Struggling with Household Chores

One thing at a time.one minute or or 2 and you get that accomplished feeling and you can do another 1 to 2 minute thing until you get there.. and if not, remember it's okay to take it easy on yourself

I make lists of every tiny little thing. One task is hard, extremely hard. So I make micro tasks. With my depression and fm, folding clothes is not something simple. I can’t write “fold clothes” on a list and be able to just do it when I’m ready. So I divide it. 1. Bring up clean clothes from laundry to my room 2. Put clothes on bed 3. Organize clothes into piles 4. Fold shirts first 5. Fold pants next 6. Organize underwear and socks etc. I do one at a time. “Folding clothes” seems like such a small thing. But the reality is for us, it’s 6-10 things. I use this method with every task I do.

I know the feeling! There is a sign in my daughter's therapist's office I can't remember exactly what it says but something like... On the days when everything feels to much do one thing no matter how small... Can't wash all the dishes, wash a spoon. Can't take a shower, wash your face. Can't clean the house, clean one surface. I think there was a couple of more lines to it but I think you can see the point, I have been trying to do this myself every day, especially on the bad days, and it does help. No matter how crappy I feel, no matter how bad the house is over all, I make sure and do at lest one thing before I go to bed even if it is simply picking up some trash and throwing it in the garbage on the way to the bedroom, it is one less thing I have to do tomorrow and it is still and accomplishment!

As someone who likes to do mindmaps and that type of thing- get a blank sheet of paper and write down all the chores you can think of. See if there are easy solutions to any of them (such as turn on roomba before I go to bed on mondays and thursdays) and then break down the tasks that still feel too big. Do a little bit each day and reward yourself for doing that thing.

These apps have changed my life dude (well, in terms of chores lol). To-Do Adventure: when you complete tasks/chores it build little islands, the more you do the bigger and more complex and cool and pretty your island becomes Finch: you have a little bird friendo who encourages you to complete tasks, and when you do it gives him energy so he can go exploring, then he chats with you, suggests goals that line up with your life, and you earn little gems so you can buy him cute little outfits Forest- Stay Focused: locks your phone for a set amount of time so you have no distraction from what you're doing. While it's locked, it grows a tree. You can view your Forrest and see how many trees youve grown, then collect more trees (I have a rainbow tree, a water tree, a candy tree... There's a dog tree and a cat tree too) and if you wanna pay like $2 for the premium version, you can actually convert your trees into REAL trees that they plant through a charity organization!

Oh this is so hard for me, too. My mom's well intentioned advice is "just do one thing every day." But that's the hard part. Some days turn into weeks or months of not being able to "just do one thing". It really is one of my biggest battles with myself. My therapist tells me to give myself grace. Allow myself to feel and allow the mess for a time. Do what I can, when I can, how I can. Ask for help if you're able to and have support. But also remember that some days really are just too much. I like the suggestion of giving yourself X amount of time to try and do something; I second on giving that a chance and see if it helps. For me, even in my bad days, sometimes it's enough to just get my dirty clothes in the hamper and dishes in the sink.

I do something every day to keep things up at my home. I don’t stress over if I don’t. It’s a way for me to keep the house together without stressing myself out. This works for me.

I give myself a 5 minute minimum to try something. If you aren’t up to it after that then try something else