Yet, too often amessy houseonly makes us feel worse and it can be very discouraging.
Accomplishing a few chores might give your mood a boost when you’re feeling depressed.
Keep Up As You Go
The bigger the job, the more daunting the task.
Stocksy / Ana Luz Crespi
These are just a few examples, but it’s the simplest things that make a difference.
By taking care of things immediately, your home will stay clean and clutter free.
Set Manageable Goals
Give yourself a task to accomplish that feels manageable each day.
Over the course of a week, it adds up to a cleaner home.
Come up with a few tricks to cut the time you spend cleaning.
This could be as simple as taking a top-down approach to sprucing up the living room.
Begin byremoving clutter, then give furniture a quick dusting before getting out the vacuum.
It also helps to gather all your supplies from the start.
This will erase the need to run to the cleaning closet every five minutes.
Some people find it useful to add fun to a cleaning routine.
Go ahead, turn up the music and dance through your chores.
No one’s watching and time will fly by much faster.
You don’t need to disinfect the bathroom so you might eat in there, right?
If the laundry gets folded and put away, that’s great.
Don’t stress that the drawer needs to be cleaned out so clothes can be donated.
Designate this secondary task for another day.
It will get taken care of, but there’s no need to overwhelm yourself right now.
Yet, you’re not alone, so that means you have more hands to do the work.
Get everyone to do their part and help you clean the house.
Assign weekly or daily chores so the burden doesn’t fall on you alone.
Some families even designate a cleaning time and everyone gets to work for an hour or two.
Reluctant kids or partner?
Have some fun with the housework and create a lottery system.
Write down all the chores on slips of paper and have everyone draw from a bowl.
One week they might get something easy and another week may be more of a challenge.
Who gets to clean the bathroom this week?
When all the work’s done, plan a special reward.
Ordering the family’s favorite pizza or going out for ice cream is great motivation.
That doesn’t mean you should depend on them to do everything though.
Talk to your physician if you’re having trouble managing your home and keeping things clean.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
2018;9:1588. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01588
Oxtoby, C.Managing perfectionism.Veterinary Record.
