General Discussion

My allergies force me to clean. When the amount of dust in my room is too much, I HAVE to clean, or I feel like crap until I do.

Unless I have a strange urge to just clean, and sometimes I do. It just comes out of no where, and I feel like I MUST clean or I'll go insane.

I also have a bit of OCD. Really I do. So cleaning my room makes the annoying voice in my head that tells me something is askew to go away.

@despairpods Thank you <3 and that's very sound advice.

@Amulet I tried that today and it helped some! I took out the trash today (small but there was a lot).

This is just the kind of motivation I needed, everyone has been so kind and helpful, I'm eternally grateful.

@reltseo
Your post is so relatable! I especially love your first point- getting showered and dressed motivates me to actually do things and clean. It seems kind of illogical to me-- why take a shower right before I start working and get dirty and sweaty? But it honestly does help and I get a lot more done when I do that.

@Kasbiel There are a couple of things I do that make it easier for me to clean, next to the stuff others have said such as showering before, I like to:

- Set a specific time (including minute!) so that I cannot procrastinate another 10 minutes.. and just one more youtube video.. and yeeah maybe tomorrow..?

- Think about the result (e.g. clean floors, shiny kitchen, better smell...) and how it's going to make me feel rather than the task. If you say stuff like "I'll make those dishes sparkle!" (lol) it gets a lot easier (as compared to "I gotta spend another five minutes scrubbing the dirt from those plates.. ugh")

Same as above post. I clean if something's dirty, because I'm a neat freak and I constantly need something to do.
Though if you do want motivation, maybe you could use a reward system? Eg if I do the laundry I can eat that cookie, if I clean off my desk I can take a nap, etc.

Play some music or tv shows/videos while cleaning. I also have trouble getting chores done, but if you make them less boring or unpleasant by combining them with something you like, it will be a lot better.

I usually listen to music or esports broadcasts while cleaning, it gives me something to pay attention to so I can autopilot my way through whatever boring thing I need to get done.

It also helps if you don't try to do it all in one shot- I spread my chores out throughout the week. For example, when doing laundry I find it overwhelming to do everything in one day and my brain just goes... no, but if I wash a load a day I find it a lot more manageable. You can do this trick for cleaning too.

Honestly what usually will get me motivated is if it gets cluttered enough. My room never gets horrible, but it can get to the point it annoys me, so honestly that's mostly my motivation lol. Just annoyance.

On good days, I visualize what it'll look like when it's done, sometimes I rearrange in order to inspire myself.

Other days, I see it as a good alternative to a cardio workout, sparing me the time to go swimming.

And on really bad days, I can't motivate myself, so I'll just try and throw away what's quite frankly trash, and let the mess be until I have the mojo to deal with it. You have to prioritize what keeps your daily rythm functional when it's like that. Do the bare minimum, starting with oneself, having a shower etc.

The fear that I'll get sick from anything being dirty.
I just don't like it when my hands and stuff aren't all squeaky clean.
It scares me.

I clean every day.
Heck, I have around 10 anti-bacterial hand sprays.

And I spent 3 hours cleaning one window.