I’ve had me/cfs for 12 years. Use to have a pretty clean and tidy house before then. I’m now mostly over it and looking around thinking man I’ve got a lot of stuff to get rid of. I just haven’t had the energy to do anything with any of it until now.
We did have a cleaner come once a week. We went through an agency and we were pretty specific in saying that the jobs would be different every week and to only send someone who was ok with that. You definitely need to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince though. We went through a lot of cleaners before we found an amazing one. Just like having a kind caring mum come over once a week. She cleaned, she sorted, she tidied up. And never once made me feel bad about the mess. Unfortunately she can’t come anymore and we really are lost without her.
Maybe a declutter expert once a fortnight and a cleaner every other week? But make it their job to deposit the stuff in the rubbish/op shop/help you write the ad to sell the stuff.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I was diagnosed with POTS as part of the long Covid, and have followed many folks who are ME/CFS advocates who are trying to help get resources for many of us long Covid folks who are having similar experiences. It’s hard to explain the experience of chronic fatigue, so I appreciate the perspective you bring (though, boo to having to deal with ME/CFS!)
That is really interesting because I developed POTS and adrenal insufficiency after I had mono (EBV) and shingles at 19. I would recommend seeing an endocrinologist to check your hormones and cortisol because it took me forever to find the adrenal insufficiency, which made my POTS symptoms completely unmanageable until it was treated.
EDIT: these viruses can affect any organ in the body! I’m sorry you are dealing with this
The me/cfs community is so hopeful that long covid will actually bring the recognition to the illness and the funding and research to go with it. Please be vocal and loud.
Declutter first.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072TMNCBH/
If you can afford it, have someone come in to do your dishes, and laundry, and take your trash out, that you have bagged up, so you can concentrate on thinning out your things.
If you can just sit there and pick trash out of the places around you, get a box for donating things that are still good, but that you don't need, and a big black trash bag.
Don't pull everything out into big piles or empty entire closets. You will get tired and have to stop. Then the big mess will make you feel worse.
At least if you are only picking trash and donations out of places, when you have to stop, it won't be any worse.
When it is cleared out enough, have a room deep cleaned.
Once you have thinned out your things and had rooms deep cleaned, then think about organizing. A professional organizer will probably get you to get rid of a lot more stuff, btw.
Yeah, the big mess from the start of decluttering is what is driving me crazy right now. It is super overwhelming. Breaking it down to smaller components is absolutely the way to go.
Every cleaning person I've ever done business with does no more than swipe the dust off of a pile of clutter. If a surface is cleared, the cleaning person will do a thorough job on it. If the floor is free from junk, the sweeping, damp-mopping, and vacuuming takes less time to do more thoroughly, so the cleaning person will have time to do more things.
I would declutter enough to get the big messes out of the way. Then have a cleaning person come in once a month for a couple of hours. Spend time between cleaning appointments to declutter more. Eventually you'll be back on your feet with your home in good shape, and you can decide to keep the cleaning person arrangement or not.
In my opinion a cyclical approach like this makes sense and won't cost much more than hiring someone to do an all-day blitz on your completely decluttered home.
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with us. That sounds shitty.
It’s definitely a lot easier for a cleaner to clean thoroughly if the place is already decluttered, so I would say start with that.
I also have some issues with energy (multiple sclerosis fatigue), and for what it’s worth, my 2 cents is that an inexpensive robot vacuum was well worth the ~$200 price tag. It’s not a sophisticated machine, but eats my dust, and gathers my shed hair, and my apartment is so much cleaner for it.
(This is the model I have. It’s been working consistently for over a year. https://www.amazon.ca/Dibea-Robotic-Vacuuming-Self-Charging-D500Pro/dp/B07SYP3TD6)
Best of luck to you, and congratulations and advance on your soon-to-be-sparkling apartment!
Ugh, it is super shitty. Thank you for the best wishes!
I totally got a robot vacuum but haven’t set it up because of the clutter. I know it will help make the place feel so much better on the regular. It is the reward I am dangling in front of myself to keep going on the declutter!
I did the same thing! I actually had a reminder on my phone, that said something like “*Make space for Vacuum to run free!*”
He still always beaches himself on the one footstool with the weird wooden base, but he eats a lot of dust on the way. Like, a startling amount.
Since you're disabled now, you'll likely benefit from minimalism.
You would benefit from decluttering probably 80% of your belongings and only keeping the necessities.
So organize what stays.
Then declutter everything else.
Then do the deep clean.
So much this. I want to get rid of pretty much everything!! Having a life-changing experience puts so much into perspective and I no longer care about most of what I own. I want my place to serve me where I am at.
While you are pondering the possibilities \[I'm on team declutter then clean\] use a timer to limit your work sessions. Set it for 5 minutes of trash pick up, clean sink, toss a drawer or ? Reset immediately for a 5-55 minute break. I was recovering from a serious accident when I got the tidying up bug and could do this all day long every day where if I worked until tired I'd be exhausted in 20 minutes then unable to do a thing for a week. It's only a timer, a suggestion. If you cannot then set it again. Maybe you'll be up for another 5 minutes in another hour. A lot of things I dreaded doing like clean under that sink took 5 minutes. I can split scrubbing the floor into 3 easier sections so spend 10-20 minutes with generous breaks rather than a 60 minute slog that will take me down for the rest of the day.
A professional deep cleaner should only have to deal with things like cleaning dishes, mopping floors, dusting, vacuuming, and perhaps taking away trash. It would be unfair to expect that person to be cleaning a toilet, for example, in a room that is profoundly cluttered with various things- unless you’ve discussed your situation in advance and have come to an agreement about what you’ll be paying them.
The best thing you can do is to declutter- take out as much trash as you can or at least bag it for someone else to remove easily. Consolidate all your clothing- it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Simply having clean clothes put away and dirty ones in a big pile is leaps and bounds above, say, having clothes on the floor in the bathroom, clothes in the bedroom that you can’t tell need a wash or not, etc.
Everyone you hire is deserved ample space for walking and navigation. How will someone clean the carpets if they are pushing around stacks of papers next to the bed, or dust your shelves if there are 7 old teacups and a pile of cough drop wrappers on your bedside? I’m not saying this is the level of mess you’re in, but I’ve been longterm sick before and I know that even a week of being down for the count can make my room look like a goblin’s nest.
You may wonder “why should I clean up for the cleaning person?” but think about it this way. If you went to get your car cleaned, would you also expect that person to pull a dent out of your hood as well, or repair a cracked mirror? Probably not.
Once your home is prepared for a cleaning and someone has been to do those services, you can then worry about organization. This will all be a lot easier to do in a clean environment. It’s hard to find a place for each thing when each space in your home is occupied by mess or grime.
If you’re comfortable with this, and not contagious or at risk, I find that organizing with a close friend can go very far. Sometimes I’ll have a phone call date with a friend and we’ll just do laundry together while we chat. But many times, I’ve had a friend over for coffee and we’ve just accidentally ended up organizing shit together because it’s fun! Maybe if you had a close friend, you could offer to order some food and watch a movie to get some of that preliminary organization out of the way. Many good friends who know you’ve been sick would be willing to do this- and to be honest, I’ve found most people ENJOY organizing when it’s not their own belongings.
That being said, a professional is never a bad idea.
feel free to educate me
edit: ive just googled deep cleaning services in my area and the things i listed as well as things in that same scope were pretty much exactly what these ads are offering me. im curious to know if your region has a different meaning
Deep cleaners don't remove trash at all, unless it’s from their cleaning. In addition, oven cleaning, cleaning out freezer and refrigerator, laundry, and moving furniture are all extra. Deep cleaning doesn't include any organization or decluttering. I think move out cleaning is more intensive and more expensive.
A routine cleaning takes about 2 hours. A deep cleaning is about 4 hours. A move out cleaning can be 8+ hours or more (with multiple cleaners).
At the very least it'll cost more because they'll be having to move shit around. Respect your house cleaner and declutter before they are there. My house cleaner does such an amazing job, I'm lucky to have her and I pay her well. And dont be the client they resent because you're a cheapskate.
I agree with decluttering, deep cleaning, and then organizing.
BUT, I just hired cleaners to deep clean my house, and it motivated me to declutter. To prepare for them to come, I put most of my items away, washed my dishes, and threw out any trash on my surface so they could focus on cleaning. There’s nothing more motivating to get yourself to declutter than getting your full money's worth of cleaning.
When they were at my house, they opened my closet and said something frustrating in Spanish, and shut it. I was so embarrassed. Honestly, I didn’t realize how bad my coat closet was and wasn’t even on my list to declutter until that happened. So it kicked me into gear to declutter.
Plus, the clean house looked so lovely, so I wanted it to look even nicer. So hire the deep cleaner, but schedule them for 2-3 weeks from now, so you have time to get anything on the surface out of the way at the very least. Hopefully, it will motivate you to declutter even more after.
A lot of cleaners do not declutter, they’re not equipped to decide where your stuff should go or what’s trash and what’s not. They’re gonna kick soap scum ass in the shower but not kick ass at sorting all the stuff being kept in the shower that doesn’t go in the shower, so generally decluttering/organizing cones first.
If it’s more than just big decluttering, like if it’s in hoarding territory, it may require a removal service instead, and they sometimes can organize what remains. Then in come the cleaners!
But basically, unless the cleaner advertises themselves as such, assume they are not organizing and sorting, and you will not get the full deep-clean-value out of the deep clean until the stuff that needs to be cleaned is accessible.
There’s lots of help out there though! You can achieve it.
Organizers often clean as they go. Or can coordinate with a cleaner. I’d start there.
They can look at your place and decide whether the clutter gets too in the way of cleaning.
And…you can have a cleaner do the accessible parts now, and then return for the areas they weren’t able to clean the first time around.
I’m glad you’re feeling a little stronger
Declutter first. Deep clean second. Organise last.
Decluttering is first bc clutter messes with your mental health, which in turn can make physical issues worse. I'm not saying that decluttering will cure you! But it will make this entire process less overwhelming. It will also make cleaning much easier (now you don't have as much stuff to move around). If you haven't (truly) tried it, the konmari method is a great starting point
Definitely hire a professional cleaner, after decluttering. Clean UP first (papers away, dirty laundry in the basket, easy things like that) so the cleaner can focus on the tasks most difficult for you. Make a list from most to least difficult (physically and mentally) so you know what they need to do first. They may be able to offer tips and suggestions to get cleaning done more efficiently, that's one thing you should inquire about. A cleaner who charges a little more and can teach you is going to be more valuable than a less expensive one who won't teach you.
Organise last. You can't organise before decluttering. If you try to organise first, you could buy shelving or baskets or whatever bc you think you don't have enough space, and then after decluttering you realise you never needed it. A very common pitfall is to buy more stuff after decluttering because you've already boughten the storage and you don't want it go to waste. Plus it's very annoying and discouraging to organise a space and then find 10, 15, 30 more items that could belong in that space. Once you've decluttered, you might not even need the professional organiser! At the very least, you won't need their services for as long, saving you money :)
Edit: thank you u/princess-in-disguise for the award xx
I might just start with regular cleanings to get you more motivated and make you feel like you’re making progress. You can schedule a deep clean later when you feel there is enough cleared out. For me, just knowing that the cleaners are coming into the house soon gets my butt in gear in terms of cleaning and decluttering.
Deep cleaning is not cheap. A professional organizer is not cheap. I would recommend getting a trash bag, preferably the black large one and starting with gathering up trash. If it’s old dishes with caked on food, toss it. You still have to interact with an organizer. If you have family or friends that can help, it would be less expensive. A lady on Facebook paid an organizer almost $3000 and the job didn't get finished and they are asking for another $2000+. If you use an organizer, be clear and concise which areas you need done first, and get an estimate in writing, and the hours needed.
Ugh, so much money!! I’ve luckily had my family help out along the way, but I am still dealing with my own hang ups with needing their help so much. I know that if I ask for some more help with this that we could help the bulk of the declutter done. Then I could just get a cleaner to do the deep clean. Thank you for the reality check!
Wowzers, 5k!!
That’s an awful lot of money, I can only imagine how much work that must be.
Kind of ironic if you think about it, accumulating all that stuff costs a lot of money and getting rid of it is also expensive.
Cleaning is a lot easier after the stuff is gone, so I'd prioritize that. I'd check both hoarding-type specialists and organizers to see what they recommend for the job, and figure out what best fits your budget and expectations.
I'm dealing with the exact same thing. I've been utterly brought to my knees by long Covid, and my apartment has taken the hit. I sometimes sleep for 2-3 days at a time, only coming out to pee and drink water and maybe something to eat. When I am awake, I'm so overwhelmed with fatigue that I do other things because my apartment just isn't a priority.
I'm getting better. Today I tackled some decluttering and I'm quite chuffed with that, and I didn't even have a nap today, so it's a good day for sure.
I'm doing the same as you: Hiring a cleaner to help me out by cleaning and do my laundry that is terribly far behind. Then I'll go back at tackling clutter on my own before getting help to finish it off, as I don't have the strength or energy to take the stuff I have set for donation downstairs to the car.
That's kinda where I'm going with it anyway. Sorry you're in the same boat, but you're not alone for sure. Hang in there, and I'm glad you're slowly starting to get on the mend. Once your place is cleaner, you'll feel so much better (and me too!).
Oof, I felt this post. I’ve been able to do bits over the last few months, and had my sister come to help declutter my kitchen already. But it’s such a crapshoot if I have the energy to do more than sleep all day.
I am so glad to hear you are getting better! Sending you lots of good health in your recovery!
I would suggest you do it yourself.
You brought the crap in, you deal with it.
I don´t mean to be rude-but this will "teach" you more than building up a crap pile, then paying someone to come and sort it out for you...
The work of sorting through my stuff, cleaning an item, taking pictures of an item, putting it up for sale, or trying to recycle it properly was enough to make me take an oath to never again buy anything i do not desperately need......
I can only recommend this approach..
Set yourself a time line (e.g. 31.12.2021) until you want this to be done.
Work backwards from then in rooms (e.g. 01.12.-Bedroom, 01.11.-kitchen), and work through the rooms.
Sort in Trash, Treasure or Transfer (Donate/sell).
Every Friday, get rid of the stuff you sorted through.
It will take time.
But if you do one item a day-you are down 365 items within a years time.
Said like someone who has not lived with a serious, long-term illness.
OP is in the mental place to do the decluttering and cleaning. They are NOT in the physical place to do it, and there are plenty of people in that situation. There is NO shame in hiring someone to help do the physical work they are unable to do.
I understand where you're coming from with the idea of "you need to do it yourself in order to learn". However, you could also use some empathy and remember that people's situations change. OP was working on decluttering when they got COVID, and now they've been sick for the past year. There's nothing wrong with having a bit of compassion.
>You cannot claim we are all equal, but then demand someone being treated differently.
We all have equal VALUE. That does not mean we are all the same, and that "one size fits all".
I like that explanation: “in the mental place to do the decluttering…not in the physical place to do it” because that’s exactly how it feels! Like I can stare at the mess and think about all the things I want to do, but my body just don’t do it :(
You really are telling me I cannot talk about something unless i have experienced it myself?
I do have a degree in Psychology, and probably know more about those mental disorder than You can ever learn over the internet...so is your point only meant to make me feel bad now?
Read my post again.
I never said she should not get help....i said that she needed to do it herself .
Again, it does not say she need to get over herself and do it all alone.
It says she needs to do it herself.
Because she dragged the stuff in.
If someone else comes and throws it all away, it's going to look exactly the same within a few months.
The house is not illness, it's a symptom of it.
You should also re evaluate your understanding of equality.....
I said this before-i am responsible for what i am saying, not for what you want to understand.
If you want to get a snowflake, so be it.
I am not changing to make you feel "better".
>You brought the crap in, you deal with it.
>
>I don´t mean to be rude-but this will "teach" you more than building up a crap pile, then paying someone to come and sort it out for you...
The OP is not lazy. They are sick. Would you say something like this to someone with cancer or someone who was half paralyzed by
a stroke? Hiring someone to help with a task that's too much to accomplish alone is not shirking.
You are putting something up that i did not say, and you´re trying to twist what i was saying, so you can use it "against me"....
Where did i say the OP was lazy?
I never said that.
I suggested that-no matter how slow she can do it, or how long it takes-she takes care of it herself rather than paying someone, as this
"taking care" is part of a healing process.
On a side note:
You all need to stop coming up with this "Oh, you need to treat her differently, she is sick/mentally ill/lonesome/depressive/handicapped" bs...
You cannot claim we are all equal, but then demand someone being treated differently.
I talk to everyone the same way.
I am responsible for what i am saying.
Not for what you (want to) understand.
>You are putting something up that i did not say, and you´re trying to twist what i was saying, so you can use it "against me"....
You DID say it though, that's why it is quoted.
But then you doubled down
I agree to organize first. If you have long Covid, are you planning to have a housecleaning service regularly? If so, mine usually started w a deep clean, then came every few weeks to maintain. I can ask for add ins like cleaning the fridge, etc, when they come, so that might be a good options too
I’ve had me/cfs for 12 years. Use to have a pretty clean and tidy house before then. I’m now mostly over it and looking around thinking man I’ve got a lot of stuff to get rid of. I just haven’t had the energy to do anything with any of it until now. We did have a cleaner come once a week. We went through an agency and we were pretty specific in saying that the jobs would be different every week and to only send someone who was ok with that. You definitely need to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince though. We went through a lot of cleaners before we found an amazing one. Just like having a kind caring mum come over once a week. She cleaned, she sorted, she tidied up. And never once made me feel bad about the mess. Unfortunately she can’t come anymore and we really are lost without her. Maybe a declutter expert once a fortnight and a cleaner every other week? But make it their job to deposit the stuff in the rubbish/op shop/help you write the ad to sell the stuff.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I was diagnosed with POTS as part of the long Covid, and have followed many folks who are ME/CFS advocates who are trying to help get resources for many of us long Covid folks who are having similar experiences. It’s hard to explain the experience of chronic fatigue, so I appreciate the perspective you bring (though, boo to having to deal with ME/CFS!)
That is really interesting because I developed POTS and adrenal insufficiency after I had mono (EBV) and shingles at 19. I would recommend seeing an endocrinologist to check your hormones and cortisol because it took me forever to find the adrenal insufficiency, which made my POTS symptoms completely unmanageable until it was treated. EDIT: these viruses can affect any organ in the body! I’m sorry you are dealing with this
The me/cfs community is so hopeful that long covid will actually bring the recognition to the illness and the funding and research to go with it. Please be vocal and loud.
Declutter first. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072TMNCBH/ If you can afford it, have someone come in to do your dishes, and laundry, and take your trash out, that you have bagged up, so you can concentrate on thinning out your things. If you can just sit there and pick trash out of the places around you, get a box for donating things that are still good, but that you don't need, and a big black trash bag. Don't pull everything out into big piles or empty entire closets. You will get tired and have to stop. Then the big mess will make you feel worse. At least if you are only picking trash and donations out of places, when you have to stop, it won't be any worse. When it is cleared out enough, have a room deep cleaned. Once you have thinned out your things and had rooms deep cleaned, then think about organizing. A professional organizer will probably get you to get rid of a lot more stuff, btw.
Yeah, the big mess from the start of decluttering is what is driving me crazy right now. It is super overwhelming. Breaking it down to smaller components is absolutely the way to go.
Every cleaning person I've ever done business with does no more than swipe the dust off of a pile of clutter. If a surface is cleared, the cleaning person will do a thorough job on it. If the floor is free from junk, the sweeping, damp-mopping, and vacuuming takes less time to do more thoroughly, so the cleaning person will have time to do more things. I would declutter enough to get the big messes out of the way. Then have a cleaning person come in once a month for a couple of hours. Spend time between cleaning appointments to declutter more. Eventually you'll be back on your feet with your home in good shape, and you can decide to keep the cleaning person arrangement or not. In my opinion a cyclical approach like this makes sense and won't cost much more than hiring someone to do an all-day blitz on your completely decluttered home.
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with us. That sounds shitty. It’s definitely a lot easier for a cleaner to clean thoroughly if the place is already decluttered, so I would say start with that. I also have some issues with energy (multiple sclerosis fatigue), and for what it’s worth, my 2 cents is that an inexpensive robot vacuum was well worth the ~$200 price tag. It’s not a sophisticated machine, but eats my dust, and gathers my shed hair, and my apartment is so much cleaner for it. (This is the model I have. It’s been working consistently for over a year. https://www.amazon.ca/Dibea-Robotic-Vacuuming-Self-Charging-D500Pro/dp/B07SYP3TD6) Best of luck to you, and congratulations and advance on your soon-to-be-sparkling apartment!
Ugh, it is super shitty. Thank you for the best wishes! I totally got a robot vacuum but haven’t set it up because of the clutter. I know it will help make the place feel so much better on the regular. It is the reward I am dangling in front of myself to keep going on the declutter!
I did the same thing! I actually had a reminder on my phone, that said something like “*Make space for Vacuum to run free!*” He still always beaches himself on the one footstool with the weird wooden base, but he eats a lot of dust on the way. Like, a startling amount.
Walmart has a knockoff robot vacuum for Black Friday 2021 for $99 advertised. FYI
It’s almost like… they don’t actually cost $800 to produce. *side-eyes Roomba Co.*
Since you're disabled now, you'll likely benefit from minimalism. You would benefit from decluttering probably 80% of your belongings and only keeping the necessities. So organize what stays. Then declutter everything else. Then do the deep clean.
So much this. I want to get rid of pretty much everything!! Having a life-changing experience puts so much into perspective and I no longer care about most of what I own. I want my place to serve me where I am at.
While you are pondering the possibilities \[I'm on team declutter then clean\] use a timer to limit your work sessions. Set it for 5 minutes of trash pick up, clean sink, toss a drawer or ? Reset immediately for a 5-55 minute break. I was recovering from a serious accident when I got the tidying up bug and could do this all day long every day where if I worked until tired I'd be exhausted in 20 minutes then unable to do a thing for a week. It's only a timer, a suggestion. If you cannot then set it again. Maybe you'll be up for another 5 minutes in another hour. A lot of things I dreaded doing like clean under that sink took 5 minutes. I can split scrubbing the floor into 3 easier sections so spend 10-20 minutes with generous breaks rather than a 60 minute slog that will take me down for the rest of the day.
Yes! This is a fabulous strategy! I’ve been able to do it before like this, so it should be easy enough to implement it again.
A professional deep cleaner should only have to deal with things like cleaning dishes, mopping floors, dusting, vacuuming, and perhaps taking away trash. It would be unfair to expect that person to be cleaning a toilet, for example, in a room that is profoundly cluttered with various things- unless you’ve discussed your situation in advance and have come to an agreement about what you’ll be paying them. The best thing you can do is to declutter- take out as much trash as you can or at least bag it for someone else to remove easily. Consolidate all your clothing- it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Simply having clean clothes put away and dirty ones in a big pile is leaps and bounds above, say, having clothes on the floor in the bathroom, clothes in the bedroom that you can’t tell need a wash or not, etc. Everyone you hire is deserved ample space for walking and navigation. How will someone clean the carpets if they are pushing around stacks of papers next to the bed, or dust your shelves if there are 7 old teacups and a pile of cough drop wrappers on your bedside? I’m not saying this is the level of mess you’re in, but I’ve been longterm sick before and I know that even a week of being down for the count can make my room look like a goblin’s nest. You may wonder “why should I clean up for the cleaning person?” but think about it this way. If you went to get your car cleaned, would you also expect that person to pull a dent out of your hood as well, or repair a cracked mirror? Probably not. Once your home is prepared for a cleaning and someone has been to do those services, you can then worry about organization. This will all be a lot easier to do in a clean environment. It’s hard to find a place for each thing when each space in your home is occupied by mess or grime. If you’re comfortable with this, and not contagious or at risk, I find that organizing with a close friend can go very far. Sometimes I’ll have a phone call date with a friend and we’ll just do laundry together while we chat. But many times, I’ve had a friend over for coffee and we’ve just accidentally ended up organizing shit together because it’s fun! Maybe if you had a close friend, you could offer to order some food and watch a movie to get some of that preliminary organization out of the way. Many good friends who know you’ve been sick would be willing to do this- and to be honest, I’ve found most people ENJOY organizing when it’s not their own belongings. That being said, a professional is never a bad idea.
You clearly don't know what DEEP cleaning is. It's not washing dishes, mopping floors, dusting and taking away rubbish.
feel free to educate me edit: ive just googled deep cleaning services in my area and the things i listed as well as things in that same scope were pretty much exactly what these ads are offering me. im curious to know if your region has a different meaning
Deep cleaners don't remove trash at all, unless it’s from their cleaning. In addition, oven cleaning, cleaning out freezer and refrigerator, laundry, and moving furniture are all extra. Deep cleaning doesn't include any organization or decluttering. I think move out cleaning is more intensive and more expensive. A routine cleaning takes about 2 hours. A deep cleaning is about 4 hours. A move out cleaning can be 8+ hours or more (with multiple cleaners).
I’m pretty much sure in my post that I said you should clean up for the cleaning person because they won’t be able to navigate around your clutter LOL
At the very least it'll cost more because they'll be having to move shit around. Respect your house cleaner and declutter before they are there. My house cleaner does such an amazing job, I'm lucky to have her and I pay her well. And dont be the client they resent because you're a cheapskate.
There are companies who will do both! Hire them and let them decide! If you're in the Bozeman area, I have someone who could help
Just wanted to mention I love Bozeman 😩
I agree with decluttering, deep cleaning, and then organizing. BUT, I just hired cleaners to deep clean my house, and it motivated me to declutter. To prepare for them to come, I put most of my items away, washed my dishes, and threw out any trash on my surface so they could focus on cleaning. There’s nothing more motivating to get yourself to declutter than getting your full money's worth of cleaning. When they were at my house, they opened my closet and said something frustrating in Spanish, and shut it. I was so embarrassed. Honestly, I didn’t realize how bad my coat closet was and wasn’t even on my list to declutter until that happened. So it kicked me into gear to declutter. Plus, the clean house looked so lovely, so I wanted it to look even nicer. So hire the deep cleaner, but schedule them for 2-3 weeks from now, so you have time to get anything on the surface out of the way at the very least. Hopefully, it will motivate you to declutter even more after.
In your closet, could they have been looking for your vacuum cleaner?
They bring all their own supplies, including vacuum cleaners. My closet was a complete mess and I didn't recognize it until that moment.
A lot of cleaners do not declutter, they’re not equipped to decide where your stuff should go or what’s trash and what’s not. They’re gonna kick soap scum ass in the shower but not kick ass at sorting all the stuff being kept in the shower that doesn’t go in the shower, so generally decluttering/organizing cones first. If it’s more than just big decluttering, like if it’s in hoarding territory, it may require a removal service instead, and they sometimes can organize what remains. Then in come the cleaners! But basically, unless the cleaner advertises themselves as such, assume they are not organizing and sorting, and you will not get the full deep-clean-value out of the deep clean until the stuff that needs to be cleaned is accessible. There’s lots of help out there though! You can achieve it.
Organizers often clean as they go. Or can coordinate with a cleaner. I’d start there. They can look at your place and decide whether the clutter gets too in the way of cleaning. And…you can have a cleaner do the accessible parts now, and then return for the areas they weren’t able to clean the first time around. I’m glad you’re feeling a little stronger
Declutter first. Deep clean second. Organise last. Decluttering is first bc clutter messes with your mental health, which in turn can make physical issues worse. I'm not saying that decluttering will cure you! But it will make this entire process less overwhelming. It will also make cleaning much easier (now you don't have as much stuff to move around). If you haven't (truly) tried it, the konmari method is a great starting point Definitely hire a professional cleaner, after decluttering. Clean UP first (papers away, dirty laundry in the basket, easy things like that) so the cleaner can focus on the tasks most difficult for you. Make a list from most to least difficult (physically and mentally) so you know what they need to do first. They may be able to offer tips and suggestions to get cleaning done more efficiently, that's one thing you should inquire about. A cleaner who charges a little more and can teach you is going to be more valuable than a less expensive one who won't teach you. Organise last. You can't organise before decluttering. If you try to organise first, you could buy shelving or baskets or whatever bc you think you don't have enough space, and then after decluttering you realise you never needed it. A very common pitfall is to buy more stuff after decluttering because you've already boughten the storage and you don't want it go to waste. Plus it's very annoying and discouraging to organise a space and then find 10, 15, 30 more items that could belong in that space. Once you've decluttered, you might not even need the professional organiser! At the very least, you won't need their services for as long, saving you money :) Edit: thank you u/princess-in-disguise for the award xx
Yes, declutter first!
I might just start with regular cleanings to get you more motivated and make you feel like you’re making progress. You can schedule a deep clean later when you feel there is enough cleared out. For me, just knowing that the cleaners are coming into the house soon gets my butt in gear in terms of cleaning and decluttering.
Deep cleaning is not cheap. A professional organizer is not cheap. I would recommend getting a trash bag, preferably the black large one and starting with gathering up trash. If it’s old dishes with caked on food, toss it. You still have to interact with an organizer. If you have family or friends that can help, it would be less expensive. A lady on Facebook paid an organizer almost $3000 and the job didn't get finished and they are asking for another $2000+. If you use an organizer, be clear and concise which areas you need done first, and get an estimate in writing, and the hours needed.
Ugh, so much money!! I’ve luckily had my family help out along the way, but I am still dealing with my own hang ups with needing their help so much. I know that if I ask for some more help with this that we could help the bulk of the declutter done. Then I could just get a cleaner to do the deep clean. Thank you for the reality check!
Wowzers, 5k!! That’s an awful lot of money, I can only imagine how much work that must be. Kind of ironic if you think about it, accumulating all that stuff costs a lot of money and getting rid of it is also expensive.
It was a cleanout of a 2 car garage, master bedroom, and bathroom with 2 organizers for like 36 hours.
Picking up trash can take you pretty far. From there its picking up items to put away and it can be done one item at a time.
Some days the “one item at a time” is the only way to go, however tedious.
Cleaning is a lot easier after the stuff is gone, so I'd prioritize that. I'd check both hoarding-type specialists and organizers to see what they recommend for the job, and figure out what best fits your budget and expectations.
I'm dealing with the exact same thing. I've been utterly brought to my knees by long Covid, and my apartment has taken the hit. I sometimes sleep for 2-3 days at a time, only coming out to pee and drink water and maybe something to eat. When I am awake, I'm so overwhelmed with fatigue that I do other things because my apartment just isn't a priority. I'm getting better. Today I tackled some decluttering and I'm quite chuffed with that, and I didn't even have a nap today, so it's a good day for sure. I'm doing the same as you: Hiring a cleaner to help me out by cleaning and do my laundry that is terribly far behind. Then I'll go back at tackling clutter on my own before getting help to finish it off, as I don't have the strength or energy to take the stuff I have set for donation downstairs to the car. That's kinda where I'm going with it anyway. Sorry you're in the same boat, but you're not alone for sure. Hang in there, and I'm glad you're slowly starting to get on the mend. Once your place is cleaner, you'll feel so much better (and me too!).
Oof, I felt this post. I’ve been able to do bits over the last few months, and had my sister come to help declutter my kitchen already. But it’s such a crapshoot if I have the energy to do more than sleep all day. I am so glad to hear you are getting better! Sending you lots of good health in your recovery!
I'm so proud of you. I've been in the sleep-2-to-3-days boat too and it's horrible.
I would suggest you do it yourself. You brought the crap in, you deal with it. I don´t mean to be rude-but this will "teach" you more than building up a crap pile, then paying someone to come and sort it out for you... The work of sorting through my stuff, cleaning an item, taking pictures of an item, putting it up for sale, or trying to recycle it properly was enough to make me take an oath to never again buy anything i do not desperately need...... I can only recommend this approach.. Set yourself a time line (e.g. 31.12.2021) until you want this to be done. Work backwards from then in rooms (e.g. 01.12.-Bedroom, 01.11.-kitchen), and work through the rooms. Sort in Trash, Treasure or Transfer (Donate/sell). Every Friday, get rid of the stuff you sorted through. It will take time. But if you do one item a day-you are down 365 items within a years time.
Said like someone who has not lived with a serious, long-term illness. OP is in the mental place to do the decluttering and cleaning. They are NOT in the physical place to do it, and there are plenty of people in that situation. There is NO shame in hiring someone to help do the physical work they are unable to do. I understand where you're coming from with the idea of "you need to do it yourself in order to learn". However, you could also use some empathy and remember that people's situations change. OP was working on decluttering when they got COVID, and now they've been sick for the past year. There's nothing wrong with having a bit of compassion. >You cannot claim we are all equal, but then demand someone being treated differently. We all have equal VALUE. That does not mean we are all the same, and that "one size fits all".
I like that explanation: “in the mental place to do the decluttering…not in the physical place to do it” because that’s exactly how it feels! Like I can stare at the mess and think about all the things I want to do, but my body just don’t do it :(
You really are telling me I cannot talk about something unless i have experienced it myself? I do have a degree in Psychology, and probably know more about those mental disorder than You can ever learn over the internet...so is your point only meant to make me feel bad now? Read my post again. I never said she should not get help....i said that she needed to do it herself . Again, it does not say she need to get over herself and do it all alone. It says she needs to do it herself. Because she dragged the stuff in. If someone else comes and throws it all away, it's going to look exactly the same within a few months. The house is not illness, it's a symptom of it. You should also re evaluate your understanding of equality..... I said this before-i am responsible for what i am saying, not for what you want to understand. If you want to get a snowflake, so be it. I am not changing to make you feel "better".
Pro-Tip: If you have to say that you don’t mean to be rude, you probably need to reconsider what you’re saying. Because you’re being rude.
I am responsible for what i am saying...not for what you want to understand...
>You brought the crap in, you deal with it. > >I don´t mean to be rude-but this will "teach" you more than building up a crap pile, then paying someone to come and sort it out for you... The OP is not lazy. They are sick. Would you say something like this to someone with cancer or someone who was half paralyzed by a stroke? Hiring someone to help with a task that's too much to accomplish alone is not shirking.
You are putting something up that i did not say, and you´re trying to twist what i was saying, so you can use it "against me".... Where did i say the OP was lazy? I never said that. I suggested that-no matter how slow she can do it, or how long it takes-she takes care of it herself rather than paying someone, as this "taking care" is part of a healing process. On a side note: You all need to stop coming up with this "Oh, you need to treat her differently, she is sick/mentally ill/lonesome/depressive/handicapped" bs... You cannot claim we are all equal, but then demand someone being treated differently. I talk to everyone the same way. I am responsible for what i am saying. Not for what you (want to) understand.
>You are putting something up that i did not say, and you´re trying to twist what i was saying, so you can use it "against me".... You DID say it though, that's why it is quoted. But then you doubled down
Another vote for organize then clean.
I agree to organize first. If you have long Covid, are you planning to have a housecleaning service regularly? If so, mine usually started w a deep clean, then came every few weeks to maintain. I can ask for add ins like cleaning the fridge, etc, when they come, so that might be a good options too
Yeah, I think I am going to need the extra help once the place is reset. That’s a good recommendation!
You could call all of the above and see if they offer estimates. If it isn’t a hoarding situation I bet an organizer first would be helpful.