Do you spend hours tidying up before guests turn up?
Are you always in a tizzy over the constant mess of your home?
You are here because you need a way to banish the mess monster once and for all.
This is not a quick fix cleaning list of the best sprays or air fresheners. This is an actual solution for your messy problems that you can use time and time again. Let’s get excited and take back control of your life!
Honestly, I have struggled so much in the past with a messy home. There are two types of mess. Manageable mess and unmanageable mess. A manageable mess is what leads to an unmanageable mess. You will always have a manageable mess in life and that’s OK (hence its name).
Here, we are talking about an unmanageable mess.
But, a mess is too kind a word. So, let’s get one thing straight. When I say Mess from now on it means more than this.
Mess means
Mentally damaging
Too much mess causes horrible thoughts, can make you feel so down and helpless. We have all been there!
Endless cycle
It feels we will never get on top of the mess.
Sabotage
The crippling realization that the mess has destroyed and vandalized your home.
Self Doubt
We end up lacking confidence in ourselves and feel like we will never defeat the mess.
We are talking about the MESS that leaves us feeling pangs of desperation exhaustion, brain fog, and actually gives a sensation of dizziness just upon entering the room of the said monster.
Piles of clothes everywhere, kitchen units that you can’t see from clutter, bedroom drawers stuffed with whatever you can cram in, mountains of toys scattered about, the list are endless! It consumes your whole life.
I have let my home go to pot SO.MANY.TIMES. I would spend hours cleaning, organizing on Sunday (feeling super housewifely and on top of my game) then the midweek mess monster hits with a vengeance. I don’t know how many times I have cried, got angry, got motivated, or just sat and stared at the state of my once tidy surroundings with a numbing sting. How did I let it get so bad?
The thing is – life gets in the way. Sometimes we have to work longer than expected. Sometimes we have a large to-do list out with our home. Sometimes the kids are crazy nut jobs running wild and nothing gets done.
THAT IS OK.
We don’t want to have to spend our days cleaning and organizing numerous small people’s items, we would never get anything else done. It gets tedious and annoying.
However, we don’t want to spend our days being negatively affected by mess. It ends up having a domino effect. I think we will call it the boulder effect. Because it all spirals out of control from the sheer impact of the boulders crashing down one – by – one. Mentally, physically and emotionally.
Mess makes me mentally ill.
There, I said it! I’m sure now that you have come this far…you can relate in some way?
When you have an uncontrollable mess more often than not it means you have too much in your living space.
The good news is guys. You really don’t have to live with the Mess Monster. We can tackle this MESS once and for all and if I can do it anyone can!
First things first, we need to get you motivated and touch on some simple self-discipline techniques. But the fact you are reading this means you’ve got more motivation and discipline than you think. Well done!
If you have motivation already you can just skip this part and get to the nitty-gritty!
Start at the beginning
This is a self-discipline technique that I learned from the Ryan Robbins book 15 Days to ultimate self-discipline.
“The Association Practice” is just one of the techniques in the book and It’s honestly such a straightforward method. Enabling you to master anything you put your mind to.
This book is a must-read for anyone trying to discipline themselves and eliminate bad habits. You can buy it here.
Grab yourself a pen and paper. Ask yourself –
“What do you associate letting your house get in a mess with?” (or something along those lines).
Write down around 3 – 5 answers being no longer than a sentence for each.
EXAMPLE answers :
- leads to negative cycles
- reflects poorly on my character
- living outside of what I truly want
NOTE – these are example answers only. For this self-discipline tactic to work, you must make your own personal associations with the question.
Make sure your answers contain words that have an impact on the way you feel. Use words that strike a little fire, words that have an attachment to you.
No matter what answers you have, it will always almost be something personal.
Read your answers over and over again. memorize it. stick it on the fridge. Make it sink in.
When revising your question and the associations to your questions daily. It will automatically become an effortless task and soon the link in your brain will be automatic.
When you think of your “mess” in the future. Your question and heartfelt answers will pop into your head and drive you not to succumb to the temptation of letting your house get out of out control. HOW COOL IS THAT?
It’s essential to start from the beginning and tackle your mentality before the physicality of what you want to conquer.
OK, now that you have your brain in the right gear, it’s time to start dealing with the physical problem.
1. Your surroundings
Cleaning out your home can be enjoyable, so make it enjoyable.
You can listen to your favorite song or put on your best audiobook. Have some personal sounds to help you relax or feel pumped. Your brain releases natural opioids (endorphins) that induce feelings of pleasure when listening to sounds we enjoy -this will definitely soften the blow of cleaning!
2. Ask for some help
When you are feeling overwhelmed with the state of your home. Ask for help. Ask a friend or family member if they can spare a couple of hours just to help get you started. Support can often just give us that boost we need!
If you don’t have anyone to help, that’s ok. You will get on just fine powering through this yourself. You got this!
3. Tackle one area
Choose one area to start on. Put up a mental block around the rest of the mess in your home and dedicate all of your effort and time into one section.
The kitchen, the bathroom, the lounge, the small cupboard – whatever you want!
4. Time It
I have been put off doing my mountain of dishes so many times due to thinking the task would take forever. I can be such a drama queen at times, so I decided to time myself doing the dishes.
Once I had completed the dreaded task I glanced at my stopwatch to find it had actually only taken me 15 minutes. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t dry them – they were left to drip dry (but that’s good enough for me).
With consistency every week your tasks will take less and less time. It could be an idea to time yourself the first day of your journey and compare a week later – no doubt you will find a massive time reduction.
5. Actually put items away
This sounds silly and obvious and it is. But it works.
Pick up one thing and put it away where it belongs. Not to the side or in a pile. Just make the effort to get it out of sight as soon as you come into contact with it.
5. Bin it
Try and set yourself a goal of disposing/recycling at least 10 – 20 items in that one area you tackling. They can be big or small, it doesn’t matter.
Ask yourself – ” Do I really need this?” for every item you pick up.
Trust me, once you have disposed of the first 10 items you will become a bin pro! The liberation is unreal. Every item you want out of your home gets easier to let go of.
If you are super organized – make the effort to save items for charity. I don’t always do this though, sometimes the thought of actually having to store my ‘junk’ is just as bad as the mess in the first place (a terrible way to think, I know but it can be too much for my brain when the house is a MESS and I then need to store more organized mess). Anyway, I’m working on this.
6. Start on the next section
When one section is mess-free and organized, you can clean the dirt – My favorite dirt buster at the moment is ECOS all-purpose cleaner it cleans so well on everything and doesn’t contain harmful chemicals.
Once the first section is done, move to the next.
Repeat the process.
It’s as simple as that!
