strategies for cleaning a whole room?

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Im trying to clean the kitchen since 2 hours and 20 minutes, but have not done anything yet.
I am going from one cupboard to the next cupboard and look at it and look at the worktop and the sink and the floor and the window and the fridge and the oven and I get distracted by all the details, and my mind does not make up what to begin with and I start feeling exhausted and get into overload and need to go to sleep because of the overload.
Mostly I ignore cleaning except for the routine of filling the dishwasher (with noise-cannceling headphones as I get scared by the hard noise it makes), turning it on and making it empty later with headphones on again, because of the noise of putting dishes into a cupboard.
I do this once a day at around 6.30pm.
Has anyone a good strategy to keep a whole room clean?

work in sections

I have an strategy that I call 'localized chaos' ™

I use lots of deep trays and baskets, like those:

http://adorneventhire.com.au/wp-content ... eTray1.jpg

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/produc ... 821_S4.JPG

http://assets.tedcarter.co.uk/product_p ... ay-blk.jpg

One for spices, another one for drugs and medical stuff, another one for stationery, another one for socks, another one for scarfs and gloves and caps, another one for bills, another one for gym stuff, another one for cables and electronic stuff, and so...

Everything belongs to one of them. Everything has a place. But inside them, it's fully chaotic. Ordering it's quite easy, since I only must throw everything in the right box/tray/basket. It makes ordering very easy and quick. It's look fine (since you just see the box) and it's quite fast the find what you need.

I have a strategy that tends to work.

The first thing I do is get a garbage bag and walk around the room and throw away anything that is trash.

The next thing I do is get a laundry basket and walk around the room and put anything that doesn't belong in that room into the laundry basket.

Then I choose a corner, and a put away anything that is still out of place. I make a grid in my head and work through the grid. After I finish a "row" I move on to the next row until I have all out of place items put away.

Then, for the actual cleaning, it is best to start "high" and work your way to "low." So, for example, in a kitchen, you will want to clean counter tops before floors. That way, if crumbs get on your floor from your counter top, it won't matter, because you haven't swept or mopped yet. You can use your mental grid pattern to help you here, too.

I use the "tasks" function in my outlook calendar to "schedule" things like mopping the floor (which I do less frequently than sweeping), cleaning out the refrigerator, etc.

I personally clean the main floor of my home first. Then I take the basket of all the misplaced items upstairs to the bedrooms. I put the articles that belong in the rooms in the proper room before I start "cleaning" because that way, they are there when I get to the "put away everything that is out of place" part of the routine.

Another thing that I have found helpful is I have a caddy full of all of my different cleaning products that I bring from room to room with me. If I have to stop to go and get some kind of cleaning stuff, sometimes I don't start back up.

InThisTogether's post is very good. I will add a couple of things which I find helpful:

As an autistic person you probably have difficulties with motor planning, which means that your mind lacks the ability to automatically create a sequence of actions to carry out what you want to do and perform them (most NT's don't even have to think about this stuff, their brain just does it for them!). Add to that the tendency to get overwhelmed and distracted and you're stuck. You do need to split the work into sections, and then you may find it helps to make a list of the tasks you need to do. I make lists for everything, and I find them very reassuring.

So your list might read: sort kitchen cupboards, clean kitchen floor, do the dishes, clean kitchen sides, etc. Also, don't pressure yourself to do everything at once if you struggle to do that - it's counterproductive. Unless it's something urgent, just choose one or two things from the list and do them. Then cross them off your list (this is important as it gives you a sense of accomplishment). If you have enough momentum going to take on another task from the list, great! If not, accept that and take a break, and do the next one later or tomorrow. Believe it or not, you can actually get things done faster when you allow yourself to do less, because if you only have one small job ahead of you, you're less likely to get overwhelmed or procrastinate.

My way of cleaning a room is to move everything out of the room, vacuum or sweep the floor, and then move everything back in one item at a time, throwing away trash in the process.

Of course, this doesn't work as a daily cleaning method.

Id just move everything out of the room and work from the ground up.

Good tips here. It seems that the sense of overwhelming difficulty from any big task can be effectively managed through chunking tactics. Identify subgroups of tasks and then subdivide those until you have a short list of manageable actions, then tackle the next subgroup and so on until the whole thing is done.

This seems like one of the most effective approaches to cleaning, large projects at work, and any other big and complex activities at home....

I think the initial problem may be another example of the dreaded Executive Function problem, so the tactics you employ to deal with those issues in other areas should work on this as well.

i make a list of the first things i can Think of that need to be done and check it off.
i hate cleaning so i usually plan for two Three Days when i Clean my whole apartment.
i have Little stickers that says what all boxes shelf or Places should contain.
i make sure Everything is where it should be and the things that i need to throw out is thrown out.
if you start with putting everything where it need to be and throw away what you need to throw away and cleaning the thinsg on the list you get a good routine you can follow like the one i just said. After a while you get use to a certain ritual with what you choose to do with your room and it helps me most of the time. Hope this helps or at least inspire you

..oouppss i see other people have suggested about the same thing, well anyways. good luck..

Break it down into sections and clean each section. That's what I have to do.

I split the task into sections, either spatially or by the type of item that needs picking up, whichever makes more sense. For a kitchen, probably washing all dishes first, clearing away any papers lying around, organizing the cupboards one by one, wiping down all the surfaces (going around the room), sweeping and mopping last. I also find it less overwhelming to wash a lot of dishes if I divide it up by type of dish and do them in that order (silverware, glasses, misc., plates, bowls, pots & pans).

On the top shelves of my cupboards I like to keep things in baskets so I can just pull the whole basket out and look through it instead of trying to search for something 18 inches above my head.

Last edited by Nonperson on 24 Apr 2013, 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thank you for all your advices.
I will try to establish some of the strategies you suggest, but I need to read it a couple times again.
When I lived in semi-sheltered-housing (I do not now if this is the right phrase), I had or a room with a very tiny kitchen and a very tiny bathroom.
I had not much stuff and it was easier for me to clean, as I had not much stuff (almost nothing, but I feel better with almost nothing).
Now I ilfe in a relationship in a house and it is too much stuff around me and I get distracted all the time.
Though I have my own room, which is quite empty as I like it.
But still I have to take care of many rooms.
But I am on disability now and in the papers they sent me there was written, that you can have access to someone, who comes and clean the place and I qualify for that, but do not like having one people in my home, but I don't know maybe I should try it.

I have the same problem as the OP. I just keep looking at the mess and wonder where to start and realize that I haven't done anything but thinking for hours. I feel mentally exhausted and end up needing to sleep. That's why my place is a horrible mess at the moment.

Sorry, OP, I'm not giving you any advice, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm exactly the same. I guess other people have already given you enough advice, which may help me as well.

There's a webinar tomorrow that might help

http://www.additudemag.com/adhdblogs/29/10064.html

The only thing that works for me on complex projects (of any kind, not just cleaning), is to take just two "baby steps" at a time. Say to yourself, "What are the next two small things that I can do" and then do them. Rinse and repeat, until finished. I have used this strategy on fairly complex art projects where I was overwhelmed by trying to plan the whole thing out in the beginning. Good luck!

I got some good tips over the years from FlyLady.net

1) get three containers (bags, boxes, laundry baskets, etc and label them "Put Away" "Throw Away" and "Give Away)

2) get a kitchen timer and set it for a small amount of time that you can handle in one session (20 min?)

3) Start by the door and work the perimeter of the room until the timer goes off. Fill the three containers as you go.

4) Once the clutter is dealt with, then you have room to clean starting by the door and working around the perimeter.

Going around the perimeter solves the overwhelm problem. You can pick up where you left off for your next 20 min session. You will have a sense of progress as you deal with the full containers. While your house is never perfect, it will be pretty damn good