About to have my slovenly home exposed!

[Herself]

I have so much trouble getting motivated to clean, my home is an absolute pig sty. There is trash everywhere. I literally spend all of my time on my bed, even going so far as to put a dorm fridge in here to avoid going to the kitchen.

Got home today to find a notice that the plumbing is being redone in my building (condo). First plumbers, then drywallers, then a county inspector. In twelve days! They need access to the laundry room, kitchen, bathroom, and main bedroom! Oh my god! I might be able to get a day off work next week, but otherwise that leaves me only the weekends to really clean up. I'm so scared!

[fifthsonata]

Why not hire a housecleaner?

You could find someone on Craigslist, or hire a pro. Seriously - I actually did that for others for awhile when I was in grad school. I advertised on Craigslist, and I was a hell of a lot cheaper than a professional company.

Of course, meet them first to get trust, I don't know where you live - so take precautions.

DO NOT worry about having a clean house for the cleaners. Seriously - it's why they're there. To clean. When I did it, they'd apologize for the mess - I'd always say "It's not my place to judge. You're giving me work, so I don't care at all. I've seen worse!" (seriously, I've cleaned for a landlord who rented to college students. you can't imagine what I've seen! lol)

[weary]

I can relate to that anxiety - my wife is "organizationally challenged" to be polite, and there were times in the past where our apartment was bordering on hoarder territory, and when we needed something fixed or when we were going to move and they were going to show the apartment, it was really scary. But at the same time, it doesn't make you a bad person. I hope that you can get through this anxious situation, and I hope in the long run you can learn a way to be compassionate enough to yourself to figure out a way out of the (literal as well as figurative) mess so you aren't weighed down by it anymore.

[Herself]

Well, I mostly did it!

The first weekend, I took out trash, then would get overwhelmed and take a nap. Called the plumbers to make arrangements and discovered that they needed access to EVERY SINGLE ROOM (bottom floor of the building), which meant no hiding junk in the spare room after all! Which sucked because I discovered that one of the cats had been pooping on the carpet in there! Then the toilet stopped refilling, then wouldn't flush properly, then totally overflowed! I mean, COME ON!!!!

Took out more trash every day during the week, and was able to take Thursday and Friday off from work. I cleaned and cleaned, but by Friday it was obvious that there was too much stuff for me to physically move alone. I gave in and called my dad and younger brother, who offered to come Sunday. They plowed thru the place and didn't make any snide comments or anything! We completely filled a Dumpster and had to go to the local dump to get rid of the rest.

Finally, I went to bed at 1:30 on Monday morning, and woke up early enough to get out before the plumbers arrived at 8 a.m. (yeah, I'm too ashamed to face them). It's not perfect, but it's done! I have a clean kitchen for the first time in months! I could do that thing...cooking! You can walk thru the rooms!

Hopefully, the sense of accomplishment and allure of a clean home will stick and motivate me to keep the place clean in the future. And thanks to Weary for the encouragement. I know you're going through your own issues.

[Stina]

Herself -

Congratulations on cleaning up! I am jealous.