Cleaning Hacks for Low Mental Health Days

If you have a mental health problem or physical difficulties then you probably already know that some days can be an absolute battle. It’s just part of the package - if you’re having a bad mental health day then it’s incredibly difficult to do your normal, every day tasks. You find yourself with zero energy and you can barely look after yourself, never mind your home.

But it’s scientifically proven that being in a clean environment can boost your mental health and give you a bit of the old serotonin, which is a grand reason to do a bit of cleaning. If you’re reading this post then the chances are you’re already faced with a seemingly insurmountable cleaning challenge, but it’s ok because I’ve been there, done that, and gained a few helpful hints along the way. I know that concentration and focus can also be an issue to some, so I’ve kept this as concise as possible.

1. Clean as you go. So if you’re cooking, wash the pots while you’re waiting for the microwave and put back whatever you’ve been using as soon as you’re done with it. If you get in to the habit then it will be much easier because it will mean you have less cleaning to do. Think of it as a preemptive ninja cleaning strike.

2. Set reasonable goals. If you set the bar too high you might fail and feel even worse than before. Check out the S.M.A.R.T goals method to get help with actionable goal making.

3. 3 MITs, A.K.A your three most important tasks of the day. Choose which three things you have to do today and aim to achieve them. This keeps your to do list short, anything else you want to add to your daily goals comes under the ‘try to do list’. It doesn’t matter how crappy you feel, if you’ve completed your three important tasks then you’ve succeeded with your day and any added achievements are bonuses.

4. Apps can help you encourage or bully yourself in to doing stuff. My favourite apps are Habitica which is a retro looking RPG style habit tracker and to do list that lets you build a character and level up in the game and real life, and Carrot, a sassy robot who will call you names and shout at you until you do what you need to do.

5. Delegate tasks where possible because it’s totally ok to ask for help. If you’re not feeling up to a load of challenges then ask others for help and get them to take on some of your tasks. People would rather you ask for help than suffer, so reach out to family and friends.

6. Go easy on yourself and try to be encouraging - talk to yourself as you would a child and be lavish in your praise. Even if you only manage to do one thing, as long as you do a little something more than nothing you’re making progress. You’ll do better tomorrow.

7. Break down tasks, it’ll make your to do list look longer but it will give you an actionable plan consisting of small, easy steps.

8. Pomodoros are a cool way of timing yourself and giving yourself motivation. You just focus on one thing for 25 minutes and take a five minute break. You can read more about them here.

9. Rituals are a fun and personal way to inspire you and help you love your home every day. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate gesture, it could be opening all the windows in your house as soon as you wake up so that you can take a few deep, calming breaths, or lighting some incense or candles.

10. Think about efficiency while you clean and try to multi task, for example you could clean the shower while you’re in there washing.

11. Sit down cleaning is my personal favourite because I invented it and I’m bias. Basically you choose a spot, sit down and you only need to clean what you can reach. I find that this motivates me a bit more because I like to play a silly game while I do it where I try to reach a little further. So if I’m sat in a chair, I’ll try and plank across the floor, keeping my feet on the chair to try and clean a little further. I’m unhealthy and I can’t plank for long, but I also pick things up with my feet and other dumb stuff so it turns in to a ‘floor is lava’ type game. Yes, I’m a 33 year old mother; but got damn that Mary Poppins bitch was right when she said turn a job in to a game.

12. Paper plates might seem wasteful but they are an absolute godsend when you’re in a crisis. Why make more mess every mealtime when you’re already finding it hard to keep up with the dishes? Just get paper plates and bin them afterwards.

13. Buy a packet of baby wipes and keep them close by! Not only are they great for cleaning yourself with if you need to, they can also be used for a wide variety of cleaning tasks. It’ll greatly reduce the amount of cleaning tools you have to get out, use and subsequently put back.

14. Scissors are an all-purpose kitchen item and will reduce the amount of fiddly utensils that will need to be washed. Need to dice a chicken breast? Whack a fork in it and chop it up with the scissors for a hands-free method. Need to slice a pizza? Kitchen scissors.

15. The just one box rule is also really handy to utilise - choose a smallish sized box and fill it up with stuff that needs cleaning. Don’t look or organise just yet, just scoop it up and dump it in until it’s full. Now go sit down and work through the box, throwing away rubbish and putting things away. All you have to do, all you need to focus on, is cleaning out this one box.

16. Pavlov yourself whenever you cross a goal off your list or do something you needed to do. Just choose a small treat to reward yourself with, it could be 5 minutes playing a game, a piece of chocolate or anything that makes you feel good.

17. Out of sight out of mind may seem like a dumb idea, but if you pair it with something like the one box rule it can be really useful. Just push all the crap to one side, hide it in drawers and cupboards and sweep it under the rug to deal with on another day when you’re feeling a bit better.

18. Clean a dish instead of taking a new one, this will also help keep your mountain of dirty dishes under control. Try to use the same plates and cutlery for each meal, then you only have to wash one set of dishes when needed.

19. Get blinkered vision when you clean so that nothing else matters. Just concentrate on one task with all your heart for now. Try using the Pomodoro method or the one box rule to break your tasks in to smaller chunks.

20. If you’re struggling to get up and move right away then why not find something inspirational about cleaning and psych yourself up for the task? I’m particularly fond of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.

21. I also get kicks out of imagining an internal sports commentary happening as I clean. I imagine two sports commentators giving a enthusiastic play-by-play of my cleaning.

“Well Steve, we really didn’t think this girl was going to get out of bed today but now she’s on to the vacuuming!” “Yes, Dale, and she’s doing it with perfect form! Such finesse! She’s a true athlete alright and she’s been training for this day for weeks!”

22. Have one clean space at all times. Even if it’s just a box room or a corner of a room, just somewhere to retreat to when you’re really bad. It really will help to boost your mood.

I hope you find something on this list helpful! In case no one has told you today: I am so proud of you, you are doing a great job, it’s ok, you’ve got this. And anything you don’t got will keep until tomorrow. You’re doing really well!