Cleaning house

[kmom2014]

Are any of you messy? I have OCD but only the obsessive thoughts, not the compulsions, so I don't have a thing for a clean house. The thing is, I WANT a clean house but I never have one. I'm a SAHM so I have no excuse but we're all messy here. I wouldn't say totally grimey even though I can let wiping the floor slide for months and might take a week to wipe soap from the bathroom counter or clean the bathtub ok I guess a little grimy but you wouldn't know how messy we are if I do a 15 min clean up before someone comes over. We're good about keeping the dishes done and counters fairly clear though.

My husband told me this morning I have until tomorrow night to clean the entire house or I have to use my own spending money to hire a cleaner lmao well that's not going to happen but yes, we have a messy house.

Is anyone else like that?

 

[Archer36]

*raises his hand* ... Don't feel bad, you aren't alone. I'm exactly like that (excepted for the blue nails) ... I take care of the most important, to keep the mice away, but like you, everything end up on the floor. As I explained in a previous post, i was way worse before. If you are like me, your eyes see the things of the floor, but it doesn't trigger any responses ... you just walk over and proceed with your next task and immediately forget. Also, if its a similar case, you may not know what to do .. where to start ... You easily see the big things, like the sink, the shower ... but maybe its not as obvious to think about the dust window frame or the baseboards. Myself ... I don't see those details at all unless I really look around carefully, which is really not natural.

In the past I used a software that I created that was giving me a couple of very small tasks every day by email and I had to report the next day. Depending on the task, it would take me 2 to 10 minutes of work per day to accomplish them all ... It was very granular. If on the next day, I reported that I didn't do the tasks, I received more tasks and received some sort of "punishments" ... like "Can't watch TV tonight" or "go to bed early" ... light stuff like that ... and if everything was done, was rewarded the same way. Punishments and rewards are very personal to each individual.

Surprisingly it worked like a charm ... I used it for a couple of months and my house was extremely clean. For me it was a HUGE deal. It was like someone was there to help me to get things done. Then I tried to improve the software, i broke it and never went back to it.

Now that I know I'm an aspie and that kind of software could be interesting for other aspies, I really want to re-write it. It would work on any Windows computers. I think I'm gonna work on this next weekend. My house is a battlefield right now

 

[Judge]

Are any of you messy? I have OCD but only the obsessive thoughts, not the compulsions, so I don't have a thing for a clean house.

OK, so we aren't related. When it comes to maintaining a neat and orderly environment, my OCD is on steroids.

But in all fairness, having children severely alters that equation too!

 

[kmom2014]

*raises his hand* ... Don't feel bad, you aren't alone. I'm exactly like that (excepted for the blue nails) ... I take care of the most important, to keep the mice away, but like you, everything end up on the floor. As I explained in a previous post, i was way worse before. If you are like me, your eyes see the things of the floor, but it doesn't trigger any responses ... you just walk over and proceed with your next task and immediately forget. Also, if its a similar case, you may not know what to do .. where to start ... You easily see the big things, like the sink, the shower ... but maybe its not as obvious to think about the dust window frame or the baseboards. Myself ... I don't see those details at all unless I really look around carefully, which is really not natural.

That's exactly how I am. I may notice it but I walk passed it. Even when I do straighten up the living room it's a mess by the end of the night so why bother. It isn't just me. My husband and kids leave crap everywhere. I am currently upstairs tackling the bathroom which is now spotless and cleaning our bedroom which was a disaster and it's been like 45 mins lol the kids rooms haven't even been touched and I haven't dusted or anything. Just put things away, got garbage together, got the laundry in our room and sheets downstairs, I mean I still have my vanity to clean, more laundry to hang up, dusting, vacuuming, the kids rooms. Omg!

Sorry for the rant but jeez. Really? I'm splitting it into the upstairs and a few small downstairs things today and a little laundry. The downstairs and more laundry tomorrow. No way I could do it all today. I always have looowww energy so it's hard to do it all.

 

[Turk]

Id love to live like that but unfortunately my wife has an OCD towards our house cleanliness . To me its all out in the open, so visually accessible. Unfortunately my wife see's me like the kids in the equation, as Judge puts it. So we have a clean house that now has me measuring the distance a drink coaster is supposed to sit on a coffee table. Otherwise its into the naughty corner with me. But im still king of my domain......... Ummm when she's not around.

 

[kmom2014]

Id love to live like that but unfortunately my wife has an OCD towards our house cleanliness . To me its all out in the open, so visually accessible. Unfortunately my wife see's me like the kids in the equation, as Judge puts it. So we have a clean house that now has me measuring the distance a drink coaster is supposed to sit on a coffee table. Otherwise its into the naughty corner with me. But im still king of my domain......... Ummm when she's not around.

I used to be the queen of my domain until I got ill (mentally) and now I am 2nd in command and my husband probably sees me as a 3rd kid in the house most of the time. But I can say I've been cleaning all day and when you do that it's a very slow process which is extremely annoying because if he came home right now it'd look like I've hardly done anything.

 

[Archer36]

I used to be the queen of my domain until I got ill (mentally) and now I am 2nd in command and my husband probably sees me as a 3rd kid in the house most of the time. But I can say I've been cleaning all day and when you do that it's a very slow process which is extremely annoying because if he came home right now it'd look like I've hardly done anything.

The key to keep a clean house isn't in spending hours cleaning. I know exactly that feeling ... When I tell myself "Okay, I'm tired of my mess, today I clean everything!"
- I'll work really hard for hours trying to clean everything
- I hate it
- I get discouraged and tired
- and in the end, things are only relatively clean

Then what happens, is that I don't do anything else for weeks, because things are cleaner than they were ... why would I re-clean something that is already clean? ... So I wait and wait ... and mess is coming back.

The best tips I can give you, would be to do a little bit of work every day ... just a little 10 minutes per day is enormous. After a few weeks, you'll realize that your rate of cleaning is higher than the rate of dirtying. And you'll even feel that some days you don't have any work to do.

Maybe you'll never be able to take action spontaneously when your eyes see things on the floor. But if you manage to create that habit of 5-10 minutes of cleaning a day, you'll quickly improve your life quality.

 

[kmom2014]

The key to keep a clean house isn't in spending hours cleaning. I know exactly that feeling ... When I tell myself "Okay, I'm tired of my mess, today I clean everything!"
- I'll work really hard for hours trying to clean everything
- I hate it
- I get discouraged and tired
- and in the end, things are only relatively clean

Then what happens, is that I don't do anything else for weeks, because things are cleaner than they were ... why would I re-clean something that is already clean? ... So I wait and wait ... and mess is coming back.

The best tips I can give you, would be to do a little bit of work every day ... just a little 10 minutes per day is enormous. After a few weeks, you'll realize that your rate of cleaning is higher than the rate of dirtying. And you'll even feel that some days you don't have any work to do.

Maybe you'll never be able to take action spontaneously when your eyes see things on the floor. But if you manage to create that habit of 5-10 minutes of cleaning a day, you'll quickly improve your life quality.

My husband says the same thing. Only he says to dedicate an hour 3 times a week. That way I have time to straighten up the house and do a big thing or two like clean the floors or wipe down the windows or clean the bathrooms. That way I stay on top of the big stuff too.

And I agree that I will bust out like 2 days of hardcore cleaning and then not do the big stuff forever because I got exhausted from doing it already! But I straighten up the living room at least like daily and keep up on the kitchen with the help of my husband.

 

[Turk]

The key to keep a clean house isn't in spending hours cleaning. I know exactly that feeling ... When I tell myself "Okay, I'm tired of my mess, today I clean everything!"
- I'll work really hard for hours trying to clean everything
- I hate it
- I get discouraged and tired
- and in the end, things are only relatively clean

Then what happens, is that I don't do anything else for weeks, because things are cleaner than they were ... why would I re-clean something that is already clean? ... So I wait and wait ... and mess is coming back.

The best tips I can give you, would be to do a little bit of work every day ... just a little 10 minutes per day is enormous. After a few weeks, you'll realize that your rate of cleaning is higher than the rate of dirtying. And you'll even feel that some days you don't have any work to do.

Maybe you'll never be able to take action spontaneously when your eyes see things on the floor. But if you manage to create that habit of 5-10 minutes of cleaning a day, you'll quickly improve your life quality.

I reckon having kids might screw with that formula. The mess I've seen them generate in under 10 mins almost had me in the foetal position. But in a perfect world maybe.

 

[kmom2014]

I reckon having kids might screw with that formula. The mess I've seen them generate in under 10 mins almost had me in the foetal position. But in a perfect world maybe.

Having kids just ruins your house and plans at keeping it clean. I just moved all of their toys from the downstairs closet to their rooms so at least that mess doesn't happen but then they manage to bring their coloring and drawing stuff down here and paper ends up everywhere! Ugh.

 

[Judge]

Having kids just ruins your house and plans at keeping it clean. I just moved all of their toys from the downstairs closet to their rooms so at least that mess doesn't happen but then they manage to bring their coloring and drawing stuff down here and paper ends up everywhere! Ugh.

Reminds me of how delighted my parents were one time when I was allocated my own private "playroom".

LOL....maybe I could coexist with kids considering the conclusions I made with my car some years ago. Moving to a situation without a garage and a black car in the dusty desert. When I previously owned a condo I used to keep it garaged in nearly concours condition. Now I'm lucky if I give it a comprehensive wash and wax twice a year tops!

Who knows...maybe I could make the same concession for kids. But it's a moot point...I'm an old man now...lol. Just not sure where my OCD boundaries would be inside my own space if I had to share it. I did before...didn't work out all that great with a live-in g/f.

 

[kmom2014]

Reminds me of how delighted my parents were one time when I was allocated my own private "playroom".

Who knows...maybe I could make the same concession for kids. But it's a moot point...I'm an old man now...lol. Just not sure where my OCD boundaries would be inside my own space if I had to share it. I did before...didn't work out all that great with a live-in g/f.

Luckily I don't bother my husband too much with things I like done a certain way, I think it's more of your "typical" wife saying, "Why are you doing it that way?! Do it my way, it's easier!" But other than that happening, even with cleaning, I don't do it enough to impact our relationship.

As for the playroom the kids now have their rooms as their playroom, not the downstairs which I have wanted for a long time but my husband never understood and thought they should be able to play down here. Then of course when he thinks of it it's a great idea! Well it got done and that's what matters!

 

[The Penguin]

Very messy. I will have a maid if I have an successful business.