How do I get motivated?

[invisiblepiper]

Really good book on this topic is 'Freedom from Clutter' by Don Aslett - its American - but probably available through Am4zon.
Very liberating.

[thesunflowergal]

Hi Everyone

I am in the same boat too, I try to make the house clean and tidy but it doesn't happen very often. When my eldest was a baby I spent a lot of time trying to keep up with everything, and I almost seemed to miss out on her first six months. Now I spend a lot more time with the girls, as they are only little once and I try to fit in everything else around that. My hubby is a lot tidier than me, and it leads to some heated conversations but I try not to worry about that.
I try to make sure that the dishwasher and washing machine each have a load in before I got to bed, that seems to help me a bit!! Once number three comes along I will be no doublt be tearing my hair out, as I will be trying to get into some sort of routine for getting Ori to school aswell.

I have had a terrible day today and I am really , so I am going out for a drink (soft lol) with some Mummy friends. Its easy to get bogged down. We all need a treat and time to remember who we are, ie not just Mummys, housewives etc.

Sorry if that all sounds a little negative, it wasn't meant to be.

[Claripup]

Sorry to hear about your birds I read somewhere that a group of 4 baby great-tits eat 300 worms a day, we had some nesting in our garden til Cat killed 1 of the 3 parents, we considered feeding them but after reading that we decided to just leave them be, the other 2 parents never returned and they stopped tweeting after a day

Thanks... It is sad... but the rescue centre we phoned for advice said it was unlikely they would survive... and we would have done extremely well if only one did. But I'm glad I tried!

Although after the last one died (about 10 this morning) I did go back to bed... couldn't face housework!! Then my other half came home 3 hours early so I clipped one of our dogs... not the most productive day ever... but we did get the washing up done

[the.fee.fairy]

I'm in on the clean-a-long!

I've got to seriously declutter. I've got a mansion;s worth of stuff in a single room.

So...i started on Friday by getting rid of a bin bag full of shoes and one full of rubbish. I;ve also got another bin bag;s worth of clothes to go on Ebay, and a box of general stuff to go on ebay/freecycle.

Room doesn't look ay different yet. Hopefully it will after this weekend's bit.

I want to redecorate and move my room round y'see, and i can;t do that with all the crap laying about. Ive got more books than the average library and more cds than the local HMV, more clothes than M&S and more soft toys than the 2 year old down the road.

I;ve got boxes of stuff stored everywhere. I'm a hoarder, i get sentimentally attached to things, or i belive that i have a 'use' for them. I also go through stages of learning new things and getting loads of stuff to do with it that then stays in the cupboard when the next craze comes along. I have bags of material that are going to be made into some wonderful clothing someday, and felt that's going to be toys, and cupboards full of my wool stash! Some of it is earmarked for things, but most of it is just pretty.

Ishers...i think i need help

[JulieSherris]

Fee, have you looked at the flylady's website?

It's a good site & she's been there since 2001 - ok, it's not for everyone, but if you have a read, she's full of great advice.

The problem I have is that I know what I SHOULD do, and I'm old enough to know better, but it still piles up... and piles up....
I'm going to have a busy-ish one today, I think - then it will free me up for the weekend & I can spend that in the garden... you never know, I just might get some paint out & do my kitchen

I shall have a coffee, get my head in gear & I might even post a new To-Do List thread......

[Annpan]

So I did the sink again last night - but also got the small island unit and parts of the worktops cleared.

This morning the sink was calling me to get out of bed, I mean I couldn't hear it or anything , but I had an urge to go and look at it being all tidy and put something else away

Y'see I figure the thing is that you keep going back to the begining, a very simple and easy(ish) task... so no matter how much else you do or don't tackle, you can always go to bed knowing the sink is clean... brilliantly simple.

I also think Flylady's "dress to your shoes" is inspired, of course, you sit on your bum less, you feel less reluctant to put something away in the shed, or out to the bins because you have shoes on... and you are quicker hoovering and what have you 'cause you aren't slopping about in slippers.... its a wonderful simple thing



*she say's sitting in a pile of mess in her bedroom *

[JulieSherris]

Ann, it's all such simple things, isn't it?
I want to dust the PC & desk today - being in this room, there's always a build up of peat ash dust everywhere
So to do that, I have to declutter the desktop, which leads to me putting the books away, which in turn I have a quick tidy of the store room... then pop the paperwork in the filing cabinet, then wipe down the windowsills, etc etc... before I know it, I've done just about the whole of 2 rooms!

So now I've whiled away some time here, I'm off to get changed - down to my wellies

[Thomzo]

Julie, I know what you mean about sink cleaning. When I split up with my first OH, I went through a really rough time. Whenever I felt really down, the only thing I could face doing was the washing up. I don't know why but I think it was because I HAD to do it and, once done, the kitched looked so much better. It gave me the impetus, as you say, to get on with something else which took my mind off the split.

Now I have a dishwasher but if I'm feeling down, the first thing I do is to empty and restack the dishwasher. Life doesn't seem so bad after that.

Zoe

[snapdragon]

I've given up looking for motivation, six months unemployed has done me in, I had a five minute chat with the lady in the paper shop which was the highlight of my day.
Heaps of 'things to be done' but no company

[MuddyWitch]

Well I hope you lot are satisfied! I'm knackered 'cos, after reading this thread, I got a fit of the 'guilts' & Spring Cleaned my kitchen.......

I feel a lie down in a dark room is needed!

MW

[JulieSherris]

Haha, serves ya right MuddyWitch - anyway, it's about you did something other than yak on MSN all night....

[thesunflowergal]

I've given up looking for motivation, six months unemployed has done me in, I had a five minute chat with the lady in the paper shop which was the highlight of my day.
Heaps of 'things to be done' but no company

Thats you and my hubby too, fingers crossed that something comes along soon for you. DH has found that he needs to look further afield, as there does not seem to be much for him in Wiltshire.

My eldest has gone to stay with my MIL for the weekend, so I am going to try and get motived. But also spend some quality time with the baby

[grannymags]

What a brilliant idea to clean the sink before going to bed! I am going to do that tonight.

I have read somewhere about cleaning the sink every morning but I started doing that and found it a daunting task! We have a dishwasher but everyone seems to leave the dirty dishes on the sink or worktop and use clean ones from the dishwasher instead of putting them away. I have attempted to turn this around but always come home to a kitchen full of dishes and messy worktops covered in crumbs! Doing the sink at night should solve this problem for me or at least reduce it.

My house is a complete tip. I am the worlds most reluctant housewife. There is always something much nicer to do. I would love to be able to pay someone to do it for me!!! Clearing it all is an overwhelming prospect. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to invite people in?

So, clean my sink tonight and decide which small area of the house I will tackle in the morning.

Thats enough planning! Otherwise I will lose this motivation. I know what I am like!

Thanks

Maggie x

[CyberPaddy66]

We had help from my mother recently to give our place the complete going over (when I was in Hospital) to get rid of the dust left by the birds, since then we've been pottering about with a bit of dusting here and a bit of wiping down there and our flat has never felt so clean

Good tip about the sink, I absolutely hate finding dishes in the sink and I'm the one who puts them there so I try to put the dishes in the dishwasher as soon as we've used them, I think you need to 'train' other in your house to do the same Grannymags.

[grannymags]

Hi,

Well, I have cleaned my sink for the last couple of evenings before going to bed and what a difference!

The kitchen seems to stay clean all day! I put the dishes in the dishwasher as I use them, set it going before bed and put the dishes away in the morning.

I still come home to dishes in the sink or elsewhere (!) but it doesn't seem so bad as the kitchen was already clearish to start with. I have to sort the cupboards so I can put everything away.

Still have the rest of the house to go! Mountainous struggle. Hubby is completely untrainable I am afraid! I have been trying for nearly 30 years but he wont listen. I think it is deliberate! He does bring me a cup of tea every morning which is lovely. Everything else he does 'Dreckly'. Thats Cornish for sometime, never!!

Any suggestions as to how I can motivate myself to sort out the living room? Chaos reigns!

Maggie x