Happens to lots of us. Itâs called life. I find that putting on some headphones and listening to some upbeat music, or a podcast or audio book can make it less tedious and the time goes faster. But I know what you mean about starting. Itâs sometimes hard to get motivated.
Comment on Discussion Thread đ¸ Sunday 22 March 2026
imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Having a lot of trouble cleaning lately. Life has been stressful and I have managed work sleep and food, and ok levels of outside and social time but I am in a deep funk when it comes to house chores. See one thing, see a second and third, brain overloads and I sit scrolling. Or today I come home ready to start and crash out asleep.
This is all ok EXCEPT that having a cluttered not clean place is pulling my mental health down. UghâŚI have a big tub to dump in anything out of place so I can try to clear and clean. Wish me luck.
SituationCake@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
melbaboutown@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I feel you.
Unsolicited advice on emergency/exhaustion cleaning
When I get like this it can help to dump everything in the big tub just to be able to vacuum⌠but then you have to sort out the tub or it just sits there. But it gets it out of the way so you can do it later. Another way to easily declutter is to hang a plastic or paper bag on a doorknob and throw in a single unwanted item anytime you happen to find one. (I kept one on the wardrobe handle to immediately take anything I tried to put on and then decided not to keep.) Then when the bag is full donate. You can have multiple through the house. Clean laundry I just pile into the âcleanâ basket to pull from or shove handfuls of the appropriate clothing into each drawer. I donât always have the ability to put things away but I can shove them in the âgeneral correct areaâ or âcontainedâ and move onto more urgent tasks. I can always put them away properly later if I have the opportunity. Disinfectant wipes or baby wipes are good to wipe up something sticky before sweeping or quickly go over a dusty or dirty surface as a stopgap. I still hate the countertop dishwasher I invested in because it doesnât clean to my standards but that is currently being used as an alternative to a pile of rotting depression dishes. Before Iâd fill the sink with boiling water and everything dirty, let it soak until it was just tolerably hot to wash⌠but if not done that runs the risk of a sink full of swamp water. Stick vacs are not always great compared to full sized vacs, especially cordless ones. Cordless battery ones can run down fast and be weak. But they also are a lot easier to just grab for a quick pass when you have 5 seconds worth of motivation. You can use them on hard floors too, just swipe over the whole area. When I empty the bin and have to replace the bag, I often put on multiple bags at once while Iâm already doing it. It sucks but that way the next time I lift out the rubbish itâs already lined ready to go. If I donât do that I procrastinate and rubbish starts piling up on the counter⌠Pottering around semi-aimlessly cleaning in one area can help. Doing it drunk or high may help (though I unfortunately canât have substances). You donât have to get it all done at once.
imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Thanks! I do a bunch of these but some are new and helpful. I need to declutter so have put tubs strategically around the place for stuff without a home. And luckily I donât have roaches here (my 18months of German roach hell from living next to a hoarder still makes me gag). I just managed a good hour while on the phone to a friend. Gonna do floors then meal prep now
melbaboutown@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Iâm glad some of it helped. I definitely spend my fair share of time in (not) cleaning hell. Trying to catch up now.
I canât stand for too long but sometimes it helped to put my phone on a mini easel I got from ebay and watch/listen to something while I washed in short chunks. Strongly advise putting it somewhere it canât fall into the sink tho. I put it on the kitchen windowsill but well to the side
Seagoon_@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
luck đ
also, Mission Creep is something I have had to learn to stop
I know the other stuff needs to be done too, I can leave it until my next specific cleaning day, the seagoons will be alright in the meantime, the chore hasnât been forgotten, there is a schedule
having a schedule for each room has really helped me . So now I just say, I know this hall area is a bit of a mess but it can wait until Wednesday, which is laundry and hallway day , eg Today I am just going to do the living and dining room.
imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
I want to have a schedule but life has been chaotic with long work days and other health issues making me exhausted so I am trying to just do one thing every day even if tiny. Otherwise I feel terrible that I have broken the schedule đ thanks.
Seagoon_@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
one thing everyday is very good đđ
when the young seagoons were here it was chaos and my schedule was in disarray
I learnt that having a schedule previously was really good because it wasnât chaos layered on chaos, it was just normal chaos, it didnât matter that life events took over for a bit
so this is life events, you are doing the important things and coping really well đđđ¸đťđŤđ
melbaboutown@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Agreed, I concentrate on rubbish,
litter trays, anything that will smell or attract bugs. Thatâs more important than folding or ironing
CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
It happens. You work full time. Give yourself a break. And itâs fâing hot.
I wish you luck đ¤
imoldgreeeg@aussie.zone â¨4⊠â¨weeks⊠ago
Thanks mate. I appreciate it