How do you tackle a giant mess??

[FreshTressa]

My house is a disaster. We have been gone or busy and I haven't done much and it has fallen apart! I don't even know where to start.

What do you do when it gets like that? Do you have a technique for tackling it?

 

[DoeWDW]

I set my timer for 5 or 10 minutes (depends how much time I have) in each room. I do what I can in 5-10 minutes and when the timer goes off, I move on to the next room and do another 5-10 minutes. You'd be amazed how much you can do in 10 minutes!!

It also helps to put on some great fast-paced music to help you "groove" your way through the mess!!

This way I see improvement in every room for a short bit of work. It gives me the encouragement I need to keep going. When I feel stronger, I do 15 minutes in each room.

Good luck!! I'm in the same situation and I think I'll break out that timer today!! Don't forget to plan some breaks in there too, but use the timer to time them so you don't get sidetracked!!

 

[mad4themouse]

I move.





No seriously, I try to do "just one room". I figure that if I can get "just one room" clean and in order, I'm doing okay.

When I'm finished, if I have the time and/or energy, I try to do "just one room".

I find that if I break the task down into smaller parts, I can get almost anything done. Just getting one of the "parts" done gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

I works well when my kids have a project to do, too. Break it down into parts, do the parts a little at a time.

 

[eeyoreforever]

I too try to do one room at a time. I always start with the kitchen. Once it is clean, I move on to the living room, but in there I don't totally clean, I just pick up at first. Next comes the bathrooms. Yuck! After they are clean, I am usually in a much better frame of mind and either go to the bedrooms or deep clean some more in the living room. There is something about having a fresh kitchen and bathroom that makes me want to clean the rest of the house. Notice I said want to-not that I actually do!!!

 

[Mom-to-3]

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. As I spent months and months at Weight Watchers, progress was steady but slow. It can be hard to cheer a monthly loss of 1.8! BUT, all those little amounts add up and I have lost 76 pounds.

I view my house the same way. All the little bits will help, but if you never do any of them, nothing will get done.

I also use the timer system. 10 minutes per room to start.

I also use another system. I devised it. It's called, "What things are bothering ME the most at this moment?" I find that if I do those first, my calmness level is better.

Good Luck.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I still tackle it like my Dad told me to clean my room when I was a kid. Just work on one section and make it spotless. If you do a little each day, or every other day, you'll be done sooner than you think.

 

[olena]

I also play some music. It helps a lot.

Just getting a small thing done spurs my determination. In my family, we call it Hazel-itis....after my grandmother. Sufferers go to clean off the counters and end up scrubbing them with bleach, tearing apart and cleaning the stove, polishing the cabinets, caulking the backsplash and ridding the toaster of all the crumbs in the bottom. I think outsiders call this OCD...

 

[Melora]

Here is a strategy I use especially with with the younger ones room..I get a giant box, or a couple of small ones and scoop up everything off the floor, off the counters etc that isn't where it belongs. Within 5 minutes I have a rooom that looks spotless..now I straighten up anything within the drawers or closets that are in need then I start one item at a time out of the box and put it away, throw it away or move it into a box for items that I don't really know what to do with. When I am through with that, I only have a few things left that are odds and ends.(Ok that box usually gets set aside and forgotten about.... )

It saves me so much time trying to clean one area and finding books, toys etc that I can't put away because there is another mess in the way. This is a great way to "quick clean" the house if youre suddenly faced with unexpected arrivals in 1/2 an hour....You do have to back and clean out those boxes though... I find it so much easier to clean and put away when Im not wading through a mess.

 

[Lanshark]

1. Get in my car
2. Drive to Starbucks
3. Get a large cup of dark roast coffee
4. Drink
5. Go home
6. Clean until the coffee wears off
7. Go to #1 and repeat until the house is clean

 

[S. C.]

Let DH clean. And I go to starbucks and have MY coffee there.

 

[s&k'smom]

I must confess I am a cleaner until the 2 cups of coffee wear off. I'm on a prescription that sucks up my energy by the afternoon. So I just try to do what I can. Luckily I have a son obsessed with vacuuming so he does that for me! Of course my DH is home the next two days with my kids because there is no school. Well I can only hope the house is standing when I get home.

 

[RUDisney]

When it gets that bad, I start yelling. "If anyone loved me who lives in this house, they'd realize that I didn't do all of the messing and shouldn't have to do all of the cleaning."

Usually, with a raised voice and that statement, I usually have two sets of hands that are ready and willing to show me how much they love me. Unfortunately, it takes more screaming than that to get "St. James" to help me clean, especially if there are "manly" things that need to be done.

If nothing else works, I'll invite friends of my DH's over. He doesn't care if he helps me get everything in order if my friends are coming over, but if they are his, he is a cleaning machine. So, maybe you need to invite some of your DH's friends over so you'll get alot of help, too.

 

[smileybrat]

a little at a time starting at the room you use the most. I take breaks so I don't get tired of doing it and quit.

 

[Pat]

Spend at least 15 minutes a day on picking up some clutter. Make sure you don't reclutter that spot though. Check out previous days' projects and pick up anything that has been dropped there first.

The few minutes at a time does wonders. We can all do a few minutes, and it does add up.

Or, make a list of things that need to get done. I like making lists of small projects as I love to see them crossed off the list. I feel that I have accomplished something.

 

[aunt lissa]

I put on music...and do one room at a time!!

 

[poohandwendy]

This is what I do to declutter, everyday. It doesn't matter HOW bad it is...

I start with: a laundry basket, a box, a trash bag and (4) 'grocery store' type plastic bags. The laundry basket is for dirty laundry (obviously, LOL). The box is for anything that needs to go to the kitchen (dirty dishes, cups etc.) The trash bag is for garbage and the 4 other bags are for each bedroom in the house.

I start in the master bedroom and work from room to room gathering things. Trash first, from waste baskets to gum wrappers...then laundry...into the basket. Then anything that needs to go in the kitchen box..in it goes. Lastly, anything that needs to go in one of the bedrooms goes in the appropriate bag. If there is anything that is in the wrong room, but doesn't have a box or bag to go in (like a book in my sons room that belongs in the family room), it goes outside the bedroom door on the floor.

After I have done a 'quick sweep' gathering of all of the rooms, each container goes (just inside the doorway) of the room it belongs in. I then go back to all of the doorways of the rooms to gather the other items and place them in the appropriate rooms (just inside the doorway).


Now, I can go from room to room doing what needs done without running all over the house and backtracking.

I start with the laundry room to get a load started. Then onto bedrooms... start by putting away items in the bag, make the bed, dust, vacuum...move on to next room. After the bedrooms are done, I do the bathrooms, the family rooms, dining room, living room...last is the kitchen.

Boy, this was harder to type than actually do. It seems more complicated, when I explain it, than it really is.

Oops, forgot to add that I take a pad of paper and pen with me on the 'quick sweep' to jot down things I want to remember to get back to later, things I need to buy, etc....After I have done the basics, I can deal with the stuff on the list. BTW...the TV stays OFF during this process. But, I admit, I usually talk to my best friend on the phone the whole time.... until I need to start vaccuuming....

Good Luck.

 

[eeyoreforever]

poohandwendy - wow! I was getting ready to start my cleaning when I read your post. Now I'm too tired to even get up! You clean every room every day??? How long do you spend on this every day? Will you come to my house-please????

 

[Pebblszzz]

I've got my own little "detail-oriented" ways of doing just about anything, and cleaning is one of them.

I start with a list. Yes, I'm obsessed with "lists". I'm a bit scatter-brained by nature, so without a list I'd find myself standing in the middle of a mall and have no idea why I'm there.

As I accomplish a task, I cross it off the list. Whether or not I finish the list is irrelevant (because I NEVER do), but at the end of the day, I see what's crossed off and know I haven't wasted the whole day, at least.

As for cleaning a huge messy house, I start in one corner (doesn't matter which one), and just work like a white tornado and buzz through each room, one at a time.

Or I spend all day in this corner staring at my monitor, surf the DIS, and it's all "behind me" where I can't see it....LOL