Cleaning can be impossible to know how to begin – best tips to find motivation

People took to the comment section of the thread to share their own cleaning advice, with one person writing: “Tell yourself you’re only going to do 5 or 10 minutes of cleaning. Usually, once we hit a groove, we can keep the stamina up longer, but starting with an open-ended amount of time can be a deterrent.”

Another commented: “Shrinking the to-do item from ‘clean [this room]’ down to ‘throw away 3 things’ is often enough for me to build up momentum! Throwing away trash can transition to putting things away. The reduction of clutter will then make it feel easier to start using cleaning products since there’s nothing in your way.

“Consider also if the cleaning products and tools you have put you off of using them due to sensory discomfort. Do you dislike the smell of the cleaning solutions or get headaches from them? Is the sensation of wiping up or scrubbing uncomfortable? Swapping products and tools for different ones and using gloves may also help!

“Changing your environment to feel nicer as you clean can make a difference too! I enjoy certain tasks more when I lower the light in the room to be less strong, by way of things like smart bulbs, natural light, or candles (or even just my smart phone placed up high with the flashlight towards the ceiling!).

“Bringing a chair near you to sit on when you need a break helps too! As long as it is indeed near your task so you don’t forget to resume the work haha! Good luck!!”

For some users, they used a form of distraction whilst they were doing the cleaning.

One wrote: “Sometimes I just choose one or three things I want to do. And usually, when I start I can do more. But my only goal is whatever task I choose. Also, I might listen to a podcast or show to trick myself into thinking this is a lil treat time. I might even save a podcast/YouTube vid for the purpose of it being a lil treat.”

Another added: “For me, it helps if I have something going in the background (that isn’t too distracting, of course) while I do it. Music, a YouTube video that involves a lot of talking and not necessarily having to look at the screen, or even a show I’ve watched before and like, something like that.

“Starting small scale would also probably help. Pick the smallest area that needs cleaning and go up from there. When I decide to clean my room I usually start with my desk, and in the process of doing that I usually end up finding things that need to go elsewhere in the room and thus end up cleaning up that area too. Rinse and repeat. That’s just what works for me, though!”

A third added: “Invite friends or family over ?????? That’s the best motivation for me to push myself to organize and clean.”

Do you have any cleaning tips?