How do you get inspired to clean and organize your home?

[WatchingThemGrow]

I can find a million other things to do besides tackle the mess that is our home. How do you get inspired to dedicate large amounts of time to stuff at home?


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[hillview]

It is really hard. I find if I just start sometimes I can just make it happen. Starting is the hardest part for me. I try to pick a task that is smallish so maybe organize and sort through books in the playroom (eg take out books no longer age appropriate) vs tackle entire playroom. Watching this as I need some motivation.

[KrisM]

Often it takes hosting a party to get it all done.

I try to do the small stuff every day to keep up with it. After the kids go to school, I spend 15 minutes doing a quick clean of the main floor and I'm always surprised how much gets done.

For bigger projects, I make a detailed list of parts and figure out how many I'm going to do on a given day. So, my basement needs work. I did one smallish section last week and made good progress. I know I can't do it all in one day, so splitting into sections works for me. but, it's hard.

[WatchingThemGrow]

LOL I just asked a sweet older neighbor who used to work with me and is a Bible study leader how she gets her house clean and organized. She said , " I don't it's just not a priority for me."


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[Melaine]

Often it takes hosting a party to get it all done.

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This is so true! I have a girls' night group that gets together each Tuesday and I campaign hard to host it as often as possible. I have always liked hosting but knowing my friends are coming over gives me a burst of energy and pushes me to do a mini-clean mid-week which is great. It helps keep things from getting too horrible in the guest bathroom and living areas, at least.

It is hard though. I am feeling so discouraged because I feel like every weekend we have some kind of major organization/cleaning project to tackle. Mostly because we are just shuffling things around in a too-small space. I keep saying I want to embrace the small space but reality is that every fiber of me is rebelling against our 1400 sq. ft., garage-less, small-closeted house in need of so many repairs. I want out. Everytime I get some area the way I want it, another terrible problem area comes to light.

[hellokitty]

Yes, hosting is motivation. Mg issue is that I tend to do a quick fix instead of long term solution...

[123LuckyMom]

I find the best thing to do is start small and work in brief time increments. 15 minutes is a really good segment of time. You'll be shocked at how much you can accomplish over that amount of time.

[elbert]

Yes - hosting, or having another big project to do that I want to avoid even more than the house! Our list system also works, especially
when we put really small things on it. If I can get 20 out of 40 things done, it still feels like an accomplishment!

[niccig]

I can find a million other things to do besides tackle the mess that is our home. How do you get inspired to dedicate large amounts of time to stuff at home?


When it gets so bad, that not tackling it will cost me more in terms of energy/emotions. I put off the garage for years. Things just kept piling up in there. Eventually, we couldn't move around, it was a total PITA to get anything out of the garage. It took most of my summer off grad school as I didn't do it every day and DS was home with me.

DH is tackling the bedroom now. There's so much piled up the dresser, things are falling off.

Our problem is that things get cleaned up, it's keeping it organized we need help with.

I would tackle one thing at a time. Decide what's driving you nut, but nothing too big, and get it done. Then admire how good the area looks, and just that as motivation to tackle the next project. After the garage, I tackled our filing cabinet. I want to get to the front hall closet, but I don't have time right now. It's driving me nuts every time I open the door.

[BananaMama]

Generally, I am looking for something and that turns into an organizing event. E.g., I was looking for a small can of Feliway this morning and ended up reorg'ing the closet while I was looking.

[mikeys_mom]

It took us moving overseas into a house about half the size the force us to seriously purge and organize :)

We had been living in our old place 6 years and I had a list miles long of projects I wanted to organize. I agree it is totally hard to find the time if it's not your "thing" to organize. I even found all sorts of bins and hooks and other organizing devices that I had never implemented in the purge. I don't want to get stuck in that same rut again so we are being super careful now that we are starting from scratch in the new house. I have found it really helpful having a couple friends come over to help with the unpacking and give me organizing advice. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is helpful. Plus, when friends come, they have a set amount of time so we are super-focused and just get straight to work. If you have a close friend who can come inspire you, it might be worth asking them to come for a couple hours. I was amazed at how much more I could get done with a friend vs on my own.

[twowhat?]

The problem with hosting is that it's such a last minute scramble that I end up shoving stuff in cabinets/drawers...and that really doesn't help anything

One thing I've realized is that sometimes you have to just be committed to getting RID of it - no "I'll sell this on CL later" or "I can ebay this". Just put it in the goodwill pile. That is very hard for me to do when it comes to nice clothes from HA and MB:) But the truth is that I RARELY get around to CL'ing an item and I never have time/energy to put into ebay. This is something I need to get better about, particularly since we don't NEED the extra cash. For those that need the extra cash from CL or ebay, then that is probably enough motivation to get it done in a timely manner. I know there are several on here who do a great job with small CL/ebay "side businesses" and make significant amounts of extra cash but for me I have found that I lack the activation energy to get it done unless it's a piece of furniture.

I saw a blog once, forgot what it was called but the idea was to organize the whole house in 40 days, focusing on one SMALL area each day for 40 days. A SMALL area, like your nightstand.

Now, if someone wants to start up an organizing thread to improve my accountability and do the 40 day thing, I'd totally be up for that!

[KrisM]

The problem with hosting is that it's such a last minute scramble that I end up shoving stuff in cabinets/drawers...and that really doesn't help anything

One thing I've realized is that sometimes you have to just be committed to getting RID of it - no "I'll sell this on CL later" or "I can ebay this". Just put it in the goodwill pile. That is very hard for me to do when it comes to nice clothes from HA and MB:) But the truth is that I RARELY get around to CL'ing an item and I never have time/energy to put into ebay. This is something I need to get better about, particularly since we don't NEED the extra cash. For those that need the extra cash from CL or ebay, then that is probably enough motivation to get it done in a timely manner. I know there are several on here who do a great job with small CL/ebay "side businesses" and make significant amounts of extra cash but for me I have found that I lack the activation energy to get it done unless it's a piece of furniture.

I saw a blog once, forgot what it was called but the idea was to organize the whole house in 40 days, focusing on one SMALL area each day for 40 days. A SMALL area, like your nightstand.

Now, if someone wants to start up an organizing thread to improve my accountability and do the 40 day thing, I'd totally be up for that!

Most of our hosting is planned in advance, so I take the week or so before to get ready for it. I agree when it's last minute, things end up in crazy places. I usually fill laundry baskets and still them in my bedroom for 'later'.

I also agree on donating. It's hard, as I would like the extra cash. We don't need it either, but it is helpful for vacations, etc. But, donating is so much faster. I try to remember I'm helping someone else that way - even if someone buys something to resell, they probably need the money more than I do.

I like the 40days thing, but often my problem is keeping up. So, if I organize my nightstand tomorrow on day 1, it'll be a mess again by day 40 :). Is this the blog: http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/40-days-of-organization/

[niccig]

One thing I've realized is that sometimes you have to just be committed to getting RID of it - no "I'll sell this on CL later" or "I can ebay this". Just put it in the goodwill pile. That is very hard for me to do when it comes to nice clothes from HA and MB:) But the truth is that I RARELY get around to CL'ing an item and I never have time/energy to put into ebay. This is something I need to get better about, particularly since we don't NEED the extra cash. For those that need the extra cash from CL or ebay, then that is probably enough motivation to get it done in a timely manner. I know there are several on here who do a great job with small CL/ebay "side businesses" and make significant amounts of extra cash but for me I have found that I lack the activation energy to get it done unless it's a piece of furniture.


I agree with just getting the stuff out of your house. We have a local facebook group and I posted things on there when I did the garage. I priced the items really really low or said it was free. The free stuff went very quickly. The rest was straight to goodwill drop off. We were holding on to so many things we hadn't used in years. I now have a box in the garage lined with a trash bag just for donations. Once it's full, I'll drop it off. I'm hoping to not have things hanging around unused.

[zukeypur]

1. Start with a few small things.
2. Explain to your family that you'll need help with all of the regular things, and that the regular things might not get done for a few days.
3. Invite someone over, schedule some sort of service in your home, or host a party (mentioned previously). Or hire housekeepers. Nothing gets my butt in gear like knowing someone will be in every nook and cranny of my home.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Most of our hosting is planned in advance, so I take the week or so before to get ready for it. I agree when it's last minute, things end up in crazy places. I usually fill laundry baskets and still them in my bedroom for 'later'.

I also agree on donating. It's hard, as I would like the extra cash. We don't need it either, but it is helpful for vacations, etc. But, donating is so much faster. I try to remember I'm helping someone else that way - even if someone buys something to resell, they probably need the money more than I do.

I like the 40days thing, but often my problem is keeping up. So, if I organize my nightstand tomorrow on day 1, it'll be a mess again by day 40 :). Is this the blog: http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/40-days-of-organization/

WOW! I'm salivating reading the list of 40 things. I work well that way- in 40'day chunks....I look forward to reading those pages and getting inspired!