I really need to get some motivation to clean / tidy my house before Christmas as we’ve got people coming round for Christmas dinner. With my (currently suspected and getting tested for) ADHD, having a 16 month old and having a partner who also has suspected ADHD and us both having diagnosed depression and fibromyalgia (AND I have other health conditions too) it’s SUPER hard. We used to have a cleaner but we can’t afford atm.
TLDR does anyone have any motivation cleaning / tidying tips?? What do you do to get in the mood to clean?
EDIT: it sounds like ADHD medication really helps for this so I’m hopeful that once I’ve gone through the tests, if I get diagnosed they will prescribe me some and that will help, thank you so much for all the tips and general niceness. Even your posts have given me motivation!
I have adhd also. Alot of my advice isnt immediate but will benefit you long term whenever youre able to implement it.
I am prescribed 40mg of generic vyvanse. I do most of my cleaning after work, I take half a dose upon getting home, do my chores, etc.
include your partner and kid. Idk how much a kid can get done at that age, but it'll be a great way to instill the importance of cleaning onto a child even if all they can do is little minor things. Having a body double is great when cleaning. Team work makes the dream work. If your partner isnt exactly pulling his weight in sharing with the household labor, he needs to. Studies have shown that men add 7 hours of extra household labor to their partner's workload. Dont be part of the statistic please
But in general, you need to reduce the overall effort needed to keep the home clean.
In the future please get a roomba-type robot. I have the $150 Eufy from amazon. I've had it a few years now. It handles 95% of my sweeping needs. I also have a seperate robot for mopping the floor, but imo the vaccuum bot is the better option to get first
I also very heavily encourage DECLUTTERING. It has been amazing for me. A few months before I moved in Nov, I found this lady's channel:
I got rid of so much stuff. Sooooooooooo much. Big weight off my shoulders. I also love her videos when im cleaning, she is very sweet to listen to and works as a body double for me too.
hi hi! i'm autistic & also have fibro, so i totally get the struggle with getting in the mood to just get that shit DONEEE.
my biggest thing that has really helped me & i totally recommend doing, is one small section at a time. it feels a lot less daunting and overwhelming when you take it piece by piece instead of thinking about all of it at once and getting overstimulated! sometimes ill make a list in order of each section i want to clean that day and go in order - or something one of my friend suggested is putting each section on one of those rng wheels and spinning it and doing whichever part that it lands on lmao. makes it feel a lot more fun and less awful to do the tasks i hate doing the most. i also always listen to something while i clean. music, podcast, documentary, anything. makes it easier for me to focus, personally ^^
in terms of getting in the mood to clean, i always plan to have a nice little treat afterwards. like planning to make a hot drink i know i love, watching a movie/show ive been meaning to get to, etc. a nice little self care after is always a really great motivator for me!
i like plushie tonu & making silly art ૮ ˶ᵔ ᴥ ᵔ˶ ა
honestly. theres time i loathe it entirely. i stare at the dishes. think of the world. blankly staring. then i turn around and turn on some youtube video about either cooking or bushcraft and get to work. at the end of the day these dishes aint gonna do themselves.
i hate it but its a chore and i guess its one way of feeling alive.
I really relate to this, I'm autistic and have ADHD and tbh my ADHD meds are basically the only way I can keep the flat looking like it isn't exploding. I still find that I live in a bit of a boom bust cycle of cleaning but i find that if I just pick up one thing, it generally snowballs from there and ends with me having cleaned and reorganised our whole place lol.
My partner and I have tasks that we both like and hate doing (e.g. I like hoovering and cleaning/tidying, he tends to make dinner and I'll wash up). Basically we keep things tidy through the mutual holding each other accountable vibe, before we lived together our respective places trended either very clean or complete mess. We have a much better middle ground now!
It does help that we just got a cat, keeping our place clean means there's less trouble for him to get into and e.g. we can't leave the dishes not done overnight because he'll lick the plates and make himself sick!
Hello, I also have ADHD. Unfortunately, I don't have any good tips. Openness has helped me, my mother-in-law helps me from time to time since she knows that I'm not just lazy.
When I know that visitors are coming, tidying up actually works quite well, mainly because I'm also a perfectionist. then it just ends in a 6-hour cleaning marathon and the house is clean. Of course, it's not the best solution, I know that myself. But my priorities have simply changed. the children and the animals come first, they have to be provided for with food, hygiene and their appointments. then it's just me and I don't care what the house looks like. The main thing is that the washing is done and there's food on the table, then I vacuum and put the dishwasher on when I have time and remember. i can't even remember the last time i cleaned the windows.
If something needs to be done urgently and I can't forget to do it, I actually make several reminders on my phone and that works quite well.
I struggled with ADHD & anxiety since I was very young, then recently diagnosed with depression. Sometimes it feel like I have a toddler pulling my strings. Sit down and make list for each room ON SEPERATE pieces of paper or seperate notes on your phone (seeing everything on one page could be overwhelming). First tackle the rooms you expect visitors will be in/have access to (kitchen, living room, bathroom, kid room). One room at a time. Get some fuzzy dollar store socks, let your kiddo 'swiffer' the floors lol. Giggle while you put things like shoes away. Your little one might think it's a game, try to mimic you while you're helping them learn good habbits. Most importantly, remember to breathe, & take timed breaks. If your goal-motivated, set a timer for 20 minutes or so to complete a task and try to beat the clock.
My partner and I both diagnosed with adhd but neither of us can get meds due to insurance bs. BUT I have a friend that is fortunate enough to get therapy for these things and she shares them with me.
Make a list. a physical paper list where you can see it daily. I bought some stationary from target that has lines of everything to do for the day or month with little check mark circles for every day of the week. Think of it like a daily med pack. It has helped us tremendously to have a physical reminder to where we can see it every day. I still have the issue of staring at things for a while before I do them but it has helped. Also saving a chunk of time on a specific day of a week just for cleaning and self care has also helped. Making sure I'm eating the right things and feeling refreshed helps me feel motivated to do the cleaning. It's not medication but it does help.
Also I'll add that I do find that if my brain is giving the "oh god everything is so messy and there's so much to do " thing, shutting myself in a room and forcing myself to start only with tasks in that room works - it creates the motivation and task focus to carry on with the rest.
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Cleaning / tidying up motivation tips?
