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Post by dayeanu on May 27, 2015 13:14:24 GMT -5
I posted on the board last week about how I accidentally flooded three squalorous carpeted rooms in my house.
I struggled to get everything out of the rooms so I could vacuum up the water with my shop vac, and dry the (indoor/outdoor) carpet.
Then I treated the carpet with peroxide and white vinegar to kill mold.
I threw away about 15 bags of trash, with at least a dozen more in the sun room waiting to be hauled off.
I planned to shampoo the carpet with a steam cleaner, and restore the rooms to their former, unsqualored glory.
Guess what? I haven't shampooed the carpet yet. The furniture and stuff is in three other rooms of the house.
AND, when I walked into the kitchen this morning, I realized
>>>>THESE JUST-EMPTIED ROOMS ARE IN SQUALOR ONCE AGAIN!!!!!!<<<<
I'd say level 1.5
I've been washing and folding the clothes that got wet, and stacking them on the drying rack and chair. I've been cooking and not clearing the table after each meal. I've been using the love seat fochair side table, and there is various riff raff on it.
Two flashlights, a half empty water bottle, a pair of socks, and a box of colored pencils are on the floor by my chair.
I put my makeup on by the window last night before going to work, and there its scattered.
Washing soda, boots, a photo album, last week's newspaper, a bag of aluminum can and a bag of plastic bags, empty egg boxes and trash that needs to be bagged up, are scattered about.
It took a week for me to go from 0 to 1.5 - and all because I have not been doing any maintenance. I have not been putting things away, or washing up after myself.
I have been thinking that oh, it's just one thing, I'll get it later. Another two weeks, and I bet I'd be at an ugly level 3.
In the book, Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding, they recommend desqualoring one small selected section at a time, working for a pre selected number of minutes (not to exceed 30 minutes.) Their instructions include, "always do maintenance on your cleared space before you desqualor the next section."
Getting and staying out of squalor really is all about maintenance.
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Post by Declutterme on May 27, 2015 13:27:50 GMT -5
tell me about it! I cleared a kitchen counter the other day and within 48 hours or less it was cluttered up again! I just cannot maintain whatever I do.
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Post by dayeanu on May 27, 2015 13:32:54 GMT -5
tell me about it! I cleared a kitchen counter the other day and within 48 hours or less it was cluttered up again! I just cannot maintain whatever I do. You can. We can. It just takes training our thinking, and developing routines and habits. |
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Post by danny15 on May 27, 2015 13:35:53 GMT -5
I feel like all I do is maintain. One day slack, not too bad, two days, not good. Three days and it feels like I'm back at square 1.  |
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Post by anewleaf on May 27, 2015 13:48:54 GMT -5
"always do maintenance on your cleared space before you desqualor the next section." Getting and staying out of squalor really is all about maintenance. Excellent advice! And it truly is! I wanted to yell YES! immediately upon seeing your thread title. It's easy enough (for me, anyway) for a few days, then after that? Yeah. Clutter, clutter, clutter. This morning I was cheerfully chanting in my head: "A place for everything and everything in its place" as I put away the dishes. Keep up the good fight, dayeanu! All is not lost, you just need to regain some ground is all. 15 bags of trash? Getting things out, getting the water up and the carpet treated? That alone is worth patting yourself on the back for. Focus on what you've accomplished and use that to propel yourself forward! We CAN do this! |
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Post by anewleaf on May 27, 2015 13:51:08 GMT -5
And...I unknowingly just restated what danny15 said about the few day thing. Clutter-kin? |
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Post by def6 on May 27, 2015 14:15:38 GMT -5
I know right!  I'm good at cleaning not good with everything having a "home" I can have clean sheets and dishes, laundry, toilets but every horizontal space piled high. I must not be "putting away" and straightening good enough. |
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Post by Arid on May 27, 2015 14:46:08 GMT -5
The other day, I made *A CONSCIOUS EFFORT* to pick up after myself, clean up after myself, not procrastinate about the "little" jobs like I usually do, etc.
I was amazed at *HOW MUCH WORK IT WAS!!!* No wonder I haven't been doing it . . .
Then, again, for that one day, I hadn't let the "mess" increase at all. Going forward *WAS* "going forward." I could progress from where I was.
I'm *still* trying to be better about following the "ETE Rule:" Eliminate The Evidence. However, it *IS* work; don't try to trick yourself into thinking that it's not!
I think that the "trick" is to remember that it is work that is *IMPORTANT* to do.
Arid
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Post by Unswamping on May 27, 2015 18:16:49 GMT -5
dayeanu great thread. Youve done a great job on cleaning up the mess. 15 bags with more ready to go is alot of work. Doing all that laundry and moving the furniture was alot of work. Is there any way you can shampoo the carpets today? If they have been wet this whole time, it is quite possible the mold is already growing. Especially since its been hot and humid. At this point maybe they need to be replaced? I do agree with you about how hard it is to learn to "erase the evidence". I do think that is the key to overcoming squalor for good. Otherwise we continue to let things pile up and wind up crisis cleaning. Even though it is hard to learn to do that consistently, i think in the long run, it would make life easier. I agree that we can learn how to do it.  i hope you can get the mess cleaned up and the carpets shampooed.
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Post by bobolink on May 27, 2015 18:41:43 GMT -5
The thing about maintenance, as opposed to a massive clear-out project, is that it is so forking boring.
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Post by angela on May 27, 2015 21:02:40 GMT -5
Yes... Yes... Yes... And yes.  |
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Post by sue5000 on May 27, 2015 21:20:38 GMT -5
Yup, I can clear off my kitchen table one day, and it's full of crap the next day. Same with my coffee table. No, Daye, you are not alone. |
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Post by angela on May 27, 2015 21:21:49 GMT -5
dayeanu, one of the things I learned when I was staging houses for sale was that if things were containerized, they changed from clutter to just ordinary stuff. I have read your blog and I am wondering if there is an intermediate step possible for you in that the things you use could be containerized somehow, maybe bins on a bookshelf for example. If that could be a way to develop a rudimentary putting-away habit. So the makeup for example, could be in a bin. The bin comes out for putting on your makeup, then goes back on the shelf. Flashlights, in a bin. Large bins for the recycling trash. All you would have to do would be to toss it in, or take the bin around the room to containerize the items. Too, I know you have a lot of possessions. Would it possible to somehow put a constraint on the things you use. Someone suggested on your blog to box up the clean dishes that are surplus to daily use so you wouldn't be put in a position of having piles and piles of dirty dishes to wash. Basically putting yourself in a position of "forcing" you to wash dishes daily if you want something to eat off of. Having a limit from the outside, while you build up your inner habits. Maybe the same with clothes? It sounds like a lot of clothes get worn, then get piled and it's a huge project to get them all clean and processed. I know the ones you are describing now are clothes that became wet in the midst of the kitchen flood. I assume you are also eating at the table? Is it possible to create a situation on the table that is the reset position. Not the right words..like you have a centerpiece that gets placed on the table when it is cleaned. That says, clean up is done and the table is in reset position. aquamarine used the word template. A picture of the area as you want it to be and you return to that picture after use. I think that when it comes to just tidiness of objects, that PEEPing really is the key. A place for everything and everything in its place. Cleaning tasks of course are good too. But for the whole clutter thing, being truthful about the objects that one needs to do the activities of ones life, making a home for those objects, and returning those objects to their home after use, equals an uncluttered, tidy, and less stressful environment.
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Post by larataylor on May 27, 2015 21:45:42 GMT -5
The thing about maintenance, as opposed to a massive clear-out project, is that it is so forking boring. YES. That's why I've become fairly minimalist … to make it as fast as possible. |
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Post by dayeanu on May 27, 2015 22:25:45 GMT -5
Unswamping, fortunately the carpet is really thin indoor/outdoor and dried out pretty quickly. So it just needs a good vacuum and shampoo. Lots of good points made here. Yes, bobolink it IS so forking boring. angela I probably do need to containerize. I'm sure that would help. It would also help if my energy level and interest level would rise above sub-zero.
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