How do I get motivated to clean?

Question

Here's how messy my house is:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsZ2NyQg.VUjw5J9yLWTYWzsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080802121207AAjQOIE

I'm just not motivated to clean. Nothing seems to work.

Answer 1

When I was married, if my mother-in-law called one time and said she would be over in 30 minutes, I did an amazing amount of housework in that 30 minutes. Then later I used to pretend she was coming over and speed-clean like crazy. That is how I still motivate myself to clean anything, pretend someone is coming to visit.....maybe it will work for you. Sometimes I set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes or an hour, and challenge myself to finish tasks by that time.

Answer 2

Think of all the germ and dirt you are living with. That should be motivation enough to start cleaning. Start with the counters and dusting and then vacuum and wash floors. Once you get started you will feel a lot better. Throw out what you don't need and it will be easier to maintain.

Answer 3

Throw a party. Get others to come and do it for you - for free.

There are people out their that love, I mean LOVE to organize, clean, label, sort, etc...

Invite them over. Put an ad on Craigslist - Attention Organizing Addicts - hold a meeting for them at your house...don't trick them into coming, you don't need to.

Find a new organizing business that needs a success story....

There is no reason for you to do it yourself. Or to do it alone. Ask for help - plenty of people like to do it! Let them.

Answer 4

i absolutely hate cleaning.

but lets take me doing the dishes for example.

i didnt do the dishes in two weeks, they smelt bad (i almost puked once from the smell), it was slimey, and my hands still felt disgusting even through the rubber gloves. So i just washed some of the dishes until i didn't feel like it anymore, just make sure you're doing some amount of cleaning every day. Cleaning is faster than making a mess, so even if you don't do a lot of cleaning a day, eventually the mess will be gone. from then on, you see something dirty, clean it. it's easier to take care of things when theyre small than when they are huge and disgusting. ugh.

Answer 5

the truth is you just have to start. i start by doing easy things first - like cleaning glass. then move on to furniture cleaner and wipe down wood. then vacuum carpets. work your way up.

Answer 6

Start with one room at a time.  Do one room a day....organize it, organize the closets in it, etc.  The next day do the next room, etc and so on.  Once things are organized and put away where they belong, the mess is tidied up so now you can start cleaning!!

Next start with the bathrooms and the kitchen.  Disinfect with some good cleaners.

Dust and vacuum the rest of the house.

You can do it...you will feel so much better about things when you are done cleaning.  It could take a week but who cares!!  Get cleaning...that is gross!!

Answer 7

look around your house and realize it's in bad shape. that's all you need to know. First off, dust and bugs are bad for your health and your family's. Get the bacteria and germs out of there. If it's really not enough to motivate you, hire a cleaning service to at least get you started. Throw out all trash- even the stuff laying around that you don't use anymore. Do one thing at a time. Go through your closet and home and donate things you don't need anymore. Do the dishes next and laundry. Then, start the tough cleaning. Just use a few good cleaners, rags and get to it. Give yourself enough time to do it all and you'll be happy when it's over. Then keep it up so you don't end up living in a pit all over again!

Answer 8

I usually just grab a trash bag, get my music blasting, and go. Try not to focus on the fact that there's so much that needs to get done and just try to go at it one step at a time. It helps to have one room that you need to get done first and just do it. That way it won't seem as hard to get all the other rooms done later.  

Answer 9

You don't need to be "motivated".

Just do it.

It's called DUTY, and motivation is irrelevant.