Tips and hacks for domestic labor?

I clean as I go.

Little things here and there.

-Finished eating a meal? Quickly wipe the table and a quick sweep around the table.

- while cooking, I collect cuttings of ingredients or any resulting trash in a small plate so my counter is not affected as a whole. Then just dump the contents of that plate in the trash, rinse or wash and leave it to dry.

-while cooking, when the meal item is being cooked/baked/grilled you get around 5 mins where you are just waiting to either turn the pieces or stir the pot. Use those 5 mins to wipe the counter top if you don't hve further use or wash the knives,spoons, chopping board, etc. And put back items in place.

- Try to wrap up most of the kitchen before you actually start eating. So that after having your meal, you only need to wash a plate, cooking pot and few spoons

-prepare things for tomorrow before you sleep, so whatever you need is right in front of you and you don't need to disturb placements of other items looking for them if and when you are rushing. This works especially well for clothes.

-Once you are back from work, put little things back in place so you don't have a mess to clear on weekends. I put daily use items back in front, rather I have a designated area for such items which is not inside any wardrobe or shelf but out in open, so I'm already prepared to an extent for the next day.

-If anything is not a daily use item, it goes inside a wardrobe or shelf. Strictly.

- start the washing machine before you start cooking your meal, so the cycle progresses while you finish cooking and eating.

- personally I prefer cleaning one room or area at a time throughout the week. Takes lesser time so it is possible to squeeze that in your work week, and a part of your house always looks clean.

Today I might clean just the toilet bowl, tomorrow just shower cubicle, day after just floor of some room and so on.

- I prefer folding laundry if I'm on a call or listening to podcasts or music.

Hope these help.

All the best :)

For cooking, use ziplocks to freeze individual portions.

If I buy 6 chicken breasts in a tray, I keep one or two to marinate in the fridge, then freeze the others in separate bags. Then I can pull one out without defrosting the whole tray. I want to cook chicken cacciatore, for example, I'll defrost and use 2 breasts so I can have leftovers. You can add marinate to the ziplocks before you freeze them.

I use this strategy with pasta sauces and so much more. It really makes cooking for one easy.

Also, keep lots of spices and sauces on hand so you can easily make delicious meals at home

Cleaning is a continuous cycle that's easiest to stay on top of so it never gets that bad. I try to stay on top of it every week so it doesn't take more than an hour or so. Every once in awhile I'll go hard on a deep clean then just coast on maintaining that

hahah

Don't wear shoes in the house. The carpets will hardly ever get dirty and you can vaccum once a month.

Have lots of clothes and a huge washing basket. Wash you clothes every 2-3 weeks.

Have clothes with lycra in them that don't require ironing.

Leave dishes to dry in a rack rather than drying by hand.

Hang your bathtowel in the sun every day--natural disinfectant of sunlight=clean towel

When you shop for groceries, buy lots in one go. Buy lots of long-life ingredients like onions, dry pasta, so you will always have plenty of food in the house and don't need to shop often.

To keep the shower clean for longer, dry it down with a kitchen wipe cloth after use. You will only need to clean your shower once a month.

I vaccum my house and clean bathrooms once a month. It looks fine. I wash clothes and sheets every 2-3 weeks. Sometimes a whole month! Just change the sheets. I have a BIG wardrobe with lots of clothes so I never run out. But this is cost effective, most of my clothes are cheap and second hand, but very stylish.

This is the French way. More time for enjoying life.

The less stuff you have to look after, the easier is the maintenance.

Buy clothes in similar colors and fabrics, so you won't need to sort it before doing laundry.

Do a couple of chores every day, so you won't have to designate a weekend for cleaning. Yes, it will not look spotless all at once, but it won't get completely out of hand either.

Have fresh fruit and veggies on hand for quick snacks.

Have a broth/stock on hand so you can make a soup in a pinch.

Make dishes where you only need to put all ingredients in at once and only switch it off in a set amount of time, like when you are cooking in the oven or on skillet under the lid.

When it comes to cleaning it is absolutely worth it to invest in good tools that make the process easier, quicker or more comfortable for you and to leave them in convenient, easy to access places. If you need to open a cupboard and take out 12 other things before you can even reach your mop or vaccum cleaner, you won't use it.

A few examples:

- If it makes sense for your apartment, get the robot vaccuum cleaner and let it do its thing while you are at work. Otherwise, get one that is easy for you to store and use, like one that is cordless and light and convenient to empty.

- Get one of those spray mop thingies so you can just take it out and start cleaning and don't need to carry around a bucket of water in addition to it. It makes cleaning up spills in the kitchen really easy.

- If you worry about cleaning windows there are steam tools that let you do it in just one step

Otherwise I agree with the others. Dedicate days to certain tasks, so you can create a habit, e.g. change all towels, rags and sheets on saturdays, do one load of laundry on sundays, take all the trash out on fridays... It's easier than remembering those chores "as they come up".

One thing at a time, and make it fun. I put on a movie or a podcast in the background if it is tedious. I make a list of things I need to do, and cross off things I complete. Each task should be relatively small, not listed as a whole thing (i.e. "vacuum the living room", instead of writing "vacuum the apartment/house, or "clean the bathroom vanity" instead of just "clean the bathroom"). One thing at a time, break it all down into small, manageable pieces. Obviously some things will need to be done more often, like dishes or laundry.

Also assess how clean you need to have it. Are you one of those people who has to dust every three days to remove a few specks from the coffee table? Or can you simply let it go and do it once a month or less? (Just as an example.) I'm more of the latter. I actually like my place looking lived-in and not completely spotless, but I also don't want to live in filth, so it's about finding that happy medium. I'd probably be more strict if I had people over to my apartment more often, but I don't.

I do the same with cooking - and I try to make dishes that require low effort in cooking, or I meal-prep on Sunday or early on a weeknight for my lunches and/or dinners the rest of the week. Slow cooker dishes are fabulous for this.

Fellow ADHDer - cleaning has to be a daily and normal activity for me. I clean as I go. I make it normal to do a bigger activity on the daily if I can (clean the toilet, clean the tub, clean the sink, etc.) bc it takes 5-10 minutes to do one big thing rather than a day to do all big things.

I also have a robot vacuum. Highly recommend.

I do my laundry twice a week too bc smaller loads are easier to put away.

I used to feel overwhelmed by cleaning too. I made a list of every activity and how long it takes (keeping the time short, but realistic). Then I batch the tasks together. All of my weekly cleaning gets done on the weekend, in about half an hour (I live in an apartment by myself). I set a timer and focus on the cleaning so I don't get distracted and accidentally drag it out. My monthly cleaning takes about an hour (dusting, mopping, cleaning the balcony). I can get away with stretching those tasks out because I am thoughtful about making mess. I only eat at the table so I don't spill crumbs everywhere, I have learned how to prepare food so it doesn't end up on the floor, I don't wear shoes inside. If I spill something on the tiles then I spot clean. I also clean up as I do things. When I get changed, I put my clothes in the "lights" or "darks" laundry basket and fold clothes inside out, so I can just grab them and put them in the machine. I wipe the kitchen bench and stove after cooking and I put things away every night before I go to sleep. Everything I own has a place to go and I don't accumulate too much stuff (especially on surfaces) so cleaning is easier. When I notice something is inefficient I think about small habits I can adopt to make keeping my apartment clean easier and I think about what tools could make it better. For example, now that I have dish gloves I now longer procrastinate on cleaning the sink, and I arrange my belongings so they are easy to access (and put away).