House cleaning motivation.

[Cappy]

How do you motivate yourself to clean your house?

I can't seem to get motivated enought to maintain my house, every 2 weeks I clean like there is no tomorrow but keeping up with it just doesn't seem possible. Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything? HELP!

[Nighthawk]

Umm, How about "Clean that house, clean that house" ...??? Nope, didn't work for me either. Honestly, I have no idea..nice to see ya around, though

[Phi]

How do you motivate yourself to clean your house?

I can't seem to get motivated enought to maintain my house, every 2 weeks I clean like there is no tomorrow but keeping up with it just doesn't seem possible. Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything? HELP!
The only way I can do it is to make it extremely easy for myself to do. That takes a bit of organizing of stuff where it's most needed, and I buy more than one of cleansers, ect if "where it's most needed" varies. A couple of those plastic handle baskets from a discount store and some of those "Handiwipes" come in handy:hehehe: for getting it all together to make it easy. I used to use paper towels only, but was using them by the 12 pack in a hurry!

Also I am currently working on a "landing spot" rear entry for those things we bring home to have a temporary resting spot so they don't get put everywhere in the house making things a mess.

When the kids were small, each one had his/her own dollar-store laundry basket tucked away on shelves in a coat closet (that was too small to hold enough coats anyhow.) In that I could put anything that they needed to put upstairs rather than running up and down all the time myself.
If you have an upstairs/downstairs, this is a big help as is duplicate cleaning-everything. Nothing more discouraging about needing to vaccuum and clean upstairs than having to first lug the vacuum and cleaning supplies up and then back downstairs...

Okay, hope this helped:hugz:

[Raven Reed]

How do you motivate yourself to clean your house?

I can't seem to get motivated enought to maintain my house, every 2 weeks I clean like there is no tomorrow but keeping up with it just doesn't seem possible. Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything? HELP!

When you find out, let me know, okay? My house is a perpetual disaster zone, no matter how hard I try. Lately I have just been chucking stuff because I am so tired of picking up.

[enchancea]

Lately Ive been motivated by knowing how good I feel when its clean. I usually light some incense and turn on some music and Im all ready to go. When my house is clean Im relaxed and thats what keeps me going

[MsFireHaven]

FLy Lady (http://www.flylady.net/)

The above link helped me!
And I can tell you I was a disaster, Im always so busy with one project or another, and never seemsed to have enough time to do much....

[arienh]

FLy Lady (http://www.flylady.net/)

The above link helped me!


Wow, great link! I'm actually feeling motivated to clean :lookaroun LOL
THANKS!!! _pounce_

[ap Dafydd]

Nah, _nothing_ could motivate me to clean the house.

Grim determination's it for me!

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

[Ceres]

I have been doing flylady for a year and a half. Its great to have to poke to get moving on stuff. I also like her attitude that something is better than nothing and so often when I start out just planning to dosomething, I end up feeling like doing more than I planned. Then I reward myself with something for me, even if its just a cup of tea in the sunshine or a home pedicure.

[Raven Reed]

I did FlyLady for a while and got bogged down and was feeling guilty because I wasn't doing it. I never even got through the part where you set up the journal! I am going to sign up and try it again. I am going to buy her journal and make it easier on myself. I will say one thing, since joining FlyLady, my sink gets clean every night! :smile:

[Cinnamon Girl]

I am a bit of a clean freak but I also work from home and don't have any kids, so I have the time to be one, heh. But I still find it hard to get in the mood to de-clutter.

Quick, as-you-go type cleanups go a long way towards minimizing the time you have to spend heavy-duty cleaning. Maybe reward yourself with little things throughout the week and then after a major clean spree, give yourself a nice big fat reward. :D

[SilverClaw]

For me I get motivated when I have company over and that sure motivates me enough. Well sometimes it does....:santasmil

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

:yayah: My husband invites people over to get a clean house.I've been keeping up on keeping the upstairs clean,but now my basement is becoming cluttered.It doesn't help that my husband and oldest son are packrats though :eyebrow:

[Faeawyn]

FLy Lady (http://www.flylady.net/)

The above link helped me!
And I can tell you I was a disaster, Im always so busy with one project or another, and never seemsed to have enough time to do much....
Hey...I belong there too :lol: You beat me to posting the link. Only problem is that I've gotten to where I simply delete the emails :D...bad me.

But I'm a stay at home mom too...so I try to keep a clean house.

1. Don't let hot spots develop. A hot spot is where you lay stuff down...and it starts to grow in size. As soon as you spot a potential hot spot...get rid of it.

2. Don't lay anything down where it doesn't go. It just causes more steps in the long run anyway. Before putting something down...ask yourself "does it go here"...and if it doesn't...walk it to where it belongs and put it away. Get in the habit of putting things away as soon as you're done.

3. When you take your clothes off...don't throw them down....either put them in the hamper, or hang them back up.

4. Don't let your dishes pile up in the sink. If you have a dishwasher, put them in it as soon as you're done....if not...just throw some soap in the dish and wash and rinse and put it away.

5. Buy some Clorox wipes and keep them in your bathroom. A couple of times a week...wipe down the bathroom...and swish the toilet brush around in the toilet.

Umm...thats it for now :D

[Ceres]

2. Don't lay anything down where it doesn't go. It just causes more steps in the long run anyway. Before putting something down...ask yourself "does it go here"...and if it doesn't...walk it to where it belongs and put it away. Get in the habit of putting things away as soon as you're done.



If only I could train the rest of the household to do this!

[Deranged Hermit]

A clean house is it's own reward. :hehehe: Just kidding! I hate housework. I tried Flylady, but it just didn't work for me. The only person's stuff I was flinging was mine, and then my son needed a certain book for a book report, and I had given it away, so no more of that for me. Usually the only thing that motivates me is thinking what's in it for me? There has to be some kind of reward at the end. Sometimes it's just having space to work on a project, or time to read a book. Sometimes it's telling myself that if I get done by the weekend, I'll go somewhere fun. When I'm really being tough with myself, I'll think well, I don't want to clean, but I'd rather be doing that than lying in the hospital. (or something similar). Good luck to ya, and don't forget that fun is more important than housework! :cool:

[Asraix]

Flylady..
Well, since I seem to have a hard time getting motivated, I am going to try this. Usually it just takes me to finally get sick of looking at the mess. When that happens, watch out because mom's got a hair up her ass. _tomatoe_ My husband is actually thankful if this happens on a work day. When we first got together, after living with him for a month I decided I couldn't take his mess anymore and ended up cleaning and rearranging his whole living-room. He helped because he felt babd about the fact that I couldn't sleep with the house looking the way it did. 7 hours and 12 bags of garbage later, he was relieved it was over and I was exhausted. ~lol~

But yeah, hopefully this Flylady thing will help to keep me from going cleaning crazy. Good luck! :p

[MsFireHaven]

Flylady..
Well, since I seem to have a hard time getting motivated, I am going to try this. Usually it just takes me to finally get sick of looking at the mess. When that happens, watch out because mom's got a hair up her ass. _tomatoe_ My husband is actually thankful if this happens on a work day. When we first got together, after living with him for a month I decided I couldn't take his mess anymore and ended up cleaning and rearranging his whole living-room. He helped because he felt babd about the fact that I couldn't sleep with the house looking the way it did. 7 hours and 12 bags of garbage later, he was relieved it was over and I was exhausted. ~lol~

But yeah, hopefully this Flylady thing will help to keep me from going cleaning crazy. Good luck! :p

Good luck! Im a stay at home mom, and Ive even trained my hubby and son a bit, they got tired of me repeating my requst to put their stuff away, and now they just dont want to hear me say "Does that go there?"
I took one room each day to completely cleanout, and did the flylady quick clean for the rest of the house. With a total of 10 rooms in our home, (This meaning all the rooms of the house, not just bedrooms), with in 8 days I had everything done...Ive continued to keep things up, and about once of 3 months I do a real deep clean and declutter of all the rooms, (Dosent take 8 days now, only 1), Ive been able to keep up on it and now enjoy having more free time to spend with my son and doing my art work.
Blessings, if you get discuraged PM me anytime.

[Yvonne Belisle]

Flylady wasn't for me. I clean in the mornings either while waking and sending kids to school or after they go to school. I do a little then chat with Evilslinkycat here on MW for a bit then go clean some more. I do this till it's all done. I stopped asking my kids and husband to help now I just throw out their stuff even when it is in their rooms on the floor. They are starting to keep their rooms cleaner because my response to but mom I wanted that was well then it shouldn't have been on the floor if you cared about it then you would have put it away. It is working even spending ten minutes cleaning and ten minutes talking I am done by noon with a two story five bedroom house. That includes dishes for a family of eight. The only hot spots my house has is right inside the front door the kids drop stuff there and take off and my room. If they don't know where to put something they deposit it in my room.

[Jenne]

*shoulda read to see if I answered this already, and if I have, forgive me and I'll change my post, lmao*

Truly? I invite people over. Women, specifically (men in aggregate don't give someone's house the white-glove treatment--women, on the other hand, can be quite bitchy about others' upkeep!). Women imo judge other women on how clean a house is (and before you flame me, this is just my experience, if you don't judge, you are a star of a person). So, if I need a kick in the rear, I invite females over to get my arse movin' towards a cleaner house!

But that's me. LOL I perform for others. In general, even if I'm not entertaining, I just tell myself to do it and get it over witih. Or promise myself something nice. Or, if it's a tedious task, get on the phone with someone--it goes by quickly if you're doing dishes or putting laundry away while on the phone!

[Galaxia]

Ω

[Psypress]

What gets me to clean:
1) Bottle of wine.
2) Kate Bush blasting at full volume.

I usually end up a bit tipsy and dance more than clean. But, it's a worthy attempt.

[Darkdale]

A good nights' sleep, a small cup of coffee, start early in the morning, play your music loud and when you get tired... Start getting drunk and turn the music up even more! :)

[WitchJezebel]

What gets me to clean:
1) Bottle of wine.
2) Kate Bush blasting at full volume.

I usually end up a bit tipsy and dance more than clean. But, it's a worthy attempt.


That's funny as hell because I'm motivated by:

1) A 6 pack of beer :drinking:
2) Heavy metal blaring at full volume!!! _twohorns_

Whatever gets the job done, right???? :lol:

[Ishtara]

The one thing that helps me get going when it is time to clean is to think of my home as my sanctuary. Every part of my home is special: the foyer is what greets me at the end of a long day at work; I want it to look nice and welcoming. There is a picture of my late dad in the hallway; out of respect for him I have to keep it tidy. The bathroom is about pampering and "me" time; I deserve better than soap scum and spots on the mirrors. The bedroom is where I worship, meditate and make love; I certainly do not want clutter in there.

You get the idea. I try to make every area of my home meaningful to me, be it for spiritual, sentimental or purely hedonistic reasons. That is what motivates me to clean.
Having said that, I am by not a clean freak by any means : as long as my place looks decent and is reasonably clean, that is good enough for me. I'd rather enjoy everything else life has to offer than try and make my home picture-perfect!

Oh, and when you really have zero motivation, I agree with the "let's have friends over" solution: nothing like a good frenzied last-minute cleaning session to put you back on track! :bigblue:

[wakywitch]

Put some upbeat music on!
Works for me.

[AutumnWitchie]

I watch "How Clean Is Your House" on Lifetime. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Usually I wait for the cleaning bug to bite and have at it(which is usually at some strange hour like midnight or 2 in the morning). I absolutely HATE washing dishes and let em pile up. Bad habit. Hubby helps with dishes as long as I take laundry duty. First improvement I want done on my house....a dishwasher.