Help Any tips on household chores?

[badtzmaru]

Y'all are probably familiar with the feeling of constant exhaustion. I've been depressed for six years and i can't do anything at home due to my lethargic body, it's really unfair for the people that lives with me. If you feel the same, do you guys overcome this feeling somehow? How do you keep your house clean and smelling nice being really depressive?

 

[ConfusedClouds]

For me I do my washing up/dishes straight away so it sort of rinses clean super easy rather than having to put effort into washing properly. Or leave it soaking, but that can end up left for a while/days so isn't possible when my housemates are around. Living with others makes me stay on top of this kinda stuff much better. I long to have my own place/space but that would totally be a slippery slope as I don't value anything for myself, but I'll keep the communal areas clean/tidy out of respect for the others.

Be interested to hear any other tips

 

[Life_and_Death]

reward system
- ive been using habitica
- STICKERS!!! that might just be me though
- a break between rooms "ok i deserve to sit and have a cookie then go back"

different techniques
- divide a room into 1/4 and clean one at a time
- pick a space or item at a time (desk, dirty laundry)
- switch (grab something that belongs in another part of the room/house and bring it there. then grab something from there and bring it to its section/spot
- a check list for each room (this is something i used more for self care. a list to brush my teeth and whatnot in the bathroom, a list to get dressed make bed in the bedroom. but it might work for cleaning to)

 

[etherealgoddess]

Y'all are probably familiar with the feeling of constant exhaustion. I've been depressed for six years and i can't do anything at home due to my lethargic body, it's really unfair for the people that lives with me. If you feel the same, do you guys overcome this feeling somehow? How do you keep your house clean and smelling nice being really depressive?

Start slow. Create habits over time. Usually, I'll try to make an anchor and then do the task. For example: "Whenever I wake up, I will brush my teeth." You're anchored to waking up. Every time you wake up, you want to immediately go and do this habit. Then go and brush your teeth.

Please, don't rush yourself. Take your time. If brushing your teeth is the only thing you did that day, AWESOME. Because you're doing something you're not used to doing, your body feels very uncomfortable. You don't want to do too many uncomfortable things because it will be so easy to slip back into depression and consider yourself a failure when actually, we have to rely on our internal body system that hates change. Just brush your teeth in the morning once. That's it. Do that for three days. Then after that, you can brush your teeth in the morning and the night. Feel like the thing you're doing is a SLIGHT challenge. Over time, you pushing yourself into new habits will become easier and easier because your body will get used to being uncomfortable too. You're actually improving the skill of willpower as you do it. It just gets better and better over time. Do one thing at a time. Do not rush into it all at once. Habits are using the systems in your body to make your life easier, not harder.

reward system
- ive been using habitica
- STICKERS!!! that might just be me though
- a break between rooms "ok i deserve to sit and have a cookie then go back"

different techniques
- divide a room into 1/4 and clean one at a time
- pick a space or item at a time (desk, dirty laundry)
- switch (grab something that belongs in another part of the room/house and bring it there. then grab something from there and bring it to its section/spot
- a check list for each room (this is something i used more for self care. a list to brush my teeth and whatnot in the bathroom, a list to get dressed make bed in the bedroom. but it might work for cleaning to)

I DO ALL OF THESE except the reward system.

 

[penguinl0v3s]

I find that there's a mental hurdle of how to start, because thinking about the task in itself causes exhaustion. But then in practice, it is less physically exhausting than your brain imagines it to be. I always wire myself on substances, so if it were me I would take a caffeine pill or prescription stimulant before starting. Try to stop imagining doing the task the entire way, and tell yourself that you can stop whenever you want. Usually once you start something, you're less inclined to stop.