I’m going to put on some Sleep Token (bc OBSESSED!!!), and challenge myself to get all the random stuff off the top of my keyboard put away, and put the tote that’s just sitting in the middle of the floor back where it goes, which means cleaning off all of the stuff on top of it. We’ll see how it goes! (Not that y’all needed or wanted to know all of that, lol)
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Omg, that’s literally one of my favorite emojis!!! 
And yeah, I was told te same thing by my best friends when I was seven, after spending all morning making my room super nice just for them. It broke my heart. I hope you are ok too!
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As someone with pretty bad ADHD, It helps to reward myself after setting goals I can obtain. For example,
organise yarn: 10 minute break to do whatever I want. (Set an alarm for 10 minutes)
Make bed: eat a piece of candy
Pick up visible garbage: another break
Etc.
This helps me a lot because it makes me less overwhelmed and gives me time to relax while cleaning. It can also help if you learn to manage your time wisely and avoid distractions. Tell yourself that if anything comes up that isnt urgent, don’t stop cleaning because you KNOW that you will get sidetracked and you want to have a clean room. Its also good to set a routine for cleaning your room instead of doing it spontaniously. Or just putting things away as you use them, because you can avoid the whole situation that way.
You can do this! I believe in you! 
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Sleep token is fantastic BTW lol. Good luck!
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Well I wish you good luck!
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Don’t beat yourself up okay. What I usually do is put my headphones on and put them on noise cancelling so that way you won’t get distracted by other noises ( I usually put on white girl music cause that’s how I clean better
) if you have containers like really big ones try and put all of your crochet stuff in one and then in the other containers put things from other crafts. (it doesn’t have to be neat) You can put them in your closet or in a corner somewhere stacked up. The. You could make piles of things that are trash and stuff you need to put up and stuff you want to donate or smth. Then take a break and go eat something or go outside and stretch for like 10 or 15 minutes. Then go back and pick everything else up. I stuggle with ADHD as well so if u find something I focus on that and forget to clean my room but doing this usually helps.
Good luck
(sorry I can’t be much help)
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Please do not be so harsh to yourself you are not any of those things.
Think about the must do jobs for example bin day so empty your bin, wash day so pick up dirty clothes and place in wash hamper
Now do something you enjoy for ten minutes (set a timer)
Then the make life comfy for example sort my wool now you are ready to make a new project
Clear stuff off keyboard now you can catch up on ribblr (set a timer)
Please don’t be mean to yourself even when things don’t go to plan
Tomorrow is another day to try
Sending you hugs 
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You could set a timer for 15 minutes and clean until the timer goes off, then if you feel like you can still go, do another 15 minutes, and keep doing it until you don’t feel like it anymore.
Another way is that you could assign one specific area to clean for a day and a different one for the next, and keep going till your space is clean.
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Hello
First of all, I want to say: I have respect for sharing something like this with strangers, but certainly also with like-minded people.
I feel very similar to you. With two children and a husband who only knows about tidying up from watching, it’s truly a daily challenge. I’ve also given up on it and crochet excessively instead. It annoys me to no end that everything is flying around: dust, dirt, dog hair, candy wrappers, empty bottles, and dishes. Plus all the toys, because the children don’t have a children’s room yet in the house we moved into during the coronavirus pandemic. No structure has been introduced since we moved, and the chaos never seems to diminish. I (at 35) have to listen to all sorts of things from my parents about putting away laundry and cleaning…but I hate the chaos, the tidying up, the cleaning up after myself, and the constant complaining and yelling.
Hugs from the other side of the world
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Well, it has been an hour, and I have to stop bc I still have to take a shower and then help make dinner. Buuttttt…
In addition to cleaning off my keyboard and putting the tote (and items on top of said tote) away, I put several cakes of yarn away in drawers (not neatly, but that is for another day), put my loose knitting needles in a big, completely cleared about a four foot square of floor (a lot for me, bc you couldn’t even see the floor), put several other odds and ends away, and threw away several boxes and bags that I really shouldn’t have kept.
Not a lot, not even really enough to make a dent, but I feel like I have made a start, so I am happy!
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That sounds great.
And yes, the Smartphone is a major enemy of social humanity and sensible behavior. I’ve also bought a lot of transparent boxes with lids in which I plan to store my yarn. The collection now takes up about 3 cubic meters
and it needs to be properly organized soon. It’s really a dilemma, but a little bit every day is better than doing nothing at all.
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I do what my brain says to do. If I’m washing dishes and I remember that a load of clothes needs to be washed, I’ll stop dishes and go put the clothes in and go back to dishes. I get through a task by judging how much is left of the task, if I’m over half way through I finish it and if it was a big thing I play around the rest of the day.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, especially if others around you are. I haven’t been diagnosed with anything yet but having to run 10 other peoples lives and care for 20 + animals and two households I’ve learned that it’s ok to not get everything done in one day.
Set a timer and do all the easy things like throw all the trash away, or put all the dirty shirts in the laundry. Take a break and do something fun like watch a show or crochet something, even planning for a next project, or a nap.. those are amazing!!
Proud of you for asking for help, that’s a big step! 
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I think of it as “organizing” not cleaning, which makes it easier for me. Also maybe getting cute things to make organizing easier ( like colorful crates or smth), but idk 
. Good luck!
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Love LOVE LOVE this answer from @puffzella and wholeheartedly agree!!
That paralysis is so real and can be SO discouraging (or glitching like a robot with too many orders inputted and no clue where to start so ya do the couple steps this way, then back, then turn and take a step that way, then back and turn again… not a fun “dance”)
Appreciating the manageable steps Puffzella gave, and would suggest adding an additional box to Step 3 for those “…idk… keep?” things.
Date the box when ya close it, and stuff it away somewhere. In 6mo or a year/two when you come across the box again, if you haven’t needed anything out of it, safe to say it can all go 
Tax related papers are good to keep for 7 years (if you’re in the USA), and medical related papers can be good to keep for as long as you have your body. Any other papers that don’t have specific emotional attachment can usually go (this is where a LOT of my clutter tended to come from over the years )
Proud of you, @CrochetCritters04 , for breaking through and seeking counsel from others who can relate!! Your space didn’t get to this point in one day, and it is a wonderful idea to remind yourself as often as necessary that it can and WILL take time to transform it to the space you want it to be.
Be kind to you, please, and you’ve got a whole cheerleading squad here if you need more encouragement or motivation
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That’s huge!! Way to go!!
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Well, when I need to clean my room, usually I have a vision. A vision of how much bigger and cleaner it will feel once I’m done. I often start with the floor, and build upwards. My room is also a mess, so I feel like it would be a good idea to clean it. I bet you will feel so much relief once you do it. I believe in you!
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I would start with making your bed it always puts me in a right state of mind to clean other things. I hope this helps
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SLEEP TOKEN!!! HECK YEAH!
I’d say the same as everybody else. Start with one thing a day and make sure that thing stays clean/done for the rest of the day. The next day, add another thing, and re-clean whatever you did the past day(s) if it got dirty again. It’s a slow build, but it’s much easier to do a little at a time and not get overwhelmed
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While im not diagnosed with anything, I’ve done a screening test and I’m VERY likely neurodivergent.
I find that cleaning one category of items actually works better than one section of a room. Idk, like pick up all the clothes, works better than clean the desk. It just makes it seem more manageable.
Sometimes I also do something that seems like it would be less helpful, but it totally works: multitasking. I bring my dog into the room and play with her while using the other hand to clean, somehow it works so well I don’t even understand.
Even just having the dog there works sometimes. I struggle with body doubling with humans, but dogs work so well.
However, If im struggling to begin the task, inviting a friend over is just about the best motivation. Ask them to come over in the afternoon and speed clean your room at the last second, always works a charm.
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i’m really happy to see that you felt comfortable enough to reach out and ask for help!! it’s always very scary and vulnerable to admit that you struggle with something. i also really struggle with cleaning — im autistic, disabled, and i grew up in a hoarded home. i only moved out a few years ago, so im still struggling with like 22 years of hoarding being normal to me. on the contrary, my spouse grew up in a home where daily cleaning was the norm and everything had a place. this has caused a lot of stress for both of us now that we live on our own, even 2.5 years down the line. i’m still learning how to clean and everything has been a complete mess since we moved into our new apartment almost 2 months ago (think things still strewn on the floor, in boxes, etc).
i just want to say that having a neurodivergency that results in struggles with executive functioning and cleaning is not a failure, nor does it make you lazy!! you have a completely valid struggle!!
here are some tips that help me a bit:
- asking for guidance/looking it up (i usually ask my spouse what is messy and needs to be cleaned. in a hoarder home, there was never any cleaning, so i truly don’t know what needs to be done. you can also look up cleaning checklists on google! i like looking up daily/weekly/monthly/yearly checklists on google images!)
- just dedicate 30 minutes (i had a therapist give me this advice. any longer than 30 minutes and i start to get completely paralyzed and overwhelmed startling at the mess around me. just set a timer for 30 minutes, put some music on ((if you want to)), and clean until the alarm goes off. doesn’t matter how much or how little progress was made — stop after the 30 minutes. or, if you now feel like you’re on a roll, keep going! but just commit 30 minutes. that’s a lot easier than saying you’ll clean for hours.)
- pick one part to focus on (my spouse always likes to start with trash. just gather all of the trash first. then, pick a new thing. are there clothes all over the floor? work on putting clean clothes away and dirty ones into the hamper.)
- want to quickly tidy without organizing? have an “idk where this goes right now” box. (i do try to organize most things, but sometimes, i pick something up and i don’t have a dedicated place for it. so i just toss it into a box so the mess is still contained, and i can go back to it later when i have more energy to actually find a place for it)
- if you can, try to work together with someone. (my spouse and i have noticed that when we work together, more gets done. if you don’t have a partner, maybe you can ask a friend for help)
- take before and after photos, even if you just worked for 30 minutes! (this one is a major one for me. when i have to go on a cleaning spree, i start to feel like im just moving things from one place to the other and nothing is actually getting done. so, taking a photo before i start cleaning and then one after really helps me see that i actually made progress, no matter how minimal. it keeps the momentum going!)
i can’t think of any more tips right now, but hopefully others in the comments have provided good advice! (also sorry if there’s any repeat advice, i did not read the comments before i started typing 
)
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