Help Cleaning room as someone whos mentally ill and depressed.

[cylus46]

My room is getting pretty fucking bad now lol. I keep telling myself "I want to clean" "I'm gonna clean it tomorrow" "I have to stop being such a fucking bum and clean my room already" then I either just turn my pc on and turn my brain off as I watch or play a game, or collapse onto my bed feeling hundreds of pounds heavier then I really am.

Hell I can drag myself to the gym but can't get the motivation to clean my fucking room. It's getting pretty bad now, I have protien shake bottles, paper plates, and more. What made me realize I need to atleast ask for advice is the roting banana peel sitting on my desk (I know wtf..) I threw that out but anyways...

Any tips on getting the motivation or atleast forcing myself to clean this god forsaken fucking room? Because not only do I feel like a depressed sack of shit but I feel embarrassed that as a 20 year old i can't even clean my own shitty room :(

 

[ma0]

If you want, I can DM you every hour telling you to clean your fucking pigsty of a room.

Starting tomorrow tho, it's like 5am for me and I'm absolutely knackered...

 

[Jadeith]

You can try to "split" and make check board. What do i mean by that:
-sit comfy in your gaming chair
-get your phone and download ANY app that allows you making a list with check boxes. Simplest planner or task manager will do.
-take a look around
-make a list of actions you need to perform to clean your room. Not just "clean my room". More like: "sort papers", "remove dirty clothes", "throw bottles out".
Basically split your task, which is rn overwhelming as a whole, into smaller, manageable pieces.
-pick up one task, do it, and check it on the list
-rest tiny bit, even if task seemed insignificant
-perform another task

That way you cut impossible task into possible pieces. And you can monitor your progress

 

[Crematoryy]

My room is getting pretty fucking bad now lol. I keep telling myself "I want to clean" "I'm gonna clean it tomorrow" "I have to stop being such a fucking bum and clean my room already" then I either just turn my pc on and turn my brain off as I watch or play a game, or collapse onto my bed feeling hundreds of pounds heavier then I really am.

Hell I can drag myself to the gym but can't get the motivation to clean my fucking room. It's getting pretty bad now, I have protien shake bottles, paper plates, and more. What made me realize I need to atleast ask for advice is the roting banana peel sitting on my desk (I know wtf..) I threw that out but anyways...

Any tips on getting the motivation or atleast forcing myself to clean this god forsaken fucking room? Because not only do I feel like a depressed sack of shit but I feel embarrassed that as a 20 year old i can't even clean my own shitty room :(

You probably have neurasthenia and your dopamine neuroreceptors are damaged by hyperstimulation. Video games, masturbation, unhealthy food destroy your motivation. You will feel tired but the tiredness does not go away even if you rest.

I spent five years in my room as a Hikikomori. My house was a dump, where insects thrived. I even got sick from mosquito bites. (Pay attention to your home environment as it reflects the inside of your mind)

I was able to slowly clean my house only after a whole year. I can say that the worst is over.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm terrible at cleaning too. For me, this helps:

Put something on in the background- music, a film, a podcast.

Break it down into smaller chunks. Even if you just tidy one area, or hoover, or get rid of the rubbish- that's still progress. Maybe don't tell yourself you need to tackle the whole lot. Do a little bit and, see how you feel after that- whether you want to continue.

Have 'must-do's' set in your mind as a minium to get done. I must at least get rid of all the empty bottles today- without fail.

Use your games as a kind of reward. Tell yourself you can play them but, only after 15, 30, 60 mins of tidying- or whatever.

If you want to make a reasonable effort at it, put a film you know well on (so you'll be listening to it rather than watching it) and tell yourself- you can't stop until the film is over.

Tell yourself that tidying up is a part of your job/ school work. So- less optional.

Plus, know that you're not alone in hating or struggling with it. Lots of us here likely feel the same.

 

[roommate]

A to-do list helped for me

 

[pissedchicken]

Have you ever looked into the possibility of having adhd? Executive disfunction is a big part of it and there's a lot of studies that show that people with adhd can be misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety. Just a thought.

 

[GlassMoon]

I feel the same way often. I fear that I won't get it done, or stop halfway through, mostly due to burnout. It was easier when I said: "I'll clean up thoroughly from left to right, top to bottom for 20 minutes." Then I made sure to put everything in the right places with reasonable effort (like going to the basement to put a screwdriver to its designated place). For things that I was unsure about, I put them all in a box to find a place for them later. In this way, having spent the originally assigned time was a success for me, even if I had cleaned only a small fraction of the room.

This is based on the helpful Pomodoro technique, where you work for 20 minutes or whatever time you allot for it, and then take a break. But it is important to also take a break when you feel like you could go on - the brain might get afraid you'll not follow up on your promises. I used tally marks to track how many "Pomodoros" I had already successfully applied on a task.

Another trick for when you don't know where to start (due to decision fatigue) is to write down some tasks and then use a dice to determine the first task.

Also I liked this quote: "Procrastination is not a time management problem, but an emotion regulation problem." This is clearly the case for me due to my missing self-trust.

When things got really bad, I set up a chat with ChatGPT and asked it to enforce an order of tasks on me, or to pick the next task. Writing things down this way helped me get some structure into it, even when "fear of making a list" kicked in. I also reasoned with it whether taking a break now to go run errands now would be helpful or more procrastination. That helped against the feeling "I again did not do what I intended." after returning from the interruption.

I hope you find a way to ease into the task, and find a way to break it down!

 

[roommate]

Honestly in my country you can just ask help from the local goverment if you are doing that bad

 

[kitchenwindow197]

Whenever i get like this i usually procrastinate about it for a good few hours and then by a certain time i force myself to put my phone down, turn on some music and start cleaning. Its so hard to start but once you get going you might enjoy it, just think about how nice it will be to shower after youre done cleaning and come back to a completely clean room and relax. I used this technique for a long time and now i always keep my room clean purely for the satisfaction of never having to go back to it smelling or having stuff all over the floor

 

[always_sad]

I love cleaning. I wish I could clean your room.
You don't have to clean it all in one go. Just do one stept at a time. Put a show or music in background so cleaning isn't too boring.
First, you can just collect trash like empty bottles and food wrappings. Then you can start working on decluttering. Group things so it's not too overwhelming. Get a bin for dirty clothes, a bin for electronics, a bin for books and papers, a bin for things you want to donate or sell. Once decluttering is done you can put things back where they belong (for eg. important papers and documents should be kept in a separate drawer so you don't lose them again.
Then you can clean surfaces with a wet cloth (from top to bottom).
Vacuuming and mopping floors is the last step of cleaning
Watch cleaning and decluttering videos on youtube for motivation. It's okay to spend just 15-30 minutes a day on cleaning. Your room will be much cleaner in a week.

 

[cylus46]

You probably have neurasthenia and your dopamine neuroreceptors are damaged by hyperstimulation. Video games, masturbation, unhealthy food destroy your motivation. You will feel tired but the tiredness does not go away even if you rest.

I spent five years in my room as a Hikikomori. My house was a dump, where insects thrived. I even got sick from mosquito bites. (Pay attention to your home environment as it reflects the inside of your mind)

I was able to slowly clean my house only after a whole year. I can say that the worst is over.

I hardly even play much video games anymore. But there definitely was a point where I did play a lot of it. Hopefully this isn't TMI but I only occasionally partake in stroking the chicken and I definitely don't eat the most healthy food which most people don't believe because I'm jacked but it's true. I just don't know what to do i feel trapped in a cycle of feeling depressed and suicidal then that kills my will to do anything then I don't do anything then that makes me more sad, and then my room becomes a mess and then i feel embarrassed and I feel like a worthless bum, making all my bad feelings and thoughts worse and reinforcing them.

I do appreciate the responses on here and I will probably try to take some of the advice.

I'm terrible at cleaning too. For me, this helps:

Put something on in the background- music, a film, a podcast.

Break it down into smaller chunks. Even if you just tidy one area, or hoover, or get rid of the rubbish- that's still progress. Maybe don't tell yourself you need to tackle the whole lot. Do a little bit and, see how you feel after that- whether you want to continue.

Have 'must-do's' set in your mind as a minium to get done. I must at least get rid of all the empty bottles today- without fail.

Use your games as a kind of reward. Tell yourself you can play them but, only after 15, 30, 60 mins of tidying- or whatever.

If you want to make a reasonable effort at it, put a film you know well on (so you'll be listening to it rather than watching it) and tell yourself- you can't stop until the film is over.

Tell yourself that tidying up is a part of your job/ school work. So- less optional.

Plus, know that you're not alone in hating or struggling with it. Lots of us here likely feel the same.

I love music so that might help :)

Have you ever looked into the possibility of having adhd? Executive disfunction is a big part of it and there's a lot of studies that show that people with adhd can be misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety. Just a thought.

I have been diagnosed with adhd and my mom tried medication and apparently I kept threatening to take my own life when I was on it (i was 6 at the time but I lowkey don't remember much from that time aside from feeling numb and focused all the time) but recently I lashed out and acted erratically infront of my mom. I talked to someone orginally and based off the little I told them they theorized it may be something more then adhd but I never went back for a follow up. Mom hardly cares aboht mental health and I was too busy digging myself into work college and the gym.

I should definitely go back to reevaluate myself because I'm getting pretty bad mentally now.

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

1) Break it up in small parts in the beginning. Have one small goal, and complete it to develop even a small sense of accomplishment. Then build on this small win.

2) Have the TV or something interesting on Youtube to distract you from the mundane nature of it. Or listen to your favorite music on earphones.

3) Wear a pair of shoes while you're cleaning. Obviously a clean pair that you have never worn outside if possible. Wearing shoes makes you feel like you have to be standing and moving. And might prevent the urge to sit down and stagnate.

4) Move your chair to another room if you think it will be too tempting. Maybe even go as far as putting the power cord of your PC somewhere very inconvenient to access until you are done cleaning. Install app lockers on your phone to prevent you from using addictive apps at certain times.

5) Caffeinate and take a showeer to wake yourself up beforehand.

Good luck. Dig deep and get this done, my friend.

 

[sevennn]

so idk. i have adhdh and heres how i do it. i first just take a trash bag and throw the garbage in the room away. then take all the dishes to the kitchen. then separate the room like table/bed/closet/floor. and do each section. usually start with the clothes like closet and bed (where i have a bunch of clothes laying usually) fold all that. make the bed. then take all random crap around and put it on the bed and slowly clean the other sections of the room. cus its nice to have a clean space somewhere its easier to put all the mess from the table on the bed and then slowly clean the table you know. boxes are good. just random boxes to throw stuff in while you clean. and i separate in my head "thoroughly cleaning" (which is like sorting documents and decluttering the closet) and "quick cleaning" (which just means you neatly fold everything and stack everything so it looks good) and i usually do the latter first. cus then it gets overwhelming if you do them together. theres an app called TODY. its really good. you should get it. then the last bits would be the floor and wiping surfaces and stuff. yeah. idk if its helpful (and also if you can sleep in some other room while you clean you can be doing it at your own slow pace. which helps. cus the bed might get cluttered and you wont have anywhere to sleep lol)