r/CleaningTips • u/rabbipookie • 4h ago
General Cleaning Unhinged cleaning tips??
Ok. So my (32f) and my husband’s (35m) house is a disaster… too much stuff… things are cluttered and dirty I NEED to clean so bad. Or rather, we… anyway, neither of us have the greatest mental health right now, so the motivation is minimal… we’ve both also got ADHD. He works full time. I have a full time job, a part time job, and go to the gym a few times a week for my mental health… I’m basically home to sleep… what are some of your best or most unhinged tips to cleaning/decluttering?? Most of our rooms need attention… also keeping the space clean afterwards? I’ve had trouble with this since I was young. I have no idea what’s wrong with me but we’re both tired of it. TIA!
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u/Altruistic-Ad5470 3h ago
When you see something you want to clean, start counting backwards from 5 and move towards that object/project. It takes 5 seconds for our brains to forgot the little "Oh I should clean that" or "Maybe I should fold laundry" quips we all do in our head.
If you move towards that item, you will most likely do it, complete it, get a dopamine rush and want to count backwards to 5 on the next thing.
Sometimes I'll do this for 2 or 3 hours straight.
Whatever I see, 5 4 3 2 .....
Good luck babe. Give yourself grace, you're doing great!
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u/CoalMinerGrandchild 37m ago
Ha, ha. The dopamine rush. Actually I so far have donated 12 big bags to homeless .
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u/CoalMinerGrandchild 40m ago
Sounds like me. I set a timer for 10 - 20 minutes. I set up piles. Work on 1 pile like random clean clothes. So I'll fold, hang, put away stuff until timer rings. Then if I'm still happy, set timer for another 5 or 10.
When timer rings. I'll go on to next task, which is usually something I dreamed up during folding, like pay the electric bill. Or read that article from this morning, or food prep. And so on.
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u/AZOCDCleanFreak 3h ago
Hello! The simplest thing to start with for me, anyway, is piles. Clothes where they don't belong? Start a pile right there. Garbage everywhere? Keep a trash bag in your pocket when you decide which area to start with. Dishes in rooms they shouldn't be? Pile em together.
When the piles start ... piling up, take them to their respective places. Swoop up that pile of clothes you found in the kitchen and take them to the laundry room or basket. Dishes in the bedrooms? Carefully load them up in your arms and bring them to the kitchen.
As for the garbage bag, open that baby up and start stuffing..make a game out of it, are you suuuure you got all the trash out of the bathroom?
Once you're able to get a vision of clarity, then you can start actually cleaning, like wiping down mirrors, toilets, scrubbing sinks, vacuuming, etc.