Gaining the motivation to clean when depressed can feel like climbing a mountain. Getting support for depression and trying simple tasks can make daily life a little more manageable. In this article, we will talk about how to get motivated to clean when depressed.
Struggling with depression can be difficult to cope with in everyday life. Before worrying about cleaning make sure to gain support for the condition. There are many different options when recovering from depression.
- Tell someone-Telling a friend or family member can help, having someone to talk to can ease problems and make them feel more manageable. Being open can promote a sense of community- it may also turn out that friends or family share problems and have struggled with depression as well.
- See a therapist/counsellor-Speaking to a therapist can be imperative to recovery, speak to a GP about the best options or use google to search for appropriate therapists.
- Take medication-Many people take medication, and speak to a GP about the different options for depression.
- Find a hobby-Finding a hobby can help to ease depression as it can distract from problems and bring more joy to life. Hobbies that improve health such as playing sports. They are especially useful as they are not only fun but also improve health and fitness.
- Manage health-Managing food and exercise can help to ease depression. Making sure to get the correct vitamins, especially Vitamin D can help mood and energy levels. Try avoiding caffeine and unhealthy food that may increase depression and lower mood.
- Don’t worry about tasks that don’t feel manageable– When depressed cleaning can be hard. That’s okay. Don’t expect perfection, treat depression like a physical illness and set aside time to relax and recover before worrying about dirty dishes or unfolded clothes.
How To Get Motivated To Clean?
Getting the motivation to clean can be difficult and it’s good to take small but practical steps to complete tasks. There are different ways to increase motivation. From organizing and setting routines, managing expectations, making cleaning fun, and asking for help.
Set routines and manageable expectations.
- Have manageable expectations-When dealing with depression energy levels and motivation can be lower than usual. Having manageable expectations, for example not expecting the whole house to be spotless can help to feel less guilty about having a mess. This can also make tasks more manageable.
- Try to stay tidy throughout the week-Setting a time and date is great but trying to keep the house tidy throughout the week can make cleaning time a lot easier, this doesn’t mean completing in-depth cleaning. For example, hanging up clothes when getting changed or washing a dish as soon as a meal is finished.
- Keep cleaning supplies in the house and easy to reach-Having cleaning supplies in house stops procrastination and getting overwhelmed by the prospect of having to shop and clean. In addition, having them in any easily accessible location can provide motivation.
- Set a time and date to clean– this can be as much as an hour on a Sunday or 5 minutes after work. Try and stick to the same time and day as when struggling with depression, setting routines is highly beneficial to recovery. In addition to this, setting different days for different rooms can help to break cleaning up into manageable chunks.
- Make a list-Making a list of what needs cleaning is a great way to gain motivation. Ticking tasks off a list when completing them creates a sense of pride and achievement.
Don’t do it alone.
- Ask for help –there’s no shame in asking for help, even just asking someone to clean with can help to stay motivated. Having company also helps to pass the time and makes cleaning feel less like a chore.
- Hire someone-If cleaning becomes unmanageable or two overwhelming there is no shame in hiring a cleaner to help. This could be a short-term arrangement until the depression eases or could be something added to regular life for those who hate cleaning.
Keep it simple and add fun to cleaning.
- Complete easy tasks first-Completing easy and fast tasks can help to build confidence and self-pride. Try tasks such as folding clothes or throwing away trash. These can be easy tasks that can also make a difference to the look of the room and will feel like achievements.
- Fill a grocery bag with rubbish – Grocery bags are relatively small. But filling one with trash and taking it straight out will feel like a good achievement. Alternatively picking 15 things to throw away can be a good source of motivation and achievement. 15 pieces of trash don’t feel like much but finding the trash and completing this task is a great source of motivation.
- Listen to music while cleaning – Listening to music can increase motivation, and having a dance while cleaning makes the task more fun and quicker to complete. Playing an upbeat song can lift the mood, even if it’s for a few minutes.
- Have an incentive-Having a treat after completing work can be a great way to increase motivation. In addition, seeing the treat as a prize is a great way to be proud of achievements, improving self-pride. This could be someone as small as a box of chocolates or something more exciting like a takeaway or a new piece of clothing.
Getting motivated to clean will be overwhelming but following these tips may make it a bit more manageable. Going through these tips and trying them one by one can help you. It helps you find out which is the most appropriate to gain motivation while cleaning.
So how do you get motivated to clean when depressed
It may seem overwhelming to clean when depressed and this is perfectly natural. Following simple steps and asking for help can make cleaning a bit easier. When depressed looking after the home or ourselves can feel impossible. But this is okay, recovering is the most important thing.
Setting goals, and routines and making cleaning more fun can help to improve motivation when depressed.