Anyone else struggle with the repetition/monotony?

[justbreathe]

I don't have a problem with spring cleaning. I don't have a problem with organizing or big cleaning out projects. I have a big problem with the day-to-day upkeep of my house, though. :think

The daily chores are killing me not-so-softly. :snooty The repetition and monotony of it all are destroying my spirit. :violin I've always known that I would make an awful factory worker (or really anything that involves doing the same thing over and over) but I didn't realize how basic upkeep of my home would be so soul-sucking. :shifty

Am I the only one? Any tips for doing the daily chores without going insane?

[joyinthejourney]

I'm not one for doing the same thing, day in and day out. I've found I work much better doing the cleaning I'm in the mood for, at the moment, rather than working on a daily or weekly schedule. Thankfully, my dh is good at laundry and scheduling, so he does that job. :phew He also washes the supper dishes, since I cook. The dusting, vacuuming, de-cluttering, mopping, and bathrooms, I do as the mood strikes. And, I don't think my house is bad. It's not perfect, but it's clean enough for company, or can get that way fast.

[Llee]

I only feel like that once..an hour. :shifty

[StoryOfGrace]

Oh, am I right there with you! :yes

Lately I've taken to setting a timer for 20 minutes, and challenging myself to see how much I can get done in that time! :tu It's nice for breaking up the routine and for getting something accomplished. :giggle I'm sure I'll get tired of it soon though. :shifty

[klpmommy]

It isn't the monotony that bothers me as much as the repetitiveness. I *just* cleaned the kitchen and now it has to be done again! What was the point again?

[Starfox]

I can't stand it either.

[justbreathe]

I only feel like that once..an hour. :shifty

yup. :yes

Oh, am I right there with you! :yes

Lately I've taken to setting a timer for 20 minutes, and challenging myself to see how much I can get done in that time! :tu It's nice for breaking up the routine and for getting something accomplished. :giggle I'm sure I'll get tired of it soon though. :shifty

Yes! This is my go-to chore tool! That is the only way that I can get dishes washed. I can not look at a pile of dishes and wash until they are done - I absolutely have to set a timer and just wash for the amount of time that I set. :giggle

It isn't the monotony that bothers me as much as the repetitiveness. I *just* cleaned the kitchen and now it has to be done again! What was the point again?

dude, it's like I'm Sisyphus :doh

I'm not one for doing the same thing, day in and day out. I've found I work much better doing the cleaning I'm in the mood for, at the moment, rather than working on a daily or weekly schedule. Thankfully, my dh is good at laundry and scheduling, so he does that job. :phew He also washes the supper dishes, since I cook. The dusting, vacuuming, de-cluttering, mopping, and bathrooms, I do as the mood strikes. And, I don't think my house is bad. It's not perfect, but it's clean enough for company, or can get that way fast.

If my hubby would wash the dishes after dinner (without me asking and without him expecting anything in return), I would absolutely return the favor later on. :eyebrows That would be wonderful :melting

[Sundance]

I'm there, too.

I try to find something I like about a chore, and that seems to help (right now, my house isn't very warm, so dishes warm me up).

Laundry means I get to spend some time outside hanging them up.

It certainly doesn't solve the problem, but I do find it helps a bit!

I haven't figured anything out for cleaning the bathroom or tidying the living room yet, though!

[jujubnme]

It isn't the monotony that bothers me as much as the repetitiveness. I *just* cleaned the kitchen and now it has to be done again! What was the point again?

I was thinking the other day that I feel like I'm building a sand castle too close to shore, and every time I get half-way done, the tide comes in and washes it away and I have to start all over again. :sigh Or like Sisyphus rolling his stone up the hill. Can you tell I'm feeling very hopeless about the state of our home? :(

[Sundance]

I wonder if the time of year has something to do with it? I don't *usually* feel this hopeless & overwhelmed by my house, but the last little bit, it's in a sorry state (both my home & my overwhelmed-ness feeling)

[joyinthejourney]

If my hubby would wash the dishes after dinner (without me asking and without him expecting anything in return), I would absolutely return the favor later on. :eyebrows That would be wonderful :melting

Oh, it definitly makes me want to pay him back later! :eyebrows :giggle

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------

I was thinking the other day that I feel like I'm building a sand castle too close to shore, and every time I get half-way done, the tide comes in and washes it away and I have to start all over again. :sigh Or like Sisyphus rolling his stone up the hill. Can you tell I'm feeling very hopeless about the state of our home? :(

It is this season of life. It is kids. We live in our homes. We don't just sit and look at them. :yes

---------- Post added at 09:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

I'm there, too.

I try to find something I like about a chore, and that seems to help (right now, my house isn't very warm, so dishes warm me up).

Laundry means I get to spend some time outside hanging them up.

It certainly doesn't solve the problem, but I do find it helps a bit!

I haven't figured anything out for cleaning the bathroom or tidying the living room yet, though!

I like those! For me, the bathroom and living room get done because it just makes me feel better to look at them afterwards. I put it off in dread...but it's really done quite quickly when I'm really good and tired of it. And then, it's like....one day, maybe two....and it's getting messy again. Lol. But, for that day or so, I feel better.

[mamaeffie]

i just wanted to chime in and say that i just read your personality typing thread and wanted to throw out that my infp mama was here earlier saying *exactly* what you're talking about. the drudgery and monotony of cleaning and all :giggle

[jujubnme]

It is this season of life. It is kids. We live in our homes. We don't just sit and look at them. :yes

Except that we're in the season of life where we're out of the house almost more than we're in it. I suspect that for us is has more to do with the fact that all three of us are messies and haven't for the life of us figured out how clean up properly after ourselves as we go along. :doh :bag

[Aerynne]

I do okay with daily chore because they result in dramatic improvement. The difference between a kitchen with dirty dishes and a clean one is huge and striking. But for some reason I have huge struggles with the weekly chores- bathrooms, vacuuming, washing sheets, scrubbing floors, etc- the difference isn't dramatic enough to be worth the effort and monotony. If I have to do something I hate I will call my mom and chat while we do it- that helps. Oh, and dh does the bathrooms. But you know what is even harder- supervising the kids while they do the weekly chores. I really hate that because it's just as monotonous and I'm not even doing anything.

[PaperMomma]

YES. I hate the monotony.

[Heather Micaela]

yup. :yes

dude, it's like I'm Sisyphus :doh



Seriously :yes

What I hate is that I will clean ALL DAY and keep it relatively clean even till bedtime then after two hours the next day it is as if I did nothing! But I can't just let it go or crumbs and real ick sets it. I have called myself Sisyphus more than once.

[WingsOfTheMorning]

I'm not one for doing the same thing, day in and day out. I've found I work much better doing the cleaning I'm in the mood for, at the moment, rather than working on a daily or weekly schedule. Thankfully, my dh is good at laundry and scheduling, so he does that job. :phew He also washes the supper dishes, since I cook. The dusting, vacuuming, de-cluttering, mopping, and bathrooms, I do as the mood strikes. And, I don't think my house is bad. It's not perfect, but it's clean enough for company, or can get that way fast.

Hmmm...I wonder if this would help. I've tried the Flylady method of doing a little every day, but I don't like always thinking about how to fit my cleaning g in that day. Right now I do the basics like vacuuming and bathrooms on Monday so I only have to think about it one day. But now I'm starting to dread Mondays. :bag

One thing that helps me is to listen to books or lectures on my phone while I work. But that only works while the kids are sleeping or occupied bc people talking while I'm listening drives me batty. :crazy

[joyinthejourney]

Hmmm...I wonder if this would help. I've tried the Flylady method of doing a little every day, but I don't like always thinking about how to fit my cleaning g in that day. Right now I do the basics like vacuuming and bathrooms on Monday so I only have to think about it one day. But now I'm starting to dread Mondays. :bag

One thing that helps me is to listen to books or lectures on my phone while I work. But that only works while the kids are sleeping or occupied bc people talking while I'm listening drives me batty. :crazy

Yes, the fly lady method left me dreading certain days, too. But, I really loved the first task of making the kitchen sink shine. I always clean the kitchen sink first, and it kicks starts my mood. After that, it just seems like other things fall into place. The kitchen trash. The bathroom trash. The clutter in the kitchen. The clutter in the living room. Next is dusting and vacuuming, which leaves just the bathrooms and mopping.

I hate mopping, so I save it until the floors are sticky :blush, but I spot clean as needed. I clean the guest bathroom (which is also the kids' bathroom) once or twice a week, especially if guests are coming over. My master bathroom is the most neglected, bc only WE see it. When dh is home, I can clean it without the kids underneath me. But, only if I'm in the right mood. We also have a bathroom in the upstairs play room, so I might just do all 3 toilets one night before bed, all 3 bathroom counters on dh's day off, and all 3 bathroom floors when I finally mop the kitchen.

---------- Post added at 11:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:58 PM ----------

I sweep the kitchen daily.

[Soliloquy]

I get SO tired of cooking and doing dishes. :yes2

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[Johns_Gal]

It is amazing, isn't it? My home was clean and organized... yesterday. :doh Floors looked good, everything recently dusted, laundry caught up...

Today? Toy explosion and laundry is all over the couch.

Remember before kids? How you could clean everything on Sunday afternoon and it would all still be pretty nice by Friday night?

[Soliloquy]

I sweep my kitchen at least 3x a day. :bag We have dark wood floors that show every crumb.

Every Friday we have friends over for shabbat worship and fun. I did stop scrubbing the floors on Friday morning, I switched that to Monday because between all of us there are there are 11 kids here on Friday. But my house is otherwise "company clean" on Friday night. By Saturday morning, ugh. I do truly love having people over but I wish the fairies would re-clean while I sleep. :lol I'm off to tackle that now. It's not too bad, I don't have to re-dust or redo the bathrooms but the kitchen is a sight and I have to vacuum & sweep.

Listening to my favorite music really helps. As does knowing that I don't have to clean. :no I choose to do it because I love living in a clean house. I love being able to find things when I need them. I love sitting down to read knowing that everything is done.

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[Johns_Gal]

Lisa, I feel like that too, most of the time. I was all :heart when the title of this forum (Blessing Our Families) clicked and I really understood what it meant to make a home for them.


Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I am burnt out and aggravated that my grown man of a husband leaves tools behind him like a trail of crumbs to lead him out of the witch's forest. :shifty I don't mind cleaning, if everyone gets their junk out of my way first. :lol

[thomer]

Yes, I totally get it. I do the 15 minute challenge thing too, and I also try to listen to podcasts or a book on tape so I have something to look forward to. Seriously, when I got the HP series, my house was not cleaner :giggle

My only consolation is at the end of the day at least the counter is clean. I try to remind myself to do little bits during the day so I can enjoy the clean house for at least a little before bed.

[bentlaj11]

Another INFP drowning in sea of un-done housecleaning...! :raise

I try to think off all the women who have to carry buckets of water for miles and only have 2 dishes to wash... that helps my attitude while doing dishes, but makes me want to move to there, too :bag

[WingsOfTheMorning]

Lisa, I am always sweeping too. :yes it's kind of a sensory thing for me. I go barefoot in the house and I can't stand walking over crumbs and puddles. :no And DD1 is sooo messy. She leaves a circle of crumbs around her chair at the table after pretty much every meal and snack. :giggle

[Elspeth]

It isn't the monotony that bothers me as much as the repetitiveness. I *just* cleaned the kitchen and now it has to be done again! What was the point again?

Yes!

I was thinking the other day that I feel like I'm building a sand castle too close to shore, and every time I get half-way done, the tide comes in and washes it away and I have to start all over again. :sigh Or like Sisyphus rolling his stone up the hill. Can you tell I'm feeling very hopeless about the state of our home? :(

Oh me too. I vented to DH yesterday about how I clean around the house but you'd never know it because it's being undone behind me as I go on my way. Like brushing my teeth while eating Oreos. Just ends up a big mess and I give up. By the end of the day, I don't have the energy to clean, I'm exhausted from running after the kids and tackling the mountain of laundry, mopping, or doing dishes is just not a relaxing activity. I feel bad because he comes home after work and the house is either the same or worse than it was when he left in the morning. :blush

I sweep my kitchen at least 3x a day. :bag We have dark wood floors that show every crumb.


Listening to my favorite music really helps. As does knowing that I don't have to clean. :no I choose to do it because I love living in a clean house. I love being able to find things when I need them. I love sitting down to read knowing that everything is done.



I have to sweep multiple times a day as well. With a new crawler, it's a necessity now. :-/ I do try to put on some of my favorite music.

I did find that I could keep up with the dishes if I did them all throughout the day (every day, of course) instead of just piling them up to be done after bedtime. Then I got behind one stinking day and now it's a huge mess. Working on it.

And I found that if I fold the laundry right after it comes out of the dryer, which means I only have that ONE basket to fold and put away, I can maintain the laundry. But one basket was dumped on the floor, I got distracted, and now the laundry has piled up again. And since all that clean laundry is on the floor, it's not really clean anymore, so it has to be washed again. :sigh