Ok so I rly fucking need to clean my house. Do any other People With Depression™ have any tips or ways you motivate urself to clean? Because this feels like the hardest goddamn thing in the world even tho I know it’s not and I’m just continually frustrated with myself and have been for the past two weeks.
HOO BOY DO I HAVE DEPRESSION/EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION CLEANING TIPS
in no particular order (because I have depression and executive dysfunction):
1. If something sensory about cleaning bothers you, eliminate that before you start. For example, I wear gloves to do the dishes. If the sound of the vacuum bothers you, wear headphones and turn up the music. etc.
2. If you can, make a list of everything that needs to be done. Then acknowledge that you probably can’t do it all, and circle all the things that absolutely, no matter what, have to be done. Pick one (ONE! ONLY ONE! START WITH ONE!) of those things and break it down into smaller steps. Then even smaller steps. Seriously, if step one is “stand up” and step two is “walk to closet” and step 3 is “get mop”, that’s fine. It can be that small.
3. Take a break. “But I literally only started five minutes ago!” Don’t care. If you want a break, take a break. “At this point I’ve spent more time on breaks than I’ve spent on cleaning.” Ok, but you’ve spent more than zero time on cleaning, so you’ve accomplished more than you had at the beginning. “If I take a break it won’t get done!” If you burn out it won’t get done either. Take a break.
4. If nothing is working, try what I call bin cleaning/box cleaning. Take a big trash bag and a box. Pick up the first object you see. Step 1: Is it trash? Put it in the trash bag. Step 2: Will you use it in the next 2 days? No? Put it in the box. It’s a problem for Future You. If you’ll use it in the next 2 days, take time to put it away. Rinse and repeat.
5. Did you get distracted and forget what you were doing? Don’t worry about it. Just clean a thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s the thing you were cleaning before. You have to clean lots of things, so just pick a thing and clean it. Eventually you’ll get around to the thing you forgot.
6. If you have to do a thing you really hate, do a thing you like afterwards. I hate doing dishes, but folding laundry soothes me, so that’s a nice one to do afterwards. YMMV. If there are no cleaning things you like that you can do afterwards, see number 3.
7. Make it fun. Play loud music and dance while you’re cleaning. Wear something that makes you feel cute, or if you prefer, something comfy. Light your favorite candle. Whatever.
8. If it’s nice out, open a window. Seriously, it helps.
This is seriously so helpful, thank you.
These are all excellent!!
A few more strategies that may be helpful:
~If looking at a cluttered room causes your visual centers to short out, pick a category of object: Red things; coffee cups; silverware; clothes (if most of the floor is clothes, narrow it further – only pink clothes; only bras; etc.).
If picking a category out and picking it up is all you can manage (because cleaning it or putting it away is overwhelming), go to the box solution. There was a time when i had a big bin outside each room – kid object? Chuck it in the ‘kid bin’. Dishes object? Chuck it in the ‘kitchen bin’.
You can do this for 15 minutes and suddenly find you have a floor and some flat surfaces in the room. Deal with the stuff in bins later with further sub-categorization as needed.
~ Another strategy I’ve found helpful over the years, is arrange a cleaning trade with a good friend who’s dealing with something similar. Set up a date for doing *just a little cleaning* and then something really nice like ice cream or a movie or whatever you guys like to do together.
Having someone with you who you can just point and say, “Please oh god can you go through that pile of mail and recycle all the junk mail!” is GOLD. And when it’s not *your* junkmail, it’s stupidly easy to do it! So your friend and you can trade these chores that are emotionally exhausting to even start when the chore is yours, but stupid easy when the same chore belongs to someone else.
Keep it basic – change the sheets & get them washed. That’s it – now the ice cream! Next time fold the 19 loads of laundry on the sofa – stop there, go straight to ice cream!
I know it sounds extremely minimal to do just one category of chore as a duo initially, but if you burn each other out you won’t be able to do cleaning + ice cream dates on a regular basis. You want the system to start really really small. It will get more ambitious in its own time 🙂
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