Why is there SO much housework wtf?

[Anonymous]

Housework, housework, why is there so much housework and what am I doing wrong here? The baby is ONE. There's one of him. DH is always traveling, so it's pretty much just me and him. Why is the house always trashed even though I'm always cleaning it? Here's what I see needs doing now:

Boxes of failed Amazon Xmas presents need to be returned.
Boxes of successful Amazon presents need to be broken down and gotten rid of
Tree is taken down (it's a tabletop tree!) and put in a duffel bag. But duffel bag is sitting in the hallway. Duffel bag needs to go in closet hall closet
Pile of mail needs to be dealt with (and I don't even get paper mail anymore! I have a service that scans and emails my mail. This is all DH mail but could be some joint mail)
Stairs cluttered with: stuff DH mailed to himself from a recent conference, Amazon pantry stuff that we don't need yet (or ever) a box of stuff I cleared from the dining room table that looks important enough to save but not important enough to deal with.
Powder room needs a wipe down, actually both bathrooms upstairs need a good wipe down.
All floors need a mop, they look gross even though I vacuum 2x daily!
Pantry needs to be cleared out...pantry items are migrating to counters, and counters are getting cluttered and thus not wiped down well enough
Big bag is waiting to go to charity drop off
Laundry bag is folded but needs to be put away.
Dust bunnies and hair floating about

I pick up all day long, what gives? Why am I still a mess?

[Anonymous]

I'm right there with you. Our place is tiny, feels like I am always cooking or cleaning and it still never looks good or spotless. So fed up.

[Anonymous]

Make a list and assign a couple of tasks to each day. More manageable.

[Anonymous]

Spend less time at home and hire a cleaner at least once / month.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like the primary problem is lack of follow-through on these projects. You have X and need to do Y with it, but instead of just doing Y then, you put it in a corner, or on the desk, or on the steps, until the "right" time to do Y appears. But the "right" time never appears, and you waste a whole lot of time and mental energy tripping over these things or moving them around and then fretting that they're still there. It would probably help you a lot if you adopted a "touch once" policy as much as possible. So when you're gathering up boxes of successful presents that are ready to be recycled, don't just put them in a pile to deal with later, immediately break them down and get them ready to go out with the recycling. When you take the tree down and put it in the duffle, don't leave the duffle in the corner for the next time you're going to that closet, just put it away. When you collect the mail, immediately flip through it to figure out what's junk (and throw it away), what's joint mail (open it and figure out what needs to be done next with it), and what's for your DH (find a basket you can designate as his that you put his mail and other stuff into for sorting/managing).

Not only will you feel better having the space clear, but you'll probably find that keeping your house clean takes less time when you don't have to move and trip over so much to do the cleaning.

[Anonymous]

Get a babysitter one morning a week to run errands (charity drop off, etc.).

[Anonymous]

I try to combat this with less stuff and breaking down boxes as soon as they arrive. Get one touch policy is good too.
Mail gets picked up every day and sorted and tossed. Important stuff gets opened right away. I find that a little at a time saves a big insurmountable pile of cleaning. And yes I do have two baskets of clean fall laundry that should be put away still but trying to keep my head above water with other stuff leaves them there. I feel you OP!

[Anonymous]

I time myself for 15 mins every night before bed (after kids are asleep). I listen to music (90s Hiphop!) and just do everything as *fast* as I can. This actually helps a lot. Our house is not super clean, but its tidy.

[Anonymous]

I heard this rule on a podcast the other day and thought it was genius...

If something can be done less the 60 second then do it right away.

So the amazon boxes... break them down as soon as you remove what you need to remove and so forth.

If you put everything off it builds up

[Anonymous]

One other thing I forgot to suggest in my previous post. On the pantry thing, try to break it down into smaller bits to make it easier to deal with. I'm in the process of cleaning out my pantry right now (I tend to do it after every new year). Each week when I put together a meal plan and grocery list, I go item by item, starting with one shelf, and then moving to the next when I'm done. Unless it's something we go through and replace regularly, like cereal, I pick each item up and try to figure out how I can work it into the meal plan. If I find a recipe, then I'll use it up that week. If I can't think of anything, I either throw it away or put it in a bag to donate. Bonus is that for a month or so, it really cuts back on my grocery bills.

[Anonymous]

My goal (not always accomplished) is "don't put it down, put it away." We live in a small space and clutter is the bane of my existence.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Btw here are the things I am doing frequently
-make bed
-while shower is heating up, wipe down master bath
-clean up DS room (toys, diaper trash, dirty clothes in hamper, clean clothes in drawer, clothes rotated and updated for sizing, too-small clothes in charity box in closet, stock diaper and wipes, pick up various things DS flings from changing table, change out crib sheet, pick up dirty bottles
-prepare DH meals 4x per day, which, admittedly, uses too many dishes, cutting boards, knives, and pans.
-empty the dishwasher first thing in the morning, and load throughout the day no dirty dishes languish
-wipe down, DS, high chair and floor post-meals
-vacuum all day long, even though no shoes worn in our house!
-put away toys in DS's toy area
-one laundry load about every other day, to include my stuff and household linens

[Anonymous]

I feel the same damn way lately, OP.

We moved from an apartment to a 4 bedroom house a few years ago and I am absolutely drowning. I can't find anything, can't keep things clean and organized, hate having a yard to care for, hate having a basement full of I-don't-even-know-what, harassing people to take X upstairs, etc., etc. Can't wait to sell this place next year and get back into something smaller! After 20+ years living in small spaces I learned to pick up as I went -- like schoolwork, you just have to keep up or you'll fail. In this house, it has felt impossible...I think because there are so many places to put things and spread out in general.

Getting organized and becoming more efficient at home is my unofficial New Year's Resolution... Making lists, sent back all the Amazon/Zappos/Nordstrom returns, cleaned out refrigerator, bought supplies to re-line kitchen cabinets, paint to cover kid-induced missing wall chunks, etc. I'm trying to treat it like an actual job. (I used to be a senior project manager - hah!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same damn way lately, OP.

We moved from an apartment to a 4 bedroom house a few years ago and I am absolutely drowning. I can't find anything, can't keep things clean and organized, hate having a yard to care for, hate having a basement full of I-don't-even-know-what, harassing people to take X upstairs, etc., etc. Can't wait to sell this place next year and get back into something smaller! After 20+ years living in small spaces I learned to pick up as I went -- like schoolwork, you just have to keep up or you'll fail. In this house, it has felt impossible...I think because there are so many places to put things and spread out in general.

Getting organized and becoming more efficient at home is my unofficial New Year's Resolution... Making lists, sent back all the Amazon/Zappos/Nordstrom returns, cleaned out refrigerator, bought supplies to re-line kitchen cabinets, paint to cover kid-induced missing wall chunks, etc. I'm trying to treat it like an actual job. (I used to be a senior project manager - hah!)

Great tips do far thank you! And glad I'm not the only one feeling like this. As to the post above, I have begun literally closing off rooms (guest room etc) that are already organized so stuff doesn't spread there.

[Anonymous]

I have an AWS day (every other Friday off from work) and during that day I get EVERYTHING done. The house will be spotless, errands ran, laundry done and dinner on the table. It's a much needed day to get everything done.