i need some advice on housekeeping?

20th

i need some advice on housekeeping?

Posted by How To Get Organized, in how to declutter

im really bad at housework etc i hate it although i do like having a clean tidy home i find it hard to maintain as i have 3 young children it has now become quite bad and im embaressed of my house dont think its ever been this bad im clean dont get me wrong i clean i just dont declutter or tidy away now there seems to be stuff everywhere evry cupboard is full every draw theres stuff everywhere and then there are clothes in the bedrooms again everywhere i just dont know where to start and i feel i wanna get it all sorted now had a bit of a reality check when i realised that im soon to be 25 and i shouyld be grown up enough to take care of my house by now but i just dont know how to do it where to start im sure you can tell by what ive written already that im not organised enough for routine and rotas ive tried really hard i have tried fly lady but its the motivation that i lack i look at what needs doin i write lists rotas everything but dont do it please help any advice welcome x

Related Blog Info

6 Responses to “i need some advice on housekeeping?”

Nurse Diesel
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Having three young children is a big challenge, but it’s made harder by having a cluttered house.

Nobody ‘tries’ flylady, and it didn’t work. If you do it, it works, if you don’t do it, it won’t work. I understand all those e-mails can be a bit much, though.

Many people try flylady and get frustrated, because they want to try it all at once. But that isn’t what flylady is all about. It is about loving yourself enough to give yourself the gift of a home that is pleasant to live in. It’s about letting go of your perfectionism, and saying that good enough is indeed, good enough.

Unfortunately, none of us can actually give you the motivation to get up and do it. You’re the only one. You just have to stand up and do something.

I struggle with motivation, too. One thing I have found is that getting enough rest and enough food make a huge difference. I take a couple of B complex, plus a double dose of B12 every day. I also take Cod Liver Oil (cherry flavor – it’s bad, but not unbearable), for vitamin D. You may have other deficiencies, notably iron, that could be affecting your energy level. Or could it be that having three young children means you haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in months?

Make sure you are eating enough green veggies, and getting plenty of natural fats – switch to butter, if you haven’t, and use only coconut oil and olive oil, real animal fat and full fat dairy products (whole milk, yoghurt, cream, etc) in your cooking. You may find this makes a huge difference in your energy level. Eliminate vegetable oil, margarine and shortening from your diet.

Just remember – your family deserves the best mom you can be, and that means you take care of yourself. Eat right, and get some exercise.

I was with flylady for about three years, and learned enough that I don’t receive the e-mails anymore. Things from attitudes, to ways that things can be done easier, to actually buying those feather dusters they talk about so much have really helped a lot. I clean my kitchen in the evening now, because I know it only takes a few minutes, and I no longer harbor resentment that nobody helps me do it. If I want help, I ask for it.

I got rid of about 75% of our towels, and changed how I take care of towels in our house (each member of the family gets two towels in a color they choose, I switch them and wash them every week), and this eliminated a HUGE mountain in my basement.

The bathroom cleaning swish and swipe is an excellent idea, and works amazingly well. If you have more than one bathroom, you only do ONE bathroom per day, and it still works pretty well. It took me over a year to figure this out.

Running a sink-full of soapy water when I am making dinner also made a huge difference in kitchen clean-up, as I could soak and wash things as I went along.

But it came to the point where the e-mails were burdensome. First they told me a lot of things I needed to hear, and when I didn’t need to hear them anymore, I stopped.

Best wishes to you.
Beth E
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
First of all – don’t worry so much about that. Believe that you will succeed. Start one day emptying the cupboards and throwing away all the useless things. And don’t fill them again with stuff you don’t really need. Do small things every day, don’t wait till house become pigsty to start cleaning.. You already know that. If there is somebody good at organizing that might help you that will be good too.
Good luck.
Erin R
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
First- dont collect or bring anything more inside your home for now.
- Then- pick any room at random. Bring a box and anything you really dont need around or havent used/worn etc in the past 6months put in the box. As much as you can. Start anywhere.
Kitchen- dishes, junk drawer, counter
A bookshelf in your living room.
Etc. Once that box is full close it up and either bring it to a second hand store to donate right away or put it somewhere like out in or by the shed or garage for example.Leave it there for a month and then you can realize you really dont need that stuff, then get rid of it.Without opening it back up to look in.
- Make sure everyone in your house hold is doing a chore(s) everyday ontop of what is expected of them for their own space and belongings.
Make out a small list of chores for every room that must be done daily and can be completed in about 15mins.
Everyday everyone switches the room their responsible for cleaning up.
If you have 3 kids its a good thing to teach them these things now and let them know what is expected of them. Otherwise theyll make bad habits that will be difficult to change the longer you wait.
pebblespro
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I’ve started the New Year by de-cluttering… My husband or myself will go through a drawer, closet or space every couple days and throw out, recycle and organize an area of the house. The weather was bad this past Sat. so my husband sorting the drawers in the kitchen. It took only acouple of minutes and he threw out a small bag of trash.. We also went through our buffet and office shelves and got rid of a BIG trash bag of items… Most of it JUNK… It just takes time… Once you go through closets and drawers and other spaces it becomes easier to part with things… I will give them away on FREECYCLE.COM that way there’s no trips to GOODWILL or SALVATION ARMY you just post it and whoevers interested picks up the items and that’s that….

I also get rid of clothing seasonally… I got through my closets and toss anything that doesn’t fit/flatter…. Same for my children.. If the little one can’t wear it I give it away… Ditto for toys… After birthday/Christmas I go through the toys and de-clutter the space…

I also have a cleaning scedule that works for me and only takes two hours to complete a day and generally I break up that two hours in small sections… Also, it’s good to have the right tools for the job…

Buckets
Broom(s)
Mops
Cleaning/dusting rags
Sponges

Glass cleaners
Bathroom cleaners
All-purpose cleaners

Things of that nature..

Also, if you have a hard time doing it yourself have a friend or family member help you… It will go faster and easier for you…

Good luck
M S
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
3 young children says it all! Okay, make picking up toys a priority. When my kids were little, we picked up toys before lunch, before dinner and before bed. Helped keep the chaos under control. I
had bins and baskets, and we put like with like. Even very little ones can do this. Use a timer, and play "beat the clock." Reward:
read the kiddies a story if they beat the clock. After a few times,
it should happen in less than 5 minutes.

You can’t really clean clutter, you have to get rid of it. Pick a room, any room, and start there. I’d pick the living room/family room, first,
or any room that people see when they come in. Get your timer, a laundry basket a box and a trash bag. Set the timer for 15 minutes, collect the trash and put it in the bag, collect any dirty laundry, and put it in the laundry basket. Collect anything that doesn’t belong in that room and put it in the box. When the timer goes off, take out the trash, deal with the laundry, and take the things in the box where they belong. If you are up for it, set the timer for another 15 minutes, and organize what is left. Do you have things that don’t have a home?
Decide whether you want to keep them, donate them or throw them out. Are there too many toys? Box some up and put them aside for a while, then a month or two from now, bring out the boxed up toys and
box up some different ones.

Maintain this room for a week. Then pick another room, and repeat the process. Throw away anything you don’t love or need; it helps!
If you have too many kids clothes, wash them, and sort them by size and season. Box them up and put them in the top of the closet until they are needed.

Take a look at Fly Lady .net

Good Luck!
Dawn S
April 20th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Have you ever seen those shows where they empty the entire room and then sort through everything? I have to say that that is the only way I was able to organize my kitchen. There was just too much non-essential stuff in there. I only put back what I really use and love.

I learned a lot from Flylady, but also tired of her emails trying to hawk her products. Try reading the book if you want to take another look. Get it from the library so you don’t make more clutter.
I like the 15 minute idea, though, With little ones, a 15 minute break does everyone good, perhaps even a 30 minute show would work- decide what to go through, something you see that bugs you, like a pile of kids’ books or magazines, and go through them.
Or take the time to look around one room and just pick up the trash. get rid of it immediately. then nest time, you can declutter something.
Don’t try to do everything in one shot.
You CANNOT organize clutter. it just multiplies, i’m telling you!
And trust me, it’s much easier to keep it clean when there’s not so much stuff. It can hang there like a lead weight just waiting to drop. It’s not worth it- try to simplify. And it doesn’t look so dirty, either, when there’s less stuff around. You’ll feel better. A happy mom equals a happy family.

It sounds like you are getting yourself overwhelmed. You seem to be worrying about making a big list, then setting up for failure because you can’t make it all happen.
Take care of the babies, make sure you have dinner ready-use a crock pot, it takes the pressure off, and don’t worry so much- it will happen- remember, how do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time-
You can really do this.

How To Get Organized