Motivating yourself to clean!

[¯|_(ツ)_|¯]

I now live alone in my apartment which is thankfully only downstairs from my parents as they are the landlords. I struggle to clean though due to my extreme lack of energy, depression, and chronic headaches.

I don't use my stove a lot so that is clean, so the main things I need to worry about are my floors, bathroom, and fridge. The fridge doesn't have any bad food in it, so I mainly mean keeping the actual fridge clean.

The problem with my floors is due to having guinea pigs, I track hay EVERYWHERE. If I bend down on the floor next to their cage to tend to them it gets stuck to my pants and scatters around, or it'll get stuck on my shoes, or when I take them out of the room to hold them it falls of them, etc. I can sweep my floors one day and it's instantly covered in hay again. I also have a Swiffer WetJet and my floors can definitely use some mopping, but agh.

The other things I have a hard time with are the bathroom sink, the toilet, and the tub. The tub isn't filthy but could use a clean. The sink seems to get dirty SUPER FAST for some reason, and then the toilet is, well, a toilet, so that could use a regular clean. I especially hate cleaning the outside parts of the toilet that aren't the bowl, like the bottom where dust and random gross collects. It makes me gag for some reason.

What tips do you have to keep things clean when you have chronic physical and mental illnesses and general low energy?

[CaptainCastle]

I also live alone and have fatigue/pain issues, so I know your pain.

I usually try to Hoover my floors once a week, but I don't have any pets. You may have to accept there is hay around sometimes, I mean it's not dirt is it? Though I've seen you've asked about a robot Hoover in another thread, so that could be an idea worth considering.

My advice as far as the sink and bath is concerned (especially the sink if you're saying it gets dirty fast) is to have a small towel specifically for drying them out and try to do it once a day, or just after using the bath. I wipe my sink out every night before bed, it only takes a few minutes and really helps keep it clean. If you use the bath often and wiping it every time is too much, maybe every few times? To help keep actually in the toilet clean I have one of those sticky smelly things stuck on the side of the bowl that get activated every time is flushed, they last about 3 weeks usually. Obviously it still needs cleaning properly, it just helps make it less of a big job. As far as stuff collecting, would it gross you out if it did it a bit more often before it gets so bad?

In general I really find doing small things as in going makes everything seem like less if a huge job when it comes to the proper clean. Maybe to help with motivation you could try to set routine days when you do certain things? One thing I always try to keep in mind though it's pacing and not doing things if I'm really not feeling up to it even if it's when I should be doing, I know I'll only end up paying for it after.

I hope some of this has been helpful and you find some ways to figure out your cleaning!

[¯|_(ツ)_|¯]

True! My friend said to try and do one thing at a time and if I can only get that one thing done that day, that's fine, but then I do everything except my floors LOL

[Ariel008]

If cleaning is an impossible task for you, then think about cleaning companies. This is very convenient nowadays, especially if you are very busy or have money and don't want to clean. I wouldn't say I like to clean myself, and I don't have time to clean because of my work. My wife takes care of the kids, so she still cooks. I decided to take the cleaning off her shoulders and hired a cleaning company emop.co.uk. After that, we have more free time.

I try to be mindful of how frequent I clean, especially my counters, sink and stove top since it's where the most bacteria can form.

I do my floors much more infrequently, and I rarely ever dust. But with accumulation of dust and dirt, I should do it more frequently.

[Rika]

I never ever clean, and am terrible at it. My room is usually a mess for that reason. I do need to get better at it and will take any of the advice here for sure!