept or recycled. Sometimes I notice the fridge needs a vacuum on top and in behind the coils so I do that too.
Go visit a show/model home :P
This motivates me enough to start cleaning once I get home lol
I love this thread. I am always looking for suggestions. One suggestion I have(sorry if it has already been suggested) is to start with one area like a closet, under the bed, the toy box. Take one thing out at a time, deside weither or not you want to keep it and weither or not it belongs in that spot. If it does not blong there put it away immediately. If you find that you are having trouble staying organized perhaps look in to different storage options. Your storage solution may not be big enough or appropriate for what you need it for.
I worked with his English counterpart....We used to lock her clock card in the poisons-cabinet and wait for her to come screaming round because 'SHE'D FORGOTTEN TO CLOCK IN"...Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveP
She only grew up when she moved to another section where her new boss had been warned about her ....erm..habits..and refused to sign any paperwork to return the flex-hours she'd missed by not clocking in...
The Pengiunettes, 14 and 10, are responsible for their own laundry. I had one too many " Mum...where's my gym kit????" at 7 am when the bus is 7.20 am. You wash it...you know where it is...
We are spending part of the summer holiday getting the lil'penguins to take some pride in the house and the work I do in it..Hopefully that will stop them being soo irresponsible round it..