housework motivation tread

here, the ultimate question  : how do any of you make yourselves do it?

I love a clean house, but for some reason   hate the actual cleaning up part. That all the cats hate the vacuum cleaner doesn't help... I'm fastidious about clean litter boxes , but will do anything to procrastinate doing all the other chores...

lol! I try to do a big cleaning every week, but even now, I still have yet to mop. I'm always very clean with the pets, but the apartment is just so much bigger than two litter boxes and 3 cages. I know if I don't clean, my boyfriend certainly won't. The cats and birds certainly won't either. I hate seeing bundles of tumblefur float by. It's usually bound together with my hairs too. -_-

Because you made this thread with impeccable timing, here are the things I'm going to get up and do RIGHT NOW:

- Clean the bird table

- Clean the bird fountain

- Mop the floors

- Clean the bathroom

- Scoop the litter

If I end up on a streak, I'll come back and clean all the bird food off my desk and wipe the dust away from the computer stuff. READYSETGO. *puts on some upbeat music*

I laughed at this thread title because I have so many house chores I just don't want to do! I'm also good at cleaning up after my three cats - litter boxes, messes they make on the floor, etc. I'm usually a neat freak, but lately I've been lazy with MY messes - laundry, paperwork, etc. What helps me is putting music on. If I want it loud and don't want neighbors to hear (I live in a condo neighborhood), I put my wireless headset on. That and coffee, which I'm really not supposed to have.

P.S. Two of my three also hate the vacuum. LOL. What IS going through their minds with that thing? Do they think it's a big, loud, scary monster?

I have been fortunate for awhile now because hoarder show reruns seem pretty plentiful on cable, watching those always motivates me to clean.  Otherwise it's just grit my teeth and make myself start.  Once I get started I have no issues with sticking with it and finishing, it's the getting started part that is tough.

Denice said:

 
I have been fortunate for awhile now because hoarder show reruns seem pretty plentiful on cable, watching those always motivates me to clean.  Otherwise it's just grit my teeth and make myself start.  Once I get started I have no issues with sticking with it and finishing, it's the getting started part that is tough.

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Yeah, those hoarder shows always make me feel better about my home! LOL. (No offense to anyone here who is a hoarder.)

I have to many pets to not keep up with it.  

If I leave stuff around it will get knocked over or sat on.  Less things out is less they can get into.  So um...get a few more cats?:S

P.S. Two of my three also hate the vacuum. LOL. What IS going through their minds with that thing? Do they think it's a big, loud, scary monster?

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it is! My sister's Esmeralda uses to sneak up on theirs whenever it's off and bashes it a good one

The Rogue, bravest warrior, will stalk a running vacuum cleaner but keeps his three feet distance.  

If I leave stuff around it will get knocked over or sat on.  Less things out is less they can get into.  So um...get a few more cats?:S

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 ah.... number 5 who lives in my front yard is on her way to sneak into the crowd but sweet little Grisou still insists he hates her

GoHolistic said:

 
Yeah, those hoarder shows always make me feel better about my home! LOL. (No offense to anyone here who is a hoarder.)

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I think there's a pretty bold line between someone casually giggling "I'm such a hoarder" and not seeing your kitchen sink for three years. That show is one of my guilty pleasures too, and I miss having cable.. and a TV. I never got how the animal hoarders could survive with pee and poo all over their furniture and entire house for YEARS though. If the litter box, which is in an almost closed off room, doesn't get scooped for a couple days, I smell it and it drives me nuts.

I don't vacuum very often, mostly when we're going to have company and especially when that company has a fur/dander allergy or sensitivity. Otherwise, sweeping and mopping suffices. Mo will come up and sniff the vacuum tube when I'm getting small areas, but Kismet will keep her distance. She was cautiously following me around while I mopped, and peering around corners to avoid the mop seeing her. She spent the next 20 minutes tiptoeing around the apartment sniffing the floor.

My Mom is a mini hoarder-not filth at all just stuff she may need.  Grew up very poor and in need of everyday items.  Now she can not find anything and rebuys things

I can not imagine the animal hoarding.  I have a bunch of cats yet last night one had an accident and it was OBVIOUS as the smell was so strong.  To have them daily going out of desperate need/conditioning that it is ok.  So sad

I have a cat who LOVES being vacuumed.  He is a very in your face cat who is no afraid of the vet,company or anything else.  Hook up the tubes and vacuum him as the others just stare at him!

My dad is the same, but not quite to mini-hoarder level - he loves stuff and he loves shopping, but thankfully he has my mom to level it out. They have a lot of space in that house, especially considering it's an empty nest now, but as my dad brings junk home, she's sorting it and "managing" him so to speak. My mom hates junk and clutter.

I'm actually watching Hoarders now, thanks to this thread, and of course I would choose an episode with animals in the thumbnail... Woman had over 50 cats and dogs (she had no idea how many exactly), dogs had heartworm and staph infections, puppies were emaciated. Dogs stacked in cages and in outdoor pens. With all the waste everywhere, roaches started infesting, so the woman put out some roach poison. Went to bed one night and all the cats were "fine", wake up the next morning and some are dead. She lost "Six to, maybe, eight?" She didn't even know solid numbers. Cats had eye infections, and all the animals were living in that squalor in over 100 degree temperatures. Both her children were forced to move out.

They removed all of the animals, and a few days later, animal control came in and said "legally, we can't prevent you from having other animals. Your maximum is five dogs and five cats", and the children who lost their homes because of that woman's illness said "I think she can do it. It's gonna be some work, but she can manage it". She just agreed to relinquish her two outdoor dogs because the heartworm treatment for both - one of which would die without it - couldn't be afforded, and she'd have to watch them die. She had a litter box with some newspaper on top of the stove, and it was just stacked with poop that obviously hadn't been cleaned in a while. They're finding dead animals, of course.. and the woman still says she "needs" ten animals to be who she is. She got nine of her animals back.

It's incredibly disturbing and infuriating they could do so little about the animals!!

The next episode involves children, one of them a week old baby, and a house full of crap, mouse droppings, and mouse corpses and an old woman in a house full of VHS tapes, DVDs, maggots, and an awful stench that she tells people "if you don't like the smell, plug your nose". Oh, I don't know if my heart can handle this show anymore, lol. On the upside, my apartment looks GREAT now.

I bribe myself with an allowance.

Every week I give myself an allowance based on the jobs I get done during the week. No work, no allowance! That means no movie, no dinner out, no entertainment.

GoHolistic said:

 
P.S. Two of my three also hate the vacuum. LOL. What IS going through their minds with that thing? Do they think it's a big, loud, scary monster?

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roguethecat said:

 
it is! My sister's Esmeralda uses to sneak up on theirs whenever it's off and bashes it a good one

The Rogue, bravest warrior, will stalk a running vacuum cleaner but keeps his three feet distance.

 

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  Go for it Esmeralda!  

 Little Rogue working up the nerve, hee hee.  I wonder if he'll ever make the live attack? 

 Cute.

Mouse spent his first couple of months with a vacuum sharing his safe space under the bed where he was born and he doesn't seem to mind vacuums.  But then neither did one of my previous cats (snowleopard) until she was sniffing about in a corner just as I was hoovering up the dust there without the foot on the vaccuum hose.  Her tail went straight up the vacuum hose and rattled like a stick for about 2 seconds  

 - the time it took her to un-freeze and shoot out of the room breaking a huge vase on her way out of the door.  She was a bit more cautious after that....   Despite Mouse being quite chilled around the vacuum I still use not distrubing him as an excuse of course.  

As Mouse prefers his food moving and eats best if I throw his biscuits for him to chase and crunch on one motivator for vacuuming at least is not wearing shoes.  TD biscuit crumbs under foot, along with litter tracking, are not that pleasant.

   Laundry has to happen when I run out of clothes or bedding, or when the dirty laundry starts to spill out of the basket and take over my bedroom floor - very annoying.  Washing dishes is pretty similar I'm afraid - will do them when I run out of space or things to use - or if something doesn't smell nice.  Smell is definitely another motivation - clean litter, clean bins, that has to happen.  I used to iron faithfully every week but the last couple of years I've been really bad and hardly ironed anything so now I try and only buy stuff that can get away without ironing. ​

  Dusting I'm afraid has to wait until something has built up:  if you can't get the satisfaction of seeing you've done it what's the point?  Well, visitors with allergies obviously but that's about it. Visitors generally are pretty good for me, I don't like my home to be messy or dirty when other people come round.  I don't get that many visitors though. 

   And Mouse - he doesn't like mess and will scratch about and draw my attention to any mess he thinks should be cleared up - usually dirty dishes or cups I put on the floor, or if he has had a fur ball.

I would much rather cook than clean....not fond of cleaning at all. But I like a clean house, so well, I just do it.

My mom kept an immaculate house and she expected us to keep our rooms clean, help with laundry and with housecleaning. I got to the point where I hated it and, although I kept our house clean after I got married, I didn't enjoy it. Still don't. I probably do a quick vacuum pretty much every other day, but that doesn't mean I like it.

OTOH, whenever Rick goes away and he's gone for more than one day, that first day is spent ripping through the house. I throw some cds in the stereo and start in. Vacuuming, dusting, washing the floors, washing windows, and making the house shine. Then I can relax for a few days before I vacuum again. It's just me and the cats in the house and really, I don't make much of a mess. I'm pretty careful about putting things back where they belong and keeping after clutter. The cats, however........well, that's another thread about how much of a mess cats can make!

I get out of bed on Saturdays around 5:00 or so; that's when the cats really start kicking in about breakfast. After they're fed and I'm cleaning up after them, I usually do a fast cleaning in the kitchen. I take everything off the countertops and clean the countertops before wiping down everything and putting it all back in their places. A quick Swiffer in the kitchen, a quick wipe to the kitchen windows and a clean sink and I'm done. It might take a hour, but I doubt it. Then it's back to the bathroom to a quick wipe-down and a scoop of all the litterboxes. Most of the time, I can have the kitchen and bathroom cleaned, the litterboxes done, and am on the second load of laundry before dear Richard gets out of bed. And by 10:00 when he's ready to start running errands, the vacuuming is finished, the bed is made, I've had my coffee, and been on the boards. (I hit the boards between chores.)

When I lived by myself I'd brew a really strong cup of black tea, put on some energizing music, and just get to it. Sometimes I'd time myself which helped me not goof off or linger on things other than cleaning. It was usually a surprise how little time it all took when I stayed focused. The timing also helped with future cleanings by having an end in sight, I'd tell myself, "If I start now, I'll be finished by 3:00." Not having a lot of "stuff" around makes cleaner easier, too.

These days, with a family, everyone has to pitch in, so we clean on a weekend morning. I deep-clean the kitchen, mop all the non-carpet floors, and scrub the litter box. My husband vacuums the floors, the cat beds, the sofas, the throw pillows, and dusts the house. Our daughter cleans the bathroom and is responsible daily for the recycling, trash, and kitchen waste that goes into the outside bins. It's easier to clean when everyone is doing it together, it's like we get some momentum going I guess.

I always used to clean when I was upset or not feeling well - I figured I'll feel that way anyway, might as well be in a clean home. But the last few years have been crazy and difficult and now I have to rest when I'm sick or I don't get better.

Honestly...I don't, most of the time. The problem for me is that at my job I am responsible for a lot of maintenance around the store, including cleaning. Dusting, cleaning windows and various racks, vacuuming, even some minor repairs. Going to be staying late one night this week to help my boss lay some new carpet down at the front registers. When I'm at home the absolute last thing I feel like doing is, well, more of all the stuff I do at work. It's a constant battle. I'm very serious about cleanliness around food and such of course, but vacuuming, dusting and the like...I do it as little as possible.

I will say though that with all of my apartment renovations finally getting finished up and the place coming together the way I want it, I am much more inclined to keep it clean. Now that it's really 'my' space I respect it a lot more than I did before. I've also been having friends over a bit more often and that's always the absolute best motivator to get it all done. I mean, it's hardly dirty but you can tell I don't dust much and I tend to dress out of laundry baskets far too often, but other than that it isn't too bad. I despise clutter and am ruthless about tossing anything I no longer need so I don't generally have piles of anything anywhere. Everything else I'm working on, slowly.

Usually when I do get into a cleaning mood I'll throw on either the radio or reruns of whatever TV show I'm into and just go to town.

Winchester said:

 
I would much rather cook than clean....not fond of cleaning at all.

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 I love cleaning. In fact I'm the opposite of you; I'd rather clean than cook. 

I used to love cooking, but it's so much work entertaining and my back can't hold up to it, that I rarely entertain anymore. When I do cook, I sit in a chair in my kitchen to chop and cook. It takes so long and it's cumbersome so I only cook out of necessity.

Same with cleaning now.  I love cleaning, but again, it's hard for me and causes me so much pain. I hire someone to come in to do my cleaning. I still do my own dishes and my laundry (clothing only), in my apartment washer/dryer. I leave the bedding and towels for  my cleaning girl to do in the apartment building laundry room.

I need all of the motivation I can get. :lol3: I have allergies and asthma so at times I have a tough time cleaning. I always wear a mask. We are haivng some people over on Saturday, so I am going to have to break down and clean a bit. :lol3:

motivation!!!

I can't do anything without listening to an audiobook. Has to be a good one, though. Worth a try!

I'm still not motivated, folks. And I have friends coming over Friday night. All my unfiled paperwork scattered over the office floor may end up sitting comfortably in a shoebox.