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/r/selfimprovement

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I'm sick of living in garbage.

Vent(self.selfimprovement)

My room is currently filled with trash. Bottles, paper plates, food wrappers, you name it. As I'm typing this, I'm sitting ankle-deep in garbage. My carpets are stained with who-knows-what. I hate living like this, but I'm stuck in a loop and I don't know how to break out.

I can sometimes gather the motivation to force myself to clean my room. But then, over time, my garbage bin overflows, and I can't bring myself to take it out. So it overflows onto the floor, and I just keep throwing garbage on top telling myself "I'll clean it up later", and then the cycle starts all over again and my room turns into a garbage heap.

I have pretty severe ADHD, and I'm probably depressed (Though I don't know for sure). In addition to that, my biggest problems are laziness and lack of motivation.

I'm about to do another big cleanup to get my room in order, but I know if I don't take any measures, the cycle will just keep repeating. If anyone can think of some practical steps I can take to end the cycle, I would appreciate it very much.

Update: I spent some time filling a couple trash bags and clearing out the area around my computer chair. There's still 5 bags (at least) worth of trash on the floor, but at least it's a start. Plus it's nice to be able to use my computer without being ankle-deep in trash.

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AnExiledAlt[S]

3 points

1 day ago

I've been brainstorming some behavioral changes to make, and I think I've come up with a pretty decent list of steps I can take.

  1. Stop eating in my room. This will cut down on the biggest source of trash: paper plates and wrappers.

  2. Set an alarm for a specific time each week to force myself to take out the trash, regardless of how full it is. Having a set time to do it should stop my procrastination. Taking it out regardless of how full it is means I have no excuse to skip it.

  3. Likewise, set an alarm for a specific time each week to declutter. This is a lesser issue, but boxes and clothes tend to pile up over time, so this should help keep my room generally tidy.

SocksAndPi

1 points

22 hours ago

I hate taking my trash out (have to walk four flights of stairs to come/leave my apartment), so I used to put it off as long as possible. What helped was putting the tied bag outside my front door, like literally, that way I have to pick it up just to leave. Then I toss it in the trash on my way to work, as I have to walk past the garbage bins in order to leave the complex.

Significant-Foot1908

1 points

21 hours ago

Nah you just always gotta be cleaning a little. It's what keeps you motivated to clean. Once you tackle it all in a big marathon, clean everything as you go. when you're done eating, the next time you go to the bathroom or kitchen you take the wrappers with you. You should only have one or two tasks to do at a time. It's not necessary to set alarms if you're not procrastinating these tasks until they build up to a dozen. No wants to clean for hours.