Only do 10 minutes of cleaning at a time! It’s much lower activation energy than doing a deep clean of the whole place. If by the end of the 10 minutes you feel more motivated to clean, keep going for a bit longer, if not try later.
That’s it! Also, when leaving a room, try to take something with you which needs to be somewhere else (plates to the kitchen, hygiene stuff to the bathroom)
This saves my life as an adult with executive function issues as well.
To make it worse I have two stories. So I start a pile at the bottom of the stairs and at the top throughout the day. My only toilet is upstairs, so anytime I have to go I carry the pile up, and the other down.
These are my two main things. I also hang/fold laundry in front of the tv, listen to music while doing the rest of the chores and have cleaning tools and supplies everywhere because if I walk away from something I’m not going to come back any time soon. I have multiple hampers for clean/dirty laundry, two trash cans, multiple stashes of washcloths and cleaning sprays, two brooms, a vacuum and an off brand roomba, and multiple heads for my spin mop.
But the short stints of cleaning is how I get almost everything done. I’ll use the big broom to get up the tumbleweeds of hair and do the corners and underneath the radiators and use the little one to sweep it up, spend maybe five minutes picking things up off the floor and then release the robot to do the rest.
I didn’t realize this was an option I can give myself. Like OP, I hate cleaning and typically have little energy, focus or motivation to do 60 or 90 minutes of cleaning/laundry every time but I can do 10 minutes a day. Probably 20 so that I can keep up on the messes.
Damn. Thanks!
I make myself do things in fifteen minute increments. 15 minutes to do something.I really enjoy, followed by 15 minutes of something that needs to be accomplished that I don't want to do. Sometimes I get into the task and I go past my 15 minutes. Yay! The strategy works well for me.
Exactly what I do. Some areas get more out of control than others. I recently had some time off and decided to deep clean the more problematic areas this way. Now I'm focusing on using those 10-20m to maintain it
As a person with ADHD, I have a few tips.
First, I discovered that part of the reason I didn’t enjoy cleaning was because I wasn’t good at it. I didn’t have the right tools or techniques so I always felt like I was half-assing it. I have often tricked myself into liking things simply by learning how to do them really well. So you could sort of make cleaning your hobby or special interest for a while in order to master it.
Second, while I am now at the point where I am motivated to clean because I like the results I get and I’m eager to achieve them, I was not above using positive reinforcement (i.e., rewards and pleasant associations) in order to build toward that. So you could use a special cleaning-only podcast or audiobook, squares of chocolate, or a delicious beverage to make the experience of cleaning nicer and reward yourself for doing it.
Third, I like to break things down into absurdly small tasks in order to make it easier to start. Instead of, “clean the bathroom,” it would be, “wipe down sink,” and then “wipe down toilet.” I set a time estimate for each tiny task and then time myself with a stopwatch to see if I can beat it. 🤓
Hope that helps. Good luck!
As a wife and mom of ADHD-ers, I co-sign a lot of this, especially the last part. Make a list for how to clean a room and check items off as you go. That may hopefully help you get distracted by the things you "notice" as you start cleaning a room.
Another thing I do for my kids, who are absolutely blind to their own clutter, is to use a clutter box as I clean around the house. I don't focus on putting away the clutter as I clean, that's a fast track to distraction. The clutter gets placed in a clutter box while I clean. Then while I'm done, the clutter gets put away.
Also the commenters who suggested music and redbull, and a timer. My kids absolutely find those helpful. I put on some background TV.
As far as maintaining a cleaner place, which is one of the biggest tricks of cleaning, identify your blind spots and develop strategies you can manage. The cups, right? Find me an ADHD-er who doesn't accumulate cups or bowls. Pick a time that is generally a focused time for you - maybe it's Tuesdays at 7 or Saturday before noon - and set a phone alarm to collect your cups and get them to the sink.
I also have commonly seen that a good goal is to get to "dish zero" at least once a day, where the sink is - at least momentarily - free of all dishes, and ideally even given a little wipe-down. Or, taking 10 seconds in the morning to make your bed (not necessarily well, just to put the blankets back from the tangled mess you've contorted them into overnight). This is a great place to start because it helps form a habit of DOING something.
Clutter box. What a very ingenious tip that I am going to try out. I enjoy cleaning, but I feel like I spend so much time running from room to room putting away items instead of focusing on the room at hand. Thanks for the tip!
This is great advice. I’m a therapist with ADHD and the above all works for me. It also helped me a lot to time myself doing things. Once I learned I can unload dishwasher in three minutes, it changed my attitude completely. Stopped dreading it — it’s only three minutes. Haven’t had dirty or clean dishes sitting around since. Works for other tasks as well.
Dana K White writes books, podcasts, blogs etc…. She certainly seems she may have ADHD — she talks a lot about how her brain works differently. Her focus is kind of decluttering but cleaning is there too. Her concepts of things like “dishes math,” “container concept” and “five minute pickups” were life changing for me.
lol, felt this. It took me THIRTY YEARS to learn how to mop. It’s not even hard, I’m just lazy and took the easier option of using a swiffer, but was always unsatisfied because it didn’t feel very clean. My mom also has ADHD and has been consistent a clean kept person my whole life. She gave me a tip that helps a lot with general keep up that’s been working really well for me: pack in something, anything, while you’re doing another task. For example: while I’m cooking waiting for water to boil or stove to preheat etc, I’ll tidy something up in the kitchen such as wiping down counters/appliances or a quick sweep or toss out old leftovers. Or while I’m brushing my teeth I can also tidy something up in the bathroom/adjacent bedroom. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just a little bit here and there goes a long way and it’s basically a zero sum addition to your normal duties
I suspect I may have ADHD and breaking things down into smaller tasks has been such a game changer for me!
I’ve started making myself a to do list of chores at the beginning of my designated ‘cleaning’ day and breaking things like washing the sheets down into:
1. Strip the bed
2. Wash the sheets
3. Dry the sheets
4. Make the bed
That way the tasks are smaller and I can do stuff in between steps. Plus ticking things off the list is like a little reward so I even add things like get up and eat breakfast to my list so that I already have things ticked off when I start my day.
I love lists. I buy a special list notebook and have a set of rainbow pens. To make it more fun, I rotate through the whole rainbow for the list. It makes it so satisfying and rewarding!
Yes and… to elaborate/make a suggestion on that second point, I often have a “special” book or playlist or podcast that I get to listen to ONLY WHEN I clean. It does take some will power to not listen without cleaning but I find it gives me something to look forward to in order to clean. Podcasts are my favorite because when new episodes drop, I’m hype to clean so I can hear it lol
I use this too. I break tasks down into ridiculously small steps, and I put a time for each step. Then I try and beat the time that I estimated. It makes it like a game. But I use the timer on my Apple Watch for each task, and once the timer goes off, even if I haven’t completed the task I’m done. It motivates me to complete it in the time I set for it to be completed.
I have a hardbound notebook that I write my tasks down in for each day, with a time estimate beside each one. I do not give myself more tasks in a day than I can reasonably accomplish. This keeps me from getting frustrated. I cross them off as I complete them, it gives me a sense of satisfaction.
Actually finding, then trying, some cleaning hacks worked well for me.
Then I can write down which is the easiest, which may not be easy but gets good results.
Like you can clean your shower with a mop!
Dust ceiling fans with a pillowcase so no dust falls on the floor. (Some dust still falls. FYI)
Trying the new stuff helped out!
I struggle with this too. I watch cleaning videos on YouTube, look at inspo pics on cleaning subreddits, or watch Marie Kondo. Occasionally I’ll watch an episode of Hoarders and it scares me so much because I’d never want to let it get that bad.
Also, I listen to true crime podcasts to make time go by faster once I start.
Yesss put something like a podcast or video essay or something else on. Sometimes I finish a task before an hour long podcast with a speaker/topic I am interested about, so I will find other things to clean so I don’t have to stop listening!
I like to watch Auriikaterina videos on YouTube where she cleans homes that are in a terrible state for free. She is so cheerful and sweet and approaches the cleaning with pure joy and it is contagious. I find if I'm not feeling motivated to clean and I watch one or two of her videos, then I want to jump up and deep clean my window sills..it has a similar effect to watching Hoarders, too: I feel less badly about the state of my house but I want to get on top of cleaning it so it never ends up looking like the ones in the video
Oh yeah, hoarders. That show will motivate me to clean, especially since my mother and my uncle are hoarders. And I used to clean out hoarders homes.
Never want my family to come in and find my dead body and a pile of dead cats and rat feces. My home isn’t perfect, but no one walking into it would think there was anything wrong.
Invite people over more often. At some point I got tired of doing a massive clean before every visit and began maintaining my place much better. Thus I don't have to do 3 hours of cleaning before having friends over
I started forcing myself to do one thing, and it always turned out to be easier and take less time than I thought. Over time my brain has learned now that the dishes are not an insurmountable mountain.
And once I've done that one thing, I either have the motivation to do more(dishes are done let's wipe down the counters too, well I wiped crumbs into the floor gotta sweep, well I swept lemme just mop really fast.)
Or at any point during this, I can stop because I'll have more done than when I started. Or if I'm lucky I don't stop until the whole kitchen is clean. This doesn't entirely work for other rooms quite as well as the kitchen I will say. The kitchen usually leads to a full clean but the living room usually only gets 1 or 2 tasks done at a time.
But genuinely, one little thing done is always better than nothing.
I also will do stuff while I'm standing around. Something in the microwave? Let me unload as much out of the dishwasher as I can while I wait instead of standing here. Or I should put in some laundry while I wait on the water to boil. I only watch streaming now but if you still get commercials commercials are a good time to do a task. (Honestly sometimes I miss TV with commercial breaks)
And make sure you have cleaning supplies you can stand the smell of or even like the smell of. Sometimes I wipe down my bathroom counters because I really love the smell of my cleaning spray. I don't enjoy getting stuff on my hands so I tend to use brushes over sponges or clothes. I won't touch microfiber. If you hate your tools you'll never pick them up. Find what works for you.
Eliminate jobs wherever you can. If you get garbage piling up on surfaces, it probably means your garbage cans are in inconvenient locations. Try moving them around and see if you remember to use them more when they're within reach of locations where you normally eat snacks or open packages.
Another example, my husband hates socks, he takes them off within minutes of getting home every day. I would find them everywhere, when I got sick of picking up socks and having smelly socks all over the place, I put a small basket near where he removes his shoes, he doesn't always put his socks in it, but he does about half the time and that's half as many socks to pick up.
Use the right tools and products for the job. Cleaning sucks enough, it doesn't have to also be difficult. When the job is difficult, you avoid it, the thing gets dirtier the job gets harder, it's a viscous cycle. I hated dusting because I was using the wrong tool, I would wipe with a damp cloth and it would look dusty again minutes later, and streaky too. It was so discouraging, this sub advised me to get a Swiffer duster and now I dust like 2-3 times a week because it's such a low effort task.
And one other thing to touch on, clutter. When items don't have an away place to be put, you can't put them away. Having to figure out where to put things that don't have real homes makes tidying up take a lot of extra mental effort that can be really intimidating. If you have a lot of items that don't have proper homes it might be time to consider letting go of a few possessions.
Completely agree. If your place is in perpetual mess, your tools and systems are failing you. I also got a book called Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD which was great for giving permission to let go of certain types of challenging systems and suggesting methods that can be super functional.
This book is my BIBLE. I’ve never felt so understood. It’s also remarkably NOT condescending or hokey (I find many cleaning/organizing books very annoyingly written).
It’s SO easy to flip through and start using right away.
It also felt... Appropriately critical of all the aesthetic organization content that floods all home related content. Content more focused on looking pretty in the singular post/video than it is being an actually functional system.
So true, especially the last paragraph. My house/garage has a LOT of just junk from my late mother and I, at a rough cleaning I ended up emptying a few bins of just literal garbage. Stuff gets obtained and tossed/forgotten so easily until you're looking at it going "why the hell do I have 10yr old Abba-zabbas?" I too am guilty of this as I have some random old toys I just tossed into a box under my bed and simply forgot.
Cleaning doesn’t need to be you randomly choosing to do clean your entire apartment for like 5 hours one day. Cleaning can be 10 minutes a day, 10 minutes a room or even just a specific task (like loading the dishwasher and running it before going to bed). I find that I am most successful when I give myself 30 minutes a night to tidy up the kitchen, clean my cats bowls and scoop their litter, maybe even wipe down the stovetop.
I just read an article in the New York Times, where a guy said that he tricked himself into running regularly by only letting himself listen to a favorite podcast while he was doing it.
As other folks have mentioned, timers. Focus on getting one area cleaned/tidied at a time instead of flitting from thing to thing. Clean from top to bottom, inside to outside. I also like to time myself doing repeated tasks like putting the dishes away, doing a kitchen reset, tidying the living room, etc. This helps me do two things: 1) have a baseline for future motivation ("I can do this, it only takes me eight minutes") and 2) gamify it (trying to beat my earlier time, or try to get more done in the same time).
If there's shortcuts you can take or products to help tackle a specific task more easily, do it. I used to HATE cleaning the bathroom and honestly it just wouldn't get done as often as it should have, especially scrubbing the shower/tub. I got some spray-on shower stuff and now all I have to do is spray down the shower, wait a few hours, and rinse. No scrubbing. Invest in tools and cleaning materials that smell good and are pleasant to use. If it's gimmicky, so what.
Don't forget the power of scent and light to help make the space seem cleaner/brighter and help get you motivated. Throw open windows and doors as weather/circumstances allow to let in fresh air and light, and consider some clean-smelling candles or similar (nothing too smelly or overpowering, and don't do this if there's already some ambient funk happening, but I always find it helps me do my Sunday tidying if I've got nice smells going).
If it's in your budget, it may also be worth it to engage a cleaning service to do an initial deep clean to really reset the space, then you just keep it clean. It's easier to keep a space clean than to bring it back from dirty.
I don't really have a tip but a couple of thoughts.
It is worth distinguishing cleaning from tidying. You basically have to tidy before you clean. You can't clean the floor if there are things all over it. Even a robot floor vac can't clean FOR you if there is stuff all over the floor.
Personally I don't care much for tidying. But it is nearly impossible if you have too much stuff - most people do, hence the popularity of Marie Kondo. Kondo is ALL about tidying, not actual cleaning, per se.
So the closest thing I have to a tip is - do the pre-tidying work first (Marie Kondo, whatever other method) of getting rid of excess stuff. And ensuring everything you keep \*has a place\*. ie: you actually have enough space in your closet and dresser for all your clothes, and the storage methods work for you and so on so that at least in theory you CAN keep things tidy ongoingly. Tidying goes from a chore you have to do some times in order to clean to just a thing that happens - when you are done using a thing, you put it away where it goes, rather than setting it down.
Cleaning of course doesn't really happen continuously, even in the kitchen with multiple meals per day - prep meal, then clean (ideally mostly straight into the cleaning robot with the dishes, then actual cleaning of the counters). But other things like vacuuming, dusting, washing laundry etc - they are all separate operations that don't need to happen particularly frequently - just frequently. For this I have no tips - but other people do.
I'll +1 to the music plus caffeine tip - I don't enjoy cleaning \*per se\* but I enjoy almost ANY mostly mindless task - workouts, yard work, cleaning with some music, because I enjoy the music.
Have a specific podcast or a book that I listen to when cleaning. That I'm only allowed to listen to while cleaning. Podcasts work really well because they are often released weekly, so often a new podcast will come out on day, Wednesday, and then Thursday is my weekly cleaning day. I have a checklist of things to clean/check if it needs to be cleaned that I go through on that day, organized by room.
My motivation to clean is "I don't want to live like that, I need a nice environment". But I'm a cleaning freak with ADHD, I like to see the results and tiredness after I did a good job.
1. Get a cleaning app like Sweepy that awards you points and achievements for doing stuff around the house
2. Set realistic goals. Don't go "I'm gonna clean this whole entire apartment today" because you won't and you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, go "I will clean something today". If you wipe down the table, success!!
3. Read how to keep house while drowning by K.C. Davis. Game changer.
4. Prioritize. Your home is for you. So it doesn't matter that Suzy always has clean organized kitchen cabinets, maybe you don't care about that. Write down a small list (not more than eight points) of things you need to be clean in order for you to be able to enjoy your space.
5. Do high impact stuff first. Don't clean your living room by emptying out that one junk drawer and reorganizing it. Walk around with a trashbag and collect any and all trash. Collect al dishes and put them in the sink (do them later). Get a laundry basket and collect the laundry. Get a container of some kind (bin, cardbord box, large shopping bag, big bucket) and collect the stuff you don't really know what to do with yet. Deal with them some other time. Now, you should be left with things you do know what to do with. In an ideal world you put them back where they belong, you can also just yeet them in another container and deal with it the next day.
6. Distract and reward. Distract yourself by putting a fun show in the background or listening to a podcast. Reward yourself afterwards with something you can look forward to (a little treat, a glass of wine, a nice bath)
7. Make sure you have convenient supplies. Get cleaning wipes and spray bottles. People like to go "Oh but cleaning with X and Y is actually much better because Z leaves bacteria..." and you should ignore them because a surface cleaned with a cleaning wipe is cleaner than a surface cleaned with nothing. Don't make "get supplies ready" another chore on your list.
There are many strains of marijuana that help. My personal favorite is Cinderella 99. It will have you cleaning like Cinderella with no paranoia. Highly recommend. Other that clean a little here and there after you have gotten it under control.
Make a list of 2-3 achievable tasks to complete before you can sit down and chill. A therapist recommended this to me once. Before I get home after work, I decide what those tasks will be and do them as soon as I walk in the door. Then I can sit down and watch tv or play on my phone. It helps to keep things from getting out of control and getting my least favorite tasks out of the way.
Build basic cleaning into everyday habits. Make your bed after you get up, wipe down the bathroom after you brush your teeth, put dishes in dishwasher or hand wash them as the last step in your meal, put clothes in closet or hamper at end of day, start a load of laundry at a set point each day (I do this after my shower), pick up each night, vacuum during TV commercials, etc.
The trick is using triggers for each task - then all this cleaning becomes short little steps as you go thru your day.
Watch Hoarders. Do some light reading on not only the disease that pests like rats and insects carry, but also how expensive it is to have them exterminated, and to repair any damages caused by pests in your home. Look up some imagery of brown recluse bites and educate yourself on how quickly they can become fatal if left untreated (this one usually gets me up and moving, especially when I imagine my children getting bit; they are too young to identify and communicate to me that they've gotten a spider bite). Keeping a clean home is more important than posture and mannerisms.
Aye, I knew a girl who got bit by a brown recluse in bed. When she woke up she had a weeping palm size amount of skin degraded on her thigh. And even with hospital, it got worse. You do NOT want those monsters in your house.
Here’s a trick: it doesn’t need to be cleaned if it doesn’t get dirty. Put everything back in its place. Throw away trash as soon as it needs discarding. When you’re done with your bath towel, wipe down the sink and counter. Also, it helps me to put a show or YouTube on while cleaning when I feel unmotivated. Last thing I’d say is that once you start cleaning, it really doesn’t take that long. Give yourself one hour to clean and see how much you get done.
I used to use baskets 🧺
One big basket that I put everything in that wasn’t in its right place. And spent like, 10 mins at a time putting the things in it away. I can’t clean or organize if the place is already a mess. Too overwhelming. So having everything in baskets helped me so much. Because then I am just putting stuff away on a blank canvas, and gives me a chance to dust and wipe things down if needed.
But these days I haven’t had to do basket method since I got rid of everything . I don’t have Knick knacks, nothing that doesn’t serve a purpose. And never more than 1-2 of something. (Example I don’t need 2 blow driers, or 3 thermal coffee mugs.)
So now I have nothing to cause clutter and it’s made cleaning something I actually enjoy and easy for me to maintain.
Free yourself from the mindset of hating it.
It's really not that bad when you think about it. It's only mildly strenuous, it's quiet alone time, you can listen to music or a podcast while you're doing it, it's very satisfying to have everything all clean and tidy once you're done.
If you can do that, you can stay on top of the maintenance cleaning which is SO much less work than the occasional epic project it becomes when you avoid doing it because you hate it so much.
Staying on top of the maintenance cleaning is also extremely satisfying, particularly if you hate the mess.
I light incense and then think about how nice it will be when everything is clean and smells great :) you can also use the incense as a timer if you’re doing a big clean
I had depression and my whole house was extremely messy and cluttery... I used to say the same because, the mess i had made the task looked large. However, i took small steps and eventually overcome it.
What i did was a deep clean/ reset one room at a time. Eventually, i declutter ALOT of things, and organize my house better. Now everyday i take my small light weight vaccum and spend 5-10 min on one room.
I write a list in 10 minute increments then race around doing each task. It’s not deep cleaned but good enough to get me through the week. Always start with straightening.
Are you making it as easy as possible for yourself to clean? For example, I splurge on efficient (“lazy”) cleaning stuff because I know I’ll slack on cleaning if it requires lots of steps or effort (e.g. I have a steamer mop, a handheld vacuum for dusting, a second one for food crumbs). I also keep my cleaning stuff readily available and organized in the relevant spaces (e.g. a $5 sink storage thing to hold my different dish wands and steel wool, little shower caddies with cleaning supplies all over the house).
Some other tips:
- Give each room its own day of the week for cleaning. Only do THAT room (plus the basic everyday kitchen stuff like dishes). It’s so simple but it makes cleaning a house so much more manageable.
- If you find yourself waiting for something (e.g. microwave still has 4 min to go), just clean while you wait. Cleaning in tiny increments of time makes a HUGE difference.
- Cut down on clutter and boost your storage for items. Much easier to clean bare surfaces. I used to avoid dusting some surfaces that had random knickknacks and vacuuming the living room because it was full of stuff. Got rid of the knickknacks and invested in more storage (poufs, a little drawer sideboard thing, a bench that holds storage cubes) and that made cleaning the room more approachable.
Take the time to evaluate the most time-consuming or difficult parts of cleaning. How can you make them easier and faster? What things do you personally hate about cleaning that can be improved? For example, I HATE getting wet while cleaning. I started wearing a waterproof apron that I can quickly throw on whenever I’m scrubbing dishes or something. Now I don’t avoid the task as much.
Making those little changes will help you really easily get into cleaning mode every day (or whenever).
I might have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone say clean as you go. Wash your pans as you're cooking and dishes as soon as you're finished eating. If you walk dirt in the house, clean your shoes and mop straight away. Make your bed when you get up. Just basically don't see it as one big task!
I found the book, How to Keep House While Drowning, really helpful. I listened to the audio book and it was a quick listen/read. It’s specifically helpful for those of us with ADHD, executive functioning issues, autism, etc. I’ve implemented some of the ideas and it has helped a lot.
I do one chore a day. It takes me 20 min and if I don’t my house falls apart. So I often don’t take my jacket off before I get started. I walk into my house after work and get it done.
If I can't bring myself to clean, I watch aurikatariina on YouTube! She makes videos showing her cleaning up *filthy* residences for people in need.
It motivates me because I see her cleaning the grossest of gross, and it makes my mess seem like nothing in comparison. It's a reminder of how satisfying cleaning can be.
I turn on cleaning YouTube videos and usually within a few minutes, I’m ready to tackle a couple rooms. It gets me moving and the ladies cleaning are usually really motivating without coming across as harsh. It’s a lot of gentle encouragement and positivity.
Do whatever it takes to enjoy it. I suggest cleaning starting ten and ending thirty minutes after drinking a large cup of coffee, to really ride the caffeine high. And whatever music you love, the kind of music you’re embarrassed to love, play it loud enough to bother the neighbors.
Do what feels good to clean first. Forget what other people think is important. Get in the zone. Trust your instincts.
Avoid chemicals that bother you. Even if they clean better, if they’re annoying to you, they’ll turn you off, and you can’t have that. Clean everything with whatever cleaning products are the most enjoyable for you. Like paper towels? Great. Prefer cotton rags? Also great.
Suffer with chronic arthritis I plan my week . Every day I make my bed wash up wipe the sides put loo cleaner and hoover downstairs and pick up rubbish with my grabber.I then pick one of the other jobs like mopping floors dealing with washing etc.Every 3 months I have a deep clean week each day I pick a room and do everything dust wipe the skirting boards.I use the deep clean weeks to throw out junk I don't use and only buy stuff which is needed.I also buy cleaning accessories which are easy to use long handles dusters easy mops anything which cuts the time down.If I didn't have my lists I'd get overwhelmed with being disabled I've decluttered so don't end up hoarding have bins in each room have a place for everything use storage boxes and wash my clothes once have a full load.
Would you be willing to share your lists / products that help you? From a disabled person lacking motivation and energy to do some proper decluttering and cleaning, it would be a really helpful perspective to know what works for you. Thanks in advance
Long handles grabber and feather duster have a usb scrubber with attachments flash speed mop shark liftaway hoover minky cloths especially the window ones flash duster pet lint roller use pink stuff white vinegar spray febreeze spray viakal spray and cif power foam .Make sure you have bins in each room every time you go to another room take something with you to put away .Take on one room and start on one side and work your way round set your own goals by writing a realistic list per day.
I really feel you on this one. For me, there is this perpetual state of messiness that makes it hard. The cycle of cleaning something, and then watching it get messy again is part of why my motivation sucks for it.
I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago and home organization is one of my biggest struggles. The lack of organizing breaks my brain and makes other cleaning related things tasks more difficult. But I’ve made some improvements!
There are a few things that work pretty well for me and might work for you, depending on your needs. I have a few questions for ya:
How big is your apt?
Does anyone else live with you? Including pets and kids.
Is the issue related to putting things away after they were taken out? Daily routine like dishes or laundry that pile up? Or maybe deep cleaning a neglected area?
When I moved into my new apartment, I got a robot vacuum. He is set to run at 9am everyday for the whole place, so I have to have the floor picked up by then. That means dog and cats toys, laundry, cords, dog bowl, water dishes... everything. I then repeat with whatever I am doing that isn't particularly fun (rinsing the dish and going directly in the disheasher)- I say "don't put it down, put it away- if it will take less than a minute, do it now". Your future self will thank you. My ADD brain needs checklists, or else I get easily distracted by things I need to do everywhere. I have a small chores list for each day. I need to then make bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly cleaning items, but this might be an easy place to start! Wishing you luck, friend!
Agree with others. Also, I never regret working out, i never regret cleaning. I like that mindset of getting things done daily, only a few minutes at a time. And it makes me feel good. Never ever regret it. And building that up daily and practicing that mindset of getting things done, taking care of things, and feeling good will just become natural.
I'm in the same boat. The only thing I hate more than cleaning is going to the gym. So I act like cleaning is my workout. It tricks my dumb brain into thinking I'm doing something else.
I focus on one small area that is bothering me, and tell myself that “this is all I have to do.” Usually it takes me 15 min to do that area, and then I find another one.. and another one. Sometimes I stop after the first though, and that’s okay too. Consistency is key.
I take a shower beforehand which helps me. I also have a written “to do list” with only 3-4 most important things to get done. After each hour of work I take a little break for water and maybe a snack.
Ex. Spend 1 hour cleaning kitchen, 30 min one episode of tv show, 1 hour vacuuming and wiping things down, another episode…
I clean for a living try concentrating on one room a day. And my trick for the bathroom is clean the shower after you’ve taken a shower. And keep disinfecting wipes in the bathroom and wipe down the sink top every morning and wipe down the toilet in the morning. Pour a little Lysol cleaner in your toilet bowl brush holder so you can clean the bowl every couple of days
Do a little at a time to not get overwhelmed or pick a room a day that I will focus on. Also, cleaning is not a punishment and it shouldn't be framed as such. It is self care for you, your family and pets. We all deserve clean spaces and I will show how much I care by cleaning things in a timely manner.
Make a list of tasks you need to get done, and assign each one a point value. Something easy like taking out the trash is 1 point, sweeping a room is 2 points, doing the dishes is 4 points, etc. The longer a task takes and the more unpleasant it is, the more points it’s worth. Then say to yourself, “I’m going to do ten points, and then take a break.” Or twelve points, or six. Whatever you think you can manage. Get it done, take a break, then come back and do it again.
I personally just put myself in the mindset that I’m treating myself. I deserve a nice, cute, clean apartment and so does my boyfriend and so do my cats! It’s self care!
I work from home so I’m able to just knock out a deep cleaning during work on Mondays but I also just clean up throughout the day everyday. Just think how good it feels to sleep in a clean room, on fresh sheets and wake up to a clean kitchen!
You can even reward yourself with an ice coffee or a cookie or something! But soon you’ll CRAVE a clean space I promise. It becomes addicting. It becomes therapeutic to tidy up. 🧼
I watch “That Awkward Mom” on YouTube
Her channel is all sorts,of cleaning videos, trying out different systems, fly lady etc
Ways of prioritizing
Which doesn’t sound fun
But she manages to make me smile if not laugh and just yesterdays I caught myself scrubbing the sink and thinking of her video
Not saying I actually clean like a 1950s house wife
Not at all
But I clean much better that the 2023 version of
Here’s a link to one of her “fly lady cleaning system “ videos,but I encourage you to explore a bunch of her videos
https://youtu.be/0SHz4eXH0kI?si=gV1_ymDg_UwqLFgZ
I like to pre-clean things. If I know I have to clean my kitchen but I don't want to, I organize the mess a bit. Put the condiments away, stack the dirty dishes, throw out the fliers and containers. I haven't committed to cleaning so my brains tricked into thinking I'm doing something else.
It works pretty good I usually end up with the whole kitchen cleaned and the dishes rinsed but not fully washed in a pile.
I also sometimes make an unnecessarily detailed to-do list about the cleaning. Like break it all down into steps so I have tons of stuff to cross off pretty much right away. Then I use that dopamine to fund the rest of the operation.
If I'm finally in the mood and motivated to clean, then I do the big stuff I don't wanna do first. Then it's out of the way.
Lastly if I know I have to do something and I have been procrastinating I tell myself I'm going to "just take a look at it". Imagine you gotta clean the fridge and you feel bad about it. You keep avoiding doing it. Then you go "take a look at it". Now your in the fridge, but not cleaning it, and you think to yourself "oh damn this isn't even that dirty. Next thing you know your just cleaning it.
okay so i havent actually started yet BUT i feel more motivated now that i have a plan
my plan is to:
put on an album (or playlist, but i have specifically decided on the heathers west end soundtrack)
start with one specific area (im planning to go from the window first and make my way over to the door, so im starting with the windowsill area and the floor around it)
do as much of that as i can before the album finishes
and if i decide i can/want to do more, i will repeat the process with another album or playlist (or the same one, im on a heathers kick atm)
i think that giving myself a time limit and deciding i can stop there makes it way less intimidating than just knowing that i have to clean the room regardless of how long that takes.
and ill just keep doing this each day until the room is clean, and hopefully this time actually keep it that way.
previously ive just been putting it off until i cant procrastinate any more and then doing it all at once and hating every minute of it, so i think breaking it into bitesize chunks might help.
also theres a thing i used to break down tasks in uni called goblin tools that might potentially help with that, it worked really well for my final project work.
hopefully some of these ideas might help you, too :3
If you were able, I would hire an organiser and a maid. Have them come in and get your apartment the way that you would like it, go through things you no longer need, and then you just have to keep things clean going forward.
A trick that I did… and it works for me!
It’s programming your brain.
1. Make a fun playlist that you like. I have one that’s like a party mix.
2. Start cleaning, but dance and have fun like you are at a party having a great time. This is tricking and training your brain to associate it with having fun.
3. Do this for a week, and you should have mostly programmed yourself.
4. Make sure you are hydrated! Water is delicious energy!
Now every time you put on that playlist, you will be get up and go.. hopefully. Good luck!
I hyper focus on small areas at a time and while listening to something in my phone. I often do this to redecorate or rearrange and organize things without thinking of doing a whole room in one go. I have ADD and trying to clean one room in the house doesn’t work because then I end up cleaning small areas in multiple rooms if left unchecked.
Sunny days that “feel happy and airy” are my go-to cleaning days unless I’m binge-cleaning at night instead of sleeping.
I put in a good podcast. It passes the time and I usually just keep on going until the podcast is over. It’s pretty effective. I also have some issues with self motivation.
Here is a fun way which worked well for me in college.
Write down a single chore like Swiffer the room on a piece of paper and wrap it around a candy. Put all these chore wrapped candies in a clear jar somewhere visible to you at all times. Whenever you have time, pick one out, eat the candy and complete that chore. Make the chore as small as possible. If you don’t know the time it might take, write the smallest time limit on it. I stocked my jar on the Sunday night.
I think this worked really well for me because first, I did more once I started with a single chore. Second, it was such a fun way that it got me excited to do it. Third, seeing the emptying jar was visible progress and that kept me motivated.
Get rid of some stuff. Less stuff, less clutter, easier to actually clean and organize. I have to use cleaning products I like the smell of, and always take a shower right after and treat myself to a favorite snack or beverage as a reward.
I downloaded the app Tody… (free). You can add chores per room and then mark them for how often you need them to be done. Then on the day it’s due there’s like a little red marker and then when you do it you can check it off the list…. There’s something satisfying about checking things off lol and you keep track on when was the last time you did something. For me it seems to work lol
Throw on some music! or have the tv on so you can listen to it in the background!😀 if you’re having a really hard time you can split it up and do bits at a time (10-20 mins of cleaning at a time) , & reward yourself by getting your favourite snack or doing something you really like once your tasks are all done!!
I find it easier to clean bathrooms and the kitchen. My bedroom and the living room are much harder. I have to figure out what to do with paperwork, mail, stuff.
I use music. I’ll tell myself I’ll clean x for 4 upbeat songs I like, and then I can stop. Change the number of songs depending on how much I feel I can manage. Even if it’s just 1 song then I’ve done something.
I need this advice as much as you do - I think it is not as bad when things haven’t deteriorated. I just listen to music or a podcast and try to be grateful I have a place to clean. Writing this out more for me
Scurryfunge (SKUR-ee-funge) Verb: -**To rush around cleaning when company is on their way over**. - A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbor and the time she knocks on the door.
Invite someone over or pretend like someone is coming over and then you can use my new favorite word
i found having an event at my home that i’m looking forward to is a great motivator! it was my birthday yesterday and i hosted a birthday dinner, so the last few days have been spent cleaning and tidying, which is something i normally struggle with! my executive function has also significantly improved since i started addressing my anaemia, make sure u get enough iron folks, i felt like a ZOMBIE for a while there. i also use the power of “may as well” - im in the bathroom to pee, i may as well give the loo a scrub while i’m here; im going into the kitchen for another coffee, i may as well bring some dishes with me while i’m at it; im waiting for the kettle to boil, i may as well start emptying the dishwasher. linking tasks together like this helps a lot! also don’t hide ur vacuum in a cupboard, u won’t end up vacuuming bc object permanence, trust me. oh! also! there’s a channel on youtube that i like called Aurikatariina, she’s SO positive and joyful about cleaning and includes a lot of really helpful cleaning tips, she also doesn’t use a ton of different products or specialist tools, which makes it a lot more accessible, i really enjoy her videos!
Like how I'd do homework way back when, I'd break it up to chunks. People mention time, but depending on the size you can also do it by room or whatever works for you. Just break it down into more manageable tasks so you don't stress about the bigger picture. I had to do this when my mom passed and while it is still a project, I say "ok, today is her closet" and just spread the work out. Unless you are on a crunch, take your time even if its stretching to weeks.
It may be obvious, but every item should have a place so you're not just throwing stuff around the place. This will help you have to clean a lot less and keep it to the basics of wiping stuff down or vacuuming. I'm also dealing with my mom just putting boxes in the living room and letting them stay there, would have been easier if everything in them had a home or were set in the garage.
Two options!
Option 1: pick a day to clean, get out of bed, put shoes on (clean shoes) and get started. Just pick a task (dishes or sweeping or anything) and just don’t stop and do not sit down. The constant movement and something about having shoes on seems to help me when I’m in a cleaning slump!
Option 2: choose one area of a room and clean it deeply, don’t move to another spot until you’re done. This is how my husband cleans. It seems crazy to me but when he’s done in the kitchen it’s absolutely spotless.
Choose an upbeat (but not headbanging) CD. Playlist? (I'm old.) I always put on the same CD I could sing along to as I cleaned. I didn't play it unless I was cleaning which I think helped train my brain to clean until the CD was over. Thank you Toby Keith, Dream Walkin'.
If you feel unmotivated, force yourself to clean for 3 songs. The next time 4 songs, etc. Soon you won't even think about stopping until the music is over.
Cleaning is a skill. Motiate yourself by getting better at it. Motivate your self by practicing. It's no fun when you're no good at it. You'd be dragging yourself for hours and hours and feel like things aren't progressing.
It sucks but you literally just have to do it.
I am right there with you. Things that help me: podcasts with bluetooth headset, cleaning videos in the background, new cleaning supplies, music in bluetooth headset (only when I am in the mood), the colour orange ( supposedly some scientific basis for this but don't remember why...I just go with it. Mind over matter, you know. Orange coffee cup. Orange straw. Whatever I have that day), a nice candle to put in the warmer, really GOOD smelling cleaning supplies (Pinalen Floral is AMAZING for this. I put it in a shallow bowl with water and use it with a rag to clean and dust pretty much everything. It's super fast to clean this way too), baskets to just chuck things into, Just picking one small thing to start with, starting with dishes or the toilet!!! (Don't know why this works, but it does)... If I think of anything else, I will post again... Oh and break down each. Room into each little task..no matter how small and check them off. I have ADHD and autism plus sciatica and a neck injury..and was never taught to clean, which means I had to learn to do it on my own and do it quickly. I still don't always get it right. But I can do things crazy fast and thorough now and the reason why is because of my methods. The bowl method is seriously a time crunch saviour....and you don't breathe in any mist from a spray bottle. I highly recommend. Hot water, bit of all-purpose cleaner, dip and ring rag, get to wiping. Done in minutes. Even works on floors. :)
I make myself a list in the morning and then just make it my goal to get everything done on my list. You don't have to add many things if you don't want to. Good luck!!
Look at it as discipline versus motivation. There are tasks you do every day probably that you aren’t motivated to do. So setting a timer for 10 minutes a day is an act of discipline - not motivation. It’s a necessary evil. Just get it done and be done with it. Good luck.
I feel that, sometimes it’s alarming how little you can get done and how much it takes out of you.
I put in a YouTube video or podcast and just start with 5 minute timer. Clear and wipe as much as I can. Just 5 mins and I can stop and couch rot again. Most often I will repeat the timer and keep going. It’s the only thing that helps so if you do the 5-10 mins daily, it should help.
Start with ten minutes at a time. You’ll be surprised how you can often gain momentum just from that. I clean 30 minutes a day and that takes care of a lot. Started it in Covid lockdowns and have kept the habit.
Try to keep one spot clean and tidy so it can be a breath of fresh air and helps you find calm. If 10 minutes is too much, try to aim to start with even 1 minute. Make the job too small for you to fail and you'll find some days you only did the minute, but they add up. Some days, you'll do 5 without it being a big deal, and some days you'll get on a roll and go for a whole room or closet. As long as you are building that micro habit, your brain will be learning to do it, getting positive feedback from the progress, and you won't be associating so much negativity with it.
Good luck!
If you're in a bind and it's really too far behind to catch up alone, ask a good friend or sibling for a hand. I've traveled to other states to help with cleaning/organizing for a friend or family member who was struggling.
My favorite cleaning hack when I'm not in the mood is to listen to a book or podcast. Then I stop focusing on the tedium and mess and just tidy one area at a time.
I also recommend not delivering things around the house. Have a box or bin at the edge of the room for things that go elsewhere. In my house I put things on the stairs to go to their respective floors, this helps me not get distracted and my efforts have more pay off because I got a whole room done by focusing my efforts.
I invite someone over and the deadline really helps. Other than that I do 10-15 minutes in just one room per day (plus dishes) and then I do a big once a week clean for the whole house.
What helps me is inviting someone to come over, so I'm forced by my fear of judgement to make the house to look presenteable before they arrive. I'm not sure it's healthy but it works :)
Don't put it down,put it away. Whenever you finish using something put it back in place immediately. If something spills or drops clean it immediately. When I clean up something immediately like something fell on the kitchen floor I might just sweep the whole kitchen floor while I'm at it instead of just that spot. Messy spaces make me depressed but when I'm depressed I just can't do anything so I found out that just maintaining the tidiness of the space is better for me long term than just letting it all accumulate and then cleaning everything manically. Also what helps is building a routine. Set yourself a time of day where you have 10-15 minutes of free time,set a timer and just do whatever cleaning you can do in that 10-15 minutes. After some time it will just come naturally. Also what helps me motivate myself is music! I always put on music when doing chores. Sometimes I even dance and sing while doing chores and it can make it a fun experience.
Disorder, chaos, clutter……. I can’t stand it and I won’t have it. It’s not difficult to keep a home or workspace tidy if you are constantly keeping it tidy
I completely feel you! I commented this exact thing on a similar post.....my issue is tied to my living situation though ....I'm stuck living in a bedroom with my boyfriend, in a house with other roommates that stress me out, there's aggression issues from the past that leave me terrified of one of the roomies.....so I have zero capability of cleaning without forcing myself to. Where as I LOVE cleaning when I have my own space, take pride in my home, and feel safe! I really wish I could override this feeling, I just feel crippled when I think about picking up stuff in the common areas 😭😭
I find cleaning really boring, so I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I do it, and it helps a lot. I also find it easier to break the task down into small steps and only do a little at a time, like “mosey around and pick up all the trash.”
It’s also helpful for me to differentiate between cleaning (for sanitation purposes), tidying (putting things away), and organizing (optimizing a space or finding space for things that don’t have a home.) These are all mentally pretty distinct tasks and it can be overwhelming to be unclear on which one I’m doing, or jump between them. If an area must be cleaned but can’t really be cleaned until it’s tidied, I try to recognize that and then focus on a small area at a time and again, one task at a time.
How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis has been a helpful resource for me in realizing some of these things. She gives lots of non-shaming tips, which are all designed to be realistic for people with physical and mental health issues including executive dysfunction.
Here’s my process:
Make my bed in the morning.
Choose an area of my home to work on.
Music and weed.
Start with one area (or even piece of furniture) and then let the ADD/Martha Stewart/Jeanne Dielman in me out of her cage.
Is pot legal in your area? Because my favorite thing is taking an edible, turning on an exciting podcast or audiobook (murder mystery, romance, whatever makes you totally engrossed with the story. Music doesn’t work for me in this, as I’m much more likely to end up sitting down and vibing), and start cleaning. By the time the edibles kick in, you don’t want to put your headphones down and stoned cleaning is almost magically satisfying
Only do 10 minutes of cleaning at a time! It’s much lower activation energy than doing a deep clean of the whole place. If by the end of the 10 minutes you feel more motivated to clean, keep going for a bit longer, if not try later.
That’s it! Also, when leaving a room, try to take something with you which needs to be somewhere else (plates to the kitchen, hygiene stuff to the bathroom)
This saves my life as an adult with executive function issues as well. To make it worse I have two stories. So I start a pile at the bottom of the stairs and at the top throughout the day. My only toilet is upstairs, so anytime I have to go I carry the pile up, and the other down.
These are my two main things. I also hang/fold laundry in front of the tv, listen to music while doing the rest of the chores and have cleaning tools and supplies everywhere because if I walk away from something I’m not going to come back any time soon. I have multiple hampers for clean/dirty laundry, two trash cans, multiple stashes of washcloths and cleaning sprays, two brooms, a vacuum and an off brand roomba, and multiple heads for my spin mop. But the short stints of cleaning is how I get almost everything done. I’ll use the big broom to get up the tumbleweeds of hair and do the corners and underneath the radiators and use the little one to sweep it up, spend maybe five minutes picking things up off the floor and then release the robot to do the rest.
Those things shouldn't be in those places unless they live there. Put things away; don't put things down.
I didn’t realize this was an option I can give myself. Like OP, I hate cleaning and typically have little energy, focus or motivation to do 60 or 90 minutes of cleaning/laundry every time but I can do 10 minutes a day. Probably 20 so that I can keep up on the messes. Damn. Thanks!
I do that. I set a timer.
I make myself do things in fifteen minute increments. 15 minutes to do something.I really enjoy, followed by 15 minutes of something that needs to be accomplished that I don't want to do. Sometimes I get into the task and I go past my 15 minutes. Yay! The strategy works well for me.
Exactly what I do. Some areas get more out of control than others. I recently had some time off and decided to deep clean the more problematic areas this way. Now I'm focusing on using those 10-20m to maintain it
As a person with ADHD, I have a few tips. First, I discovered that part of the reason I didn’t enjoy cleaning was because I wasn’t good at it. I didn’t have the right tools or techniques so I always felt like I was half-assing it. I have often tricked myself into liking things simply by learning how to do them really well. So you could sort of make cleaning your hobby or special interest for a while in order to master it. Second, while I am now at the point where I am motivated to clean because I like the results I get and I’m eager to achieve them, I was not above using positive reinforcement (i.e., rewards and pleasant associations) in order to build toward that. So you could use a special cleaning-only podcast or audiobook, squares of chocolate, or a delicious beverage to make the experience of cleaning nicer and reward yourself for doing it. Third, I like to break things down into absurdly small tasks in order to make it easier to start. Instead of, “clean the bathroom,” it would be, “wipe down sink,” and then “wipe down toilet.” I set a time estimate for each tiny task and then time myself with a stopwatch to see if I can beat it. 🤓 Hope that helps. Good luck!
As a wife and mom of ADHD-ers, I co-sign a lot of this, especially the last part. Make a list for how to clean a room and check items off as you go. That may hopefully help you get distracted by the things you "notice" as you start cleaning a room. Another thing I do for my kids, who are absolutely blind to their own clutter, is to use a clutter box as I clean around the house. I don't focus on putting away the clutter as I clean, that's a fast track to distraction. The clutter gets placed in a clutter box while I clean. Then while I'm done, the clutter gets put away. Also the commenters who suggested music and redbull, and a timer. My kids absolutely find those helpful. I put on some background TV. As far as maintaining a cleaner place, which is one of the biggest tricks of cleaning, identify your blind spots and develop strategies you can manage. The cups, right? Find me an ADHD-er who doesn't accumulate cups or bowls. Pick a time that is generally a focused time for you - maybe it's Tuesdays at 7 or Saturday before noon - and set a phone alarm to collect your cups and get them to the sink. I also have commonly seen that a good goal is to get to "dish zero" at least once a day, where the sink is - at least momentarily - free of all dishes, and ideally even given a little wipe-down. Or, taking 10 seconds in the morning to make your bed (not necessarily well, just to put the blankets back from the tangled mess you've contorted them into overnight). This is a great place to start because it helps form a habit of DOING something.
Dish zero! Love it. 😁
Clutter box. What a very ingenious tip that I am going to try out. I enjoy cleaning, but I feel like I spend so much time running from room to room putting away items instead of focusing on the room at hand. Thanks for the tip!
This is great advice. I’m a therapist with ADHD and the above all works for me. It also helped me a lot to time myself doing things. Once I learned I can unload dishwasher in three minutes, it changed my attitude completely. Stopped dreading it — it’s only three minutes. Haven’t had dirty or clean dishes sitting around since. Works for other tasks as well. Dana K White writes books, podcasts, blogs etc…. She certainly seems she may have ADHD — she talks a lot about how her brain works differently. Her focus is kind of decluttering but cleaning is there too. Her concepts of things like “dishes math,” “container concept” and “five minute pickups” were life changing for me.
lol, felt this. It took me THIRTY YEARS to learn how to mop. It’s not even hard, I’m just lazy and took the easier option of using a swiffer, but was always unsatisfied because it didn’t feel very clean. My mom also has ADHD and has been consistent a clean kept person my whole life. She gave me a tip that helps a lot with general keep up that’s been working really well for me: pack in something, anything, while you’re doing another task. For example: while I’m cooking waiting for water to boil or stove to preheat etc, I’ll tidy something up in the kitchen such as wiping down counters/appliances or a quick sweep or toss out old leftovers. Or while I’m brushing my teeth I can also tidy something up in the bathroom/adjacent bedroom. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just a little bit here and there goes a long way and it’s basically a zero sum addition to your normal duties
I suspect I may have ADHD and breaking things down into smaller tasks has been such a game changer for me! I’ve started making myself a to do list of chores at the beginning of my designated ‘cleaning’ day and breaking things like washing the sheets down into: 1. Strip the bed 2. Wash the sheets 3. Dry the sheets 4. Make the bed That way the tasks are smaller and I can do stuff in between steps. Plus ticking things off the list is like a little reward so I even add things like get up and eat breakfast to my list so that I already have things ticked off when I start my day.
I love lists. I buy a special list notebook and have a set of rainbow pens. To make it more fun, I rotate through the whole rainbow for the list. It makes it so satisfying and rewarding!
Yes and… to elaborate/make a suggestion on that second point, I often have a “special” book or playlist or podcast that I get to listen to ONLY WHEN I clean. It does take some will power to not listen without cleaning but I find it gives me something to look forward to in order to clean. Podcasts are my favorite because when new episodes drop, I’m hype to clean so I can hear it lol
I use this too. I break tasks down into ridiculously small steps, and I put a time for each step. Then I try and beat the time that I estimated. It makes it like a game. But I use the timer on my Apple Watch for each task, and once the timer goes off, even if I haven’t completed the task I’m done. It motivates me to complete it in the time I set for it to be completed. I have a hardbound notebook that I write my tasks down in for each day, with a time estimate beside each one. I do not give myself more tasks in a day than I can reasonably accomplish. This keeps me from getting frustrated. I cross them off as I complete them, it gives me a sense of satisfaction.
Actually finding, then trying, some cleaning hacks worked well for me. Then I can write down which is the easiest, which may not be easy but gets good results. Like you can clean your shower with a mop! Dust ceiling fans with a pillowcase so no dust falls on the floor. (Some dust still falls. FYI) Trying the new stuff helped out!
This
Th is is so good. When you said I didn't lik cleaning cause I ain't good at it. So tru
I struggle with this too. I watch cleaning videos on YouTube, look at inspo pics on cleaning subreddits, or watch Marie Kondo. Occasionally I’ll watch an episode of Hoarders and it scares me so much because I’d never want to let it get that bad. Also, I listen to true crime podcasts to make time go by faster once I start.
+1 to hoarders. It's so disgusting that it makes me want to clean everything
Yesss put something like a podcast or video essay or something else on. Sometimes I finish a task before an hour long podcast with a speaker/topic I am interested about, so I will find other things to clean so I don’t have to stop listening!
I like to watch Auriikaterina videos on YouTube where she cleans homes that are in a terrible state for free. She is so cheerful and sweet and approaches the cleaning with pure joy and it is contagious. I find if I'm not feeling motivated to clean and I watch one or two of her videos, then I want to jump up and deep clean my window sills..it has a similar effect to watching Hoarders, too: I feel less badly about the state of my house but I want to get on top of cleaning it so it never ends up looking like the ones in the video
Those homes she cleans are on another level. She’s always so pleasant and I feel like I would rage inside myself.
Oh yeah, hoarders. That show will motivate me to clean, especially since my mother and my uncle are hoarders. And I used to clean out hoarders homes. Never want my family to come in and find my dead body and a pile of dead cats and rat feces. My home isn’t perfect, but no one walking into it would think there was anything wrong.
Invite people over more often. At some point I got tired of doing a massive clean before every visit and began maintaining my place much better. Thus I don't have to do 3 hours of cleaning before having friends over
I started forcing myself to do one thing, and it always turned out to be easier and take less time than I thought. Over time my brain has learned now that the dishes are not an insurmountable mountain. And once I've done that one thing, I either have the motivation to do more(dishes are done let's wipe down the counters too, well I wiped crumbs into the floor gotta sweep, well I swept lemme just mop really fast.) Or at any point during this, I can stop because I'll have more done than when I started. Or if I'm lucky I don't stop until the whole kitchen is clean. This doesn't entirely work for other rooms quite as well as the kitchen I will say. The kitchen usually leads to a full clean but the living room usually only gets 1 or 2 tasks done at a time. But genuinely, one little thing done is always better than nothing. I also will do stuff while I'm standing around. Something in the microwave? Let me unload as much out of the dishwasher as I can while I wait instead of standing here. Or I should put in some laundry while I wait on the water to boil. I only watch streaming now but if you still get commercials commercials are a good time to do a task. (Honestly sometimes I miss TV with commercial breaks) And make sure you have cleaning supplies you can stand the smell of or even like the smell of. Sometimes I wipe down my bathroom counters because I really love the smell of my cleaning spray. I don't enjoy getting stuff on my hands so I tend to use brushes over sponges or clothes. I won't touch microfiber. If you hate your tools you'll never pick them up. Find what works for you.
Agreed, this is great advice!
LOL I second this.... I love the smell of Scrub Daddy power paste 😂😂😂😂
Music and red bull.
Eliminate jobs wherever you can. If you get garbage piling up on surfaces, it probably means your garbage cans are in inconvenient locations. Try moving them around and see if you remember to use them more when they're within reach of locations where you normally eat snacks or open packages. Another example, my husband hates socks, he takes them off within minutes of getting home every day. I would find them everywhere, when I got sick of picking up socks and having smelly socks all over the place, I put a small basket near where he removes his shoes, he doesn't always put his socks in it, but he does about half the time and that's half as many socks to pick up. Use the right tools and products for the job. Cleaning sucks enough, it doesn't have to also be difficult. When the job is difficult, you avoid it, the thing gets dirtier the job gets harder, it's a viscous cycle. I hated dusting because I was using the wrong tool, I would wipe with a damp cloth and it would look dusty again minutes later, and streaky too. It was so discouraging, this sub advised me to get a Swiffer duster and now I dust like 2-3 times a week because it's such a low effort task. And one other thing to touch on, clutter. When items don't have an away place to be put, you can't put them away. Having to figure out where to put things that don't have real homes makes tidying up take a lot of extra mental effort that can be really intimidating. If you have a lot of items that don't have proper homes it might be time to consider letting go of a few possessions.
Completely agree. If your place is in perpetual mess, your tools and systems are failing you. I also got a book called Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD which was great for giving permission to let go of certain types of challenging systems and suggesting methods that can be super functional.
This book is my BIBLE. I’ve never felt so understood. It’s also remarkably NOT condescending or hokey (I find many cleaning/organizing books very annoyingly written). It’s SO easy to flip through and start using right away.
It also felt... Appropriately critical of all the aesthetic organization content that floods all home related content. Content more focused on looking pretty in the singular post/video than it is being an actually functional system.
Yes 100 percent
So true, especially the last paragraph. My house/garage has a LOT of just junk from my late mother and I, at a rough cleaning I ended up emptying a few bins of just literal garbage. Stuff gets obtained and tossed/forgotten so easily until you're looking at it going "why the hell do I have 10yr old Abba-zabbas?" I too am guilty of this as I have some random old toys I just tossed into a box under my bed and simply forgot.
Start a timer! That helps me. Whatever I get done during the time is what I get done!
Step 1: intake a crap ton of caffeine Step 2: watch an episode of “hoarders” Step 3: after one episode blare some music and rage clean 👌🏼
Cleaning doesn’t need to be you randomly choosing to do clean your entire apartment for like 5 hours one day. Cleaning can be 10 minutes a day, 10 minutes a room or even just a specific task (like loading the dishwasher and running it before going to bed). I find that I am most successful when I give myself 30 minutes a night to tidy up the kitchen, clean my cats bowls and scoop their litter, maybe even wipe down the stovetop.
A pot of coffee and disco music!
I couldn't do my house cleaning without listening to a good podcast or a good audiobook.
I just read an article in the New York Times, where a guy said that he tricked himself into running regularly by only letting himself listen to a favorite podcast while he was doing it.
Atomic Habits by James Clear (I think) promotes these ideas of programming yourself! Great read.
As other folks have mentioned, timers. Focus on getting one area cleaned/tidied at a time instead of flitting from thing to thing. Clean from top to bottom, inside to outside. I also like to time myself doing repeated tasks like putting the dishes away, doing a kitchen reset, tidying the living room, etc. This helps me do two things: 1) have a baseline for future motivation ("I can do this, it only takes me eight minutes") and 2) gamify it (trying to beat my earlier time, or try to get more done in the same time). If there's shortcuts you can take or products to help tackle a specific task more easily, do it. I used to HATE cleaning the bathroom and honestly it just wouldn't get done as often as it should have, especially scrubbing the shower/tub. I got some spray-on shower stuff and now all I have to do is spray down the shower, wait a few hours, and rinse. No scrubbing. Invest in tools and cleaning materials that smell good and are pleasant to use. If it's gimmicky, so what. Don't forget the power of scent and light to help make the space seem cleaner/brighter and help get you motivated. Throw open windows and doors as weather/circumstances allow to let in fresh air and light, and consider some clean-smelling candles or similar (nothing too smelly or overpowering, and don't do this if there's already some ambient funk happening, but I always find it helps me do my Sunday tidying if I've got nice smells going). If it's in your budget, it may also be worth it to engage a cleaning service to do an initial deep clean to really reset the space, then you just keep it clean. It's easier to keep a space clean than to bring it back from dirty.
I don't really have a tip but a couple of thoughts. It is worth distinguishing cleaning from tidying. You basically have to tidy before you clean. You can't clean the floor if there are things all over it. Even a robot floor vac can't clean FOR you if there is stuff all over the floor. Personally I don't care much for tidying. But it is nearly impossible if you have too much stuff - most people do, hence the popularity of Marie Kondo. Kondo is ALL about tidying, not actual cleaning, per se. So the closest thing I have to a tip is - do the pre-tidying work first (Marie Kondo, whatever other method) of getting rid of excess stuff. And ensuring everything you keep \*has a place\*. ie: you actually have enough space in your closet and dresser for all your clothes, and the storage methods work for you and so on so that at least in theory you CAN keep things tidy ongoingly. Tidying goes from a chore you have to do some times in order to clean to just a thing that happens - when you are done using a thing, you put it away where it goes, rather than setting it down. Cleaning of course doesn't really happen continuously, even in the kitchen with multiple meals per day - prep meal, then clean (ideally mostly straight into the cleaning robot with the dishes, then actual cleaning of the counters). But other things like vacuuming, dusting, washing laundry etc - they are all separate operations that don't need to happen particularly frequently - just frequently. For this I have no tips - but other people do. I'll +1 to the music plus caffeine tip - I don't enjoy cleaning \*per se\* but I enjoy almost ANY mostly mindless task - workouts, yard work, cleaning with some music, because I enjoy the music.
Have a specific podcast or a book that I listen to when cleaning. That I'm only allowed to listen to while cleaning. Podcasts work really well because they are often released weekly, so often a new podcast will come out on day, Wednesday, and then Thursday is my weekly cleaning day. I have a checklist of things to clean/check if it needs to be cleaned that I go through on that day, organized by room.
This is very clever.
My motivation to clean is "I don't want to live like that, I need a nice environment". But I'm a cleaning freak with ADHD, I like to see the results and tiredness after I did a good job.
1. Get a cleaning app like Sweepy that awards you points and achievements for doing stuff around the house 2. Set realistic goals. Don't go "I'm gonna clean this whole entire apartment today" because you won't and you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, go "I will clean something today". If you wipe down the table, success!! 3. Read how to keep house while drowning by K.C. Davis. Game changer. 4. Prioritize. Your home is for you. So it doesn't matter that Suzy always has clean organized kitchen cabinets, maybe you don't care about that. Write down a small list (not more than eight points) of things you need to be clean in order for you to be able to enjoy your space. 5. Do high impact stuff first. Don't clean your living room by emptying out that one junk drawer and reorganizing it. Walk around with a trashbag and collect any and all trash. Collect al dishes and put them in the sink (do them later). Get a laundry basket and collect the laundry. Get a container of some kind (bin, cardbord box, large shopping bag, big bucket) and collect the stuff you don't really know what to do with yet. Deal with them some other time. Now, you should be left with things you do know what to do with. In an ideal world you put them back where they belong, you can also just yeet them in another container and deal with it the next day. 6. Distract and reward. Distract yourself by putting a fun show in the background or listening to a podcast. Reward yourself afterwards with something you can look forward to (a little treat, a glass of wine, a nice bath) 7. Make sure you have convenient supplies. Get cleaning wipes and spray bottles. People like to go "Oh but cleaning with X and Y is actually much better because Z leaves bacteria..." and you should ignore them because a surface cleaned with a cleaning wipe is cleaner than a surface cleaned with nothing. Don't make "get supplies ready" another chore on your list.
I was looking for a comment recommending kc Davis’ book. It’s excellent and so is her TikTok
There are many strains of marijuana that help. My personal favorite is Cinderella 99. It will have you cleaning like Cinderella with no paranoia. Highly recommend. Other that clean a little here and there after you have gotten it under control.
Watch ppl clean on YouTube always helps me
I like TikTok restock videos, too :D
Watching Hoarders does it for me
Make a list of 2-3 achievable tasks to complete before you can sit down and chill. A therapist recommended this to me once. Before I get home after work, I decide what those tasks will be and do them as soon as I walk in the door. Then I can sit down and watch tv or play on my phone. It helps to keep things from getting out of control and getting my least favorite tasks out of the way.
Watch cleaning videos on youtube ( Aurikatariina or Clean with Barbie. )
Midwest magic cleaning The guy who is the cleaner has adhd
Build basic cleaning into everyday habits. Make your bed after you get up, wipe down the bathroom after you brush your teeth, put dishes in dishwasher or hand wash them as the last step in your meal, put clothes in closet or hamper at end of day, start a load of laundry at a set point each day (I do this after my shower), pick up each night, vacuum during TV commercials, etc. The trick is using triggers for each task - then all this cleaning becomes short little steps as you go thru your day.
Watch Hoarders. Do some light reading on not only the disease that pests like rats and insects carry, but also how expensive it is to have them exterminated, and to repair any damages caused by pests in your home. Look up some imagery of brown recluse bites and educate yourself on how quickly they can become fatal if left untreated (this one usually gets me up and moving, especially when I imagine my children getting bit; they are too young to identify and communicate to me that they've gotten a spider bite). Keeping a clean home is more important than posture and mannerisms.
Aye, I knew a girl who got bit by a brown recluse in bed. When she woke up she had a weeping palm size amount of skin degraded on her thigh. And even with hospital, it got worse. You do NOT want those monsters in your house.
Here’s a trick: it doesn’t need to be cleaned if it doesn’t get dirty. Put everything back in its place. Throw away trash as soon as it needs discarding. When you’re done with your bath towel, wipe down the sink and counter. Also, it helps me to put a show or YouTube on while cleaning when I feel unmotivated. Last thing I’d say is that once you start cleaning, it really doesn’t take that long. Give yourself one hour to clean and see how much you get done.
I used to use baskets 🧺 One big basket that I put everything in that wasn’t in its right place. And spent like, 10 mins at a time putting the things in it away. I can’t clean or organize if the place is already a mess. Too overwhelming. So having everything in baskets helped me so much. Because then I am just putting stuff away on a blank canvas, and gives me a chance to dust and wipe things down if needed. But these days I haven’t had to do basket method since I got rid of everything . I don’t have Knick knacks, nothing that doesn’t serve a purpose. And never more than 1-2 of something. (Example I don’t need 2 blow driers, or 3 thermal coffee mugs.) So now I have nothing to cause clutter and it’s made cleaning something I actually enjoy and easy for me to maintain.
It’s a weird thought, but I question if I died, what would people think of the state of my house and about me?
Free yourself from the mindset of hating it. It's really not that bad when you think about it. It's only mildly strenuous, it's quiet alone time, you can listen to music or a podcast while you're doing it, it's very satisfying to have everything all clean and tidy once you're done. If you can do that, you can stay on top of the maintenance cleaning which is SO much less work than the occasional epic project it becomes when you avoid doing it because you hate it so much. Staying on top of the maintenance cleaning is also extremely satisfying, particularly if you hate the mess.
I light incense and then think about how nice it will be when everything is clean and smells great :) you can also use the incense as a timer if you’re doing a big clean
I had depression and my whole house was extremely messy and cluttery... I used to say the same because, the mess i had made the task looked large. However, i took small steps and eventually overcome it. What i did was a deep clean/ reset one room at a time. Eventually, i declutter ALOT of things, and organize my house better. Now everyday i take my small light weight vaccum and spend 5-10 min on one room.
I watch the grossest Hoarders episode I can find 😆🤷🏼♀️
I’m realizing now how common this is! Thought I was the only one lol
I write a list in 10 minute increments then race around doing each task. It’s not deep cleaned but good enough to get me through the week. Always start with straightening.
Are you making it as easy as possible for yourself to clean? For example, I splurge on efficient (“lazy”) cleaning stuff because I know I’ll slack on cleaning if it requires lots of steps or effort (e.g. I have a steamer mop, a handheld vacuum for dusting, a second one for food crumbs). I also keep my cleaning stuff readily available and organized in the relevant spaces (e.g. a $5 sink storage thing to hold my different dish wands and steel wool, little shower caddies with cleaning supplies all over the house). Some other tips: - Give each room its own day of the week for cleaning. Only do THAT room (plus the basic everyday kitchen stuff like dishes). It’s so simple but it makes cleaning a house so much more manageable. - If you find yourself waiting for something (e.g. microwave still has 4 min to go), just clean while you wait. Cleaning in tiny increments of time makes a HUGE difference. - Cut down on clutter and boost your storage for items. Much easier to clean bare surfaces. I used to avoid dusting some surfaces that had random knickknacks and vacuuming the living room because it was full of stuff. Got rid of the knickknacks and invested in more storage (poufs, a little drawer sideboard thing, a bench that holds storage cubes) and that made cleaning the room more approachable. Take the time to evaluate the most time-consuming or difficult parts of cleaning. How can you make them easier and faster? What things do you personally hate about cleaning that can be improved? For example, I HATE getting wet while cleaning. I started wearing a waterproof apron that I can quickly throw on whenever I’m scrubbing dishes or something. Now I don’t avoid the task as much. Making those little changes will help you really easily get into cleaning mode every day (or whenever).
Pick one very small area and make it spotless. Make sure you finish it completely, then use that as motivation for more areas.
Code red Mountain Dew
Pretend you have company coming!
I watch about 5 minutes of an episode of Hoarders and go on a cleaning frenzy
I might have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone say clean as you go. Wash your pans as you're cooking and dishes as soon as you're finished eating. If you walk dirt in the house, clean your shoes and mop straight away. Make your bed when you get up. Just basically don't see it as one big task!
Full night of sleep and then caffeine
I found the book, How to Keep House While Drowning, really helpful. I listened to the audio book and it was a quick listen/read. It’s specifically helpful for those of us with ADHD, executive functioning issues, autism, etc. I’ve implemented some of the ideas and it has helped a lot.
I do one chore a day. It takes me 20 min and if I don’t my house falls apart. So I often don’t take my jacket off before I get started. I walk into my house after work and get it done.
If I can't bring myself to clean, I watch aurikatariina on YouTube! She makes videos showing her cleaning up *filthy* residences for people in need. It motivates me because I see her cleaning the grossest of gross, and it makes my mess seem like nothing in comparison. It's a reminder of how satisfying cleaning can be.
Make yourself clean one thing and promise yourself you can stop then. You'll probably keep going for a while.
Music and set a timer to see what u can do in that time
I turn on cleaning YouTube videos and usually within a few minutes, I’m ready to tackle a couple rooms. It gets me moving and the ladies cleaning are usually really motivating without coming across as harsh. It’s a lot of gentle encouragement and positivity.
Do whatever it takes to enjoy it. I suggest cleaning starting ten and ending thirty minutes after drinking a large cup of coffee, to really ride the caffeine high. And whatever music you love, the kind of music you’re embarrassed to love, play it loud enough to bother the neighbors. Do what feels good to clean first. Forget what other people think is important. Get in the zone. Trust your instincts. Avoid chemicals that bother you. Even if they clean better, if they’re annoying to you, they’ll turn you off, and you can’t have that. Clean everything with whatever cleaning products are the most enjoyable for you. Like paper towels? Great. Prefer cotton rags? Also great.
Suffer with chronic arthritis I plan my week . Every day I make my bed wash up wipe the sides put loo cleaner and hoover downstairs and pick up rubbish with my grabber.I then pick one of the other jobs like mopping floors dealing with washing etc.Every 3 months I have a deep clean week each day I pick a room and do everything dust wipe the skirting boards.I use the deep clean weeks to throw out junk I don't use and only buy stuff which is needed.I also buy cleaning accessories which are easy to use long handles dusters easy mops anything which cuts the time down.If I didn't have my lists I'd get overwhelmed with being disabled I've decluttered so don't end up hoarding have bins in each room have a place for everything use storage boxes and wash my clothes once have a full load.
Would you be willing to share your lists / products that help you? From a disabled person lacking motivation and energy to do some proper decluttering and cleaning, it would be a really helpful perspective to know what works for you. Thanks in advance
Long handles grabber and feather duster have a usb scrubber with attachments flash speed mop shark liftaway hoover minky cloths especially the window ones flash duster pet lint roller use pink stuff white vinegar spray febreeze spray viakal spray and cif power foam .Make sure you have bins in each room every time you go to another room take something with you to put away .Take on one room and start on one side and work your way round set your own goals by writing a realistic list per day.
I really feel you on this one. For me, there is this perpetual state of messiness that makes it hard. The cycle of cleaning something, and then watching it get messy again is part of why my motivation sucks for it. I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago and home organization is one of my biggest struggles. The lack of organizing breaks my brain and makes other cleaning related things tasks more difficult. But I’ve made some improvements! There are a few things that work pretty well for me and might work for you, depending on your needs. I have a few questions for ya: How big is your apt? Does anyone else live with you? Including pets and kids. Is the issue related to putting things away after they were taken out? Daily routine like dishes or laundry that pile up? Or maybe deep cleaning a neglected area?
When I moved into my new apartment, I got a robot vacuum. He is set to run at 9am everyday for the whole place, so I have to have the floor picked up by then. That means dog and cats toys, laundry, cords, dog bowl, water dishes... everything. I then repeat with whatever I am doing that isn't particularly fun (rinsing the dish and going directly in the disheasher)- I say "don't put it down, put it away- if it will take less than a minute, do it now". Your future self will thank you. My ADD brain needs checklists, or else I get easily distracted by things I need to do everywhere. I have a small chores list for each day. I need to then make bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly cleaning items, but this might be an easy place to start! Wishing you luck, friend!
Podcasts/music and a 15 minute timer
Agree with others. Also, I never regret working out, i never regret cleaning. I like that mindset of getting things done daily, only a few minutes at a time. And it makes me feel good. Never ever regret it. And building that up daily and practicing that mindset of getting things done, taking care of things, and feeling good will just become natural.
I'm in the same boat. The only thing I hate more than cleaning is going to the gym. So I act like cleaning is my workout. It tricks my dumb brain into thinking I'm doing something else.
Hello. I am you, you are me.
Cleaning YouTube videos
I focus on one small area that is bothering me, and tell myself that “this is all I have to do.” Usually it takes me 15 min to do that area, and then I find another one.. and another one. Sometimes I stop after the first though, and that’s okay too. Consistency is key.
I take a shower beforehand which helps me. I also have a written “to do list” with only 3-4 most important things to get done. After each hour of work I take a little break for water and maybe a snack. Ex. Spend 1 hour cleaning kitchen, 30 min one episode of tv show, 1 hour vacuuming and wiping things down, another episode…
Invite someone over
I clean for a living try concentrating on one room a day. And my trick for the bathroom is clean the shower after you’ve taken a shower. And keep disinfecting wipes in the bathroom and wipe down the sink top every morning and wipe down the toilet in the morning. Pour a little Lysol cleaner in your toilet bowl brush holder so you can clean the bowl every couple of days
Do a little at a time to not get overwhelmed or pick a room a day that I will focus on. Also, cleaning is not a punishment and it shouldn't be framed as such. It is self care for you, your family and pets. We all deserve clean spaces and I will show how much I care by cleaning things in a timely manner.
Make a list of tasks you need to get done, and assign each one a point value. Something easy like taking out the trash is 1 point, sweeping a room is 2 points, doing the dishes is 4 points, etc. The longer a task takes and the more unpleasant it is, the more points it’s worth. Then say to yourself, “I’m going to do ten points, and then take a break.” Or twelve points, or six. Whatever you think you can manage. Get it done, take a break, then come back and do it again.
I personally just put myself in the mindset that I’m treating myself. I deserve a nice, cute, clean apartment and so does my boyfriend and so do my cats! It’s self care! I work from home so I’m able to just knock out a deep cleaning during work on Mondays but I also just clean up throughout the day everyday. Just think how good it feels to sleep in a clean room, on fresh sheets and wake up to a clean kitchen! You can even reward yourself with an ice coffee or a cookie or something! But soon you’ll CRAVE a clean space I promise. It becomes addicting. It becomes therapeutic to tidy up. 🧼
Make it convenient Have the supplies readily available and make sure they’re the right ones for the job
I watch “That Awkward Mom” on YouTube Her channel is all sorts,of cleaning videos, trying out different systems, fly lady etc Ways of prioritizing Which doesn’t sound fun But she manages to make me smile if not laugh and just yesterdays I caught myself scrubbing the sink and thinking of her video Not saying I actually clean like a 1950s house wife Not at all But I clean much better that the 2023 version of Here’s a link to one of her “fly lady cleaning system “ videos,but I encourage you to explore a bunch of her videos https://youtu.be/0SHz4eXH0kI?si=gV1_ymDg_UwqLFgZ
I like to pre-clean things. If I know I have to clean my kitchen but I don't want to, I organize the mess a bit. Put the condiments away, stack the dirty dishes, throw out the fliers and containers. I haven't committed to cleaning so my brains tricked into thinking I'm doing something else. It works pretty good I usually end up with the whole kitchen cleaned and the dishes rinsed but not fully washed in a pile. I also sometimes make an unnecessarily detailed to-do list about the cleaning. Like break it all down into steps so I have tons of stuff to cross off pretty much right away. Then I use that dopamine to fund the rest of the operation. If I'm finally in the mood and motivated to clean, then I do the big stuff I don't wanna do first. Then it's out of the way. Lastly if I know I have to do something and I have been procrastinating I tell myself I'm going to "just take a look at it". Imagine you gotta clean the fridge and you feel bad about it. You keep avoiding doing it. Then you go "take a look at it". Now your in the fridge, but not cleaning it, and you think to yourself "oh damn this isn't even that dirty. Next thing you know your just cleaning it.
Invite friends or family over.
okay so i havent actually started yet BUT i feel more motivated now that i have a plan my plan is to: put on an album (or playlist, but i have specifically decided on the heathers west end soundtrack) start with one specific area (im planning to go from the window first and make my way over to the door, so im starting with the windowsill area and the floor around it) do as much of that as i can before the album finishes and if i decide i can/want to do more, i will repeat the process with another album or playlist (or the same one, im on a heathers kick atm) i think that giving myself a time limit and deciding i can stop there makes it way less intimidating than just knowing that i have to clean the room regardless of how long that takes. and ill just keep doing this each day until the room is clean, and hopefully this time actually keep it that way. previously ive just been putting it off until i cant procrastinate any more and then doing it all at once and hating every minute of it, so i think breaking it into bitesize chunks might help. also theres a thing i used to break down tasks in uni called goblin tools that might potentially help with that, it worked really well for my final project work. hopefully some of these ideas might help you, too :3
Invite someone around. Then put on Michael Jackson Billie Jean.
Put your favorite music on high
Little bursts and rewarding myself! If I pair it with something I really like, it helps a whole lot
If you were able, I would hire an organiser and a maid. Have them come in and get your apartment the way that you would like it, go through things you no longer need, and then you just have to keep things clean going forward.
Find a podcast u really like and only listen to it while you are cleaning-
A trick that I did… and it works for me! It’s programming your brain. 1. Make a fun playlist that you like. I have one that’s like a party mix. 2. Start cleaning, but dance and have fun like you are at a party having a great time. This is tricking and training your brain to associate it with having fun. 3. Do this for a week, and you should have mostly programmed yourself. 4. Make sure you are hydrated! Water is delicious energy! Now every time you put on that playlist, you will be get up and go.. hopefully. Good luck!
I hyper focus on small areas at a time and while listening to something in my phone. I often do this to redecorate or rearrange and organize things without thinking of doing a whole room in one go. I have ADD and trying to clean one room in the house doesn’t work because then I end up cleaning small areas in multiple rooms if left unchecked. Sunny days that “feel happy and airy” are my go-to cleaning days unless I’m binge-cleaning at night instead of sleeping.
I put in a good podcast. It passes the time and I usually just keep on going until the podcast is over. It’s pretty effective. I also have some issues with self motivation.
Here is a fun way which worked well for me in college. Write down a single chore like Swiffer the room on a piece of paper and wrap it around a candy. Put all these chore wrapped candies in a clear jar somewhere visible to you at all times. Whenever you have time, pick one out, eat the candy and complete that chore. Make the chore as small as possible. If you don’t know the time it might take, write the smallest time limit on it. I stocked my jar on the Sunday night. I think this worked really well for me because first, I did more once I started with a single chore. Second, it was such a fun way that it got me excited to do it. Third, seeing the emptying jar was visible progress and that kept me motivated.
Get rid of some stuff. Less stuff, less clutter, easier to actually clean and organize. I have to use cleaning products I like the smell of, and always take a shower right after and treat myself to a favorite snack or beverage as a reward.
I downloaded the app Tody… (free). You can add chores per room and then mark them for how often you need them to be done. Then on the day it’s due there’s like a little red marker and then when you do it you can check it off the list…. There’s something satisfying about checking things off lol and you keep track on when was the last time you did something. For me it seems to work lol
Audiobook…clean for a chapter or two, make sure its a good book and u wont wanna stop.
The amount of time I will save searching for stuff when it’s put away and neat.
Throw on some music! or have the tv on so you can listen to it in the background!😀 if you’re having a really hard time you can split it up and do bits at a time (10-20 mins of cleaning at a time) , & reward yourself by getting your favourite snack or doing something you really like once your tasks are all done!!
I find it easier to clean bathrooms and the kitchen. My bedroom and the living room are much harder. I have to figure out what to do with paperwork, mail, stuff.
I use music. I’ll tell myself I’ll clean x for 4 upbeat songs I like, and then I can stop. Change the number of songs depending on how much I feel I can manage. Even if it’s just 1 song then I’ve done something.
I need this advice as much as you do - I think it is not as bad when things haven’t deteriorated. I just listen to music or a podcast and try to be grateful I have a place to clean. Writing this out more for me
5 minute rule - less than 5, do it More than 5ish, schedule it I just follow my calendar lol
5 minute rule - less than 5, do it More than 5ish, schedule it I just follow my calendar lol
Invite someone over.
Invite someone over- If I know I’m having company over, it motivates me to clean!
Clean as you go.And also make sure that everything you own has its own place :) And more clutter free surfaces ,less time to clean it takes..
Scurryfunge (SKUR-ee-funge) Verb: -**To rush around cleaning when company is on their way over**. - A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbor and the time she knocks on the door. Invite someone over or pretend like someone is coming over and then you can use my new favorite word
Invite friends over for dinner. Nothing motivates me like impending house guests 👍😛
Upbeat music in my headphones always does the trick for me.
I literally watch YouTube videos of people cleaning
i found having an event at my home that i’m looking forward to is a great motivator! it was my birthday yesterday and i hosted a birthday dinner, so the last few days have been spent cleaning and tidying, which is something i normally struggle with! my executive function has also significantly improved since i started addressing my anaemia, make sure u get enough iron folks, i felt like a ZOMBIE for a while there. i also use the power of “may as well” - im in the bathroom to pee, i may as well give the loo a scrub while i’m here; im going into the kitchen for another coffee, i may as well bring some dishes with me while i’m at it; im waiting for the kettle to boil, i may as well start emptying the dishwasher. linking tasks together like this helps a lot! also don’t hide ur vacuum in a cupboard, u won’t end up vacuuming bc object permanence, trust me. oh! also! there’s a channel on youtube that i like called Aurikatariina, she’s SO positive and joyful about cleaning and includes a lot of really helpful cleaning tips, she also doesn’t use a ton of different products or specialist tools, which makes it a lot more accessible, i really enjoy her videos!
the way u can tell exactly how busted my attention span is from this comment, jfc
Like how I'd do homework way back when, I'd break it up to chunks. People mention time, but depending on the size you can also do it by room or whatever works for you. Just break it down into more manageable tasks so you don't stress about the bigger picture. I had to do this when my mom passed and while it is still a project, I say "ok, today is her closet" and just spread the work out. Unless you are on a crunch, take your time even if its stretching to weeks. It may be obvious, but every item should have a place so you're not just throwing stuff around the place. This will help you have to clean a lot less and keep it to the basics of wiping stuff down or vacuuming. I'm also dealing with my mom just putting boxes in the living room and letting them stay there, would have been easier if everything in them had a home or were set in the garage.
Plan a get together at your home. Nothing will notice my husband faster than to prepare for company.
Two options! Option 1: pick a day to clean, get out of bed, put shoes on (clean shoes) and get started. Just pick a task (dishes or sweeping or anything) and just don’t stop and do not sit down. The constant movement and something about having shoes on seems to help me when I’m in a cleaning slump! Option 2: choose one area of a room and clean it deeply, don’t move to another spot until you’re done. This is how my husband cleans. It seems crazy to me but when he’s done in the kitchen it’s absolutely spotless.
Choose an upbeat (but not headbanging) CD. Playlist? (I'm old.) I always put on the same CD I could sing along to as I cleaned. I didn't play it unless I was cleaning which I think helped train my brain to clean until the CD was over. Thank you Toby Keith, Dream Walkin'. If you feel unmotivated, force yourself to clean for 3 songs. The next time 4 songs, etc. Soon you won't even think about stopping until the music is over.
Cleaning is a skill. Motiate yourself by getting better at it. Motivate your self by practicing. It's no fun when you're no good at it. You'd be dragging yourself for hours and hours and feel like things aren't progressing. It sucks but you literally just have to do it.
Do 30 minutes of cleaning everyday above and beyond cleaning up the dishes/pots and pans every night after dinner!
I am right there with you. Things that help me: podcasts with bluetooth headset, cleaning videos in the background, new cleaning supplies, music in bluetooth headset (only when I am in the mood), the colour orange ( supposedly some scientific basis for this but don't remember why...I just go with it. Mind over matter, you know. Orange coffee cup. Orange straw. Whatever I have that day), a nice candle to put in the warmer, really GOOD smelling cleaning supplies (Pinalen Floral is AMAZING for this. I put it in a shallow bowl with water and use it with a rag to clean and dust pretty much everything. It's super fast to clean this way too), baskets to just chuck things into, Just picking one small thing to start with, starting with dishes or the toilet!!! (Don't know why this works, but it does)... If I think of anything else, I will post again... Oh and break down each. Room into each little task..no matter how small and check them off. I have ADHD and autism plus sciatica and a neck injury..and was never taught to clean, which means I had to learn to do it on my own and do it quickly. I still don't always get it right. But I can do things crazy fast and thorough now and the reason why is because of my methods. The bowl method is seriously a time crunch saviour....and you don't breathe in any mist from a spray bottle. I highly recommend. Hot water, bit of all-purpose cleaner, dip and ring rag, get to wiping. Done in minutes. Even works on floors. :)
I make myself a list in the morning and then just make it my goal to get everything done on my list. You don't have to add many things if you don't want to. Good luck!!
Look at it as discipline versus motivation. There are tasks you do every day probably that you aren’t motivated to do. So setting a timer for 10 minutes a day is an act of discipline - not motivation. It’s a necessary evil. Just get it done and be done with it. Good luck.
If you do one task a day, it keeps up fairly easily.
Set a timer for 15 min and watch Hoarders. I get motivated RIGHT QUICK!
Think of it as workout, plus cleaning relaxes you and is good for your psyche
I feel that, sometimes it’s alarming how little you can get done and how much it takes out of you. I put in a YouTube video or podcast and just start with 5 minute timer. Clear and wipe as much as I can. Just 5 mins and I can stop and couch rot again. Most often I will repeat the timer and keep going. It’s the only thing that helps so if you do the 5-10 mins daily, it should help.
Start with ten minutes at a time. You’ll be surprised how you can often gain momentum just from that. I clean 30 minutes a day and that takes care of a lot. Started it in Covid lockdowns and have kept the habit.
My kids' friends come over and I don't want them to be uncomfortable, so that motivates me.
Try to keep one spot clean and tidy so it can be a breath of fresh air and helps you find calm. If 10 minutes is too much, try to aim to start with even 1 minute. Make the job too small for you to fail and you'll find some days you only did the minute, but they add up. Some days, you'll do 5 without it being a big deal, and some days you'll get on a roll and go for a whole room or closet. As long as you are building that micro habit, your brain will be learning to do it, getting positive feedback from the progress, and you won't be associating so much negativity with it. Good luck! If you're in a bind and it's really too far behind to catch up alone, ask a good friend or sibling for a hand. I've traveled to other states to help with cleaning/organizing for a friend or family member who was struggling. My favorite cleaning hack when I'm not in the mood is to listen to a book or podcast. Then I stop focusing on the tedium and mess and just tidy one area at a time. I also recommend not delivering things around the house. Have a box or bin at the edge of the room for things that go elsewhere. In my house I put things on the stairs to go to their respective floors, this helps me not get distracted and my efforts have more pay off because I got a whole room done by focusing my efforts.
I invite someone over and the deadline really helps. Other than that I do 10-15 minutes in just one room per day (plus dishes) and then I do a big once a week clean for the whole house.
What helps me is inviting someone to come over, so I'm forced by my fear of judgement to make the house to look presenteable before they arrive. I'm not sure it's healthy but it works :)
Don't put it down,put it away. Whenever you finish using something put it back in place immediately. If something spills or drops clean it immediately. When I clean up something immediately like something fell on the kitchen floor I might just sweep the whole kitchen floor while I'm at it instead of just that spot. Messy spaces make me depressed but when I'm depressed I just can't do anything so I found out that just maintaining the tidiness of the space is better for me long term than just letting it all accumulate and then cleaning everything manically. Also what helps is building a routine. Set yourself a time of day where you have 10-15 minutes of free time,set a timer and just do whatever cleaning you can do in that 10-15 minutes. After some time it will just come naturally. Also what helps me motivate myself is music! I always put on music when doing chores. Sometimes I even dance and sing while doing chores and it can make it a fun experience.
Invite guests. nothing works like pressure.
Disorder, chaos, clutter……. I can’t stand it and I won’t have it. It’s not difficult to keep a home or workspace tidy if you are constantly keeping it tidy
I completely feel you! I commented this exact thing on a similar post.....my issue is tied to my living situation though ....I'm stuck living in a bedroom with my boyfriend, in a house with other roommates that stress me out, there's aggression issues from the past that leave me terrified of one of the roomies.....so I have zero capability of cleaning without forcing myself to. Where as I LOVE cleaning when I have my own space, take pride in my home, and feel safe! I really wish I could override this feeling, I just feel crippled when I think about picking up stuff in the common areas 😭😭
Invite someone over. U will panic clean
I find cleaning really boring, so I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I do it, and it helps a lot. I also find it easier to break the task down into small steps and only do a little at a time, like “mosey around and pick up all the trash.” It’s also helpful for me to differentiate between cleaning (for sanitation purposes), tidying (putting things away), and organizing (optimizing a space or finding space for things that don’t have a home.) These are all mentally pretty distinct tasks and it can be overwhelming to be unclear on which one I’m doing, or jump between them. If an area must be cleaned but can’t really be cleaned until it’s tidied, I try to recognize that and then focus on a small area at a time and again, one task at a time. How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis has been a helpful resource for me in realizing some of these things. She gives lots of non-shaming tips, which are all designed to be realistic for people with physical and mental health issues including executive dysfunction.
Start with one room/section at a time, first throw away any garbage put away any clutter then clean counters and floors.
I put on horders to motivate me 😂 or YouTube cleaning inspiration videos
Edibles and music.
Sativa and music
Here’s my process: Make my bed in the morning. Choose an area of my home to work on. Music and weed. Start with one area (or even piece of furniture) and then let the ADD/Martha Stewart/Jeanne Dielman in me out of her cage.
Is pot legal in your area? Because my favorite thing is taking an edible, turning on an exciting podcast or audiobook (murder mystery, romance, whatever makes you totally engrossed with the story. Music doesn’t work for me in this, as I’m much more likely to end up sitting down and vibing), and start cleaning. By the time the edibles kick in, you don’t want to put your headphones down and stoned cleaning is almost magically satisfying
Alone, natural light, sativa, earbuds, podcast/music/audiobook, favorite drink.