If you’ve been struggling with how to clean a messy house because you are either suffering from anxiety & depression, or you’re just plain overwhelmed, this guide will set you on the right path to cleaning up the mess.
If you have been suffering from mental health issues, the mess probably isn’t doing anything to help you feel better.
Depression takes a toll on every aspect of your life, especially your home. Trying to clean your home when you are completely overwhelmed by the mess probably seems impossible right about now.
How can you be expected to keep a clean house when you can’t get off the couch and all you want to do is sleep? Cleaning your home when you’re depressed or overwhelmed is incredibly difficult.
What are the Effects of Living in an Untidy House?
There are definitely psychological effects to living in a home that is untidy or dirty. Overstimulation can play a big part in making you feel anxious and overwhelmed.
Overstimulation occurs when your senses are in overdrive – too much stimulation can lead to anxious feelings and associated feelings like anger, depression, and more.
Just look around you right now. Look at the mess. How does it make you feel? Happy and relaxed, or worried, anxious and guilty?
Getting the mess cleaned up is going to be a big help in making you feel better.
The Effects of a Messy Home on the Whole Family
Living in a cluttered or disorganized environment can add to the stress levels amongst the whole family.
Here’s how:
Children absolutely thrive in a structured environment. When your home is messy and disorganized, it typically is also unstructured.
I can tell you that I have experienced the exact same thing. My home went from “always ready for unexpected company” to me praying nobody would come over because then I’d have to attempt to clean it up.
In the past, my kids were always on a pretty tight schedule as far as meals and naps, and bedtimes. Suddenly I was taking “going with the flow” way too literally and bedtimes and meal times went out the window.
Goldfish for breakfast? Sure, because that meant I didn’t have to go into the kitchen and look at the mess.
Laundry wasn’t done, dishes weren’t cleaned, and I was so overwhelmed by the size of the mess that I just didn’t know how or where to start.
So instead of starting, I just stared at it, day after day. And all that did was make me feel even more anxious and out of control.
I hate having a messy house. It drives me crazy and makes me feel awful, but I literally felt like I couldn’t do anything about it.
I feel bad that my kids were living in this type of unstructured environment because of my depression. Our homes should be calm and peaceful – or as peaceful as it can be with kids running around and siblings fighting.
The last thing I wanted was for my kids to feel like they were always living in chaos or to experience any of the anxiousness I was feeling.
Fortunately, I eventually got on the right combo of medications, and very slowly I started to feel like the old Christina again.
There was no sudden burst of energy but one day I did wake up and feel really inspired to finally get my messy house cleaned up.
But I still had a problem knowing where to start. Just because I was feeling a little better does not mean that I wasn’t still overwhelmed by the magnitude of the mess.
Keep reading and you can follow the same plan I used to finally tackle the mess!
How to Get Motivated to Clean When You’re Overwhelmed
When you are feeling paralyzed by the mess because you are so overwhelmed, it’s really hard to have any motivation at all to clean it up.
Honestly, I don’t really think there is anything I can say that is going to magically give you lots of motivation to start cleaning.
But, there are a few things that I can recommend to make the task seem less daunting:
- Put on some good, loud music.
- Take before pictures. Now when you are finished cleaning for the day, you can see the progress you’ve made. Having a sense of accomplishment is very motivating.
- Understand that you are going to start small. This is not an action plan to get the entire house clean in one day.
- Set a timer. On top of starting small, you can also set a timer (20-30 minutes) and only do a little bit at a time. Knowing that you won’t be cleaning for hours and hours should help you get going.
How to Start Cleaning a Messy House
Cleaning your home when it has been ignored for a long period of time can be intimidating. You’ve probably looked around many times and wondered how to start cleaning up your messy house.
Don’t let the feelings of being overwhelmed keep you from getting started. All you need to do is to start somewhere and take it slow.
Cleaning a dirty house is a lot of work, but this isn’t a race and that means that it doesn’t all have to be tackled in one day.
Depending on the size and condition of your home, it could take several days to several weeks.
Don’t let this overwhelm you! The key is to start now and keep plugging away until you’re done.
This is a guide to help you focus on what needs to be done and hopefully make it less overwhelming.
Related: How to Get Rid of Clutter Fast
Spring Cleaning Checklist | With Printable
How to Get the Urine Smell Out of Your Clean Bathroom
How to Clean a Messy House Step by Step
First of all: You are amazing and you can do this!
The first thing you should do is gather up one load of laundry and get that started. Create a goal to get 1-2 loads of laundry completed and put away each day.
Cleaning Up Your Bathrooms
Start in your main bathroom. It’s important to keep this area sanitary plus it’s great to start in a small space.
First, pick up and take out all the trash.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a commission from. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read my full disclosure HERE.
Spray your toilet with cleaning products and then use Lysol Black in the toilet bowl. This product is absolutely amazing and will get just about any stain out of your toilet! It’s a must-have if your toilet hasn’t been cleaned in a while or if you have hard water stains.
Get your vanity sink and counter scrubbed and make sure to wipe down the outside of the cabinets.
Don’t forget your mirror. This is my favorite glass cleaner for mirrors and windows. It’s cheap and it doesn’t leave any streaks. (The one I have linked is currently the best value – during the pandemic cleaning products are always out of stock and prices have increased.)
Before you clean your toilet, apply your cleaner to the bathtub/shower. Let that sit for a bit while you clean the toilet. Bar Keepers Friend is another amazing product that gets really dirty things really clean. Plus it
Once you’re done with that, get your shower cleaned and you’re done with one space!
Making Lists to Help You Feel More Accomplished
Once you’ve completed your bathroom, make a list of what needs to be done to get your whole home cleaned up. Lists are great to work with because they will encourage you to continue on and give you a sense of accomplishment when you are able to cross something off the list.
I love this to-do list because it looks so motivating and it’s pretty! Pretty lists always make me feel more enthusiastic about cleaning.
Time to Clean the Kitchen
(Don’t forget to move your laundry to the dryer and start another load.)
Next, move on to cleaning your kitchen. This is the main hub of our home and when it’s clean I always feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Plus, when the kitchen is clean, everything else seems much cleaner as well.
Start by throwing out all the trash
Put away all the stuff you have sitting on the counters.
Move on to the dishes. Start by soaking anything that needs it and then wash those last. Blue Dawn dish soap is my favorite!
Wipe down the counters and then sanitize them.
Vacuum or sweep and then mop the floors if you feel like it. If not, no biggie! Save it for another day.
How to Clean Up Your Living Areas
Move into your living space. The key is to look for a small area and start there. For example, clear up the clutter piled up on your dining room table or on your coffee table. Clean this area completely before moving on. It will make you feel better to see it completely clean plus it will help you see the amazing progress you’re making.
And don’t forget to throw things away! You will be amazed at how much junk you find lying around that nobody uses and that nobody misses.
Continue to move around your living space and get rid of clutter. When the clutter is all clean, dust and then vacuum. You’ll feel so good when you’re done!
How to Clean The Bedrooms
Move on to the bedrooms. If you have children I would start with their rooms. Start by picking up any garbage. Pull their sheets off and get a load of laundry started. Then start putting things back in their proper place.
If you’re up for it, now would be a good time to make a bag for donation filled with clothes that don’t fit and toys that aren’t played with.
Once everything is picked up and put away, vacuum the floors and then take a break!
Move into the master bedroom and complete the same steps as you did in your kids’ rooms.
Clean the master bath by following the same steps you completed for your main bath.
Last but not least, don’t forget about your floors. This is my least favorite chore! Do it in stages if you need to. I have a ton of tile in my house and I can never seem to do it all at the same time. Do one room per day if it makes it easier for you.
Something that makes it much easier for me is my Bissell Crosswave. It’s a vacuum and mop all in one. It’s basically what all my cleaning dreams are made of lol! I had to beg my husband for this one since I have a bit of a mop collection already. I’m so glad I got it because it gets used almost daily!
Plus, this is a great way for kids to be able to help out around the house as well. This mop/vacuum is so easy to use and kids seem to find using it fun.
How to Continue to Keep Your Home Clean
Moving forward, you need to put some systems in place so that your home continues to stay clean and does not get out of control again.
If you have children that are old enough for chores, you should establish and enforce a chore system for them. This will help so much by taking some of the weight off of your shoulders.
Depending on age, your kids can help out by doing things like emptying the dishwasher, sweeping up the kitchen after meals, wiping down bathrooms, and feeding animals. You can see more examples of chores by ages here.
Overall, your home will stay cleaner when others are putting away their own messes plus helping out with other tasks. This way you can focus on the larger cleaning versus spending all your time picking up and putting away clutter.
You can read all about How to Create a Chore System for Your Kids HERE. There are a few different really cute free printable chore charts in that article that you can use for your kids.
Establishing a Weekly Cleaning Schedule
The next thing that is very important in keeping your home clean and organized is following a weekly cleaning schedule. This will break down for you what needs to be done on a daily basis, so you won’t get overwhelmed and then start avoiding cleaning.
The weekly chore schedule is broken down by days and by areas of the house. So for example, Mondays are “Bedroom Days” plus there are certain daily chores that need to be done.
Keep this list on your fridge and check things off as you go. As I said before, checking things off a list will help keep you motivated.
If you’d like access to my free Weekly Cleaning Schedule Checklist so you can continue to stay organized, just sign up below and it will be delivered to your inbox.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
See if a friend or relative can help you clean. Or, if you have children, see if someone can babysit while you’re cleaning. Those little ones make accomplishing things around the house very difficult! I know it’s hard for me to get anything done when I’m home alone with my three kiddos.
You’re Done!
Woohoo! You did it! Having a clean house always makes me feel so much better. I hope you feel better too! Cleaning up a very messy house can be so overwhelming and I know for me it led to avoidance and then agitation. I can’t stand a messy house but I also couldn’t work up the energy or interest to clean.
Just remember to start small and go from there. You don’t need to do everything all at once – do it at your own pace. And if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it.
Related: How to Get Rid of Clutter Fast
Spring Cleaning Checklist | With Printable
How to Get the Urine Smell Out of Your Clean Bathroom
Final Thoughts on Cleaning a messy house when you’re overwhelmed
I hope that this step-by-step guide for how to clean a messy house when you’re overwhelmed or anxious has been helpful!
Knowing how to start cleaning a messy house and getting the motivation to clean is half the battle. Once you start, you’ll be so much happier when you start looking around and seeing clean spaces. That should give you the motivation to keep going.
Please feel free to leave a comment or message me. I love to hear from my readers!
If you feel like this is something that would be helpful to others, please share and make sure to pin it for later.
Wishing you all the best!
Tamara | The Gutz Life says
After a severe bout of depression, part of my self care is hiring someone to come and help clean.
Sarah Winton says
This is so useful! I’d use it as a general cleaning guide at any time.
Patricia Turk says
I hate cleaning but something about having neat and clean surroundings really gets my mind in a better place. Thanks for this nifty guide!
Kiera says
I would love access to the free cleaning checklist! Thank you for such a postive and helpful article!
Christina Mott says
Thank you so much! Let me know if the checklist didn’t arrive in your inbox:)
Kristyn Sanford says
I would love the cleaning checklist as well, if it’s still available! Thank you so much for writing this article, as I was reading I felt like you were talking directly to my situation and how I’ve been feeling. Just reading the way you broke down the whole house into individual tasks just relieved a ton of stress from my shoulders!!! Thank you so much for sharing! Btw I loved the article on ridding your bathroom of the unceasing pee smell, shaving cream=GENIUS!!!
Christina says
Thank you so much! If you’d like the checklist the link is within the post.
-Christina
Peggy Ousley says
I’ve always struggled with cleaning and being organized. I have also struggled with anxiety and depression but it got worse two years ago when my mother passed away and my father attempted suicide prior to her death. To top everything my husbands health issues have become overwhelming. He lost a kidney in 2016 and we thought he had beat the big C. CANCER!! It decided after two years to reappear in his left lung. I gave up!! I took to the couch and didn’t care about my home. I have since gotten on medication that has helped but I also went for counseling. Now I’m ready to get my home in order. Small steps and one day at a time. My husband needs stability and I know this. He’s doing good but some days are harder than others. He still works and he deserves a clean organized home to come home to. I didn’t mention our 2 grandchildren ages 10 and 13. I want our home clean and organized for them to. I also work but I’m home right now since schools are shut down. Nows the time to take action!! Please send me the daily list as I know this will help.
Christina Mott says
Oh wow Peggy! You have had a lot on your plate! I’m glad you are feeling better. Using the daily checklist was the reason I was finally able to get things cleaned up and staying clean. If you go back to the post there is a pink box where you can enter your info and the list will automatically be sent to you. Please let me know if you have any issues accessing it!
-Christina
Kylie says
Peggy I can totally relate to your comment I suffer from Severe Depression and Anxiety as Well as Agoraphobia I Lost my Dad 6 months ago and that has Really Affected Me My House is just totally out of control Christina Thankyou for this Wonderful Post I have signed up for your Cleaning Guide and Have Downloaded the To do list I am going to follow your guide and try to get My House back to what it Was Like I have been dealing with all this for 20+ years and this is the Best Post I have seen about cleaning with Mental Health Issues Thank You So So Much Cheers Kylie 😁
Christina Mott says
Kylie thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope that this can help you out – I understand how hard it is to overcome the mess and that most people just don’t understand why you can’t just clean up.
-Christina
Ashley says
I don’t usually read through these articles, but I’m glad I did! For one, its nice to know that I’m not the only woman who is struggling with this. I’ve been struggling with depression and anxiety for a long time and even with the meds and therapy I was still struggling with house work. I finally realized that I had to change my thinking. I realized I was very much a “all or nothing” type person and it was holding me back and making me extremely anxious because I felt like if I didn’t get everything done perfectly I was failing. I was so overwhelmed I would just ignore the mess, but when I would walk into the house I would just want to cry. So recently I decided to start making smaller tasks for myself, instead of thinking I should have the whole house clean in a day. I started with laundry and worked my way up. I had about 5 full baskets of CLEAN clothes that had been sitting there for way, way to long, just needing to be folded. I started by washing a load of dirty laundry and while the washer was going I would re-dry the clean clothes, to get the wrinkles out, and when they needed to be switched I would fold what was in the dryer and start drying the new load. Don’t get me wrong my house is no where close to clean yet, but its getting there and I feel so much better about it. I’m excited to print out the cleaning schedule and start getting even more done!
Christina Mott says
Thank you so much for sharing Ashley!
-Christina
Chris says
Christina it’s helped a lot! Very important for me to win this depression stuck on me!
I’ve started my cleaning and I feel motivated! Thank you 🙏
CYNDI says
Hello. I really enjoyed your article. I have been deeply depressed & lots of anxiety among other health issues You Gave Me Hope And That is Huge for me.
Thank you so much for you compassion and sharing your experience. It made me feel good knowing other people have & are going thru this, and I Know You have helped ALOT God Bless U & I Sincerely Thank You. Stay safe.
Christina Mott says
Thank you so much for the kind words! It always helps to know other people are going through the same thing. I know it usually feels like we’re the only ones who feel a certain way, but that’s just not true.
-Christina
Pam says
Thank you so much going through it now. I just felt so overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start and now I do. Thank you so much.
Christina Mott says
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful:)
-Christina
Lori Chinigo says
Hi, and Thank you… you described me , and now I will try your list . Wish me luck lol , at least I feel a lil better , so….here I go! I am using (and subscribed for) your awesome and helpful checklist… god bless, Lori
Christina Mott says
Good luck Lori!!
Britney Jones says
I loved these tips! It can be so hard for me to get motivated when my house gets dirty all of the time – especially when my kids are making the mess, not me! Something that I do every once in a while to help me be motivated to keep my house clean is to have a carpet cleaning company come and clean my carpets. That helps me to want to keep my house clean because my house looks and feels fresher when I have that done. Thanks again for the tips!
Sue says
Thank you so much for this article. My problems with depression, anxiety, and no motivation started last year, after my 33 year old daughter passed away from alcoholism. I immediately started to raise one of my granddaughters that is currently 6 years old. I had to deal with my grief and my young granddaughters grief, too, I then lost my 18 year old cat in August. I lost the love of my life, my ex-husband in Feb. of this year and had to turn over my granddaughter to her father, that is a violent felon and just got out of prison in March of this year. Oh, I also did a major move after being in 1 apartment and moving to a bigger apartment in the same complex last Oct. To say the least, my home and me are a mess. I’m 63 with some major health problems too. I’ve got to see if this will help pull me up to start taking care of my home. I’m hopeful as last week I finally put the last of my things from the move last week after 8 months, It made me feel better! Thanks again!
Christina Mott says
Thank you, Sue! Wishing you all the best!
Mary says
I like starting with smallest room…bathroom…how does so much stuff stay on the counter. I keep thinking I’m rushed or I’ll put it away tomorrow. Even tho the linen closet is right next to the sink. Talk about needing to exercise some discipline. Living alone allows you to shrug off accountability.
Shelby says
These help me out so much! I used to get so overwhelmed with cleaning every little thing, but this helps to break it down in a much more manageable way.
Britney Jones says
I absolutely loved this guide! It can be so hard to get motivated to clean sometimes, and I always feel bad when my husband comes home and the house isn’t clean. Recently I noticed that my couch was looking a little bit rough so I scheduled an upholstery cleaning. That motivated me to clean the house for the cleaners to come by. Maybe having guests over will encourage me to keep the place clean! Thanks for the tips!
Maid For Homes says
Very Informative post. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.