General Discussion

Garbage and/or recycling pickup day. For me, knowing whatever I throw away is going to be gone that day works.

The bad news is that this can mean projects stack up every week until the last minute.

The other way I clean (other than the daily gotta do it like dishes) is the chore jar. It's filled with slips of paper with chores written on them. My goal is to empty it once a month. It helps me get something done when I have the energy but all the stuff that needs to be done just looks too overwhelming to start anywhere.

So I kinda live in a routine? basically every day I make up the bed pick up stuff off the floor so its small cleaning BUT every two weeks I do 'deep cleaning' I wash the sheets, dust everything, and vacuum

I'll also deep clean if i get something new? like even if it's small- plushies, video games, books, candles basically I'll deep clean if i have something new and I'm trying to find a new place for it to live- so I'll get excited to decorate my room and change some stuff around :o stuff like that

but I listen to music I can move too and watch tv let a bit of light shine in the room if the sun isn't too high to heat it up that said I will take breaks in between things

I also have like a wind tunnel in my room and I deep cleaned last time cause it kept shooting dust everywhere D; very annoying but it's still clean now so super happy

then afterwards the reward is I take a relaxing bath and light a relaxing candle in my room~ = w =

Honestly, give me caffeine and nothing else to do, and I'll end up cleaning for 4+ straight hours. It feels so good to get so much done!

I have schizophrenia, anxiety, a nasty habit of dissociating, and fatigue and chronic pain from rheumatoid arthritis and Sjögren's syndrome. Suffice it say that I have no motivation to clean most of the time, even with all my medications and various coping techniques. My room, however, is not all that dirty, despite being a bit cluttered. I can usually help with the dishes at night and help prepare the coffee machine for the morning. There are some days when I can't do any of that and the work falls to those I live with, but I try to be helpful.

What I do is tackle it one small project at a time. If there are dishes on my desk, I take them into the kitchen and put them into the sink. If there are too many papers on my desk, I put them where they need to go and then take a break. I give myself small rewards. If I finish this one small task, I can have a small snack, or a cup of coffee or tea, or a little time on one of my games. Very rarely do I have the energy to do a larger amount of cleaning all at once, much less the motivation. I find I get a lot more done by breaking it down into smaller pieces and doling out little rewards.

One of my other techniques has actually been mentioned here. I put on something like I like, be that music, a television show, or a movie. Sometimes the noise and the chance to focus on something else while I work (like watching something as I fold laundry or tidy papers, or listening to music or a show while I do the dishes) helps me get through it. It's particularly helpful when I don't want to do any of the cleaning because I hurt too much, or I'm too tired, or I'm going through one of my various mental health symptoms. Or, on the bad days, a combination therein. Sometimes having something else that takes my attention away from all of it is comforting. It can be overwhelming sometimes if there's too much going on, though, so I try to do this when no one else is out in the living room, or when I'm alone in my room.

I wish you the best and hope your discomfort eases soon.