I saw the first leaf buds on the trees in the park yesterday, as February rolls in and Spring becomes a real and tangible hope. This renewed hope and helping a friend deep clean their house got me thinking about Spring Cleaning.   

As a Disabled, Neurodivergent person living with other Neurodivergent, Disabled people, cleaning can be a bit hit and miss. Good days and bad days and “have to finish this piece of work” days do not make a cleaning schedule always viable. The advice online for keeping on top of the housework assumes that at least one of you is Neurotypical (and usually expected to excel at time and household management). The advice to get support from the family member who does not struggle with cleaning doesn’t really apply.

Before I discuss ways to make your spaces more manageable, I will say that this is not a holier than thou fluff piece. When it comes to maintaining a clear and minimalist living environment, I have goblin tendencies to collect trinkets and interesting rocks. All too quickly the house becomes full of my treasures and the rest of the family’s own special interests. That is before we get on to the 1000s of books that help calm my overactive brain by their very presence (and I will read them all one day).  This tiny full house quickly becomes a tiny messy house with un-hoovered floors and overflowing odd sock bags. It has taken a long time, a lot of false starts and, if we are going to be honest, a lot of rows to get to a point where our tiny full, messy house has become a tiny full, manageable house. These are some of the things I have learned along the way. 

1. If a jobs worth doing its worth half-arsing

You’ll have to excuse the language, but this is a mantra that has become a staple. Can’t face cleaning the kitchen – too many tasks with no priority to them – do the dishes. Still can’t face doing the dishes – wash one thing. Once you’ve washed one plate or fork or solid silver soup tureen, take stock. If you suddenly find you can do more, congratulations; if however, one and done is enough in that moment, congratulations you now have one more plate, fork, solid silver soup tureen than you did 5 minutes ago. Can’t face hoovering the house, pick one room; don’t have the mental space to put all the clothes away, put away the socks, and so it goes on. If a job is worth doing it’s worth half doing, baby steps take you closer to where you need to be. 

2. Break the tasks down 

Anyone who knows me knows I love a list. My to do lists are a thing of legend and horror. I used to put “clean house” on my to-do list. Simple really, one job - except it is a 100 small jobs that even if I worked all day I still wouldn’t know if I could tick it off the list. This is where breaking down the tasks helps. Without sponsorship or product placement, Sweepy has massively helped. It isn’t just “clean the kitchen”, it is five or six manageable tasks. Washing up, clean work surfaces, wipe down the sink. Tasks become more manageable. 

3. Get distracted 

Now stay with me on this one. I like cleaning most of the time, making something grubby into something sparkling is definitely one of my happy things. One of the reasons I love cleaning is that it is dedicated time where I can just work and engage with music and stories. Trying to clean in radio silence was never going to be my cup of tea. So I find stories with a duration of about the amount of time I want to clean or cook or what have you and I let my mind get distracted while the body does the job at hand. Again without sponsorship or payment I have a soft spot for BorrowBox and Libby which lets me borrow library audiobooks, also supporting the local library services. So if you are finding the task of cleaning the bathroom tedious, find a good audiobook and a pair of marigolds and let your imagination take over. 

So there you have it, start small, one plate clean, one type of clothing put away, one room hoovered. Tiny tasks become large results. Slowly but surely your space becomes a place you want to be in rather than a growing chores list. So all that is left to say is happy spring cleaning! 

Keeping your home tidy can be a daily battle and these three tips helped me reclaim my space. If you’re interested in practical skills training contact me here.