Help I don't like cleaning

I have a cleaner. Otherwise my house would be a tip.
Actually it is at the moment as dd DGD and DDs so have just left. Amazing what havoc a 17/12 old can wreak!

No, because I'm the same! I hate cleaning and it's something I put off until someone's coming round - and even then it's just a quick dust and hoover downstairs. I am a slob!

Perhaps you are just noticing it because you are at home more? If that is the case I think you have two simple choices:

1 Go out more
2 Make yourself do one room a week and when you have done them all forget all about i!

I have no time for those who boast that they love housework. If they really do then they should keep it as their guilty secret.

Good luck, it is probably just part of the adjustment of retirement,

You've got to pay someone else to do it! You don't have to employ a cleaner, get a company in to do a 'one off' catch up clean and then try your best till it gets out hand again! I also hate housework, I used to be stupid enough to "clean house" every Saturday morning when DH plays golf, till one day I had a lightbulb moment and spent the morning on the couch watching a movie, and since then, that's my Saturday mornings sorted .

pattib, I don't like cleaning either. I don't iron (just fold carefully), and have even been known to blow the hair-drier along the dressing table as I'm drying my hair . I have a tiny house that is quite full of old things (not all antiques!) so a bit of dust seems to set them off quite well .
If you're worrying about things getting on top of you, though, how about just deciding to tackle one room at a time? Only one room, and not moving on to do another one until you've disposed of rubbish and hoovered and polished that particular room? Some people are naturally very clean and tidy, and some are more 'homely'......like me !

pattie - surely remember the 70s and feminism? Just because you are not economically active does not mean you should be spending your time cleaning or that you should prove to the world that you are a good person because you have an immaculate house. That kind of thinking is the product of centuries of conditioning by men - aimed at keeping women submissive and servile.
Discuss with your DH how tidy/clean you want it to be and then decide on a strategy - either pay someone or the two of you agree an approach.

Cleaning? - what is that?

My theory is that there is no point in dusting until there is a good thick layer and you can enjoy sweeping it away!

Life is too bloomin' short - on your deathbed, do you want to be thinking of all the wonderful polished surfaces that you achieved or all the fun you had?

Of course, your idea of fun might be dusting, in which case I am lost for words!!!

But can you be happy in a grubby and untidy house? I find it "gets" at me.

Tidying alone can work wonders though.

Just sitting here in office surrounded by the detrius of a two-year research project for Defra. All paper work completed and emailed and a new bid for funding submitted. Feeling pleased with ourselves but now have to vacate office by Friday and all the packing up, shredding, filing, etc. is overwhelming us.

So have I made a start? No. Sent the team out for an extended lunch break and I've logged into GN.

Someone tell me to get of my posterior and get started please.

patti I hate cleaning and tidying. One of my daughters has a strategy of one in, one out. She shifts anything she can find whenever she brings something new into the house. Her house is always immaculate. I tend to tell myself the day will come when I feel like cleaning a whole room, and in between I just do the minimum. Sometimes, I will fill a bag to either take to a charity shop or put out with rubbish. If I do that enough times, the place looks tidy. Meanwhile, life's too short. If you don't like what you see, close your eyes, clean it, or go in another room, but don't fret about it!

I think one of Shirley Conran's nuggets was that if a room looks tidy, no-one will notice the dirt
I think it is a personal thing as to how much dirt and disorganisation you are comfortable with.
If the levels exceed your own personal comfort level, you have to do something about it, either employ someone or do it yourself, otherwise you will end up feeling stressed and dissatisfied.
When I worked I had a cleaner every week but after I retired she started coming once a fortnight. This is partly because I like my house reasonably clean but would rather spend my time in the garden than cleaning. The other reason is that I am fortunate to be able to afford it and feel I am putting money into the local economy.
I hope that doesn't make me sound like Lady Muck

Housework is the waste of a good mind.

I usually manage to keep the sitting room and kitchen reasonably clean and tidy (OK don't look at that cobweb in the window!) but I'm afraid the rest of the house gets a bit of a lick and a promise (as my old grandmother used to say!).

My problem is I have one room, which used to be DH's office and I need to sort out the paperwork, shred what I don't need and file away the rest, there is also another room right at the top of the house (my house has 3 storeys) which is filled with all the rubbish my DH got out of the attic, he thought it would be helpful after he was gone, and which needs to be sorted, thrown away/donated to charity.

Every time I think about it I get a dizzy spell and have to sit down!! OK I know I'm just lazy!

This website

www.flylady.net/

takes you through a cleaning plan. The main two features are that if you have a clean sink your kitchen looks tidy so you feel better and you must never clean for more than 45 minutes without stopping for 15 minutes me time when you do something you like.

A bit carrot and stick lol

Hate housework,but do just enough to keep it hygienic sinks etc having two dogs means hairs need hoovering every day ,but don't spend too long just keep on top of it,if beds made and things put away dishes hidden in dishwasher then it's ok but not very motivated for garden,windows ,just do when and if I have the urge....love nellie

NellieSmol ...you're a true-blue trooper. Don't know what that means. But, hey, it's meant to be a compliment.

I have to admit that if it needed a good bottoming and I could afford it I'd get in a cleaning company for a one off then just keep on top of it. Why waste your life cleaning if you don't have to.

Thank you my lovely soop received in the way it was intendedxxxxxx

Ooh!
I like the idea of the 15 minutes sit down!!

Seriously though thanks for the link

Thanks everyone for the advice and comments that made me smile

I know it's not just me now and that helps

Would get someone in but would have to clear the rubbish and clean first

Patti no need to do that. Having seen house cleaners come in and sort out my next door neighbour's mess (elderly man who never does anything except sweep rubbish off the cooker to light the gas! honest!) they will tackle the most awful messiness. I suppose they'd draw the line at dead vermin, but untidiness is what they are paid to sort out.

Torn between doing one room at a time and getting someone in to blitz

As DH is having hip replacement next week (umpteenth orthopaedic surgery in past 9 years) aaagh!! I could use the time he needs me around to get started

VQ , I rather like the sound of "a good bottoming" , much more fun than housework!

patti we are two of a kind. When I moved 12 years ago, DS1 came and filled two (or was it three?) skips with the accumulated junk of 15 years. Now, in a smaller house, the hoarding habit has continued unabated. I am useless at putting things away but at least I can usually find things if they're not stashed in drawers or wardrobes! I did get a cleaner in when I was incapacitated after a couple of joint replacements, but felt I couldn't justify it after about three months. The garden is a similar tale but at least I can blame the weather for that. As for dust - keep the lighting low and don't allow sunbeams to enter!