You know those days when the mess in your home is overwhelming and you just don’t know what to do. I know I used to. And I hear many people asking about how to get motivated to clean when overwhelmed by mess. How can you find a way to enjoy decluttering? How can you make it so that cleaning doesn’t seem like such a daunting task? How about starting with getting yourself some motivation!

It is so easy to just not clean up. After all, it’s a lot of work and they always say that dirt and clutter can make us feel tired and anxious. But sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the mess in our home that it seems like we just cannot go on any longer.

It can seem impossible to find time for cleaning if you have too much on your plate already with other chores, school or your family taking up most of your free time as well. I have some great tips for getting yourself motivated and thinking about decluttering being an investment rather than a chore!

As you get started with cleaning your home, there are some important things that you will need to remember. First of all, do not expect perfection in a day.  You cannot change everything overnight; sometimes it is better to go slow and fix one thing at a time so that you can save yourself from burn out. 

Secondly, you are not in competition with anyone. Everyone’s circumstances are different and you only need to do what you can do and have your house the way you feel it should be, not someone else’s idea of perfection. 

How to get motivated to declutter when overwhelmed by mess (1)

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Let’s get started with how to get motivated to clean when overwhelmed by mess:

Just start!

When you start to clean up, you will feel better about the space and your mind. I recommend starting with a small part of your home which is overwhelming and then working your way through one section at a time without rushing.  

For example, if the kitchen is giving you grief because there are too many dishes to wash or something that needs to be put away or thrown out, start there! Do not let yourself be overwhelmed by the entire area at once; just try to take it little by little.

If you have gone all day without cleaning anything in your own place and don’t know how on earth you can get started now, try cleaning off your desk or trying to put some clothes in order before bedtime. Just commit yourself to a little part of the job, and you will be surprised to find how much you can accomplish.

Read also: 6 Decluttering Tips for Hoarders & Collectors

Set a goal

Have you ever found yourself starting a cleaning project and getting side tracked by all of the other things that seem to need attention? This is because our minds can be really sneaky.

They know that we want to feel organised and in control, so they make it hard for us to actually clean up.

A goal helps us to focus on finishing what we have started instead of making it easy for our mind to distract us with other chores that still need to be done.

Set a realistic goal based on the amount of time you have available each day, and keep your eye on the prize!

Keep track

The best way to stay motivated during this process is to monitor how long it takes you to get everything cleaned up or organised. Then, use this information to figure out how long it will take you each day to keep things this way.

If there are days when you have more time than usual, make sure that you schedule a little extra cleaning time in your calendar and work towards keeping clutter from piling up again!

Visualise success

As silly as it sounds, visualizing the outcome of your clean up efforts has been shown to help your mind stay focused and on task.

You might even like to take a picture or make a short video of what you want the space to look like once it is organized so that you can look at it often. This will keep you motivated and prevent your from falling back into disorganisation as soon as you have made progress.

Taking before and after photos is also a great way to motivate yourself when it comes to decluttering other rooms in the house.

Reward yourself

If cleaning up seems too much like work, then treat it just like that! Once you have finished an area or achieved a goal for getting things organised, reward yourself with something nice! This could be anything from watching your favorite TV show or having a treat after dinner.

The pleasure you feel from an organised space that is just the way you like it will make all of your efforts worth your time and energy.

Focus on one thing

When you are starting out cleaning up your home for the first time or even after moving into a new place, it could feel like you need to clean everything right now.

The truth is however, that when we try to focus too much attention on several things at once, we tend to not be as effective in any of them.

By doing one thing at a time and working from top to bottom, this will ensure that not only are you more efficient in terms of how long it takes but that every item is taken care of as soon as possible. 

Set big goals but break them into small chunks

If there are too many things that need cleaning or organising, it can be really hard to figure out where to begin. Make an overall goal for what you want your space to look like when it is finished, then write down each step needed in order to reach it.

Next, break these steps into smaller tasks which can be completed in a short amount of time so that they don’t seem as overwhelming.

Be sure to spend some time on it each day

If you find that you have a lot of time available every evening, schedule at least one hour for cleaning up around this time. This will help ensure that the area will stay clean instead of letting clutter start piling back up as soon as your energy runs out!

In addition, don’t put off cleaning projects until later just because this seems like the only time when they are possible to complete. Do what works best with your schedule and get things done consistently in order to succeed at keeping them organized!

Make a plan

Before starting to clean and organise, make sure that you have planned everything out. Make a list of all the things that need to be done and then check them off so you get an idea of how close you are getting to the end.

By doing this, you will not only feel more accomplished but also know when it is time to quit working for the day! 

Don’t forget about the kids

If you have children, give them some responsibilities as well. It is important that they learn how to keep things clean and organised from an early age so this habit will stick with them their whole lives and help them avoid disorganisation in the future.  

For example, if your child organises his or her bedroom every week, then he or she will probably never be bothered by a messy room throughout school years. This also sets a good example for other family members who live at home.

Think about it as an investment

That’s right! Your home is an investment that deserves to be taken care of. Think about the money that you have spent on your personal items and what happens if they get damaged or broken.

If it is not taken care of properly, then it could cost you a lot more money in repairs later down the road, so treat cleaning your home like investing in capital rather than spending on luxury goods! In fact, this thinking is exactly why people who work from home rely on their clean homes to feel productive and organised! Even the smallest details are important when cleaning up your home.

A cluttered kitchen can get in the way of healthy living. Instead of putting cleaning off, why not think about ways you can make the most out of your home? If you don’t have enough room to do what you need, then it might be time to talk to a contractor or storage solutions company for advice on creating more space.

Take baby steps

If you are overwhelmed by how much stuff is in your home right now and feel like it would take too long to clean up every day when you get home from work or school, then take some baby steps.

Start with just doing 5 minutes worth of tidying every day so that over time, your place will stay cleaner longer and eventually become a habit for you!

Then once it does become a natural part of your routine, you might even have more time to spend doing the fun things! It’s a great way to make cleaning up something that is easy and will not feel like torture or an overwhelming task.

Change up the environment

Even if you do have a really messy bedroom or kitchen counter that needs to be thoroughly cleaned right away, always remember that your surroundings can affect how you act and feel. For example, when there are dirty clothes strewn all over the floor instead of in their proper place or something has spilled on the floors as a result of being too cluttered, it makes people agitated instead of understanding where everything goes.

You may find that no matter what else you try to do after watching TV in such an environment as this (even though you want to relax), it will be difficult for you to chill out and relax. Instead, it is best to make a conscious effort to spend less time in these messy areas so that you can be more productive in the tasks you have to do during your free time.

Enjoy yourself while you do it

Once we get started, it can be hard to find ways to enjoy cleaning up our homes. Often times, we focus on all of the tedious work that there is to do rather than taking pleasure in our accomplishments as they come.

When we take a step back and think about enjoying ourselves with small pleasures like music or aromatherapy, then we are much better able to keep working through the dust bunnies in our lives!

Add some lighting that makes you feel energized when you turn it on or an audio book that generates positive emotions when you read it.

Schedule time in your calendar

The typical person has many, many responsibilities throughout their day and week; however, we still repeatedly get distracted by other nonsensical tasks that we don’t need to do. Instead of wasting time and setting yourself up for failure by trying to remember everything, schedule specific times into your calendar for when you want to clean!

For example, if you know that every Wednesday morning is a good time for you to tackle cleaning the kitchen, then schedule it into your calendar just like any other important meeting or event.

Read also: How I Use a Monthly Checklist to Organise My Life (FREE Printable)

It doesn’t matter how big of an inconvenience it may seem at first; once it’s scheduled, you won’t have any excuse not to get things done because they are now part of an important routine with whom you can be sure that you will follow through with.

Put on some great music

If you don’t have time to listen to a big playlist, then we recommend that you just pick one of your favorite songs and blast it as loud as you like! Try making an effort to find new music that will put you in a great mood when you listen to it.

It doesn’t matter if you spend the rest of the day working around the house humming or singing because of how much joy your favorite song gives you; it will help make cleaning up something that is enjoyable instead of difficult.

Take breaks from time to time

We can get lost in our work and feel overwhelmed with everything that has yet to be done around us. Taking breaks throughout the day helps remind us why we are doing all this work and what we are working for in the first place.

We recommend that you take some time to have fun with your family members or stretch out for a bit when it helps refresh your mind and get rid of the stress!

Let go of the negativity

There’s no reason to focus on everything that is in your way and stressing you out when if you just let go of it all, you’ll feel much better. Instead, take a moment to really look at what needs to be done around the house and how best to do that.

Many times we can become stuck thinking about the work itself instead of how great our house can be.

Don’t let things around you distract you

Sometimes, it can be really hard to keep your own home clean because of all the distractions around us! After all, there are so many other things that seem like they are more important than just tidying up and keeping things neat.

That’s why you should try not to succumb to these temptations whenever possible. You know what I mean…things like watching television or reading books instead of cleaning them away or constantly spending time on Facebook or Pinterest.

Conclusion

Cleaning your home can be a daunting task when faced with an overwhelming mess. But it doesn’t always have to be. Hopefully my tips on how to get motivated to clean when overwhelmed by mess can help you to find more peace and calm in your home. 

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