A pile of dishes in the sink. Papers strewn all over the sofa. A messy pile of laundry from last week in the hall. Unrecognizable sticky spots trailing the length of your living room.
Homes can get messy astonishingly fast, especially if you have kids. And sometimes, when you’re not tired, more like exhausted, or even more like totally and utterly depleted and sleep-deprived, it can get overwhelming.
Still, you must start tackling the mess somewhere. Here are my suggestions.
Something easy. There’s nothing like a quick, easy task to give you a sense of accomplishment. Empty the overflowing trash can, shove some paper clutter into the garbage, or water the plants.
Something hard. You’ll feel SO much better after you fold all the laundry from the last two weeks, give the bathtub a good scrub, or do whatever it is you’ve been postponing for a while.
Something inspiring. Homes aren’t just functional places where we eat and sleep. Something new and pretty, like hanging up a piece of art or planting some flowers, will give you motivation to keep working on your surroundings – even if the kitchen sink is still messy.
Something for someone else. Somehow, fluffing up my children’s pillows or sorting out their closet is easier for me to start with than my own room.
Something to eat. As you go into a whirlwind of trying to restore your home to a livable condition, it’s easy to forget you need to eat until lunchtime is long past, you’re faint with hunger, and your kids are complaining. Take the time to fix something simple to eat, even some pancakes or egg sandwiches and salad.
Need more encouragement? Check out these tips on cleaning a super messy house, super fast.
Domestic Felicity 
Boy, howdy! Do I relate to this! It’s only the two of us – the girls are all grown and flown – but I still can’t keep up with it all. Dishes are no problem; they go into the dishwasher and that’s the end of that. It’s the paper that drives me nuts. I own a zillion cookbooks (well, maybe only half a zillion!) but I still print off recipes from the Internet – and keep them, because they can be hard to find again. Or The Squire will ask me to make “that rice salad you made last month” but I can’t remember where I found it. And books! Books are paper, right? We are both avid readers, and I will often buy a book which I found at the library because I really enjoyed it, and want to reread it. We won’t even go into The Squire’s book-aholic habits. I get so many projects half-done and then have to go off to do something else and the first project never makes it off the end of the dining room table.
The worst of it? All three girls are spotless housekeepers! Aaargh!
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I can relate to this so much 😁 Books, books and more books!
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It’s so nice to know I’m not alone! I have a hard time keeping up too. And the books – I have had to box some and put them in the attic. Then of course I want a book that’s up there somewhere…which means I spend a lot of time kneeling on the hard floor up there sorting through boxes!
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The funny thing is, putting up more shelves doesn’t help – they just seem to overflow!
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Thank you for this encouragement!
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♥
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