Cleaning Motivation To Get Motivated To Clean Your Messy House – Even If You’re Depressed And Have ZERO Motivation To Clean a Darn Thing Because the Mess, the CLUTTER and LIFE Is WAY Too Overwhelming –
It is HARD to get motivated to clean your house when you feel blah, cruddy, down and very UNmotivated to do anything at all. Plus feeling overwhelmed by your messy house doesn’t help anything at all!
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There was a time (or FIVE) that life was WAY too overwhelming – I felt like I hit a brick wall and had zero motivation to do anything let along CLEAN my house.
And my house reflected exactly how I was feeling. Saying my house was a mess would be an understatement… a HUGE understatement.
It was like a snowball effect, ya know? I had no motivation to clean, so the house got worse…then I started feeling worse with even LESS motivation and on and on until the whole situation consumed my life and had me FROZEN in NON-action.
If you can relate – first off, HUGS… this is not easy, BUT by granting yourself some grace and forgiveness and giving yourself a gentle push to just move, you can overcome this. We ALL have “overwhelming life” moments – and that’s ok – the goal is to help ourselves get OUT of that moment (or to get outside help when we can’t do it on our own).
So what should you DO when you are trying to figure out how to GET motivated to clean and declutter when you have zero motivation to declutter your life in any way, shape or form?
Let’s talk about that and get YOU up and at it so you can deCRAPify your house – and start feeling BETTER =)
No Motivation To Clean?
Forcing yourself to get motivated to clean doesn’t work – neither does guilting yourself into action.
Life can be very challenging at times – and that’s ok!
For example, my friend, Gail.
Gail had always been an organized person. She was the kind of person that made her bed every morning and never had a dirty dish in her sink. Gail loved the look of a clean, clutter-free home and she took pride to make sure her house was always that way.
But lately, she found herself slipping up on tasks that used to be routine for her without even realizing it–and getting frustrated with herself when she realized what had happened.
Gail was depressed and wasn’t able to focus on cleaning because she simply had no motivation to do it. Her house was a mess.
Gail said, “When you’re depressed, you can’t see some of these things that should be obvious. And then when you look at them, it’s like: OMG–what happened to my house?!!?”
With the decluttering tips and tricks down below, plus a good dose of patience with herself, Gail was able to motivate herself and get back into her usual cleaning routine.
She told me recently that tips #1, #7 and #12 below were KEY to her finding the motivation to finally get her house back in shape.
Cleaning Motivation Tips & Tricks
Overwhelmed by the mess? Try these 13 simple cleaning motivation tricks to help you get motivated to clean (even when you do NOT feel like it).
- Forgive Yourself – This is Hard!
- Just Clean ONE Thing – and See How Good It Feels
- Get Up and Throw Away 15 Things
- Learn Simple Cleaning Hacks
- Turn On Music and Speed Clean
- Learn WHY You’re a Cluttered Mess
- Start Small To Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed
- Invite Guests To Your Home -That WILL Motivate You To Clean
- Get Help From Family, Friends and/or Professionals
- Reduce Anxiety By Reducing Your STUFF
- Use a Simple 10-Minute Cleaning Checklist
- Fill One Small Grocery Bag with Trash – Then Toss It
- Learn The Freedom Of: “Clean Enough“
Depression and Cleaning
There is a definite connection between depression and having a messy house. When you have no energy to clean, housework gets left undone for a LONG time…and slowly snowballs into a BIG cluttered mess.
First off, I’m not a doctor and this isn’t medical advice about true clinical depression – I would think someone in that situation would need actual help from a specialist.
I’m talking about those “blue days” and sad moments in our lives – not clinical depression.
If your “blue” has been lasting for too long and/or is getting in the way of your day-to-day life, please talk to someone – it can really help!
Also – consider having your Vitamin D levels checked. On a hunch, my doctor checked mine after I told him how I had been feeling and turned out, my Vitamin D levels were pathetically LOW.
Once I got those D levels even to the low side of “normal”, I felt so much better all-around and was able to motivate myself to GET motivated haha!
Again, I am NOT a doctor and I am NOT giving medical advice, ok? I’m just sharing my experience and what helped ME… and that Vitamin D thing was a HUGE piece of the puzzle for ME.
Alrighty, let’s jump in and talk about each little tip that can help you kindly help yourself get some motivation going to declutter, clean and get some organization going.
And they helped me KEEP my house clean
(or well, clean “enough” – I’m NOT a perfectionist!)
But here’s some basic tips for getting motivated to clean when the motivation is NOT there.
To start with, I cut myself some slack.
No, not as an excuse to NOT do anything, but as an act of forgiveness
(hey, you forgive friends and family all the time – why shouldn’t you forgive yourself, too??)
It’s HARD to get motivated to clean with kids, with a dog, with toddlers running around, with a baby (or a baby on the way -sgetting motivated to clean when you’re pregnants is tough!), and your hubby ALL demanding your time – all while you might be working a job OR as working as a stay at home mom.
No wonder you’re feeling overwhelmed and blue!
Look: YES, we picked this life we have, but it’s not your fault that life gets so crazy hectic at times – it’s ok to feel yucky at times.
In fact, it’s NORMAL.
It’s also normal for household things to be left undone when life does get extra hectic. But then, time goes by, and that all builds up – and then it starts to feel unmanageable and unFIX-able – which leads to you feeling even MORE yucky.
Then, down the rabbit hole we go… doing nothing, but it continues to get worse… and we continue to FEEL worse about it.
Best advice is do something… anything to change your momentum.
Just Start SOMEWHERE
Many times, the only real motivation one needs to clean is to just START.
Remember to be super kind to yourself and start small with a task that feels totally doable to you if you just got up and did it.
Right now, just go pick up a small plastic grocery sack (I know you have them because you didn’t declutter your kitchen yet… haha!)
Then, walk around your kitchen and throw away any of these 15 things.
Then, take that bag outside and throw it in your garbage can.
TA-DA – you just DID something about your situation AND you started the process of changing your momentum from doing nothing to doing something.
If it felt good, do it again… and again… and AGAIN.
Those little grocery sacks are easy to fill with clutter and trash – and it takes like 2 minutes to do it.
Don’t overthink it – just DO IT.
More Help:
Less Clutter – Less Anxiety
Every single piece of clutter that you remove, will really help your mood… a lot.
Clutter causes anxiety – it’s hard to THINK when you are surrounded by clutter let alone be in a GOOD mood.
If you think that your feelings of overwhelm are the main reason you’re feeling down, these cleaning hacks for busy moms include housekeeping tips, mom hacks and daily organizing ideas that will help YOU find an easier way to keep a clean house WITHOUT feeling OVERWHELMED all the time by your messy house.
For example, these speed cleaning tips are my GO TO starting point that really help me start to get my messy house under control AND I can see my progress much more quickly (which only motivates me to do MORE).
I also LOVE using pretty containers to organize my stuff – that makes me happy and instantly boosts my mood!
These are my FAVORITE storage containers
They are airtight and they look GREAT sitting on my kitchen counters, in my cabinets and other storage spaces around my house!
I even use them for my desk and craft stuff - LOVE them!
5-Piece POP Container SetsShow Me ThisPOP Container Value SetsShow Me This
Too Much STUFF
If you just have too much STUFF and don’t know where to start to get all that clutter under control – try these decluttering tips for packrats – they are super helpful and very simple ways to start to get it all back in control (which really helps you feel better and less depressed!)
These clutter-free home tips really help too!
Most importantly – start SOMEWHERE. Do something small and achievable.
Don’t go jumping into a MASSIVELY MESSY closet and overwhelm yourself even further.
Start with the first spot your eyes land on when you walk in your door and straighten that area.
Just doing THAT will instantly make you feel better.
Then slowly work your way out and around that area all while being patient with yourself.
It’s ok to do all this at YOUR pace.
You can do it!
My House Was a MESS!
And my anxiety was through the roof!
I needed a plan to get it together - it was all pushing me over the edge.
Thing is - we LIVE here... I never had the fantasy that my home would ever look "Pinterest perfect".
I simply wanted more control, less clutter and much less anxiety.
I finally found something that worked for ME.
- My house is now easier to clean - I can now clean it in minutes, instead of hours.
- I can now actually FIND the things I'm looking for.
- I learned some simple decluttering systems that make me much more efficient every day - and I'm more relaxed and less overwhelmed all the time (finally)
- My house now looks pretty darn good almost all the time.
- Best of all - I no longer stress about guests unexpectedly showing up.
This is how I did it.
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