Watched an interesting YouTube video the other day from professional cleaning lady (I think she might actually go by "the cleaning lady") who was talking about depression and cleaning. It got me thinking about the subject. I think it's so important to be living in a decently clean and tidy space when you're depressed, because your environment does influence your mood. Yet, depression sometimes makes it hard or impossible to clean. I agree with her that you should never feel bad about hiring someone to clean. But this isn't within everyone's financial means.
My best friend (who died a few years ago at age 36) could not clean his place due to mental and physical illness. It was to the point of being unsanitary and he didn't feel like he could prepare food safely in his kitchen etc. He had been a bit of a hoarder and had a huge amount of junk he needed to get rid of. The problem was that I live far away from him and couldn't get there to help. Also, he had no other friends/family who could help, and he was on disability so had no spare money. Finally, a fundraiser gave him enough for junk removal, and for his birthday I was able to pay for a cleaning service so the place was finally clean and sanitary. He only lived another month, but I know it meant a lot to him and also he would have been embarrassed if his landlord had seen the place so dirty after his death. I know it sounds stupid but I was comforted that he lived in better surroundings for the last weeks of his life, and that his landlord would not think badly of him after he died. Also, he had a long-distance friend who was able to visit him at Christmas shortly before he died, and he felt good about the place being clean when his friend stayed over.
I often have trouble cleaning my own place even though I have no physical illness. One thing that helps me is to set a timer for ten minutes and clean for that amount of time. Even five minutes. I sometimes also try to clean 1 thing per day, like scrub the bathtub and that's it. It also helps if I do one thing in the morning, like empty and refill the dishwasher.
For personal care, I try to keep my bathroom clean even if the rest of the apartment is dirty. For a shower I like to lay out clean towels and clothes.
Anyone else have comments/suggestions on this issue?
My best friend (who died a few years ago at age 36) could not clean his place due to mental and physical illness. It was to the point of being unsanitary and he didn't feel like he could prepare food safely in his kitchen etc. He had been a bit of a hoarder and had a huge amount of junk he needed to get rid of. The problem was that I live far away from him and couldn't get there to help. Also, he had no other friends/family who could help, and he was on disability so had no spare money. Finally, a fundraiser gave him enough for junk removal, and for his birthday I was able to pay for a cleaning service so the place was finally clean and sanitary. He only lived another month, but I know it meant a lot to him and also he would have been embarrassed if his landlord had seen the place so dirty after his death. I know it sounds stupid but I was comforted that he lived in better surroundings for the last weeks of his life, and that his landlord would not think badly of him after he died. Also, he had a long-distance friend who was able to visit him at Christmas shortly before he died, and he felt good about the place being clean when his friend stayed over.
I often have trouble cleaning my own place even though I have no physical illness. One thing that helps me is to set a timer for ten minutes and clean for that amount of time. Even five minutes. I sometimes also try to clean 1 thing per day, like scrub the bathtub and that's it. It also helps if I do one thing in the morning, like empty and refill the dishwasher.
For personal care, I try to keep my bathroom clean even if the rest of the apartment is dirty. For a shower I like to lay out clean towels and clothes.
Anyone else have comments/suggestions on this issue?
