I need to clean

I wished I knew the secret myself!

Thanks everyone. I will definitely try some of these hacks. I like the 17 rule. I completely relate to the laundry issues. Dishes are a nuances of mine as well.

@eggbones maybe these ideas will help

I get like this all the time. But I found a new hack and it seems to be working for me. Maybe it’ll work for you too. It’s called the rule of 17. You just tell yourself you don’t need to do it all, just 17 things. The number 17 is not too big to be overwhelming and not too little to lose momentum. What usually happens is once you hit 17 items you’re usually in a zone and just keep going. And if you don’t want to, we’ll you got 17 things done and you legit finished a task! Either way it’s a win win! I also find putting on headphones and turning up some electronic dance type of music kicks my brain into working mode. Let me know if you have success with this!

Break it down into baby steps and like I mean BABY steps. And do it in writing on paper if you get a boost from crossing stuff off a list - I find online lists don’t get me the same “high” as physically crossing stuff off on paper but everyone is different. And then do the smallest easiest of those steps you can break it down to that still is one in the direction of the overall task. For you cleaning is a block rn but for me laundry is is my hated one (but also like I love love love it once im in the midst of it and find it so satisfying until it gets to actually putting things away so starting is rough but the process is gratifying up to the point of everything being clean and folded after which it will likely live on the clothes chair for the rest of its clean life lol). Anyways for me I will avoid starting the laundry task until its like 6 loads of stuff and I’m out of my faves entirely but I LOVE having a fresh bed/clean sheets so when I’m in paralysis mode I might get the energy/commitment up enough sporadically to strip the bed - takes 2 seconds and adds to the laundry but also I want the sheets to be done before I sleep again and even though I have a bunch of sets (because of my hate for laundry but love if a clean sheet vibe haha) only have 1-2 faves so I want THOSE ones back. The baby step of taking them off the bed doesn’t work immediately but does kinda get it started and the natural move since it’s a “one stop shop” kind of task (like everything i need for the load is basically immediately right infront of me once it’s taken off the bed) as long as I never put them down natural step is to toss them in and once that load is on it’s game time. Not sure if that makes sense. If its the clothes not sheets I try to start with you have to sort them etc and I might get that done but often lose the push after that part and will have them sit there on the floor in their respective piles for a while before I get them actually in even though putting a load in is like…a 5 step walk and takes 3 seconds. once I physically start the wash part though like when the first baby step is strip the bed and I go right to step two as a natural move, I am in it and committed and will keep going. since I love to get into fresh sheets my first baby step when I have unnecessary like almost sense of I guess dread about doing laundry is to strip the bed and then the rest follows. And the need for the sheets to be done before I can sleep or whatever means I can’t really just leave it at 1/2 done for any length of time once it’s started. Anyways massive ramble but my point is that learning how to break stuff like cleaning down to the smallest bits ((1) the toilet bowl cleaner in (2) spray the sink (3) scrub toilet (4) wipe out sink … or whatever Vs (1) clean bathroom) is really helpful if the “cross off a list” thing helps you and you can find a way to structure it so the thing you start with helps push you for the next step…cause once sheets are washed they’re in the dryer I’m already right there so natural progression is to toss whatever I sorted that has been in the pile for a while in to the wash since I have to come back to get the sheets out later etc etc.

I totally get that, it’s a spiral. You need to clean, you overwhelm yourself and then you feel burn out but your brain will make you feel guilty so it starts again. I don’t really have a perfect advice but pls try to do tiny steps! It’s okay if you only do one or two tasks each day, it’s okay to take a break in between and it’s also okay if it doesn’t work at first, even tho cleaning is important it’s absolutely alright to struggle with it!