Are you tired of living in a messy home but have absolutely no idea where to start because the situation has become totally overwhelming?
I hear you! Life is busy and trying to keep on top of the housework, on top of everything else we have going on, can feel impossible.
If your home is always messy and it feels like you have no idea where to start with getting it in order, do not panic.
I can totally relate to that feeling of zero control and frustration at the state of the house. I always feel I can’t relax if the house is in a state, but sometimes I have no idea where to even start.
Do you pick up the toys first? Or clean the kitchen? Should you do something about all the shoes littering the hallway right now or is making the beds a priority?
In this article I want to help you get rid of the overwhelm and tackle your messy house once and for all!
Keep on top of mess with a cleaning schedule
One great way to keep your home mess-free is to follow a cleaning schedule that reminds you to get through chores every single week.
You cannot clean an entire house from top to bottom in just one go if you have a busy life with kids and a job to juggle. For this reason, breaking down the process into chunks makes it far more easier to manage.
Try this ultimate cleaning planner to give you the motivation and routine that you need to succeed.
You can’t clean clutter
Let’s say you want to clean the kitchen counter – one of my worst areas for stubborn mess, forgotten paperwork and junk.
You pick up the pile of paperwork and go to your desk, where it simply gets put on top of a leaning tower of yet more paperwork.
You pick up the dishes and glasses that have been left on the kitchen counter, head over to the sink, and the sink is full.
Does this sound familiar?
If when you come to clean an area or room and all you are doing is moving stuff from one pile to the next, with nowhere to store it or put it away ready for its next use, then you’re fighting a losing battle. You cannot clean clutter.
I realise that clutter in itself can be overwhelming. Once you get to a stage where you have a house full of stuff and just the idea of tackling it is scary, then your brain may often opt to just not deal with it at all.
But you need to deal with the clutter, in order to make dealing with mess and cleaning possible.
Start with one thing
One way of getting started with cleaning a messy house when you are utterly overcome by the amount there is to stop saying “I am going to clean the house”. If you look at the whole project, you will feel too scared to get started.
Instead tell yourself, I am going to clean this drawer. You take one drawer, you remove everything from that drawer and then you sort the stuff into piles.
Those piles are:
- Keep
- Store
- Give away or sell
- Bin
The key to success here will be rapidly dealing with those items. If you are someone who struggles to find time to sell your clutter online then maybe that’s not for you and instead you should donate to a local charity rather than spending time listing loads of individual items.
Once you have had success with just one drawer, you then move on to the next drawer on another day.
Every day try to tackle a small corner of your home. You are not “cleaning the house”, you are cleaning that one place.
This will take time, unless you can find the motivation and time to have a really focused day of clutter action. However small steps lead to big outcomes. If you can commit a week to doing one small task a day, I guarantee you’ll find enough motivation to do it for another week.
Then before you know it, one month down the line and you have managed to declutter most if not all of your home.
How to ditch clutter
What if you are going through the process of clearing out one small space at a time but you are paralysed with indecision when it comes to ditching specific items.
There’s a dress you haven’t worn for years but you keep thinking there might just be an appropriate event one day.
Or there’s a vase you really hate but someone you know bought it for you years ago gave it to you and it feels wrong to clear it away.
Give yourself permission to keep some things that really are sentimental, but get rid of stuff you are purely holding onto for the sake of it. Getting rid of things should not make you feel guilty when those things are serving no purpose in your life.
No loved one wants you to live in a mess that you hate just because you cannot get rid of a gift they probably don’t even remember giving you.
With photos, pictures and things you will not be keeping, you could try taking a photo of each item and storing them in a folder on your computer. You may be scared to get rid of these things, however maintaining a memory of them could be the push you need to give yourself permission to let them go physically.
Get on some music or a podcast
Cleaning is probably not the number one pastime for most people – although it can be quite soothing.
To help you get going and stay on task, why not get on some music or a great podcast?
Clearing out clutter and cleaning rarely requires much actual brainpower, so keep your brain entertained with music or a podcast and get to work with tackling the clutter and mess.
Where to actually start
If you have read this far and feel motivated to get started, then great! But what if you don’t know where to even begin and that is giving you anxiety?
Start in the area of the house you use the most, as this will yield the most value to you and you’ll notice it more.
For most people that will be the kitchen or living room.
I would recommend starting in any of these specific areas:
- Living room storage/shelves
- Cabinets – one drawer or shelf at a time
- Kitchen surface
- Kitchen drawers
- Kitchen cupboards
- Pantry
If you have a very large pantry then go through it one shelf at a time, rather than all at once.
If even the idea of getting started fills you with a sense of doom, then how about telling yourself you will bin just one thing today?
All you need to do is pick up something you do not need, and trash it or sell it. Then give yourself a pat on the back and do it all over again.
Get a second opinion
Sometimes we are way too close to a problem to really see it objectively.
If you are struggling to let go of stuff, maybe enlist a friend and talk to them about what your struggles are with getting rid of stuff you own but never use.
They may well be able to help you see it from a fresh perspective, or provide an alternative solution you had not thought about before.
Assign everything a home
Every single thing you own needs to have a place where it lives. I keep reminding my kids that their dirty school uniform does not live on their bedroom floor!
When everything you own has a place, then tidying up becomes much easier.
Clutter starts to take over when we rely on kitchen counters, the floor, stairs and beds to dump excess stuff, instead of drawers, shelves and cupboards.
Give everything a home and get in the habit of returning stuff to its home once you are done with it.
A little every day
Once you have ditched the clutter then the secret to a clean home is a little cleaning every single day. I have a whole post about how I keep a clean house with kids.
My daily tasks include:
- Loading the dishwasher with all dirty dishes and switching it on in the evening.
- Unloading the dishwasher every morning.
- Doing a load of laundry/putting away laundry.
- Tidying away kids toys.
- Making beds.
- Picking up dirty clothes.
- Wiping down the kitchen counter and dining table.
- Dealing with letters/paperwork.
Now that my kids are a little older I enlist them in various tasks around the house, such as putting their dirty laundry in the basket, to make my life easier.
Getting the people who live in your home to pitch in as well is absolutely vital.
If everyone does a little a day, then the tasks feel less overwhelming and the house remains clean.
