Unfuck Your Habitat

Terrifying motivation for lazy people with messy homes

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I’m not a neat person, and I never have been. It reached it’s peak the last place we lived, which started to border on some Hoarders level shit, though I didn’t realize just how bad it was until we moved.

This apartment started to go that way. Like so many who participate in Unfuck Your Habitat, I struggle with depression, with a side of ADD. I don’t always do the daily challenges. My 20/10s often look more like 30/120s. But I started when UfYH started, and month by month, it’s gotten better.

Forcing myself to host events has helped. Sure, they mean marathons of 20/10s, but they also provided motivation I couldn’t find on my own. New Year’s Eve celebrations kicked off the first round of culling our crap and making our living room actually livable, and getting MiniKat’s room in order so people could comfortably sleep in there. Hosting Easter dinner meant the living room, dining room, and kitchen all had to be usable spaces, to allow 7 people to eat, mingle, and have fun. That meant clearing out a backlog of laundry over a year old (yes, it was still in baskets from our old place). The desk had to be cleared to act as a buffet, and shelves put in to house all the craft stuff. The storage unit had to be organized so seldom used items could get the hell out.

Now, I’m thisclose. Sure, there’s clutter, and dishes in the sink. But there’s not trash. There are no piles of shit laying about with no home, except in our bedroom. All the rest could be picked up and scrubbed down in half a day, but the bedroom houses the piled up laundry. So, that’s what I’m doing today. The clothes that don’t fit, but I’m not ready to get rid of (one size too small, work clothes, etc.) have been moved to the storage unit and/or MiniKat’s closet. The laundry is sorted, with baskets for donation, and room in my dressers and closet for everything else.

I suspect I’ll always be thisclose. There will always been something that needs to be done. But personally, I’d rather be perpetually thisclose, than “OH MY GOD HOW CAN YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?” Thank you, POM and UfYH, for all the work you put into giving folks the tools to have livable homes. I know I’m not the only one who has benefited so much from your terrifying motivation.