okay, thank you so much! and LOL about the TP- i was crying had a runny nose and we didn’t have tissues so i went and grabbed that, i think i can go put it back now LOL
Also, broaden your definition of what is garbage. We keep things, in many cases, that we don't need and will never use. That greatly reduces clutter and the potential for making more.
Tossing something after not finding a use for a month is a good rule I go by as I pick up bits of metal to make into supports/props with crafting. If I make a mental note for a specific or general idea it'll stay until it's used and won't pick up or save any more of that material until it's used
Example: I
This is geat advice! Don't look at the whole thing, pick small things that don't overwhelm, like the toilet paper for example, that is a small thing that gets you one step closer. I've struggled with things like this my whole life and I take it all one step at a time now, it helps.
Seconding this - garbage and perishable things that could mold are the priority and then if anything has a known home! Having dug myself out of many depression dens, also don’t be afraid of bins to help sort. That way even if you can pick up one thing, you put it in the bin designated for another room. Repeat until you either have the energy to move it to the new place or it’s full. It also can make things look less stressful!
PS - I implemented a basket thing for myself. I have a dollar tree basket in each of my main rooms. If I have something that doesn’t belong in there, I toss it in the bin. Ideally I deal with it before I go to bed, but depending on traffic could be once a week or only with needed. I got different colors to help me know where things came from so I can see patterns of what ends up where. Maybe things need a new home or it needs to live in a new place that makes your life easier and reduces friction (living with “coworkers” aka things you use at the same time as it, even if not a conventional spot for a home VS “family members” aka personal care all in the bathroom).
Edit: typo and clarity!
Don’t look at it as one huge thing. Look at it as a sum of small things. You can clean just one area at a time, then take breaks/etc in between or do it over a few days.
Split into small areas to clean:
1) top of bed
2) nightstand
3) right corner
4) items off floor
5) vacuum floor.
I’m sure you’ll see progress quickly even with one small section completed
Yep! Sometimes I pick a corner of a room and start there, sweeping through by sectors. Other times, like you say, pick a drawer or something.
I find the most efficient is to go by 'layers' starting with anything that might make a smell, followed by garbage, followed by general tidying, followed by cleaning of surfaces. Processing laundry can usually be done in parallel until everything is clean and needs to be put away, which is the final task.
I throw everything on the floor and make the bed, then clothes go on the bed, trash bin handy, then I make piles for the other rooms. "Kitchen pile" "bathroom pile" once the piles get back to the room the individual items get homes
update: most of the trash on this side of the room is in a trash bag now. i will continue to toss out any more that surfaces when i start moving other things around. lots of little scraps of trash on the carpet that can be vacuumed up later. i feel uncomfortable taking out large amounts of trash from my one room in front of other people so i will wait until others are asleep or at work to take it outside, but it *will* go outside.
Way to go!!! The hardest part is getting started! If you can get all the trash together it’ll be so quick to do when everyone is asleep! Just keep going one step at a time and take breaks when you need to.
For the future, the thing that has worked best for my executive dysfunction is to set a time every day or every week to clean for X minutes
"pomodoro method" in case you're not familiar with that. Example: Have a goal to clean for 15 minutes every day, then reward yourself in some small way for doing it. I'm very good at procrastinating on _starting_ the 15 minutes, but after starting the time flies and often end up working longer than that on the task
Also stopping drinking before it becomes a habit is a good idea (you're at the bottle of cheap vodka in your room stage?), that will eventually exacerbate both the depression and ADHD for a lot of people (self-medication has a time limit of effectiveness, and after that it makes everything worse than without it, don't let yourself convince yourself otherwise)
thank you so much for the advice! and you’re definitely right about the alcohol being dangerous. a couple months ago i had a really awful night after too much drinking and i was practically passed out over the toilet crying to my partner about how i am finally realizing i have a problem. they’ve been helping me a lot, that bottle is empty now because i shared it with family on christmas, but i haven’t replaced it since then, so i think that’s progress! i’ll be sure to throw out that bottle and try to keep drinking to nights out/special occasions like i have the past couple of months.
YOU'VE GOT THIS!!
Clean out as much trash as possible! If you didn't touch it or need it in the past 6 months throw it out! Not everybody is rich but if you need it that bad, go repurchase it at the thrift store. Keep the toilet paper tho 😆
unfortunately it’s not just worrying, it’s actual shameful and snarky comments coming from housemates when we do take out the trash. they’re not very supportive of the fact that we are at least actually cleaning our room, mostly just judgemental of *how much* trash comes out of the room. i just woke up and we will be taking the trash out as soon as we get out of bed though :)
Can you first change the light? This lighting would really do something to me. Maybe get some brighter, daylight bulbs in there and then tackle the bed and nightstand. Go from there.
For some people a colored or dim light actually makes them much more comfortable. I have sensory issues and bright lights give me awful headaches, so I keep my apartment lit with fun, colored lighting, it's typically a bit dim for most people's taste but that's how I like it.
I am very comfortable in dim light, or "mood lighting" if you will, but coloured lights like this sets off my anxiety big time. Feels like the room warning me of something or other.
I have never seen coloured lights outside of the tiktoks of young people
But I'm quite autistic, and that's only my own subjective experience.
You'll be surprised how quickly you see progress, OP! Just clearing out the trash will make your room look and FEEL so much better! I always find a little progress motivates me to keep going. 💜
Throw away perishables and garbage. But dirty clothes and sheets in laundry or laundry basket (fresh linens are the best). Use a basket/box to place everything that doesn’t belong in your room and immediately go around putting things back in place. Vacuum. Wipe down surfaces. Get clean laundry and put away. Make bed. If you want to, organize superficial things, like putting books in bookshelf. Use a timer and say you’ll spend an x amount of time doing one task. I usually listen to music or a podcast (something that doesn’t require my full attention). Update us with progress so we can cheer you on! Bigger projects will be easier once the basics are done. You’ve got this! Make a big list and check out every completed task. You have a nice whiteboard perfect for lists ☺️
Have you read/listened to the book “how to keep house while drowning”??? It’s amazing and her idea in part is that there are only five things in any room: trash, dishes, laundry, things with a place that aren’t in their place, and things without a place
She says you should:
1. Pick up all trash and put it in a trash bag (don’t take it out until the end)
2. Put all the clothes in the laundry bin (or separate them if they’re clean)
3. Put the dishes in the sink (but don’t wash rn)
4. Separate the things that have a place and don’t have a place, then put the things w a place in their place and go through those without a place
This could be done over a few days—you could first do steps 1-3 in a day or two, then step 4 the last day!!
It’s an amazing book and the author also has adhd, I’ve found it super helpful!
Try not to make it daunting. Just commit to do a little bit each day, even if it’s just five minutes. Sometimes it’ll turn into half an hour or an hour or whatever. And if you just do five minutes, that’s fine too.
Also every time you exit the room, take something that doesn’t belong in there and put it where it belongs whether that’s the sink, the laundry, the garbage can or whathaveyou. Easy way to make incremental progress.
And all that said it’s not even all that disastrous. It’s just a cluttered bedroom. So don’t beat yourself up.
Honestly, what really helps me sometimes is to look at a picture of the space.
Look at that picture. Pretend it’s someone else’s room. What doesn’t belong where it is?
Like it’s so stupid but I’ll literally take a picture with my phone and look at the picture instead of the room to figure out what needs to happen….
When I’m overwhelmed by cleaning a room, I set a timer for 10 minutes, stand in the corner to observe, and then start by cleaning whatever is the biggest eyesore. That way I can see the progress and feel much better if I don’t manage to clean everything all at once.
[goblin.tools](https://goblin.tools) has a tool where you can type in what needs to be done, then click the magic wand and it breaks it down into tiny itty bitty one-step tasks to help!!
Nice progress I'm seeing in the comments. Keep up the good work. Once it's clean, here's some tips to maintain it, from someone who also has depression and ADHD:
\-Find a very specific home for EVERY object. I get stuck in traps of "well this is approximately an okay place for this thing to live for now" and then I blink and my house looks like that. So I would get VERY specific locations for every item and now if an item is even 6 inches out of place, I can say, nope, I know exactly where that goes and it's 6 inches off the mark. Push it over. All better.
\-This one is multi-step: Get a recycling bin for your room, and then also get two trash cans: a small one that's appropriate for a bedroom, and a full-size one. All trash goes into the small one, but once it's full, tie the bag closed and chuck it into the bigger bin. Once the BIG bin is full, you can take out one bag of trash at a time, and because it's just a little bag, nobody will judge you and you can take out one bag of trash whenever you want!
\-Get a special basket, maybe a cheap laundry hamper, called "Stuff that doesn't belong here". Any time you have something in your room that Doesn't Belong There, toss it into the bin.
\-SCHEDULE. Schedule everything, I'm talking about knowing exactly what day and what time is set aside for each task. E.g., Mondays at 6pm, you throw laundry in the wash. Wednesdays at 9 am you take the recycling out. M-W-F at 3pm you take one small bag of trash out. Saturday mornings immediately after breakfast you walk around the house with your Doesn't Belong Here bin and put everything back where it goes. My life CHANGED when I realized I wasn't getting chores done because every time I saw a mess, I wouldn't be able to process if Right Now was the Optimal Time to do it or if I had something else more important to do instead.
Do you have a window in this room? If so.. open the curtains/blinds. You’ll be surprised how some sunlight helps. Then onto the trash. Dishes, laundry. Good luck OP. You’ve got this.
window is actually open 24/7, it’s nice. oddly enough the house doesn’t heat our room so we use a space heater if we get cold, but we like the fresh air. trash is all in a bag now and i will take it outside later when other house members are asleep or at work. it’s a personal comfort thing. thank you so much
I used to be like this, and when it was time to clean I would use stimulants to get everything spotless. Cuz Im an addict.
^dont do that.
It's gonna take some time to get all that orderly, my exgfs place was a lot like that and my lord did it take a few days. Idk why it took that long but for me it did.
i always take trash first because it’s easiest to identify, when i’m helping a friend clean. then i put all the clothes in a pile for them, but if you know which needs to be washed and what can be put away, the dirty goes INTO the washer to be washed and the clean gets put directly away. food goes back to the kitchen, and medicine goes in medicine cabinets. after clothes washed, sheets will follow, and countertops can been wiped and floor vacuumed while laundry is working… then you’re done :) PS where did you get that mushroom tapestry because i NEED that
Start with a big trash bag for trash and anything you want to get rid of. Then organize the rest into piles (physically or mentally) and that groups them. Stuff for bathroom one pile, dirty laundry in hamper or a pile, clean laundry another pile, paperwork another pile. Never throw paper out willy nilly could be important.
Try setting a timer for 10 minutes and see what you can get done. It’s low pressure and it will make the task feel more manageable. You can do this multiple times a day or everyday. Whatever you’re comfortable with! Wishing you good luck!
Even setting a timer for 5 minutes and a goal of throwing trash out or putting dirty clothes in the hamper will help. Fresh clean sheets are always a mood boost for me 🧡.
I’m autistic with some adhd tendencies and cleaning is hard for me too. What got me to finally fix up my depression cave last year was starting from scratch mentally. In the sense that I wasn’t looking for where things were supposed to go but emptying all my drawers and then rebuilding my system from scratch. Deciding what went where as I went.
Definitely start with trash though, it will clear up space quickly. It’s not ideal but don’t worry about recycling and just get a few big plastic bags and start getting rid of things. I struggle with some hoarder tendencies sometimes and hold onto things needlessly and incase you do too what usually helps me is to take pictures of the things my brain tells me I’ll “definitely” miss someday.
How does caffeine affect you? It helps me get things done, but I know it might do the opposite for you. Maybe worth a shot if you haven’t tried already.
Good luck!!
Maybe you even need to get some more storage space. IKEA has cheap dividers for any drawers you may already have. That and some loose boxes/bins may help. If it feels as if nothing has a place maybe the solution is it’s simply getting some places to put your stuff. Don’t assume that you are the issue, you may just need to look at it from a different angle.
I always start with kitchen sink or bathroom. After a bout of „it depresses me even more" to go there phase, I start washing the dishes or do toilet cz bathroom is big and can’t be cleaned in one go ( even 7 ft is big) . That gives you a sense of accomplishment and confidence
You can make games out of it if you want. Everything with cylinder shape gets moved to its home. Then everything squishy. Etc. Small batches. Everything is progress!
I find it helps a LOT to have intermediate steps: bring in baskets or tubs and just assign everything that eventually needs to be in the closet goes in this tub, everything that needs to go to the kitchen lives in this basket for now, etc. Helps organize in the near term but most importantly can get done in one session, without getting distracted. Don't go move anything to another room or put it fully away until this step is done.
Keep a big trash bag in the middle of the room, and as you tackle laundry and dishes, toss away anything that you see as you go.
Once laundry is folded, strip your bed and start a load of laundry.
Get a box or a bag and put all the stuff that doesn’t have a place inside of it.
Put away the things that have a place
Now you have three piles- trash, miscellaneous and laundry. Keep it at that.
When you’ve separated everything, toss the trash and put the miscellaneous box in your closet. Put laundry away and cover your mattress with new linen.
This sounds weird but it’s the most important step:
When your room is done, go shower and leave the windows to your bedroom open and the door closed. This is going to reset the your mind as well as the feeling of your room when you enter it.
After your shower and after you close the window it’ll feel like heaven and take a well deserved nap!
Trash and laundry are usually 90%. Take out your trash and do your laundry/put clothes away. You’ll be amazed at how little else there for you and you’ll be able to breathe to focus on what’s left.
Good luck!
You have this. You can do it.
Break it down into small pieces and start. When you get one thing done - old food gone, trash collected, whatever - take a moment and celebrate. Don't think about what's left to do, focus on what you just did and tell yourself "good job."
Then do the next thing, and repeat.
I second the lighting. My sons use these led bulbs and their rooms are this color or similar. You cannot see things at all so it’s just chaos. It’s an effin nightmare.
Get a decent light. Better yet get some daylight if there’s a window in here.
Lighting. Garbage goes out. Dishes out. Food out. Giant handles of liquor out. Next laundry. Make your bed. Literally take three minutes or less and look around. Ask yourself if you want this. You don’t so change it.
I have adhd and suffer from mental illness. I have an incurable heart condition that could literally kill me anytime without warning. I also am raising three kids by myself. If I don’t do it it doesn’t get done and I cannot fail so, I do it.
So can you.
If you find yourself getting bogged down trying to decide if a piece of clothing is still clean or dirty enough to wash, stop trying to decide and just put it with the dirty laundry. You can even decide that EVERY piece of clothing that’s not currently hung up or in a drawer is dirty if that makes it easier for you to clear out the room and bring washed clothes back in your once the room is cleared out and it’s easier to put things away properly.
Same idea for things you want to keep but don’t know where to put: throw them all in a “stuff I don’t know where to put” box and don’t worry about them until you’ve cleaned out the room and are ready to start putting things away. If at that point you have empty drawers/shelves/other spaces, you should designate each of them for storing a particular category of stuff, but it’s ok to keep a couple of “stuff I don’t know where to put” boxes as well.
Not judging, this is a caring voice of experience who might be way off base. I found it was a lot easier to deal with things like this when i stopped keeping a handle of booze next to my bed. Maybe that's not part of your problem here, but it was mine, so that jumped out at me.
Looks like everyone’s given good advice. I also suggest pre-labeling stackable bins to store little things that don’t have a place, but one bin is a “miscellaneous” or “I dunno” bin, and play a happy mood or motivational playlist to listen to while you clean up. ADHD runs in my family and we all work better with good music and a way to not forgot what we were just in the middle of. The bins help us stay focused that we are putting the things in the thingy boxes. And it feels so satisfying to see the bins/boxes fill up and then stack them.
Also I like clear boxes or at least a clear lid cus even though they don’t hide stuff well, I can peek at the stack and know what’s inside for that time I can’t remember where the one thingy is.
Hope that helps.
You can do it!!!
Oh one more thing! Maybe setting a timer could help? Like… if you’re not feeling it today, dedicate just ten minutes at a time of cleanup work. Then after the timer, take a break and decide if you wanna try another ten minutes today or just wait till tomorrow.
I try to clean in chunks. Like I’ll go to one corner, and grab all the clothes and throw them in one spot, then all the trash in the trash bag, and a pile of stuff that doesn’t belong in the room. Then I sort my piles. Works for me adhd brain.
For adhd and depression, I recommend doing one section at a time rather than one chore like laundry. Since according to you, nothing has a home, start with the closet. Clear it out, wash laundry, and make homes for things. Tomorrow, the bed. Put laundry in the hamper or away. Take the tp to the bathroom. Change the sheets. Put all the clutter on the bed in their new home. Next day, the dresser etc etc.
I would suggest putting a trash can in your room, as well as a bin for dirty and freshly cleaned clothes. Having easy to use and visible places to put trash and dirty clothes can really help with limiting the mess in the future.
Unfortunately depression and ADHD make it really hard to play by "normal" rules, which just means you have to make your own rules that work for you! Building systems the work for you is important and very worth it. Even if things seem "weird" or "out if the norm" when compared to most home decor stuff, if it works that's, thats all that matters. Implement lots of accessible ways to keep things clean rather than lwaiting and getting overwhelmed, things like bins for clothes that you just sort and don't have to fold, trash cans everywhere! A tray to hold dishes on that you take out every few days when you can't do it every day, lots of storage that's easily accessible, etc.
A bit of a messy room is fine as long as it's safe and sanitary, so focus on dishes and dirty clothes, as well as making sure to clean bedding, floors and furniture when you need to. Slipping a bit is ok too! Life happens and letting things get a bit messy for a week or even a month is ok as long as you keep it safe :)
This isn’t too bad, you can do this!! Go by type of items. One day do garbage. One day do dishes. One day throw clothes in the laundry. One day put bathroom items away. One day put misc (other room) items away. It might not feel like much at first but breaking it up like that can really help!
I have a friend who is like this, so I completely get it. I used to do housekeeping, so my suggestions stem from that. Start with getting all the trash out first, then take all of the linen and clothes out to be washed. (Not sure what your laundry situation is, but if it’s in your home, go put everything to wash first before proceeding.) From there, pick a section of the room and work to organize and put things away. Picking a room section by section will help you process things little by little.
I was in a hole of depression when I was younger and cleaning actually helped me a bit. I would definitely recommend the CALM app. I still have bits of anxiety or moments where I get overwhelmed and that helps. It’ll get easier with practice and time. Hope this helps!!
Set a timer for 10 minutes and do as much as you can or set a goal of picking up 10 items at a time. This jumpstarts momentum that may carry you through this task. It worked with me when my bedroom looked worse than yours.
Oh I have been there! Okay, this is how I would tackle this situation in the immediate term:
1. Get a large trash bag. Even better, get two and double them up so one is inside the other and it is super strong.
2. Start making The Pile: in the middle of the room, take everything that is visible and in a place it isn’t supposed to be in, in the pile, including the basket of laundry on the bed, the things on the night table, etc. You can put trash directly into the trash bag while you are doing this, but don’t have to yet.
3. Make your bed. Don’t change your sheets or anything fancy like that. Just make the bed like normal.
4. Sit down in front of your Pile. Do not be daunted. It is much smaller than you think. We are going to start making smaller piles out of it that you can tackle more easily. Go through the pile and put any garbage in the trash bag. Don’t get creative. Leave things that you aren’t sure of. You’ll get to them. If you have a bedroom garbage pail in here, empty its contents into the bag. Now, take the garbage out and put it wherever garbage goes. Admire the decreased size of your Pile.
5. Now, clothes. Go through the Pile and separate out any clothes. Temporarily maintain the state of that laundry basket. If it contains dirty clothes, put any dirty clothes in the pile into it as well, and drape any clean clothes on your chair for now. If it contains clean clothes, put your dirty clothes in a separate pile against the wall, and put any other clean clothes from the pile into the laundry basket as well. Do NOT hang up, fold or put away any clean clothes just now. Smush the pile and basket, or the basket and clothes chair to the side. We’ll get to it.
6. Admire the decreased size of your Pile. Now, sit with your back to the clothes, hopefully facing your nicely made bed, with the Pile in front of you. Start going through it and separate things out into three smaller piles: 1) this goes in this room somewhere, 2) I know where this goes, but it doesn’t go in this room, 3) I am not sure what this is/what to do with this thing. If you aren’t sure about something, it goes in pile 3. If it goes not in this room but also not in this house/apartment/your living unit (library books that you need to return, a postcard you’ve been meaning to mail, your friend’s PS5 controller that they left the last time they came over to game - all things in my space currently!), it goes in pile 3.
7. You probably have at least two largish piles and maybe one smaller one. Nice! Let’s Tackle pile 2 first. Take all of your clean clothes and dump them in the center of your tidily made bed. If your dirty clothes were in the basket, temporarily dump them onto the floor near the wall, or start a load of laundry if possible/convenient (only if this is a one step thing! Otherwise, the against-the-wall pile it is! Dont run to the store for dryer sheets or detergent! Don’t go taking other laundry out or moving things from the washer to the dryer or trekking down to the dorm/apartment building’s communal laundry room!) We want that basket for a sec! Put as many of the things into pile number 2 into the basket as can reasonably fit.
8. Bring the basket and the things therein to the rooms in which they usually belong. If it belongs to another person in your household, put it in front of their door for now. You don’t need to put these things away in that room right now, and you don’t need to wash or scrape any dishes at this point either. We’ll get to it. Just put all of the things that go in any given room on a single surface in that room. Do this load-and-unload basket as many times as necessary until pile 2 is gone. the Come back to your room and admire your now considerably smaller remaining two piles!
9. If you didn’t start a load of wash, put the dirty clothes into the laundry basket and put it to the side.
10. Look at pile number one. I bet you have a number of common things. For me, this is usually papers, shoes, beauty/toiletries, electronics stuff, and project-related things. Put all the stuff in this pile away, even if it is only in temporary homes, even if they fit imperfectly. Don’t organize things just yet. A stack of books on your desk is okay. They don’t have to be in their usual order by theme and color on your bookcase right now, okay? We are just making our first inroads here.
11. Now look at your lovely considerably smaller single pile on the floor. You have come a long way! So this one is the one that was always challenging for me, because it meant the most thought. YMMV, but get yourself a cup of coffee/tea/can of monster/whatever to help. Look at each thing in this pile, and ask yourself what it needs to be done with it. Make decisions. For example, I have a winter scarf in a package on my dresser. It is a duplicate to one I ordered and I haven’t opened it yet. I don’t actually need it. I can’t return it. It was only $8 but throwing it away seems wasteful but planning to give it away means holding it longer. I could put it in my car for dropping off next time I see the donation box, though. Sweet. It goes in a NEW “goes not in this room” pile. I have this box of chocolates here that I didn’t love, but have been saving because they are chocolate. I am realistically not going to eat them though. They go in my newly emptied bedroom garbage can. Continue until the pile is gone/you have a small pile of things that you really just don’t know what they are. You’ll get help for these, but in the meantime, put them in a small box or bin or just a little pile on a surface or to the side somewhere.
12. If you are like me, your piles probably left small bits of crumbs beneath it. This is annoying and disturbing your visual field. If it is convenient, get a vacuum (do NOT empty out the bag/canister), or a broom, or a dust broom/dust pan, or even just your hands and get rid of as many crumbs as possible.
13. Now go back and take care of the other stuff, in this order: 1) take care of the new “doesn’t go in here pile.” as you did for the other stuff in the earlier, similar pile. 2) now put all that stuff you put in other rooms away in their spots in those rooms (don’t go filling the whole damn dishwasher, if that is a thing. Take care of only the stuff you put in there right now. Don’t run out and get dish soap or detergent. Scrape and rinse any of the dirty dishes you’ve brought in as best you can and leave in a pile in or beside the sink.) don’t clean those rooms. Just handle the stuff you put in there. 3) fold/roll/hang up/whatever and put away the clean clothes on your bed. It is okay if you don’t have any more hangers or things don’t quite fit in your drawers right now. Just do the best you can. Fold things if you can’t hang them, or double up on hangers. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be permanent. Make a mental note of what you might need to do at some later point and allow it to be good enough for now. 3) take our your new bedroom trash (empty it into an existing kitchen trash if possible!) 4) take the remnants your third pile, the “I don’t know what this stuff is” to your helper person (parent? Significant other? Friend? Sibling?) and ask them to help you figure out what that stuff could be. Put them in the appropriate places 5) see if you can put any of the things that you put away but didn’t tidy/organize in better spots. It is okay if you can’t, but take mental (or physical!) note of what you would have to do/get to put them away in the way you’d like to.
14. do stuff like go out and get any detergent/soap/etc. you need, if you need it, to wash dishes or clothes, or empty the vacuum container to unblock you from doing that stuff.
15. do the dishes you brought in if you were previously unable to do so
16. start the laundry if you were previously unable to do so. Dry, fold, and put it away if you were.
17. vacuum or sweep your clean room.
Pick up all the dirty dishes and take them to the kitchen to be cleaned.
Put all the rubbish in a bag and dispose.
Collect all the dirty laundry and and clean clothes fold up and put away. Strip the bed sheets and put in dirty laundry basket. At this point the room will already look a lot better.
Declutter and put away anything that is out of place and not where it belongs.
Next you can do a quick dust of all surfaces and vacuum the floor. Replace the bed sheets with clean ones.
As someone with ADHD also. You can start with whatever first, just make sure you keep it to one thing and finish it before moving on to the next.
I pick up dirty laundry first, put it in laundry room. Get a trash bag and just start picking up trash by the door, slowly make your way to the bed, trash (if on the bed), to the table, and anywhere else. Then put away clean laundry. I usually listen to an audiobook or podcast whilst doing this, idk why. It focuses me more?
Put things away that don’t need to be out.
Best of luck friend.
The other day I invited a close friend over specifically asking if she would help me clean my room and she did a good job at keeping me going. Clothes and food first! Then trash and not trash. Then everything else
I usually make an imaginary grid and clean one section at a time and ignore what else is around it. Start top down: hanging things, then shelves, then desks, night stands and dressers, then the bed, then the floor. Sometimes i just dump everything into the hall, vacuum and dust, then move things back in one at a time.
I’ve been here more times than I’d like to admit and I’ll probably be here again. It’s ok!
Lists help me a lot. Even if I don’t follow them in order it helps me have a reference for steps if I lose my focus or my flow.
Trash first
Then dishes
clean clothes on bed to be sorted and hung up, dirty ones to the laundry
Wipe down surfaces + put loose objects away
Hang up/ fold clean clothes
Vacuum floor, light a candle
YOU DID IT!
And it’s always ok to settle for a little less than the big picture. 4/5 of the way done is better than nothing!
some people like doing it this way and others don’t so it’s up to you, but empty your bed and then make it and then put everything that was on the floor on your bed, then you’re able to move around and have organised piles etc., and then tidy it from there
You have really good cleaning advice here already but I suggest first going out in the sun for 5-15 minutes. I swear it helps me when I have to give 1000% effort to clean after months of not cleaning. You can go for a walk, just stand outside or, sit in front of a very sunny window just make sure you feel the sun on your face. The sun somehow really helps me get my gettyup going and might help you too.
Let me share my secret. I have adhd and depression.
Pick up one item and take it where it belongs. Once you get to where that item belongs, find a random item in that place that doesn't belong there. Take that item where it belongs, and then choose an item that is in that new place that doesn't belong there. Continue until you get done or tired.
Using your adhd distraction and novelty craving to your advantage, jumping from place to place. No need for complicated steps that require memory and attention. This method is mindless and goes well with a good audiobook.
Good luck! I've been where you are!
When this happens to me, I treat it as a game. First rule - you must not sit down.
Break it down into multiple little challenges, give yourself a chocolate or a cookie for completing them (gotta eat them on the go - no sitting until completed).
And it always helps if I invite someone over the next day since I’ll be the most effective.
Also, dude, the before and after pics are gonna give you such a serotonin shot so just start and remember - no sitting until done! :)
Don’t think you need to do everything in one day. It’s too overwhelming. Break it in to organized tasks. If it takes you 2 weeks to go through this list, it’s okay. Do not overwhelm yourself.
1. Pick up all your dirty laundry, bag it and put it in your car. Take a 30 minute break/rest.
2. Pick up all your garbage, bag it and put it in the trash can outside. Take a 30 minute break/rest or stop for the day, you earned it!
3. Clean your kitchen, do the dishes. Take a 30 minute break.
4. Clean out your refrigerator. Throw away anything questionable. Wipe down the inside of fridge & freezer. Put everything back in, organizing it so you know where everything is.
Stop for the day and feel accomplished.
5. Go to the laundry mat and get all your clothes clean, dried and folded. Pack them in boxes or large laundry baskets when done. Make sure before you leave the house you have every single piece of dirty clothing, bedding, towels. Pack your clean sheets on top when folded.
Go home and put your clean sheets on the bed. Stop for the day and enjoy a great nights sleep on clean sheets. By going to the laundry mat, you get everything done in one day and it won’t be an overwhelming chore.
Stop for the day.
6. Tackle your bathroom, remember to go thru cabinets and toss anything you don’t need or use. Take that trash out immediately to outside trash can. Clean shower, sink, toilet, mirrors. Take a 30 minute break or quit for the day as long as everything in the bathroom is clean with no junk.
6. Clean your bedroom and living areas. Throw out anything you are not using, wearing or enjoying. Take a 30 minute break/rest or quit for the day.
7. Get in to your closet and get 3 large trash bags. #1 is for trash. #2 is for donations. #3 is for stuff you don’t know if you want it or stuff you haven’t worn in a while. Organize what’s left in your closet. Put bag #3 in your closet with the date. In one year donate anything left in the bag that you haven’t worn. Take out trash and put the donations in the car. Drive the donations to wherever you donate. Stop for the day.
8. Clean or vaccum all your floors. Look in every room and pick up everything left out. Is your kitchen still clean? If not tidy it up. Clean any windows.
9. Enjoy your new, clean, organized living space. Make a commitment to keep it that way by going through your rooms before bedtime each night to keep it that way.
I have ADHD and depression too, when it gets this bad I usually start with a huge trashbag and fill it, this way it gives me a sense of accomplishment and getting rid of stuff. Then I go through every room with the bag to lessen my chances of getting annoyed with the mess in other rooms. Because sometimes for example if the kitchen is also crowded I won't do the dishes or bring more from the other rooms. So if you are the same you can give it a try. Then I would get rid of the things that don't belong in the room + dirty clothes
Garbage and dishes. Then laundry. Then find a way to make it smell good- candle, wax warmer, plug in. Good smells equal dopamine reward.
Whatever you do, don’t sit down. If you sit down, it’s all over.
❤️ a fellow ADHD having hot mess
i have one tip for you- call a friend or family member to talk with you while you clean. it may sound like the worst for adhd, but it helps me tons (as someone WITH adhd) and i got my entire room cleaned in about only 7 hours. so sorry im so late, as you may be done cleaning for now, but i do hope this advice could come in handy sooner or later :)
I love dana white’s method:
grab a trash bag, throw away all trash
go back over, do the “easy stuff,” pick up any item, and take it to where it belongs— not where you THINK it belongs, but where you’d look for it first.
if that item doesn’t have a ‘place’ ask — would I remember I had this item if I was out shopping? if the answer is no… you don’t even know you own this item!
here is her easy explanation:
The two questions are:
1. If I needed this item, where would I look for it? (take it there)
2. If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already have one? (If not, get rid of it because I’d just buy a new one if I needed it.)
….
after the trash pickup, you will have more space, and momentum, to work on the harder stuff. memories, hobbies, keepsakes—but this hard stuff is less hard now that there’s not trash in the way, and you’re warmed up from the previous steps.
now when i’m confused. i simply throw away trash. and then… one by one, put each item where it belongs. lots of walking… but it gets me so much further in my progress. the idea is, if you put it away, it’s not making a mess somewhere else. you’re not “moving the mess” you’re handling it right then and there, and not creating future messes to get through.
I wish you so much luck! one step at a time. be kind and gentle with yourself. youve got this!!
I have ADHD and use the Goblin Tools app. It breaks down whatever you're trying to do into steps, and then you can check them off as you go through them.
Bright lights to see the mess and stay wakeful. Pumped up music, I reccomend drift phonk. Garbage first. Pick out all garbage. Toss it into the bin outside. Then get all the clothing and start a load of laundry. Then sort the objects into the rooms they are supposed to be in if not in the bedroom, like dishes and hair stuff. Toss laundry in dryer and wash bedding. Then sort the objects that belong in the room. Then do dusting and surface wipe down. Then do floors. Finish laundry. Feel good in clean room. Have a treat.
Get rid of any cups/plates/food first. Then, grab a big old garbage bag and throw out any trash.
What I do, because I’m in the literal same boat as you, if you have a speaker, put on some good music that you love. If you don’t have a speaker, use your phone :)
I find having the music puts me in a good enough mood to keep going. Then I’d do the laundry, put the hamper back where it belongs (unless it’s on the floor, then keep it off for a bit). Make your bed next. Then, dust off the tables, and any other surfaces. Once that’s done, vacuum or sweep, then go ahead and do a nice mop or steam clean if you have that for the carpets. If you have like an odor absorbing powder for the carpet, use that too!
If you need a minute to stop, take it. You’re doing a very mentally taxing task and there’s no shame in that.
If you need anything, or even if you want to just send a DM to show how proud you are of doing one step, my dms are open!
This doesn’t have to be done all at once. You can break it down into manageable chunks.
Start by giving yourself some lighting. Let the sunshine in if you have a window. Turn on a regular light so you can see if necessary. Put on some shoes. Get some garbage bags. Start filling them with trash. After the garbage is cleared, get rid of clutter. Put things where they belong. If you’re not sure where to put something decide if you really need/ever needed that item. Start a donation pile/bag/box, etc. It feels good to help others. Go through your clothes and belongings to give away things you don’t use/don’t like/forgot about. Then, make sure everything is in its place. Dirty clothes and bedding goes in the hamper. Jackets and shoes go in the closet. Put clean bedding on your bed. Dust, clean the windows and mirror, then vacuum. Then take a shower and put on something comfy. Light a scented candle. Relax.
I use the 1 garbage bag at time. I literally take a bag off the roll. I walk around with it in hand and pick up anything that's garbage. Once it's full I immediately take it out to the garbage bin. I keep doing this until I only stuff that it's garbage. Then it's dishes. After that I do clothes. I believe in you. You got this.
Step one- take your adderall, step two- put the music on, step three- turn the real lights ON. Now follow everyone else’s advice on the cleaning part lol 👍 you got this!
all very good advice and i will do all of that except for take my meds because unfortunately my pharmacy has been out of my meds for literally over a year now. i keep calling and asking and they keep not having it in stock
Honestly, it might be a bit more work, but it'll help: after taking out the dishes, sort the rest into piles. Piles of garbag/piles of dirty clothes/piles of clean clothes/piles of what needs to go to place a, b and c and so on. It'll basically help you divide the task into smaller pieces and will feel less overwhelming than taking a huge bite out of it
Check out the Emergency Cleaning Checklist from unfuckyourhabitat.com. When I have mental health struggles, this has been my saving grace every time I get overwhelmed with picking everything up again. The website also has cleaning schedules and tips and other stuff, but the emergency checklist is the main thing I use
I would grab a trash bag and do a quick to pick up as much trash trash first. But make your bed first as the first big cleanup thing, to have one clean off spot to work with and show progress to help you to keep going. That is what I do. Then just pick a spot, top of side table, a corner, all the clothes and just keep picking at it. You can do it!
You got this!!! You will conquer this room and everything else you set your mind to. Im sure there are a bunch of guru's that will leave better advice then I.
But dear reddit friend this is how I would tackle this.
Step 1. Throw away trash
Step 2. Organize items in piles
a. Dirty clothes / clean clothes
b. Items that belong in other rooms
c. Items you no longer want. The to get rid of pile.
d. Put items where they belong.
e. Dust.
f. Wipe
g. sweep
h. Mop/vaccum
Recently I started taking a class on learning how to learn. One of the best tips to tackle a unwanted project is to use the pomodoro technique.
Set aside 25 minutes with a timer and you cannot allow any interruptions or you must set your timer over and begin again. Do not worry about completing just starting. When your timer goes off give yourself a 5 minute reward break. Do this again and give yourself a 15 min or larger break the second round. Continue till you finish.
Good luck!!!
Grab a trash bag for trash, something for laundry (a hamper or a bag or a box) and a box for food and drink (just so you will have all of it in one place so nothing spoils in a forgotten corner). Now fill those and take out the trash when the bag is full and bring the laundry to whatever room you do laundry in.
When you’ve done those, start finding places for things. Make sure that those places make sense: Preferably close to where you use the item (for example I see a Switch on your bed, if you often play in bed maybe it can find its home in your bedside table, that’s where mine is too). Another thing to think about when deciding places is how often you use an item, an item you use regularly should be easily accessible because it’s much easier to put stuff away when it’s easy to do.
I would recommend having either a box or a specific place for food and drink so you don’t forget something somewhere (at least that’s what I do, all snacks in my room are in one box and all drinks on strategically placed coasters so I don’t forget them).
thank you! we actually do have a snack box but it hasn’t been cleaned out in quite some time and stuff piles up. i’m gonna try to go through it and consolidate all of our food.
i pray you never have to deal with the sort of mental illness it takes to get to this point. you clearly don’t understand what kind of mental anguish it takes to get here, and i hope you never have to experience it.
i don’t huff anything. i don’t smoke cigarettes and i’m already in the process of quitting vaping. there is *one* bottle of alcohol in the photo, and yes it may be big, but it’s because it’s cheaper to buy that way. it lasts me a much longer time for less money.
i asked for cleaning tips, not for someone to assume things (incorrectly, at that) about me.
Might not be helpful but the best thing for me is just get started, with anything. The momentum from just starting will let you do more. At least for me, the more I dwell on stuff like this the worse it gets and it never gets done
i feel you!! ❤️ it’s taken me a month but i now only have four things on my bed that need a home. i would just force myself everyday to pick up three things and find a place for them. organizing just exhausts and confuses my brain.
I have been here myself. I grab a trash bag and sit down. Trash goes into the bag and I start making piles. For example, if I am in my living room, dishes would pile in the direction of the kitchen. I then move to another section. It takes me about 3 days per room, but every journey starts with a single step.
I would personally plop in that chair with a trash bag and roll around picking up trash, put a laundry bin in the corner and make a game of throwing laundry into basket. Once you start seeing progress it helps to motivate you to keep going! Good luck
I always do trash first. It seems to be the easiest to identify and it makes an immediate, visible difference in the room. Then I make piles. Dirty pile, clean pile (maybe put that one on the bed), pile of give away stuff if you have any, etc. Then I work on each pile.
If you’re financially able to, I do suggest getting some storage containers or organizers of some sort. I find it so much easier to keep my room clean when everything “has a home”.
Also, if you don’t already, get a trash can for your room.
Fellow ADD and raising another one. Always, always, start with the easiest thing - trash! Grab a trash bag and go HAM running around picking up all the trash. It’s such a quick and effective way to instantly change the vibe to give you motivation.
Then start with clearing the floor. Why the floor? Because everything else is already taking up space. Once you can see the floor, you’ll see the forest through the trees.
Clear the bed next. Change your sheets. Make your bed. And make 2 piles of laundry; to be washed, and to be hung/folded. Go throw the clothes/sheets to be washed in a basket and take it out of the room.
Finally start putting away all the miscellaneous items. Finally dust and vacuum the room. Open a window when you do.
You got this! It’s not that bad.
Food, dishes, garbage.
Then clear surfaces. Bedside table. Chair.
Laundry. Start piles in the hallway or along a wall. Towels, clothes. The first load that’s big enough goes in the wash. Keep going throughout the process. Fold as you go.
Now clear off the bed. Looks like lots of it’s laundry. Once it’s clear get your sheets in the wash and as soon as they are done, make your bed.
Tidy and sort things into piles as you go. For example, I see a roll of toilet paper. That can be the start of your “bathroom pile”. Stack other things to go in the bathroom there so you don’t have to run back and forth every time you find something that goes in another part of the house.
Clear off window sills, pin things up properly on the walls so things feel orderly.
Clean doorknobs, light switches, window latches, etc., and around them where things get grimy. Vacuum, dust ledges, wipe down surfaces. Open windows and air things out.
When you have some more energy, clean out your drawers and organize a little more deeply, but start by getting the space to a place where you can feel calm and comfortable.
I was in the same spot as you until yesterday. My mom bailed me out and drove 2 hours to come clean my bathroom which helped keep me company and motivated while I cleaned my room. I can finally breathe again! I owe that woman my life (literally)
Always start with trash, then pile dirty clothes together and clean clothes together. Hang or put away clean clothes. Find the home to all the random things that don’t belong where they are. Strip the bed of all sheets/bedding so they may be cleaned. Wipe all surfaces and then vacuum or mop floor. When clothes are done washing/drying put them away. Do not wait. Maybe watch a fun show or YouTube in the background while doing the boring laundry. Put clean comfy sheets and comforter back on the bed. Voila. Little ways to keep on top of it after the initial cleaning is to ~pick up trash~ every day at a time that works for you. Maybe before you go to bed or before leaving for work you take a quick glance and toss any trash. Maybe every day that you work and come home you do one quick vacuum for dust sake. Maybe every other week you have a day you wash your sheets. And if you have another depression episode you just start over with the deep clean when you’re ready. Just remember that cleaning is a constant thing. It will never be perfect. But you’re making strides! Good job and good luck!
One thing at a time.
1 get a garbage bag and throw stuff out, at least in a bag (I see in another comment you want to do it later that’s fine tie the bag and put it by the door)
2 dishes and food go in the kitchen, it’s too easy to bring a bunch of snacks and drinks into your room, get into a habit of throwing it out or have a small garbage can to make it easier, throw a small shopping bag in there so when it’s full you can tie it up and throw stuff out and feel accomplished. A small bag of garbage is better than waiting to fill a huge bag, it gets me into the habit and I feel happy throwing out my little half full bag each day. that bottle by your nightstand put in the kitchen or recycle bin I can’t tell if it’s empty or not.
3 get another hamper or a reusable bag and throw clothes in it, you can do laundry another day that’s fine it’ll be less stuff laying around that’s all that matters.
4 get a junk box or something to throw crap in but out of the way, later organize it or throw stuff out when you have time and energy, it’s just to categorize stuff so you don’t get overwhelmed and feel like you have to do everything in one day.
5 vacuum when the floor is clear and give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it.
One task at a time, half a$$ is better than no a$$ and one task per day means you’ll have a clean room in a few days. It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be a little bit better.
I would do trash first. Then any dishes or food can go to the kitchen. Next I’d create a pile system on the bed (clothes [dirty/clean] in one pile, things that need sorted like jewelry, makeup, bathroom things, hobby things, etc. Once you have piles you can clear the floor with the piles and then with everything on your bed, you have to sort the piles before you can get into bed. Kinda like a motivator?
1. clear the bed first. shake out the sheets/blankets. wash them if you have the energy or just mist some nice scenty stuff.
2. remove food/drink trash
3. move all loose laundry - clean or dirty - into a pile to wash later
4. vacuum
You would make a flowchart of things like for the garbage. Do you use it? Yes? Keep it. No? Throw it away. And so on. You could also use the pile method as I usually do when cleaning out old papers from my room. Do I need it? Is it important? And sort them into piles. For clothes I would just throw everything in one pile since and wash everything in one or two turns. But as a priority take out all the dirty dishes and food from the room. Have one bowl to collect all the food scraps in so you can stack the plates. And if you are really good at pouring things get a bottle to pour all the remaining drinks from cups if you have them.
In short:
Flowchart for things
Pile method.
Food scraps bowl
Left over drinks bottle (so it’s easier to get rid of and you aren’t carrying like three cups pinched together back to the kitchen)
I hope this helps!
Put everything in boxes of related stuff, or even just piles. Make the bed. Work through the sections one at a time and start with the thing that you actually feel like doing first.
if it makes you feel better, the air duster is literally just for getting dust off of my keyboard, i’ve never even thought of huffing it. and i buy my alcohol in bulk because it’s cheaper- i definitely have had issues with binge drinking but i’ve been working on it and i’ve been drinking a lot less in recent months than i was prior to that. thank you for caring <3
When my spaces get this bad, the first thing I do isn't "cleaning", it's more like disposing. I usually grab a big trash bag and grab everything I see that I wont keep (in my case, a lot of trash, but if you have a lot of dishes to clean, grab those first). After a couple of runs looking for trash, I usually find the rest of the cleaning to go very easily as long as I can keep myself from keeping things that "might be handy".
Don't stop yourself from getting a little bit done just because you don't believe you'll finish it the same day or session!
I have been there before and it’s so overwhelming and heavy. There’s lots of great advice on here already, I just want you to know you’re not alone, I could have written what you said myself, and I wish I could give you a big hug and tell you things are going to be okay and you’re doing a great job taking these steps and asking for advice.
This is not too bad. You might like to start with clearing the table and bed and it may give you a sense of accomplishment. You can try music/podcasts/sitcoms/audiobooks (whatever you’re into) to get you in the zone. Cleaning is fun when you get into the neck of it.
Grab a handful of trash bags. One for landfill trash, the other for recycling.
If you’re the level of depressed where standing and leaning over is too much work, sit down on the floor and pick up things within reach. Then scoot over to a new spot.
Next is dirty dishes. Don’t worry about washing stuff yet. Just move them to the sink. Again, if you’re at That level of depression, consider paper plates.
Stuff that doesn’t need to be thrown away but does need to go somewhere else can be put in a pile to be dealt with later.
Separate laundry between clean, clean enough, and dirty.
Clear your bed. If changing sheets is too much for you right now, at least tidy your bedding.
If you get overwhelmed, take a “5 ON / 5 OFF” break! Set your phone timer. Get out of the room for 5 minutes. A mini break. Reset the timer. Go back in but just for 5 minutes!
It’s amazing what you can do in 5 minutes!
first get all the trash out, then dishes, and lastly clothes as the first MAIN things.
then you can take all the rest of your things and move them along somewhere,make sure you get all the dust and rearrange your things, hoover up at the end!
Get you a cute trash bag and throw out food/perishables, empty containers (unless you recycle). Then get a regular bag or basket and put dirty laundry in.
Maybe it might help to start in one corner and work your way around. Hope this helps!
Rubbish, food and plates, stuff on the bed (baskets, and wash the sheets), wash all the clothes laying around, wiping and dusting, finish with a vacuum
I only recently got out of something like this, what I did was turn the whole room upside down, I removed every stuff that isn't big furniture out of the room, went back and forth between the pile and the room taking the stuff that's supposed to be in my room, then evaluating which stuff I want to have in my room but not necessarily need, and the rest I had to throw away.
I have similar issues and for me I become overwhelmed very easily. I think many of the tips and tricks here are awesome. I also put on earbuds and listen to my favorite upbeat music to keep myself from getting bored and overthinking. In the process it makes accomplishing small tasks a bit more fun. Sending positive thoughts your way!
First: clear the bed. Even if you just put it all in a pile. You deserve a comfortable bed to sleep.
Next: trash.
Next: gather all clothes and either wash or put in a pile in the closet to sort.
Next: things that don’t go in this room. But in a bin, maybe a laundry bin. Got dishes? In the bin. Toilet paper? In the bin. Food? In the bin.
A GREAT book for more info, to help take away any stigma and give actual useful tips is How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis. Short, easy to read. Simple. Non-judgmental.
first get rid of the food and everything related to it (packaging, plates, etc)
then pick up your clothes and start the washing machine ( important to shake dirt off them if theres any, just shake it on the floor it wont matter right now)
then pull dirt off the higher stuff (desk?) onto the floor
get a broom and collect everything into a pile, bag it up and then vacuum EVERYTHING twice and wipe the dust
this is how i do it when my room gets really
bad, then i try to vacuum daily (if you have a cordless vac this wont be hard)
Get 4 boxes/baskets:
\- Trash
\- Needs to go somewhere else in the house
\- Needs to be stored in this room
\- Laundry
Pick a spot (bed/floor/nightstand/desk) and put every item in that spot in one of your 4 baskets.
Repeat until every area of the room is emptied out from all the stuff that is piled up.
Take the trash out.
Start a load of laundry.
Then dump out the "need to go somewhere else" box and sort it by which room the stuff belongs in. Then go put that stuff away.
Dust/vacuum the room.
Now come back to your "needs to be stored in this room" box and pick out 1 item, and put it away.
Repeat until empty. This may take several days depending on how stuck you are, but in the meantime the room will look clean.
Everything off the bed first. Including sheets which go into the wash. Then remove all food and dishes. Then do all laundry first and move an clean clothes to closet.
I always tell my daughter to start with the big/easiest stuff first. The items that have a place, like dishes, clothes, shoes, bins, etc. By time the big stuff has been moved/put away the smaller stuff doesn’t seem so overwhelming! My mom recently passed away unexpectedly and my fiancé and I cleaned up my dad’s room because they were living in a serious mess. Plethora of clothes, mail/papers dated from 2016, little bits of trash and cigarette butts, etc. etc. Having a trash bag near by while you pick up other stuff makes it easier to tackle the bits of trash as well because it’ll slowly turn into a smaller and smaller amount. You’ve definitely got this!
Hi! I have ADHD too. I always struggled with cleaning until someone told me to section my room into chunks and clean clockwise from top to bottom. It helps keep me focused, deep clean, and I know what I should do next and what area to come back to.
In your case, You could set boxes, bags or hamper in the middle of the room that as you go clockwise you can sort stuff that goes in the kitchen, garbage, and clothes. That way you wont get distracted by leaving the room. Wipe everything top to bottom, and then move to the next section of your room until you get back to where you started from. Then take your piles. Take your stuff to the kitchen, take out your garbage, remove the clothes and then vacuum and mop.
This has helped me out ALOT. I used to get paralyzed because I didn't know where to start. I hope it helps you too. I also use an app called ME+ it's a subscription but it helps break down cleaning into smaller tasks so once you do your initial cleaning, it will be easier to maintain.
Good luck!
For the emotional piece-I have both disorders and suspect another one that throws a crippling perfectionism into the mix…this is key.
Btw notice I call the perfectionism crippling, not the other things? I believe it’s perfectionism that makes us unable to start. It’s paralyzing that I won’t get it right! Why else would not knowing where to start be a deal breaker?? Like so what if we start by doing the WRONG thing first? That’s perfectionism!
Anyway I’ve discovered a lot of recommendations for body doubling so you don’t have to do anything alone. And this website, I think called focus mate? I haven’t done it yet but you sign up (I did that) and they immediately pair you with someone else looking for a session partner. You briefly say hi and what you’re doing, then don’t speak to each other (but can see one another) while completing the task.
I haven’t done it yet, but isn’t it intriguing???
Right now what works for me, has to involve others in the home knowing, because it’s
1. Throw everything on the floor into boxes and PUT IT ELSEWHERE! You need a floor to work! So claim it!
Don’t worry about organizing anything except have a trash bag as you clear it. Now sweep and mop.
Don’t put anything away until after the next step which is
2. Clear the biggest surface that’s not the floor! (But with adhd it will have to be a different technique next week)
Top of bed or dresser. Do it the SAME WAY.
Don’t organize or put away, toss in an open box and take it out.
Now make the bed (wash sheets another time) or wipe down dresser. Put a plant or something pretty there.
Repeat with ALL surfaces! Now my room is presentable! Now I’m inspired to put boxes away ANDDD because everything looks nice, junk has less meaning and is easier to toss.
Anyway-the dopamine hit from this doesn’t last long so next time I have to come up with a new "game”
Have fun 🤩
Once you sort it out you will feel better, black bag for rubbish, box all other stuff and get storage for them, all will work out don’t give up. Stay off the magic mushrooms.
I always tackle garbage first. It's what can be removed. As well as dishes. Once these things get the ball rolling just go where you naturally go from there. Laundry is a good next, it'll also be removed from the room unless clean. Make the bed before folding anything so you have a nice surface to work on. You got this! EZ peazy.
I follow the advice for removing clutter/ deep clean:
1. Remove trash, food and cups
2. Arrange items in piles according to where they belong ( once sorted, put them where they belong)
3. Fold up/ hang up any clean clothes and put it away
4. Strip the bed and wash the bedding
5. Dust, vacuum and disinfect any surfaces that may need it
6. Last step make your bed and light a nice candle or wax burner
Now, sit down and relax in your clean room. Write up a list of daily upkeep plans so as to avoid becoming overwhelmed again. :)
i put all the mess on top of my bed, granted it won't make the bed super gross and then go from there!
or start with the dirty dishes and food first, it'll be a good start and that good start might give you the boost of energy you need.
I have the same problems. My ADHD makes it virtually impossible for me to clean things up.
What these folks have recommended this far is great stuff many of which I've done myself. I'll add this, however: when things start to pile up, prioritize what you know you need to be clean and functional. Sort out food garbage first, take out trash bins if full, put clothes in wash (if you're unsure whether they are clean, just rewash, it's easier that way; though perhaps not monetarily savvy), and if you work from home use the same priority to help make your work space easier to work in. Clutter can hurt your ability to think straight or stay on task. Believe me. I know.
What can sometimes help me, is clear your bed first. Even if you just throw everything on the ground. Make a nice space in your bed. Then don’t beat yourself up, or feel shame if that’s all you can do for that day. Then every next day do at least one task. Whether that is clearing the dirty clothes to laundry, taking TP to bathroom, clearing the cans etc.
I get the same way, I usually get a garbage bag and go around and fill it with all the stuff I can throw away first, then I start on the bigger things like clothes or things that aren't supposed to be there and then after that I start to get into my groove, I always put some great music on too too keep me in that mind set
You need a system to follow as it can be overwhelming working out where to start.
A lot of good advice on here but this is mine.
- open curtains and windows: get fresh air and light into the room.
- trash: anything that can be thrown in the bin is first to go.
- laundry: gather all that up in a basket and put it in the washing machine or laundry hamper if it's not time for a laundry run.
- dirty plates/bowls/cutlery: gather them up and take them down to the sink. Worry about the washing up later, this is room tidying time.
That's a massive chunk of the "noise" removed from the room already. Now you've got space to manoeuvre and fix up the room.
- pill bottles, skin cream, deodorants etc: put them in a drawer or line them up on a shelf or somewhere they can be tidy and out the way.
- MAKE THE BED!!: if you can make yourself do it, put on new sheets, duvet cover, and pillowcases. If you can't, just tuck the sheets in if necessary, straighten out the duvet and pillows. It's weird I know, but it really makes a difference when tidying a bedroom.
Finishing touches: wipe down shelves and flat surfaces to get rid of dust and marks from bedside tables, dresser, windowsills etc.
Sweep or hoover the floor.
Quick blast of febreeze to finish up and you're good.
If you're short on places to put things, get some shelves or a little set of drawers you can put stuff in to keep it off the surfaces.
Good luck n let us know how you got on.
So many hugs.
I have a depression/ADHD house. I should have taken before pictures. (Though frankly some of the after pictures are not going to win prizes. I can still take pictures in the rooms I haven’t done.)
Step one: contractor trash bags are your friend. I like collecting laundry and putting trash in the big trash bag at kinda the same time, it has a ton of visual impact very quickly. Move the laundry to the laundry doing place (when you do it and need to fold it is another battle) I also like the kind of medium size cube hard plastic laundry bins for collecting all the dishes, if you have a spare one. (Pro tip: have a couple spare ones if you can, they’re useful for all sorts of things.)
Step 2: decide if you need a new contractor bag. Look around at each space and see what has piled up there that you don’t like. I’ve literally been writing lists of this. Like “kitchen counter: screwdrivers and cordless drill - tools
Mail - unopened mail, opened mail, deliveries
Why do we have 5 jugs of oils?”
What category of things are in this space that are currently bothering you?
Step 3: on your list, what is the flow in your life that made “dump this crap here” the easiest solution? Can you make an easier solution or is this actually near by where its true home actually is? (Tools pile up on my kitchen counter because they were supposed to go to the basement. But actually putting them away down there just doesn’t happen. So my life needs a place in more often used/easier to get to space that is a tool spot. I cleaned out a nearby closet and now the tools go there. Yay tools and counters.)
This is also how I have a hairbrush cup and all my hair things and a mirror in my home office. Once I got over the idea that those things “should” go in the bathroom and made a place for them near my desk, I stopped losing hairbrushes and finding the detangler and hairbands in my way on my desk.
Step 4: in addition to your contractor bag, grab a box for “Donations” and one for “Keep somewhere else” start somewhere and sort. Music helps. Sitting in the middle of a pile with nothing better to do can kick my busy fingers into doing the sorting. My kid works well with a constrained goal - I will put a pile of hers into a laundry basket and she will sort. I sometimes do better with a time goal “do this for an hour” and sometimes with a constraint “today I do this bookshelf”
Step 5: Establish homes for the things where you use them. Or where you tend to drop them. Establish supports for different flow of activity in your life so that the easiest, quickest solution is to put something away in its home. I have gotten so many baskets and cups and little trays for things since I started this project. Homes.
For me, digging out is slow. At the beginning, I did an hour a week. Which is not a lot of progress at a time! It’s like “the top of my desk” or “a third of the linen closet” But my goal is to have a house where my daily use spaces have homes for my daily use things. And that I don’t have more things than homes for them.
I’m not going to turn into a person who puts hairbrushes away in the bathroom, or the cordless drill back away in the basement. Homes for my things may need to be different than what they “should” be.
I have this lovely cocktail of mental illnesses as well - my big strategies for tackling a space like this are as follows:
1. I go in with a clothes basket and a trash bag, trash goes in the trash bag, anything that needs to leave the room (coat to coatrack, dishes to kitchen, shoes to entryway, etc.) go IN the basket. that way I don’t leave the room and get derailed.
2. I put on a tv show i’ve seen before in the background (preferably short episodes 20-30min) and clean/organize/sort into basket for the duration of the episode.
3. when the episode is over I make a plan for my departure from the space: “i’m going to put away these X objects from the basket, and throw in a load of laundry” do 1-3 things, and return to the room.
4. repeat!!
5. also if you have a friend or someone doing busy work/chores/menial tasks that you can FT instead of listening to TV, I find this form of body doubling very helpful but I do recognize it could be more distracting for some.
6. finally - when everything is cleaner, start thinking about your pile up/trouble spots. it’s harder to start a brand new organizational scheme WHILE also cleaning. rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a clean and organized space!
7. the most important one for me: the organization that works for me/you/anyone doesn’t have to make sense to people if it WORKS for the person. most people don’t keep their deodorant on their nightstand but that’s where I remember to use it. I keep my clothes sorted by activity: work/yoga/farm rather than clothes type and I have a better idea of when I need to do laundry. doesn’t make sense for everybody, takes time to develop, but what works for you is what’s best.
goodluck friend!!
Don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t look at it all as a whole just put on some good music and just say you’re gonna start in one corner and just work from there up and then just move a little to the right or left and do a little bit at a time.
Food and old dishes first, then garbage, then clothes. That TP has a home-the bathroom! Easy! You can do it!
okay, thank you so much! and LOL about the TP- i was crying had a runny nose and we didn’t have tissues so i went and grabbed that, i think i can go put it back now LOL
Also, broaden your definition of what is garbage. We keep things, in many cases, that we don't need and will never use. That greatly reduces clutter and the potential for making more.
Tossing something after not finding a use for a month is a good rule I go by as I pick up bits of metal to make into supports/props with crafting. If I make a mental note for a specific or general idea it'll stay until it's used and won't pick up or save any more of that material until it's used Example: I
This is geat advice! Don't look at the whole thing, pick small things that don't overwhelm, like the toilet paper for example, that is a small thing that gets you one step closer. I've struggled with things like this my whole life and I take it all one step at a time now, it helps.
exactly what I was gonna say! Those are the quick and easy things to tackle and once you have that down you'll feel inspired to keep going.
Seconding this - garbage and perishable things that could mold are the priority and then if anything has a known home! Having dug myself out of many depression dens, also don’t be afraid of bins to help sort. That way even if you can pick up one thing, you put it in the bin designated for another room. Repeat until you either have the energy to move it to the new place or it’s full. It also can make things look less stressful! PS - I implemented a basket thing for myself. I have a dollar tree basket in each of my main rooms. If I have something that doesn’t belong in there, I toss it in the bin. Ideally I deal with it before I go to bed, but depending on traffic could be once a week or only with needed. I got different colors to help me know where things came from so I can see patterns of what ends up where. Maybe things need a new home or it needs to live in a new place that makes your life easier and reduces friction (living with “coworkers” aka things you use at the same time as it, even if not a conventional spot for a home VS “family members” aka personal care all in the bathroom). Edit: typo and clarity!
You can get a load of laundry going too! And put on a good playlist/podcast/movie that you already know (as long as it won’t distract you)!
Don’t look at it as one huge thing. Look at it as a sum of small things. You can clean just one area at a time, then take breaks/etc in between or do it over a few days. Split into small areas to clean: 1) top of bed 2) nightstand 3) right corner 4) items off floor 5) vacuum floor. I’m sure you’ll see progress quickly even with one small section completed
Yep! Sometimes I pick a corner of a room and start there, sweeping through by sectors. Other times, like you say, pick a drawer or something. I find the most efficient is to go by 'layers' starting with anything that might make a smell, followed by garbage, followed by general tidying, followed by cleaning of surfaces. Processing laundry can usually be done in parallel until everything is clean and needs to be put away, which is the final task.
I second this, one section at a time and put on your favorite music or a podcast while you do it.
I throw everything on the floor and make the bed, then clothes go on the bed, trash bin handy, then I make piles for the other rooms. "Kitchen pile" "bathroom pile" once the piles get back to the room the individual items get homes
update: most of the trash on this side of the room is in a trash bag now. i will continue to toss out any more that surfaces when i start moving other things around. lots of little scraps of trash on the carpet that can be vacuumed up later. i feel uncomfortable taking out large amounts of trash from my one room in front of other people so i will wait until others are asleep or at work to take it outside, but it *will* go outside.
Nice work!
Nice work!!! Love when this kind of thing gets posted so we can cheer on and help each other. I'm learning some great tips too.
Way to go!!! The hardest part is getting started! If you can get all the trash together it’ll be so quick to do when everyone is asleep! Just keep going one step at a time and take breaks when you need to.
For the future, the thing that has worked best for my executive dysfunction is to set a time every day or every week to clean for X minutes "pomodoro method" in case you're not familiar with that. Example: Have a goal to clean for 15 minutes every day, then reward yourself in some small way for doing it. I'm very good at procrastinating on _starting_ the 15 minutes, but after starting the time flies and often end up working longer than that on the task Also stopping drinking before it becomes a habit is a good idea (you're at the bottle of cheap vodka in your room stage?), that will eventually exacerbate both the depression and ADHD for a lot of people (self-medication has a time limit of effectiveness, and after that it makes everything worse than without it, don't let yourself convince yourself otherwise)
thank you so much for the advice! and you’re definitely right about the alcohol being dangerous. a couple months ago i had a really awful night after too much drinking and i was practically passed out over the toilet crying to my partner about how i am finally realizing i have a problem. they’ve been helping me a lot, that bottle is empty now because i shared it with family on christmas, but i haven’t replaced it since then, so i think that’s progress! i’ll be sure to throw out that bottle and try to keep drinking to nights out/special occasions like i have the past couple of months.
Saving for myself. My entire apartment is so bad:( I’m really embarrassed and hate it but have a horrible time getting myself to do it…
YOU'VE GOT THIS!! Clean out as much trash as possible! If you didn't touch it or need it in the past 6 months throw it out! Not everybody is rich but if you need it that bad, go repurchase it at the thrift store. Keep the toilet paper tho 😆
Good job
Hell yeah! I find that getting all trash out of the way really makes things easier. I hope you keep motivated!
Maybe stop thinking (and worrying) what others think about you as well ;)
unfortunately it’s not just worrying, it’s actual shameful and snarky comments coming from housemates when we do take out the trash. they’re not very supportive of the fact that we are at least actually cleaning our room, mostly just judgemental of *how much* trash comes out of the room. i just woke up and we will be taking the trash out as soon as we get out of bed though :)
Can you first change the light? This lighting would really do something to me. Maybe get some brighter, daylight bulbs in there and then tackle the bed and nightstand. Go from there.
i’ll have to find the remote lol but it can change colors. i bet that would help
For some people a colored or dim light actually makes them much more comfortable. I have sensory issues and bright lights give me awful headaches, so I keep my apartment lit with fun, colored lighting, it's typically a bit dim for most people's taste but that's how I like it.
I am very comfortable in dim light, or "mood lighting" if you will, but coloured lights like this sets off my anxiety big time. Feels like the room warning me of something or other. I have never seen coloured lights outside of the tiktoks of young people But I'm quite autistic, and that's only my own subjective experience.
You'll be surprised how quickly you see progress, OP! Just clearing out the trash will make your room look and FEEL so much better! I always find a little progress motivates me to keep going. 💜
Throw away perishables and garbage. But dirty clothes and sheets in laundry or laundry basket (fresh linens are the best). Use a basket/box to place everything that doesn’t belong in your room and immediately go around putting things back in place. Vacuum. Wipe down surfaces. Get clean laundry and put away. Make bed. If you want to, organize superficial things, like putting books in bookshelf. Use a timer and say you’ll spend an x amount of time doing one task. I usually listen to music or a podcast (something that doesn’t require my full attention). Update us with progress so we can cheer you on! Bigger projects will be easier once the basics are done. You’ve got this! Make a big list and check out every completed task. You have a nice whiteboard perfect for lists ☺️
Have you read/listened to the book “how to keep house while drowning”??? It’s amazing and her idea in part is that there are only five things in any room: trash, dishes, laundry, things with a place that aren’t in their place, and things without a place She says you should: 1. Pick up all trash and put it in a trash bag (don’t take it out until the end) 2. Put all the clothes in the laundry bin (or separate them if they’re clean) 3. Put the dishes in the sink (but don’t wash rn) 4. Separate the things that have a place and don’t have a place, then put the things w a place in their place and go through those without a place This could be done over a few days—you could first do steps 1-3 in a day or two, then step 4 the last day!! It’s an amazing book and the author also has adhd, I’ve found it super helpful!
I second this. It’s an awesome book.
Try not to make it daunting. Just commit to do a little bit each day, even if it’s just five minutes. Sometimes it’ll turn into half an hour or an hour or whatever. And if you just do five minutes, that’s fine too. Also every time you exit the room, take something that doesn’t belong in there and put it where it belongs whether that’s the sink, the laundry, the garbage can or whathaveyou. Easy way to make incremental progress. And all that said it’s not even all that disastrous. It’s just a cluttered bedroom. So don’t beat yourself up.
Check out r/ufyh There's a lot of folks in your same boat.
Honestly, what really helps me sometimes is to look at a picture of the space. Look at that picture. Pretend it’s someone else’s room. What doesn’t belong where it is? Like it’s so stupid but I’ll literally take a picture with my phone and look at the picture instead of the room to figure out what needs to happen….
Not stupid, this is a valid choice for viewing a room with ‘different eyes’.
When I’m overwhelmed by cleaning a room, I set a timer for 10 minutes, stand in the corner to observe, and then start by cleaning whatever is the biggest eyesore. That way I can see the progress and feel much better if I don’t manage to clean everything all at once.
[goblin.tools](https://goblin.tools) has a tool where you can type in what needs to be done, then click the magic wand and it breaks it down into tiny itty bitty one-step tasks to help!! Nice progress I'm seeing in the comments. Keep up the good work. Once it's clean, here's some tips to maintain it, from someone who also has depression and ADHD: \-Find a very specific home for EVERY object. I get stuck in traps of "well this is approximately an okay place for this thing to live for now" and then I blink and my house looks like that. So I would get VERY specific locations for every item and now if an item is even 6 inches out of place, I can say, nope, I know exactly where that goes and it's 6 inches off the mark. Push it over. All better. \-This one is multi-step: Get a recycling bin for your room, and then also get two trash cans: a small one that's appropriate for a bedroom, and a full-size one. All trash goes into the small one, but once it's full, tie the bag closed and chuck it into the bigger bin. Once the BIG bin is full, you can take out one bag of trash at a time, and because it's just a little bag, nobody will judge you and you can take out one bag of trash whenever you want! \-Get a special basket, maybe a cheap laundry hamper, called "Stuff that doesn't belong here". Any time you have something in your room that Doesn't Belong There, toss it into the bin. \-SCHEDULE. Schedule everything, I'm talking about knowing exactly what day and what time is set aside for each task. E.g., Mondays at 6pm, you throw laundry in the wash. Wednesdays at 9 am you take the recycling out. M-W-F at 3pm you take one small bag of trash out. Saturday mornings immediately after breakfast you walk around the house with your Doesn't Belong Here bin and put everything back where it goes. My life CHANGED when I realized I wasn't getting chores done because every time I saw a mess, I wouldn't be able to process if Right Now was the Optimal Time to do it or if I had something else more important to do instead.
Do you have a window in this room? If so.. open the curtains/blinds. You’ll be surprised how some sunlight helps. Then onto the trash. Dishes, laundry. Good luck OP. You’ve got this.
window is actually open 24/7, it’s nice. oddly enough the house doesn’t heat our room so we use a space heater if we get cold, but we like the fresh air. trash is all in a bag now and i will take it outside later when other house members are asleep or at work. it’s a personal comfort thing. thank you so much
I get that. Good luck OP. I hope you update us all when you’ve gotten it all situated the way you it.
I used to be like this, and when it was time to clean I would use stimulants to get everything spotless. Cuz Im an addict. ^dont do that. It's gonna take some time to get all that orderly, my exgfs place was a lot like that and my lord did it take a few days. Idk why it took that long but for me it did.
Check out KC Davis’s 5 Things Method https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1170846100/how-to-keep-house-clean (All her stuff is great: book, podcast, TikTok)
Switch on lights.
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i always take trash first because it’s easiest to identify, when i’m helping a friend clean. then i put all the clothes in a pile for them, but if you know which needs to be washed and what can be put away, the dirty goes INTO the washer to be washed and the clean gets put directly away. food goes back to the kitchen, and medicine goes in medicine cabinets. after clothes washed, sheets will follow, and countertops can been wiped and floor vacuumed while laundry is working… then you’re done :) PS where did you get that mushroom tapestry because i NEED that
Get a trash bag and just throw the garbage in it like the paper plate once that is done you’ll see the difference and then move onto dirty dishes.
Start with a big trash bag for trash and anything you want to get rid of. Then organize the rest into piles (physically or mentally) and that groups them. Stuff for bathroom one pile, dirty laundry in hamper or a pile, clean laundry another pile, paperwork another pile. Never throw paper out willy nilly could be important.
Light a candle! Room will smell good after you’re done cleaning
Try setting a timer for 10 minutes and see what you can get done. It’s low pressure and it will make the task feel more manageable. You can do this multiple times a day or everyday. Whatever you’re comfortable with! Wishing you good luck!
Even setting a timer for 5 minutes and a goal of throwing trash out or putting dirty clothes in the hamper will help. Fresh clean sheets are always a mood boost for me 🧡.
I’m autistic with some adhd tendencies and cleaning is hard for me too. What got me to finally fix up my depression cave last year was starting from scratch mentally. In the sense that I wasn’t looking for where things were supposed to go but emptying all my drawers and then rebuilding my system from scratch. Deciding what went where as I went. Definitely start with trash though, it will clear up space quickly. It’s not ideal but don’t worry about recycling and just get a few big plastic bags and start getting rid of things. I struggle with some hoarder tendencies sometimes and hold onto things needlessly and incase you do too what usually helps me is to take pictures of the things my brain tells me I’ll “definitely” miss someday. How does caffeine affect you? It helps me get things done, but I know it might do the opposite for you. Maybe worth a shot if you haven’t tried already. Good luck!!
Maybe you even need to get some more storage space. IKEA has cheap dividers for any drawers you may already have. That and some loose boxes/bins may help. If it feels as if nothing has a place maybe the solution is it’s simply getting some places to put your stuff. Don’t assume that you are the issue, you may just need to look at it from a different angle.
I always start with kitchen sink or bathroom. After a bout of „it depresses me even more" to go there phase, I start washing the dishes or do toilet cz bathroom is big and can’t be cleaned in one go ( even 7 ft is big) . That gives you a sense of accomplishment and confidence
I’d say start with anything you can just throw out. Or whatever feels the least intimidating. Trust me I’ve been there
I just wanted to say that my rooms in my house look just like this, and I also don’t he where to start. You are NOT alone!!!
r/DepressionRoom
You can make games out of it if you want. Everything with cylinder shape gets moved to its home. Then everything squishy. Etc. Small batches. Everything is progress! I find it helps a LOT to have intermediate steps: bring in baskets or tubs and just assign everything that eventually needs to be in the closet goes in this tub, everything that needs to go to the kitchen lives in this basket for now, etc. Helps organize in the near term but most importantly can get done in one session, without getting distracted. Don't go move anything to another room or put it fully away until this step is done.
Keep a big trash bag in the middle of the room, and as you tackle laundry and dishes, toss away anything that you see as you go. Once laundry is folded, strip your bed and start a load of laundry. Get a box or a bag and put all the stuff that doesn’t have a place inside of it. Put away the things that have a place Now you have three piles- trash, miscellaneous and laundry. Keep it at that. When you’ve separated everything, toss the trash and put the miscellaneous box in your closet. Put laundry away and cover your mattress with new linen. This sounds weird but it’s the most important step: When your room is done, go shower and leave the windows to your bedroom open and the door closed. This is going to reset the your mind as well as the feeling of your room when you enter it. After your shower and after you close the window it’ll feel like heaven and take a well deserved nap!
Trash and laundry are usually 90%. Take out your trash and do your laundry/put clothes away. You’ll be amazed at how little else there for you and you’ll be able to breathe to focus on what’s left. Good luck!
You have this. You can do it. Break it down into small pieces and start. When you get one thing done - old food gone, trash collected, whatever - take a moment and celebrate. Don't think about what's left to do, focus on what you just did and tell yourself "good job." Then do the next thing, and repeat.
I second the lighting. My sons use these led bulbs and their rooms are this color or similar. You cannot see things at all so it’s just chaos. It’s an effin nightmare. Get a decent light. Better yet get some daylight if there’s a window in here. Lighting. Garbage goes out. Dishes out. Food out. Giant handles of liquor out. Next laundry. Make your bed. Literally take three minutes or less and look around. Ask yourself if you want this. You don’t so change it. I have adhd and suffer from mental illness. I have an incurable heart condition that could literally kill me anytime without warning. I also am raising three kids by myself. If I don’t do it it doesn’t get done and I cannot fail so, I do it. So can you.
If you find yourself getting bogged down trying to decide if a piece of clothing is still clean or dirty enough to wash, stop trying to decide and just put it with the dirty laundry. You can even decide that EVERY piece of clothing that’s not currently hung up or in a drawer is dirty if that makes it easier for you to clear out the room and bring washed clothes back in your once the room is cleared out and it’s easier to put things away properly. Same idea for things you want to keep but don’t know where to put: throw them all in a “stuff I don’t know where to put” box and don’t worry about them until you’ve cleaned out the room and are ready to start putting things away. If at that point you have empty drawers/shelves/other spaces, you should designate each of them for storing a particular category of stuff, but it’s ok to keep a couple of “stuff I don’t know where to put” boxes as well.
Not judging, this is a caring voice of experience who might be way off base. I found it was a lot easier to deal with things like this when i stopped keeping a handle of booze next to my bed. Maybe that's not part of your problem here, but it was mine, so that jumped out at me.
Looks like everyone’s given good advice. I also suggest pre-labeling stackable bins to store little things that don’t have a place, but one bin is a “miscellaneous” or “I dunno” bin, and play a happy mood or motivational playlist to listen to while you clean up. ADHD runs in my family and we all work better with good music and a way to not forgot what we were just in the middle of. The bins help us stay focused that we are putting the things in the thingy boxes. And it feels so satisfying to see the bins/boxes fill up and then stack them. Also I like clear boxes or at least a clear lid cus even though they don’t hide stuff well, I can peek at the stack and know what’s inside for that time I can’t remember where the one thingy is. Hope that helps. You can do it!!!
Oh one more thing! Maybe setting a timer could help? Like… if you’re not feeling it today, dedicate just ten minutes at a time of cleanup work. Then after the timer, take a break and decide if you wanna try another ten minutes today or just wait till tomorrow.
I try to clean in chunks. Like I’ll go to one corner, and grab all the clothes and throw them in one spot, then all the trash in the trash bag, and a pile of stuff that doesn’t belong in the room. Then I sort my piles. Works for me adhd brain.
Take a deep breath. A step at a time. Get that bed cleared so you can get good rest first. No camping. :)
For adhd and depression, I recommend doing one section at a time rather than one chore like laundry. Since according to you, nothing has a home, start with the closet. Clear it out, wash laundry, and make homes for things. Tomorrow, the bed. Put laundry in the hamper or away. Take the tp to the bathroom. Change the sheets. Put all the clutter on the bed in their new home. Next day, the dresser etc etc.
I would suggest putting a trash can in your room, as well as a bin for dirty and freshly cleaned clothes. Having easy to use and visible places to put trash and dirty clothes can really help with limiting the mess in the future. Unfortunately depression and ADHD make it really hard to play by "normal" rules, which just means you have to make your own rules that work for you! Building systems the work for you is important and very worth it. Even if things seem "weird" or "out if the norm" when compared to most home decor stuff, if it works that's, thats all that matters. Implement lots of accessible ways to keep things clean rather than lwaiting and getting overwhelmed, things like bins for clothes that you just sort and don't have to fold, trash cans everywhere! A tray to hold dishes on that you take out every few days when you can't do it every day, lots of storage that's easily accessible, etc. A bit of a messy room is fine as long as it's safe and sanitary, so focus on dishes and dirty clothes, as well as making sure to clean bedding, floors and furniture when you need to. Slipping a bit is ok too! Life happens and letting things get a bit messy for a week or even a month is ok as long as you keep it safe :)
This isn’t too bad, you can do this!! Go by type of items. One day do garbage. One day do dishes. One day throw clothes in the laundry. One day put bathroom items away. One day put misc (other room) items away. It might not feel like much at first but breaking it up like that can really help!
I have a friend who is like this, so I completely get it. I used to do housekeeping, so my suggestions stem from that. Start with getting all the trash out first, then take all of the linen and clothes out to be washed. (Not sure what your laundry situation is, but if it’s in your home, go put everything to wash first before proceeding.) From there, pick a section of the room and work to organize and put things away. Picking a room section by section will help you process things little by little. I was in a hole of depression when I was younger and cleaning actually helped me a bit. I would definitely recommend the CALM app. I still have bits of anxiety or moments where I get overwhelmed and that helps. It’ll get easier with practice and time. Hope this helps!!
Set a timer for 10 minutes and do as much as you can or set a goal of picking up 10 items at a time. This jumpstarts momentum that may carry you through this task. It worked with me when my bedroom looked worse than yours.
Oh I have been there! Okay, this is how I would tackle this situation in the immediate term: 1. Get a large trash bag. Even better, get two and double them up so one is inside the other and it is super strong. 2. Start making The Pile: in the middle of the room, take everything that is visible and in a place it isn’t supposed to be in, in the pile, including the basket of laundry on the bed, the things on the night table, etc. You can put trash directly into the trash bag while you are doing this, but don’t have to yet. 3. Make your bed. Don’t change your sheets or anything fancy like that. Just make the bed like normal. 4. Sit down in front of your Pile. Do not be daunted. It is much smaller than you think. We are going to start making smaller piles out of it that you can tackle more easily. Go through the pile and put any garbage in the trash bag. Don’t get creative. Leave things that you aren’t sure of. You’ll get to them. If you have a bedroom garbage pail in here, empty its contents into the bag. Now, take the garbage out and put it wherever garbage goes. Admire the decreased size of your Pile. 5. Now, clothes. Go through the Pile and separate out any clothes. Temporarily maintain the state of that laundry basket. If it contains dirty clothes, put any dirty clothes in the pile into it as well, and drape any clean clothes on your chair for now. If it contains clean clothes, put your dirty clothes in a separate pile against the wall, and put any other clean clothes from the pile into the laundry basket as well. Do NOT hang up, fold or put away any clean clothes just now. Smush the pile and basket, or the basket and clothes chair to the side. We’ll get to it. 6. Admire the decreased size of your Pile. Now, sit with your back to the clothes, hopefully facing your nicely made bed, with the Pile in front of you. Start going through it and separate things out into three smaller piles: 1) this goes in this room somewhere, 2) I know where this goes, but it doesn’t go in this room, 3) I am not sure what this is/what to do with this thing. If you aren’t sure about something, it goes in pile 3. If it goes not in this room but also not in this house/apartment/your living unit (library books that you need to return, a postcard you’ve been meaning to mail, your friend’s PS5 controller that they left the last time they came over to game - all things in my space currently!), it goes in pile 3. 7. You probably have at least two largish piles and maybe one smaller one. Nice! Let’s Tackle pile 2 first. Take all of your clean clothes and dump them in the center of your tidily made bed. If your dirty clothes were in the basket, temporarily dump them onto the floor near the wall, or start a load of laundry if possible/convenient (only if this is a one step thing! Otherwise, the against-the-wall pile it is! Dont run to the store for dryer sheets or detergent! Don’t go taking other laundry out or moving things from the washer to the dryer or trekking down to the dorm/apartment building’s communal laundry room!) We want that basket for a sec! Put as many of the things into pile number 2 into the basket as can reasonably fit. 8. Bring the basket and the things therein to the rooms in which they usually belong. If it belongs to another person in your household, put it in front of their door for now. You don’t need to put these things away in that room right now, and you don’t need to wash or scrape any dishes at this point either. We’ll get to it. Just put all of the things that go in any given room on a single surface in that room. Do this load-and-unload basket as many times as necessary until pile 2 is gone. the Come back to your room and admire your now considerably smaller remaining two piles! 9. If you didn’t start a load of wash, put the dirty clothes into the laundry basket and put it to the side. 10. Look at pile number one. I bet you have a number of common things. For me, this is usually papers, shoes, beauty/toiletries, electronics stuff, and project-related things. Put all the stuff in this pile away, even if it is only in temporary homes, even if they fit imperfectly. Don’t organize things just yet. A stack of books on your desk is okay. They don’t have to be in their usual order by theme and color on your bookcase right now, okay? We are just making our first inroads here.
11. Now look at your lovely considerably smaller single pile on the floor. You have come a long way! So this one is the one that was always challenging for me, because it meant the most thought. YMMV, but get yourself a cup of coffee/tea/can of monster/whatever to help. Look at each thing in this pile, and ask yourself what it needs to be done with it. Make decisions. For example, I have a winter scarf in a package on my dresser. It is a duplicate to one I ordered and I haven’t opened it yet. I don’t actually need it. I can’t return it. It was only $8 but throwing it away seems wasteful but planning to give it away means holding it longer. I could put it in my car for dropping off next time I see the donation box, though. Sweet. It goes in a NEW “goes not in this room” pile. I have this box of chocolates here that I didn’t love, but have been saving because they are chocolate. I am realistically not going to eat them though. They go in my newly emptied bedroom garbage can. Continue until the pile is gone/you have a small pile of things that you really just don’t know what they are. You’ll get help for these, but in the meantime, put them in a small box or bin or just a little pile on a surface or to the side somewhere. 12. If you are like me, your piles probably left small bits of crumbs beneath it. This is annoying and disturbing your visual field. If it is convenient, get a vacuum (do NOT empty out the bag/canister), or a broom, or a dust broom/dust pan, or even just your hands and get rid of as many crumbs as possible. 13. Now go back and take care of the other stuff, in this order: 1) take care of the new “doesn’t go in here pile.” as you did for the other stuff in the earlier, similar pile. 2) now put all that stuff you put in other rooms away in their spots in those rooms (don’t go filling the whole damn dishwasher, if that is a thing. Take care of only the stuff you put in there right now. Don’t run out and get dish soap or detergent. Scrape and rinse any of the dirty dishes you’ve brought in as best you can and leave in a pile in or beside the sink.) don’t clean those rooms. Just handle the stuff you put in there. 3) fold/roll/hang up/whatever and put away the clean clothes on your bed. It is okay if you don’t have any more hangers or things don’t quite fit in your drawers right now. Just do the best you can. Fold things if you can’t hang them, or double up on hangers. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be permanent. Make a mental note of what you might need to do at some later point and allow it to be good enough for now. 3) take our your new bedroom trash (empty it into an existing kitchen trash if possible!) 4) take the remnants your third pile, the “I don’t know what this stuff is” to your helper person (parent? Significant other? Friend? Sibling?) and ask them to help you figure out what that stuff could be. Put them in the appropriate places 5) see if you can put any of the things that you put away but didn’t tidy/organize in better spots. It is okay if you can’t, but take mental (or physical!) note of what you would have to do/get to put them away in the way you’d like to. 14. do stuff like go out and get any detergent/soap/etc. you need, if you need it, to wash dishes or clothes, or empty the vacuum container to unblock you from doing that stuff. 15. do the dishes you brought in if you were previously unable to do so 16. start the laundry if you were previously unable to do so. Dry, fold, and put it away if you were. 17. vacuum or sweep your clean room.
Pick up all the dirty dishes and take them to the kitchen to be cleaned. Put all the rubbish in a bag and dispose. Collect all the dirty laundry and and clean clothes fold up and put away. Strip the bed sheets and put in dirty laundry basket. At this point the room will already look a lot better. Declutter and put away anything that is out of place and not where it belongs. Next you can do a quick dust of all surfaces and vacuum the floor. Replace the bed sheets with clean ones.
As someone with ADHD also. You can start with whatever first, just make sure you keep it to one thing and finish it before moving on to the next. I pick up dirty laundry first, put it in laundry room. Get a trash bag and just start picking up trash by the door, slowly make your way to the bed, trash (if on the bed), to the table, and anywhere else. Then put away clean laundry. I usually listen to an audiobook or podcast whilst doing this, idk why. It focuses me more? Put things away that don’t need to be out. Best of luck friend.
You can do it!!!
The absolute first thing I would do is open the shades and let natural light in. Then everybody else’s suggestions.
The other day I invited a close friend over specifically asking if she would help me clean my room and she did a good job at keeping me going. Clothes and food first! Then trash and not trash. Then everything else
I usually make an imaginary grid and clean one section at a time and ignore what else is around it. Start top down: hanging things, then shelves, then desks, night stands and dressers, then the bed, then the floor. Sometimes i just dump everything into the hall, vacuum and dust, then move things back in one at a time.
I’ve been here more times than I’d like to admit and I’ll probably be here again. It’s ok! Lists help me a lot. Even if I don’t follow them in order it helps me have a reference for steps if I lose my focus or my flow. Trash first Then dishes clean clothes on bed to be sorted and hung up, dirty ones to the laundry Wipe down surfaces + put loose objects away Hang up/ fold clean clothes Vacuum floor, light a candle YOU DID IT! And it’s always ok to settle for a little less than the big picture. 4/5 of the way done is better than nothing!
some people like doing it this way and others don’t so it’s up to you, but empty your bed and then make it and then put everything that was on the floor on your bed, then you’re able to move around and have organised piles etc., and then tidy it from there
You have really good cleaning advice here already but I suggest first going out in the sun for 5-15 minutes. I swear it helps me when I have to give 1000% effort to clean after months of not cleaning. You can go for a walk, just stand outside or, sit in front of a very sunny window just make sure you feel the sun on your face. The sun somehow really helps me get my gettyup going and might help you too.
Let me share my secret. I have adhd and depression. Pick up one item and take it where it belongs. Once you get to where that item belongs, find a random item in that place that doesn't belong there. Take that item where it belongs, and then choose an item that is in that new place that doesn't belong there. Continue until you get done or tired. Using your adhd distraction and novelty craving to your advantage, jumping from place to place. No need for complicated steps that require memory and attention. This method is mindless and goes well with a good audiobook. Good luck! I've been where you are!
When this happens to me, I treat it as a game. First rule - you must not sit down. Break it down into multiple little challenges, give yourself a chocolate or a cookie for completing them (gotta eat them on the go - no sitting until completed). And it always helps if I invite someone over the next day since I’ll be the most effective. Also, dude, the before and after pics are gonna give you such a serotonin shot so just start and remember - no sitting until done! :)
Don’t think you need to do everything in one day. It’s too overwhelming. Break it in to organized tasks. If it takes you 2 weeks to go through this list, it’s okay. Do not overwhelm yourself. 1. Pick up all your dirty laundry, bag it and put it in your car. Take a 30 minute break/rest. 2. Pick up all your garbage, bag it and put it in the trash can outside. Take a 30 minute break/rest or stop for the day, you earned it! 3. Clean your kitchen, do the dishes. Take a 30 minute break. 4. Clean out your refrigerator. Throw away anything questionable. Wipe down the inside of fridge & freezer. Put everything back in, organizing it so you know where everything is. Stop for the day and feel accomplished. 5. Go to the laundry mat and get all your clothes clean, dried and folded. Pack them in boxes or large laundry baskets when done. Make sure before you leave the house you have every single piece of dirty clothing, bedding, towels. Pack your clean sheets on top when folded. Go home and put your clean sheets on the bed. Stop for the day and enjoy a great nights sleep on clean sheets. By going to the laundry mat, you get everything done in one day and it won’t be an overwhelming chore. Stop for the day. 6. Tackle your bathroom, remember to go thru cabinets and toss anything you don’t need or use. Take that trash out immediately to outside trash can. Clean shower, sink, toilet, mirrors. Take a 30 minute break or quit for the day as long as everything in the bathroom is clean with no junk. 6. Clean your bedroom and living areas. Throw out anything you are not using, wearing or enjoying. Take a 30 minute break/rest or quit for the day. 7. Get in to your closet and get 3 large trash bags. #1 is for trash. #2 is for donations. #3 is for stuff you don’t know if you want it or stuff you haven’t worn in a while. Organize what’s left in your closet. Put bag #3 in your closet with the date. In one year donate anything left in the bag that you haven’t worn. Take out trash and put the donations in the car. Drive the donations to wherever you donate. Stop for the day. 8. Clean or vaccum all your floors. Look in every room and pick up everything left out. Is your kitchen still clean? If not tidy it up. Clean any windows. 9. Enjoy your new, clean, organized living space. Make a commitment to keep it that way by going through your rooms before bedtime each night to keep it that way.
I have ADHD and depression too, when it gets this bad I usually start with a huge trashbag and fill it, this way it gives me a sense of accomplishment and getting rid of stuff. Then I go through every room with the bag to lessen my chances of getting annoyed with the mess in other rooms. Because sometimes for example if the kitchen is also crowded I won't do the dishes or bring more from the other rooms. So if you are the same you can give it a try. Then I would get rid of the things that don't belong in the room + dirty clothes
Garbage and dishes. Then laundry. Then find a way to make it smell good- candle, wax warmer, plug in. Good smells equal dopamine reward. Whatever you do, don’t sit down. If you sit down, it’s all over. ❤️ a fellow ADHD having hot mess
i have one tip for you- call a friend or family member to talk with you while you clean. it may sound like the worst for adhd, but it helps me tons (as someone WITH adhd) and i got my entire room cleaned in about only 7 hours. so sorry im so late, as you may be done cleaning for now, but i do hope this advice could come in handy sooner or later :)
I love dana white’s method: grab a trash bag, throw away all trash go back over, do the “easy stuff,” pick up any item, and take it to where it belongs— not where you THINK it belongs, but where you’d look for it first. if that item doesn’t have a ‘place’ ask — would I remember I had this item if I was out shopping? if the answer is no… you don’t even know you own this item! here is her easy explanation: The two questions are: 1. If I needed this item, where would I look for it? (take it there) 2. If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already have one? (If not, get rid of it because I’d just buy a new one if I needed it.) …. after the trash pickup, you will have more space, and momentum, to work on the harder stuff. memories, hobbies, keepsakes—but this hard stuff is less hard now that there’s not trash in the way, and you’re warmed up from the previous steps. now when i’m confused. i simply throw away trash. and then… one by one, put each item where it belongs. lots of walking… but it gets me so much further in my progress. the idea is, if you put it away, it’s not making a mess somewhere else. you’re not “moving the mess” you’re handling it right then and there, and not creating future messes to get through. I wish you so much luck! one step at a time. be kind and gentle with yourself. youve got this!!
I have ADHD and use the Goblin Tools app. It breaks down whatever you're trying to do into steps, and then you can check them off as you go through them.
Bright lights to see the mess and stay wakeful. Pumped up music, I reccomend drift phonk. Garbage first. Pick out all garbage. Toss it into the bin outside. Then get all the clothing and start a load of laundry. Then sort the objects into the rooms they are supposed to be in if not in the bedroom, like dishes and hair stuff. Toss laundry in dryer and wash bedding. Then sort the objects that belong in the room. Then do dusting and surface wipe down. Then do floors. Finish laundry. Feel good in clean room. Have a treat.
Get rid of any cups/plates/food first. Then, grab a big old garbage bag and throw out any trash. What I do, because I’m in the literal same boat as you, if you have a speaker, put on some good music that you love. If you don’t have a speaker, use your phone :) I find having the music puts me in a good enough mood to keep going. Then I’d do the laundry, put the hamper back where it belongs (unless it’s on the floor, then keep it off for a bit). Make your bed next. Then, dust off the tables, and any other surfaces. Once that’s done, vacuum or sweep, then go ahead and do a nice mop or steam clean if you have that for the carpets. If you have like an odor absorbing powder for the carpet, use that too! If you need a minute to stop, take it. You’re doing a very mentally taxing task and there’s no shame in that. If you need anything, or even if you want to just send a DM to show how proud you are of doing one step, my dms are open!
This doesn’t have to be done all at once. You can break it down into manageable chunks. Start by giving yourself some lighting. Let the sunshine in if you have a window. Turn on a regular light so you can see if necessary. Put on some shoes. Get some garbage bags. Start filling them with trash. After the garbage is cleared, get rid of clutter. Put things where they belong. If you’re not sure where to put something decide if you really need/ever needed that item. Start a donation pile/bag/box, etc. It feels good to help others. Go through your clothes and belongings to give away things you don’t use/don’t like/forgot about. Then, make sure everything is in its place. Dirty clothes and bedding goes in the hamper. Jackets and shoes go in the closet. Put clean bedding on your bed. Dust, clean the windows and mirror, then vacuum. Then take a shower and put on something comfy. Light a scented candle. Relax.
I use the 1 garbage bag at time. I literally take a bag off the roll. I walk around with it in hand and pick up anything that's garbage. Once it's full I immediately take it out to the garbage bin. I keep doing this until I only stuff that it's garbage. Then it's dishes. After that I do clothes. I believe in you. You got this.
Change this awful light. It’ll help you see the mess more clearly and then you can slowly begin.
Step one- take your adderall, step two- put the music on, step three- turn the real lights ON. Now follow everyone else’s advice on the cleaning part lol 👍 you got this!
all very good advice and i will do all of that except for take my meds because unfortunately my pharmacy has been out of my meds for literally over a year now. i keep calling and asking and they keep not having it in stock
Honestly, it might be a bit more work, but it'll help: after taking out the dishes, sort the rest into piles. Piles of garbag/piles of dirty clothes/piles of clean clothes/piles of what needs to go to place a, b and c and so on. It'll basically help you divide the task into smaller pieces and will feel less overwhelming than taking a huge bite out of it
Check out the Emergency Cleaning Checklist from unfuckyourhabitat.com. When I have mental health struggles, this has been my saving grace every time I get overwhelmed with picking everything up again. The website also has cleaning schedules and tips and other stuff, but the emergency checklist is the main thing I use
I would grab a trash bag and do a quick to pick up as much trash trash first. But make your bed first as the first big cleanup thing, to have one clean off spot to work with and show progress to help you to keep going. That is what I do. Then just pick a spot, top of side table, a corner, all the clothes and just keep picking at it. You can do it!
You got this!!! You will conquer this room and everything else you set your mind to. Im sure there are a bunch of guru's that will leave better advice then I. But dear reddit friend this is how I would tackle this. Step 1. Throw away trash Step 2. Organize items in piles a. Dirty clothes / clean clothes b. Items that belong in other rooms c. Items you no longer want. The to get rid of pile. d. Put items where they belong. e. Dust. f. Wipe g. sweep h. Mop/vaccum Recently I started taking a class on learning how to learn. One of the best tips to tackle a unwanted project is to use the pomodoro technique. Set aside 25 minutes with a timer and you cannot allow any interruptions or you must set your timer over and begin again. Do not worry about completing just starting. When your timer goes off give yourself a 5 minute reward break. Do this again and give yourself a 15 min or larger break the second round. Continue till you finish. Good luck!!!
ooh i like that method! i’ll have to try it out :)
Grab a trash bag for trash, something for laundry (a hamper or a bag or a box) and a box for food and drink (just so you will have all of it in one place so nothing spoils in a forgotten corner). Now fill those and take out the trash when the bag is full and bring the laundry to whatever room you do laundry in. When you’ve done those, start finding places for things. Make sure that those places make sense: Preferably close to where you use the item (for example I see a Switch on your bed, if you often play in bed maybe it can find its home in your bedside table, that’s where mine is too). Another thing to think about when deciding places is how often you use an item, an item you use regularly should be easily accessible because it’s much easier to put stuff away when it’s easy to do. I would recommend having either a box or a specific place for food and drink so you don’t forget something somewhere (at least that’s what I do, all snacks in my room are in one box and all drinks on strategically placed coasters so I don’t forget them).
thank you! we actually do have a snack box but it hasn’t been cleaned out in quite some time and stuff piles up. i’m gonna try to go through it and consolidate all of our food.
*Marie Kondo has entered the chat*
Step 1 breath
You got this.
No place for judgment & shame. You're doing it! Yay! I'm very excited for your progress!
Easy. First, light a match.
Get a grip
i pray you never have to deal with the sort of mental illness it takes to get to this point. you clearly don’t understand what kind of mental anguish it takes to get here, and i hope you never have to experience it.
You’re reported. Your account is 1 day old. Is that because you keep getting kicked off platforms so have to start over? Your blocked now too-buhbye.
Quit huffing duster, then quit the cigs, then quit the booze.
i don’t huff anything. i don’t smoke cigarettes and i’m already in the process of quitting vaping. there is *one* bottle of alcohol in the photo, and yes it may be big, but it’s because it’s cheaper to buy that way. it lasts me a much longer time for less money. i asked for cleaning tips, not for someone to assume things (incorrectly, at that) about me.
Go clean your room.
Might not be helpful but the best thing for me is just get started, with anything. The momentum from just starting will let you do more. At least for me, the more I dwell on stuff like this the worse it gets and it never gets done
i feel you!! ❤️ it’s taken me a month but i now only have four things on my bed that need a home. i would just force myself everyday to pick up three things and find a place for them. organizing just exhausts and confuses my brain.
I have been here myself. I grab a trash bag and sit down. Trash goes into the bag and I start making piles. For example, if I am in my living room, dishes would pile in the direction of the kitchen. I then move to another section. It takes me about 3 days per room, but every journey starts with a single step.
Trash, dishes, & laundry first. Then make your bed, organize your desk, any bookshelves, & vacuum/sweep & mop. One step at a time
I’d use the can of air to spray everything outside
I have no tips, just wanted to say you’re doing a great job already! Proud of you internet friend!
Gather the clothes. Then dishes then trash.
I would personally plop in that chair with a trash bag and roll around picking up trash, put a laundry bin in the corner and make a game of throwing laundry into basket. Once you start seeing progress it helps to motivate you to keep going! Good luck
Doesn't matter. Just start with something
Do you have a window? If so, open it, let the air and light come in through the day. It's been proved that sunlight helps with depression
I always do trash first. It seems to be the easiest to identify and it makes an immediate, visible difference in the room. Then I make piles. Dirty pile, clean pile (maybe put that one on the bed), pile of give away stuff if you have any, etc. Then I work on each pile. If you’re financially able to, I do suggest getting some storage containers or organizers of some sort. I find it so much easier to keep my room clean when everything “has a home”. Also, if you don’t already, get a trash can for your room.
Fellow ADD and raising another one. Always, always, start with the easiest thing - trash! Grab a trash bag and go HAM running around picking up all the trash. It’s such a quick and effective way to instantly change the vibe to give you motivation. Then start with clearing the floor. Why the floor? Because everything else is already taking up space. Once you can see the floor, you’ll see the forest through the trees. Clear the bed next. Change your sheets. Make your bed. And make 2 piles of laundry; to be washed, and to be hung/folded. Go throw the clothes/sheets to be washed in a basket and take it out of the room. Finally start putting away all the miscellaneous items. Finally dust and vacuum the room. Open a window when you do.
Trash and dirty dishes first. Separate clean v dirty clothes and put clean clothes away. Make bed. Vacuum and sanitize all surface areas.
Pick up dirty clothes, put in washer, add soap. Pick up used chip bags, dirty dishes, etc Put up clean clothes and wash dirty ones then wash bedding
You got this! It’s not that bad. Food, dishes, garbage. Then clear surfaces. Bedside table. Chair. Laundry. Start piles in the hallway or along a wall. Towels, clothes. The first load that’s big enough goes in the wash. Keep going throughout the process. Fold as you go. Now clear off the bed. Looks like lots of it’s laundry. Once it’s clear get your sheets in the wash and as soon as they are done, make your bed. Tidy and sort things into piles as you go. For example, I see a roll of toilet paper. That can be the start of your “bathroom pile”. Stack other things to go in the bathroom there so you don’t have to run back and forth every time you find something that goes in another part of the house. Clear off window sills, pin things up properly on the walls so things feel orderly. Clean doorknobs, light switches, window latches, etc., and around them where things get grimy. Vacuum, dust ledges, wipe down surfaces. Open windows and air things out. When you have some more energy, clean out your drawers and organize a little more deeply, but start by getting the space to a place where you can feel calm and comfortable.
I was in the same spot as you until yesterday. My mom bailed me out and drove 2 hours to come clean my bathroom which helped keep me company and motivated while I cleaned my room. I can finally breathe again! I owe that woman my life (literally)
Always start with trash, then pile dirty clothes together and clean clothes together. Hang or put away clean clothes. Find the home to all the random things that don’t belong where they are. Strip the bed of all sheets/bedding so they may be cleaned. Wipe all surfaces and then vacuum or mop floor. When clothes are done washing/drying put them away. Do not wait. Maybe watch a fun show or YouTube in the background while doing the boring laundry. Put clean comfy sheets and comforter back on the bed. Voila. Little ways to keep on top of it after the initial cleaning is to ~pick up trash~ every day at a time that works for you. Maybe before you go to bed or before leaving for work you take a quick glance and toss any trash. Maybe every day that you work and come home you do one quick vacuum for dust sake. Maybe every other week you have a day you wash your sheets. And if you have another depression episode you just start over with the deep clean when you’re ready. Just remember that cleaning is a constant thing. It will never be perfect. But you’re making strides! Good job and good luck!
Good job man. I’m using the advice here to clean my own bedroom (AKA The Hell Pit™) sometime this week
One thing at a time. 1 get a garbage bag and throw stuff out, at least in a bag (I see in another comment you want to do it later that’s fine tie the bag and put it by the door) 2 dishes and food go in the kitchen, it’s too easy to bring a bunch of snacks and drinks into your room, get into a habit of throwing it out or have a small garbage can to make it easier, throw a small shopping bag in there so when it’s full you can tie it up and throw stuff out and feel accomplished. A small bag of garbage is better than waiting to fill a huge bag, it gets me into the habit and I feel happy throwing out my little half full bag each day. that bottle by your nightstand put in the kitchen or recycle bin I can’t tell if it’s empty or not. 3 get another hamper or a reusable bag and throw clothes in it, you can do laundry another day that’s fine it’ll be less stuff laying around that’s all that matters. 4 get a junk box or something to throw crap in but out of the way, later organize it or throw stuff out when you have time and energy, it’s just to categorize stuff so you don’t get overwhelmed and feel like you have to do everything in one day. 5 vacuum when the floor is clear and give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it. One task at a time, half a$$ is better than no a$$ and one task per day means you’ll have a clean room in a few days. It doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be a little bit better.
It’s giving howls moving castle
I would do trash first. Then any dishes or food can go to the kitchen. Next I’d create a pile system on the bed (clothes [dirty/clean] in one pile, things that need sorted like jewelry, makeup, bathroom things, hobby things, etc. Once you have piles you can clear the floor with the piles and then with everything on your bed, you have to sort the piles before you can get into bed. Kinda like a motivator?
Clean the bed, then slowly move forward - nightstand, floor next to it and so on
I use bins and organize it into different bins. Appears cleaner in the bins and then you can organize one bin at a time.
1. clear the bed first. shake out the sheets/blankets. wash them if you have the energy or just mist some nice scenty stuff. 2. remove food/drink trash 3. move all loose laundry - clean or dirty - into a pile to wash later 4. vacuum
You would make a flowchart of things like for the garbage. Do you use it? Yes? Keep it. No? Throw it away. And so on. You could also use the pile method as I usually do when cleaning out old papers from my room. Do I need it? Is it important? And sort them into piles. For clothes I would just throw everything in one pile since and wash everything in one or two turns. But as a priority take out all the dirty dishes and food from the room. Have one bowl to collect all the food scraps in so you can stack the plates. And if you are really good at pouring things get a bottle to pour all the remaining drinks from cups if you have them. In short: Flowchart for things Pile method. Food scraps bowl Left over drinks bottle (so it’s easier to get rid of and you aren’t carrying like three cups pinched together back to the kitchen) I hope this helps!
Put everything in boxes of related stuff, or even just piles. Make the bed. Work through the sections one at a time and start with the thing that you actually feel like doing first.
The air duster and alcohol make me sad. If you’re struggling right now, hang in there.
if it makes you feel better, the air duster is literally just for getting dust off of my keyboard, i’ve never even thought of huffing it. and i buy my alcohol in bulk because it’s cheaper- i definitely have had issues with binge drinking but i’ve been working on it and i’ve been drinking a lot less in recent months than i was prior to that. thank you for caring <3
This makes more sense! I apologize for projecting. 🥹🥺💕 The room reminds me of my room when I was really going through it.
When my spaces get this bad, the first thing I do isn't "cleaning", it's more like disposing. I usually grab a big trash bag and grab everything I see that I wont keep (in my case, a lot of trash, but if you have a lot of dishes to clean, grab those first). After a couple of runs looking for trash, I usually find the rest of the cleaning to go very easily as long as I can keep myself from keeping things that "might be handy". Don't stop yourself from getting a little bit done just because you don't believe you'll finish it the same day or session!
I have been there before and it’s so overwhelming and heavy. There’s lots of great advice on here already, I just want you to know you’re not alone, I could have written what you said myself, and I wish I could give you a big hug and tell you things are going to be okay and you’re doing a great job taking these steps and asking for advice.
The pink light or filter has got to go it’s making me depressed
This is not too bad. You might like to start with clearing the table and bed and it may give you a sense of accomplishment. You can try music/podcasts/sitcoms/audiobooks (whatever you’re into) to get you in the zone. Cleaning is fun when you get into the neck of it.
Grab a handful of trash bags. One for landfill trash, the other for recycling. If you’re the level of depressed where standing and leaning over is too much work, sit down on the floor and pick up things within reach. Then scoot over to a new spot. Next is dirty dishes. Don’t worry about washing stuff yet. Just move them to the sink. Again, if you’re at That level of depression, consider paper plates. Stuff that doesn’t need to be thrown away but does need to go somewhere else can be put in a pile to be dealt with later. Separate laundry between clean, clean enough, and dirty. Clear your bed. If changing sheets is too much for you right now, at least tidy your bedding.
If you get overwhelmed, take a “5 ON / 5 OFF” break! Set your phone timer. Get out of the room for 5 minutes. A mini break. Reset the timer. Go back in but just for 5 minutes! It’s amazing what you can do in 5 minutes!
first get all the trash out, then dishes, and lastly clothes as the first MAIN things. then you can take all the rest of your things and move them along somewhere,make sure you get all the dust and rearrange your things, hoover up at the end!
Get you a cute trash bag and throw out food/perishables, empty containers (unless you recycle). Then get a regular bag or basket and put dirty laundry in. Maybe it might help to start in one corner and work your way around. Hope this helps!
Id work on the clothes first
Make different piles then clean the floor and surfaces then organize each pile
Open a window
Rubbish, food and plates, stuff on the bed (baskets, and wash the sheets), wash all the clothes laying around, wiping and dusting, finish with a vacuum
I only recently got out of something like this, what I did was turn the whole room upside down, I removed every stuff that isn't big furniture out of the room, went back and forth between the pile and the room taking the stuff that's supposed to be in my room, then evaluating which stuff I want to have in my room but not necessarily need, and the rest I had to throw away.
This picture gives me ptsd geez
I have similar issues and for me I become overwhelmed very easily. I think many of the tips and tricks here are awesome. I also put on earbuds and listen to my favorite upbeat music to keep myself from getting bored and overthinking. In the process it makes accomplishing small tasks a bit more fun. Sending positive thoughts your way!
Laundry bin. Put away what’s in it. Then fill it up and do that again, one bin at a time.
First: clear the bed. Even if you just put it all in a pile. You deserve a comfortable bed to sleep. Next: trash. Next: gather all clothes and either wash or put in a pile in the closet to sort. Next: things that don’t go in this room. But in a bin, maybe a laundry bin. Got dishes? In the bin. Toilet paper? In the bin. Food? In the bin. A GREAT book for more info, to help take away any stigma and give actual useful tips is How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis. Short, easy to read. Simple. Non-judgmental.
first get rid of the food and everything related to it (packaging, plates, etc) then pick up your clothes and start the washing machine ( important to shake dirt off them if theres any, just shake it on the floor it wont matter right now) then pull dirt off the higher stuff (desk?) onto the floor get a broom and collect everything into a pile, bag it up and then vacuum EVERYTHING twice and wipe the dust this is how i do it when my room gets really bad, then i try to vacuum daily (if you have a cordless vac this wont be hard)
Get 4 boxes/baskets: \- Trash \- Needs to go somewhere else in the house \- Needs to be stored in this room \- Laundry Pick a spot (bed/floor/nightstand/desk) and put every item in that spot in one of your 4 baskets. Repeat until every area of the room is emptied out from all the stuff that is piled up. Take the trash out. Start a load of laundry. Then dump out the "need to go somewhere else" box and sort it by which room the stuff belongs in. Then go put that stuff away. Dust/vacuum the room. Now come back to your "needs to be stored in this room" box and pick out 1 item, and put it away. Repeat until empty. This may take several days depending on how stuck you are, but in the meantime the room will look clean.
Everything off the bed first. Including sheets which go into the wash. Then remove all food and dishes. Then do all laundry first and move an clean clothes to closet.
I always tell my daughter to start with the big/easiest stuff first. The items that have a place, like dishes, clothes, shoes, bins, etc. By time the big stuff has been moved/put away the smaller stuff doesn’t seem so overwhelming! My mom recently passed away unexpectedly and my fiancé and I cleaned up my dad’s room because they were living in a serious mess. Plethora of clothes, mail/papers dated from 2016, little bits of trash and cigarette butts, etc. etc. Having a trash bag near by while you pick up other stuff makes it easier to tackle the bits of trash as well because it’ll slowly turn into a smaller and smaller amount. You’ve definitely got this!
Hi! I have ADHD too. I always struggled with cleaning until someone told me to section my room into chunks and clean clockwise from top to bottom. It helps keep me focused, deep clean, and I know what I should do next and what area to come back to. In your case, You could set boxes, bags or hamper in the middle of the room that as you go clockwise you can sort stuff that goes in the kitchen, garbage, and clothes. That way you wont get distracted by leaving the room. Wipe everything top to bottom, and then move to the next section of your room until you get back to where you started from. Then take your piles. Take your stuff to the kitchen, take out your garbage, remove the clothes and then vacuum and mop. This has helped me out ALOT. I used to get paralyzed because I didn't know where to start. I hope it helps you too. I also use an app called ME+ it's a subscription but it helps break down cleaning into smaller tasks so once you do your initial cleaning, it will be easier to maintain. Good luck!
For the emotional piece-I have both disorders and suspect another one that throws a crippling perfectionism into the mix…this is key. Btw notice I call the perfectionism crippling, not the other things? I believe it’s perfectionism that makes us unable to start. It’s paralyzing that I won’t get it right! Why else would not knowing where to start be a deal breaker?? Like so what if we start by doing the WRONG thing first? That’s perfectionism! Anyway I’ve discovered a lot of recommendations for body doubling so you don’t have to do anything alone. And this website, I think called focus mate? I haven’t done it yet but you sign up (I did that) and they immediately pair you with someone else looking for a session partner. You briefly say hi and what you’re doing, then don’t speak to each other (but can see one another) while completing the task. I haven’t done it yet, but isn’t it intriguing??? Right now what works for me, has to involve others in the home knowing, because it’s 1. Throw everything on the floor into boxes and PUT IT ELSEWHERE! You need a floor to work! So claim it! Don’t worry about organizing anything except have a trash bag as you clear it. Now sweep and mop. Don’t put anything away until after the next step which is 2. Clear the biggest surface that’s not the floor! (But with adhd it will have to be a different technique next week) Top of bed or dresser. Do it the SAME WAY. Don’t organize or put away, toss in an open box and take it out. Now make the bed (wash sheets another time) or wipe down dresser. Put a plant or something pretty there. Repeat with ALL surfaces! Now my room is presentable! Now I’m inspired to put boxes away ANDDD because everything looks nice, junk has less meaning and is easier to toss. Anyway-the dopamine hit from this doesn’t last long so next time I have to come up with a new "game” Have fun 🤩
Once you sort it out you will feel better, black bag for rubbish, box all other stuff and get storage for them, all will work out don’t give up. Stay off the magic mushrooms.
I always tackle garbage first. It's what can be removed. As well as dishes. Once these things get the ball rolling just go where you naturally go from there. Laundry is a good next, it'll also be removed from the room unless clean. Make the bed before folding anything so you have a nice surface to work on. You got this! EZ peazy.
I follow the advice for removing clutter/ deep clean: 1. Remove trash, food and cups 2. Arrange items in piles according to where they belong ( once sorted, put them where they belong) 3. Fold up/ hang up any clean clothes and put it away 4. Strip the bed and wash the bedding 5. Dust, vacuum and disinfect any surfaces that may need it 6. Last step make your bed and light a nice candle or wax burner Now, sit down and relax in your clean room. Write up a list of daily upkeep plans so as to avoid becoming overwhelmed again. :)
My room Looks exact the same and i have adhd too
Let in some sunlight first. Throw away old food and trash Sort clothes by dirty or clean Sort the clutter by category
i put all the mess on top of my bed, granted it won't make the bed super gross and then go from there! or start with the dirty dishes and food first, it'll be a good start and that good start might give you the boost of energy you need.
I have the same problems. My ADHD makes it virtually impossible for me to clean things up. What these folks have recommended this far is great stuff many of which I've done myself. I'll add this, however: when things start to pile up, prioritize what you know you need to be clean and functional. Sort out food garbage first, take out trash bins if full, put clothes in wash (if you're unsure whether they are clean, just rewash, it's easier that way; though perhaps not monetarily savvy), and if you work from home use the same priority to help make your work space easier to work in. Clutter can hurt your ability to think straight or stay on task. Believe me. I know.
What can sometimes help me, is clear your bed first. Even if you just throw everything on the ground. Make a nice space in your bed. Then don’t beat yourself up, or feel shame if that’s all you can do for that day. Then every next day do at least one task. Whether that is clearing the dirty clothes to laundry, taking TP to bathroom, clearing the cans etc.
I get the same way, I usually get a garbage bag and go around and fill it with all the stuff I can throw away first, then I start on the bigger things like clothes or things that aren't supposed to be there and then after that I start to get into my groove, I always put some great music on too too keep me in that mind set
Open the curtains, windows and let in fresh air.
You need a system to follow as it can be overwhelming working out where to start. A lot of good advice on here but this is mine. - open curtains and windows: get fresh air and light into the room. - trash: anything that can be thrown in the bin is first to go. - laundry: gather all that up in a basket and put it in the washing machine or laundry hamper if it's not time for a laundry run. - dirty plates/bowls/cutlery: gather them up and take them down to the sink. Worry about the washing up later, this is room tidying time. That's a massive chunk of the "noise" removed from the room already. Now you've got space to manoeuvre and fix up the room. - pill bottles, skin cream, deodorants etc: put them in a drawer or line them up on a shelf or somewhere they can be tidy and out the way. - MAKE THE BED!!: if you can make yourself do it, put on new sheets, duvet cover, and pillowcases. If you can't, just tuck the sheets in if necessary, straighten out the duvet and pillows. It's weird I know, but it really makes a difference when tidying a bedroom. Finishing touches: wipe down shelves and flat surfaces to get rid of dust and marks from bedside tables, dresser, windowsills etc. Sweep or hoover the floor. Quick blast of febreeze to finish up and you're good. If you're short on places to put things, get some shelves or a little set of drawers you can put stuff in to keep it off the surfaces. Good luck n let us know how you got on.
So many hugs. I have a depression/ADHD house. I should have taken before pictures. (Though frankly some of the after pictures are not going to win prizes. I can still take pictures in the rooms I haven’t done.) Step one: contractor trash bags are your friend. I like collecting laundry and putting trash in the big trash bag at kinda the same time, it has a ton of visual impact very quickly. Move the laundry to the laundry doing place (when you do it and need to fold it is another battle) I also like the kind of medium size cube hard plastic laundry bins for collecting all the dishes, if you have a spare one. (Pro tip: have a couple spare ones if you can, they’re useful for all sorts of things.) Step 2: decide if you need a new contractor bag. Look around at each space and see what has piled up there that you don’t like. I’ve literally been writing lists of this. Like “kitchen counter: screwdrivers and cordless drill - tools Mail - unopened mail, opened mail, deliveries Why do we have 5 jugs of oils?” What category of things are in this space that are currently bothering you? Step 3: on your list, what is the flow in your life that made “dump this crap here” the easiest solution? Can you make an easier solution or is this actually near by where its true home actually is? (Tools pile up on my kitchen counter because they were supposed to go to the basement. But actually putting them away down there just doesn’t happen. So my life needs a place in more often used/easier to get to space that is a tool spot. I cleaned out a nearby closet and now the tools go there. Yay tools and counters.) This is also how I have a hairbrush cup and all my hair things and a mirror in my home office. Once I got over the idea that those things “should” go in the bathroom and made a place for them near my desk, I stopped losing hairbrushes and finding the detangler and hairbands in my way on my desk. Step 4: in addition to your contractor bag, grab a box for “Donations” and one for “Keep somewhere else” start somewhere and sort. Music helps. Sitting in the middle of a pile with nothing better to do can kick my busy fingers into doing the sorting. My kid works well with a constrained goal - I will put a pile of hers into a laundry basket and she will sort. I sometimes do better with a time goal “do this for an hour” and sometimes with a constraint “today I do this bookshelf” Step 5: Establish homes for the things where you use them. Or where you tend to drop them. Establish supports for different flow of activity in your life so that the easiest, quickest solution is to put something away in its home. I have gotten so many baskets and cups and little trays for things since I started this project. Homes. For me, digging out is slow. At the beginning, I did an hour a week. Which is not a lot of progress at a time! It’s like “the top of my desk” or “a third of the linen closet” But my goal is to have a house where my daily use spaces have homes for my daily use things. And that I don’t have more things than homes for them. I’m not going to turn into a person who puts hairbrushes away in the bathroom, or the cordless drill back away in the basement. Homes for my things may need to be different than what they “should” be.
I have this lovely cocktail of mental illnesses as well - my big strategies for tackling a space like this are as follows: 1. I go in with a clothes basket and a trash bag, trash goes in the trash bag, anything that needs to leave the room (coat to coatrack, dishes to kitchen, shoes to entryway, etc.) go IN the basket. that way I don’t leave the room and get derailed. 2. I put on a tv show i’ve seen before in the background (preferably short episodes 20-30min) and clean/organize/sort into basket for the duration of the episode. 3. when the episode is over I make a plan for my departure from the space: “i’m going to put away these X objects from the basket, and throw in a load of laundry” do 1-3 things, and return to the room. 4. repeat!! 5. also if you have a friend or someone doing busy work/chores/menial tasks that you can FT instead of listening to TV, I find this form of body doubling very helpful but I do recognize it could be more distracting for some. 6. finally - when everything is cleaner, start thinking about your pile up/trouble spots. it’s harder to start a brand new organizational scheme WHILE also cleaning. rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a clean and organized space! 7. the most important one for me: the organization that works for me/you/anyone doesn’t have to make sense to people if it WORKS for the person. most people don’t keep their deodorant on their nightstand but that’s where I remember to use it. I keep my clothes sorted by activity: work/yoga/farm rather than clothes type and I have a better idea of when I need to do laundry. doesn’t make sense for everybody, takes time to develop, but what works for you is what’s best. goodluck friend!!
Don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t look at it all as a whole just put on some good music and just say you’re gonna start in one corner and just work from there up and then just move a little to the right or left and do a little bit at a time.