cleaning
You're not alone in this.
We might feel shame and overwhelm when we fall behind.
When I started posting my cleaning timelapse videos, I was doing it to help me get on track. I was fed up with feeling guilty about my kitchen being cluttered and my clothes being disorganized.
clutter
Visual mess is a huge roadblock.
For people with ADHD or other executive functioning differences, stuff being all over the place makes it harder to do our best, most creative work.
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For some of us, it's also an emotional trigger because of the way our childhood caregivers conditioned us to feel about messes.
shame
Negative emotion can feel paralyzing.
The bigger the mess, the bigger the shame, the harder it can be to start moving in the right direction. This is a painful cycle that is hard to break out of, sometimes.
permission
It doesn't matter how it got this way
When you find yourself walking into a room, seeing a mess, and thinking you'd like to have it be tidier, give yourself permission to skip the part where you punish yourself. It doesn't matter how it got that way. Today, we can start with a small task. Today, we can make progress. Today, we can build positive momentum.
celebrate
dance, clap, or shout!
If you do a task, celebrate yourself. Even if you don't feel like it, just go through the motions of praising yourself. Your brain is listening and watching how you treat yourself. You can slowly repair your inner dialogue by manually inserting new phrases and actions.
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It doesn't matter if the dishes just need to be done. It doesn't matter if everyone is doing dishes. You still deserve to celebrate yourself when you do the smallest, mundane task. Your brain is neuroplastic (it can grow and change at any age) and THIS is how you heal it.
value
you are a good person.
It's easier to function in a space that isn't cluttered, but clutter does NOT make you a bad person.
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Clutter can make your nervous system feel more stressed out. When you get closer to being in fight or flight mode, your nervous system is going to feel bad.
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When we feel bad, we can sometimes interpret that feeling as "I am bad" when it's really just a signal that we need help.
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When we can soothe the nervous system and be in a well regulated state, it gets much easier to feel better about ourselves.
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more
What kind of cleaning content would be helpful to you?
When I have a new Youtube channel set up, you can get a heads up about where to find it, by leaving your email address below.​