How to get motivated to clean house and keep it clean?

Question

I have always been a messy housekeeper. It came from my mother who never cleaned and I was forced to clean from when I was 10 while she would just sit on the couch watching tv and tell me how to clean.
Hubby and I have been married 23 years and it seems each year I get worse and worse. We have a 7 yr DD and DH always tells me I am setting a terrible example and He is always straitening up what he can.
I know I need to do better with the housework and it the house seemed to keep cleaner when I was working a norman 9-5 job. I work sporatically now and I am very unorganized at home.

I love my husband very much and want to be a better wife to him but I just can't get motivated.

Wow you guys are great. I will check out flylady.com. Hubby is wonderful and does 75% more than I do in the house and the yard work to boot. Poor guy is overwhelmed.

Answer 1

Hey there... Motivation comes from what you do... the less you do around the house.. the less results you see and the less you gain emotionally....less less less motivation...
You get my drift...? You need to focus and really want it...do you? If so....set realistic goals.... and get to it... evaluate yourself at the end of the week... Feel all the positive stuff you've accomplished, focus only on the positive.... not on failures... only the positive stuff... really feel it... and give yourself credit. You have the motivation within...

I have to share a story with you... I have a friend with small kids... he has made housekeeping fun... like playing... when he says... its time to vacuum.... they gleam with joy....they love it (by the way the entire family is involved in this game).
The thing is... if we normalize cleaning as positive and fun it is more motivating. What is motivating about have to..must do.... and dreading it?
We model this behaviour to our kids. Think about the effect this is having.

Happy dusting!

Answer 2

Go back to work and hire a house cleaner to come in twice a week or so. It really doesn't cost much if you can find a friend of a friend who will do it. Even a young stay at home mom because it'll give her a little extra money.
I've never been the best housekeeper either. Actually, I despise it. I've found the easiest way is to just throw stuff out. For instance, I get overwhelmed when the counter gets cluttered up with mail, newspapers, papers the kids bring home, etc. I just go through it and throw out everything except bills I have to pay, personal letters and stuff I need to sign for the kids.
If I can't think of where something should go, I throw it out. It makes my husband and kids mad sometimes but at least it's not cluttering up my house.
Start with the basic's first. Try doing 2-3 loads of laundry every day. Take out the trash every day and keep up with the dishes.
I tend to clean while I'm on the phone since cleaning doesn't require thinking but I can't do anything else (like get on the computer, read or watch TV). It's amazing how little I even notice of what I'm doing.
The right cleaning products help to make things much easier too. I use Awesome more then anything (I pay $1 for it at the Dollar General Store) and it doesn't damage surfaces. If a room get's really bad (like the kids room or the bathroom), I take in the trash can and a large clothes basket and just start tossing things.
If this still doesn't work, ask a good friend to help teach you how to keep the house clean. It's definitely a skill some of us have and some of us don't. My mother never taught me how to do it either.

Answer 3

Get yourself organized first. Everything in your house should have a place. To start take on one room at a time. Give everything in that room a place and never ever just leave it laying around, put it in it's place when you are done with it. If you do this in every room you will find that cleaning your house well only require dusting and vacuuming most times.I learned this early in my marriage from a friend and it has always worked for me.(37 years now) This applies to closets too. It may take you awhile but if you stick to it it won't take THAT long. Good luck...

Answer 4

im not a very good house keeper either, but i know how happy my husband is when the house is clean, he always notices if i tryed to make it look good for him and that helps me to want to keep it clean. i know its hard to get motivated but try just doing a little bit at a time, like when u first get up grab the laundry befor you leave the bedroom and start it. after youve sat and had coffee or whatnot get up and pick up any trash. just do it slowly do a little bit here and there during the day and by the end you should have a nice clean house!

Answer 5

What about hubby - does he help? I hope so. The best thing is to sit down and write down a routine to follow - a proper timetable. You will find that some jobs take longer and those that you expected to take a long time, may just take a few moments (such as washing up). Time each task. Reward yourself every time you have completed a chore.
Begin by making the bed the moment you get out of it. Take a large laundry basket and walk through your home placing everything into it that should not be in that particular room. Opening your curtains immediately makes a room look tidier and opening the windows to let in fresh air, immediately affects your mood for the best. After making all the beds, dust, vacuum and tidy. Pat yourself on the back. Your dishes should be soaking in hot soapy water while you have been working - now it's time to wash them, rinse them in water to which a capful of bleach has been added to sterilise them and pop them onto a drying rack (drying dishes adds germs from cloths). Wipe down all your counter tops, mop the floor and you should start feeling happier about your home and yourself. Getting back to the laundry basket - you could get your little daughter to replace each item to the room where it belongs, or the drawer. Handle incoming mail once - either file it or toss it. Organise and mark your cupboards and drawers so that everyone knows where everything should go. You will find that after your initial spring clean, you can delegate some chores to do on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Don't forget to delegate and request help from your husband and daughter! It's not just your mess after all.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How to get motivated to clean house and keep it clean?
I have always been a messy housekeeper. It came from my mother who never cleaned and I was forced to clean from when I was 10 while she would just sit on the couch watching tv and tell me how to clean.
Hubby and I have been married 23 years and it seems each year I get worse and worse. We have a 7...

Answer 7

I'm the same way. But, I got tired of coming home from work and the house is a mess. You just have to get focus on making your house a more livable house. And, it doesn't hurt to ask for help from your household. Good Luck! (The TV show - Clean House) might can help.

Answer 8

don't overwhelm yourself. you already have family to take care of so start off small and simple. try to add a part of the house to clean every day or every other day and form a habit of it. you could just start by sweeping the kitchen and cleaning off the countertops every night. then eventually you can get good enough and efficient enough at it that comes easily. after that you can try adding other things like vaccuming, dusting, cleaning up the bathrooms, etc...one at a time until you build up a system that you can get used to. another thing you can do to make your job easier is GET RID OF JUNK! clean out the house of every thing you don't need and give it to goodwill or have a garage sale. then you'll have less to maintain and less clutter to organize. with you and your husband working together, the house can stay neater and cleaner longer and you can minimize the amount of time you spend picking up. you can only do one thing at a time. the heloise books are pretty good for cleaning reference as are the Flylady books both of which you can get at barnes and noble.

Answer 9

Try going over to a family memebers house or a friend house, that you know keep their house clean, and very nice. Sometimes that motivates me.

Answer 10

Just get up and do it. It is that simple.Just start in one room, finish it and go on to another room.You said that you only work sporadically so there is no excuse in you not being able to keep your home clean unless there is a medical reason.Are you depressed or is there another medical reason? If not get off the computer and get busy with that house work!!!!!!