Unfuck Your Habitat

goldenadj:

unfuckyourhabitat:

deliciouskaek:

unfuckyourhabitat:

1. 20 minutes is not a long time. Marathon cleaning sessions, while satisfying, are exhausting and make you never want to clean ever again. 20 minutes at a time, once or a few times a day, is a sustainable way of keeping your habitat unfucked.
2. PUT IT AWAY. Probably 75% of our mess is made up of things we didn’t put away. Whether it belongs in a drawer, in the closet, in the trash, or in the cabinet, make sure it finds its way home. This is critically important in two areas, especially: laundry and the dishes. Doing laundry and doing the dishes are not difficult tasks, but most of us give up before the “putting it away” step. Don’t. As soon as it’s done, everything goes back to its home.
3. Most of the rest of our mess is because we have too much stuff and not enough places to put it. There are two solutions: less stuff, or more storage. Less stuff is, in the long run, almost always the better solution.
4. GET OFF YOUR ASS. Look, housework is a pain in the ass, and it’s rarely fun. No one is disputing that, but it isn’t hard. What is hard is overcoming your own lack of motivation to just get up and do something. Anything.
5. When your flat surfaces are clear, you feel like you’re making serious progress. Counters, tables, dressers, nightstands, etc. Try it.
6. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO UNFUCK EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE. In fact, you shouldn’t. That’s how burnout happens. One thing at a time.
7. TAKE BREAKS. It’s important for your state of mind. You can integrate cleaning into everything else you do. It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.
8. You can only change your own habits. If you’re dealing with roommates or spouses or kids or parents who aren’t on board, the best you can do is tell them what you’re doing (trying to keep ahead of the mess), and ask them to help to not make it worse. Getting passive-aggressive or resentful because other people aren’t playing along only hurts you, and it’s not good for your brain.
9. A little effort now saves you a lot of work in the long run. That’s why I advocate getting your stuff together at night for the next morning. That’s why I like dumping some cleaner in the toilet or tub or sink and letting it start to work while I do something else. That’s why taking the extra five seconds to wash your fork or put it in the dishwasher will always be a good idea, because it’ll stop Dish Mountain before it starts.
10. STOP MAKING EXCUSES. Yes, yes, you have a million valid reasons why your mess has taken over. But I refuse to believe that you can’t spare 20 minutes, once a day, toward improving where you live. If you’re still making excuses, you don’t really want to do it. If you realize that 20 minutes is really no big deal, I can pretty much promise that things will get drastically better pretty quickly.

the blamey, guilt-trippy attitude in this post is fucking awful.

there are other reasons people can’t take care of shit like this.

Yes, like depression, physical disabilities, mental illness, working two jobs, taking care of children or elderly relatives, living with a hoarder, being a hoarder, never having learned the skills to do housework, feeling overwhelmed by your environment, being exhausted, being sick, and any number of other factors. We talk about all of that. In great detail. Almost every day. I’m sorry you don’t approve of the tone and content of the post. Not every blog is for everyone. Enjoy your day.

“I’m sorry you don’t approve of the tone and content of the post” is a textbook non-apology!

i follow your blog, and i know you mention potential barriers to unfucking, but rather than jumping down deliciouskaek’s throat and blaming them for pointing out the shaming tone of your original post, why not take a step back to reevaluate? y’all post some useful information and purport to want to help all sorts of people make their living spaces more orderly, so why not use this as an opportunity to make your blog more inclusive rather than saying “not every blog is for everyone”?

I’m sorry. I’ll try harder to be more inclusive in the future.