Overwhelmed by a messy house? This is a very real dilemma for many busy moms. Whether it’s toddlers that dump everything out as soon as you clean it up, teens who keep you running to all kinds of practices, depression, or maybe you’ve just never been great at the whole cleaning thing. I get it. Many of us have been there. I’ve been there more recently than you may think due to various life circumstances. The thought literally goes through your mind, “where do I even start”?

If you’ve been wondering how to start cleaning when you’re overwhelmed by your messy house, you’ve come to the right spot. I’m going to help you out so you don’t have to work quite so hard. I’ll help you relieve some of the pressure, take a deep breath, and take control of your messy house.

5 Steps to Cleaning Your Messy House

1. Take control of your messy house

The first step to start cleaning your house is to take control of your messy house and don’t let it control you. When your home controls you it makes you feel paralyzed. You walk in the door, immediately become overwhelmed by the mess you see, and then you don’t even know how to start cleaning. Often times this leads to not doing anything at all. Or you try to clean something but never feel like you actually make any headway. This is letting your home control you.

So how do you take control of your messy house? The first step is a mental one. It’s often times our thoughts that overwhelm us. So first you have to take control of your thoughts. Tell yourself “I will not let my home control me.” You may have to say this every day. Sometimes every hour. And then you take action.

“But what action do I take?!” you may be screaming at me! That’s what I’m about to tell you. Following these steps will take the guess work out of learning how to clean your house. Let me help you with the mental load so you can get to the action.

2. Hire help to clean your house

Seriously?! Hire help to clean your house? That’s your advice?

Yes. At least that’s part of it. When you’re so overwhelmed with your house you don’t even know where to start, dare I say, it’s near impossible to do it on your own. Hiring someone to help you in some capacity can be the boost you need get started and to stay motivated so you don’t give you after you start. It is 100 percent worth the investment.

If you’re embarrassed to have a cleaner come in, don’t be. Housekeepers have seen it all I guarantee. Many housekeepers have a heart and desire to help overwhelmed moms just like you. They don’t come in with judgement. They want to help you get out of the mess you’re in. Of course I can’t speak for all, but for many this is true.

“I can’t afford to hire help to clean my house”

I believe you can. Yes, it’s an investment. Yes, it does cost money. But the return on that investment will make such a huge impact. It is worth the sacrifice you have to make. Only you know your situation and the changes you may have to make to hire some help.

Hiring help to clean your house doesn’t have to mean hiring a professional company. If you can afford that even just for a short time to help you get started making an impact on your home, do it. If you can’t, here’s a few other suggestions.

Hire a company for a one time intense cleaning

Maybe you can’t swing an ongoing cleaning service. Consider paying for a one time intensive cleaning of your home. It will be an initial investment, but probably less than ongoing costs. Depending on who you hire, they may even provide you with some skills to use on your own to make cleaning faster.

Hire a company to do your laundry

Maybe where you live it would be more cost effective to hire out your laundry. Or, if you are most overwhelmed by laundry, perhaps that’s the best place to invest your resources.

Hire a college student or teen neighbor

If you opt for this choice, I suggest giving them clear directions and expectations. Have them clean the same areas every time they come.

Hire your own teenager

I just started this one myself, and let me tell you. It has been the best choice ever for my family. She cleans better when she’s getting paid. Definitely a good motivator. Also I can have her clean areas in my home that I wouldn’t have another person clean.

Ask family to help

This one could be completely free depending on your situation. it takes a lot of transparency and letting go of pride. If you really feel you can’t afford to hire help, it is worth losing some pride to allow you some peace of mind in your home.

Hire a babysitter

If you just can’t imagine letting someone else clean your mess, consider hiring someone to watch the kids. Two hours a week have a sitter come over (or to the park so they’re out of the house), and you focus only on cleaning during that time. It may be easier to ask family to help in this way instead of having them help you clean. Or, trade services with another mom. You take their child for a couple hours each week, and they take yours.

3. Focus on one space at a time

This hits home. This is a hard one for me. I do not have ADHD, but I do not joke when I say I have ADCD. Attention Deficit Cleaning Disorder. My thought process says I’m being efficient by picking up something to put away every time I step in a new room, but in reality I am being the exact opposite. I distract myself from the task and hand. I may clean and clean, but once I’m done it looks like I didn’t do anything.

If you suffer from ADCD like I do, my advice for you is to force yourself to focus on one space at a time. Need to walk in another room to put something away? As soon as you’ve put it away, walk right back out of that room and return to the task at hand. It takes practice. It takes discipline to change how your brain thinks. But the outcome is so much better than what you were doing before.

Setting a timer helps me better be able to focus on one space at a time. It’s easier for me to look at the timer and remind myself I only have 5 minutes left to do as much as I can in that one space. Maybe that won’t work for you. But I say it’s worth a try!

4. Follow a cleaning schedule

At this point, don’t try to come up with your own cleaning schedule on your own. When you don’t even know how to start cleaning because you’re overwhelmed by your messy house, the last thing you need is to create more work for yourself.

Let someone else do the work for you. There are so many free cleaning list resources online. Take a look on Pinterest or do a quick search on a search engine. You’ll find way too many options out there. Don’t let that overwhelm you. Pick one of the first options you find and go with that. Once you’re not so overwhelmed with your home you can tweak the list or look for a different one if you’d like.

5. Get the kids involved in cleaning your house

Once again, this is not the time to start from scratch. There’s no need to create your own chore chart for your kids. If a chore chart is not your thing, no need to go there. However, for me it is pretty much a must. I set the chore chart once a week, and it’s done (besides reminders). That frees up mental space for all the other things throughout the week. If I don’t take the time to create the chore chart for the week I often end up doing everything by myself. I get home from work, start cooking and cleaning, and before I know it, the evening is over and I never asked the kids to help with anything. And obviously I can’t do it all so guess what? It doesn’t get done. Thus continuing the constant messy house.

I have a free illustrated chore chart for kids that you can grab here on the blog. It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself. It does however take a little bit of prep work to set up the first time. Once that’s done it’s easy peasy. If you can’t handle prep work right now head to the search engine. Look for something like “printable chore chart”, and you’ll find options you can download and print tp use right away.

My kids have outgrown the illustrated chart now. Now we use a simple dry erase chore chart like this one on the fridge. At least until I get creative enough to make another version for older kids and teens (or even adults). I’ll keep you updated when that’s available. A white board is easy enough, but having pre-made cards I drop in a pocket is even easier.

How to Start Cleaning… the moral of the story

Do you notice a pattern with these steps?

Most of them involve help from someone else.

When you’re so overwhelmed with your messy house you don’t even know how to start cleaning, that’s when you call in the reinforcements. Whether that be professional hired help, help from children, family or another mom. It’s okay that you can’t do it all. Once you can get started and find your rhythm it will be easier to maintain. But for now, it’s okay to get help! I am strongly encouraging you to find a way to go get help!

It will be okay mama. You can do this. We’re not looking for perfection, simply how to start.

And if you’re looking for more tips on the whole messy house issue, check out my post on the #1 Key to Having a Tidy Home. It saved my home and my sanity.

Here’s a quick recap:

5 Steps to Cleaning Your Messy House

1. Take control of your messy house
2. Hire help to clean your house
3. Focus on one space at a time
4. Follow a cleaning schedule
5. Get the kids involved in cleaning your house

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