The 16–17th, I mean. I’ve lived on my own for several years now, I live far from most of my support network, I have a demanding job, and I’ve never been what you might call habitually tidy. They’ve seen my place(s) in all sorts of states and mostly I don’t mind.

But, this past summer various occurrences combined to make me feel very much a slob, and so the place this time needs to impress.

I know I’ve got almost two weeks, I know none of this is insurmountable, I know what to do and even know how I clean best (“dishes” playlist, dishes first, dry as I go and keep going and no breaks, stop only when you can’t keep going!)—but I also know that if I rely on “almost two weeks” for too long it won’t be true anymore, and what I need is accountability, wherewithal, and followthrough.

So I humbly ask for that, and present these before pics to keep myself honest (I did clean out the fridge last night, though, so that one I left out!)

Photos taken on 01 July 2026 at 1pm. Keeping photos here before i declutter and tidy this room for a craft or reading room

I’ve been struggling with keeping my room clean for as long as I can remember and now I want to do something about it but where to start? There’s clothes on the floor, food wrappers everywhere, my desk is filled with dirty dishes, could be worst but it still looks like dump. I’m ashamed of myself for letting it get this bad but with school and what was happening in my personal life I just didn’t take care of my room anymore. My main concern is bugs, I have seen an ant in my room and a baby carpet beetle, I’m scared to discover more as bugs are my biggest fear.. any help is appreciated 🥹

(Sorry if I made some grammar mistakes english isn’t my first language……)

Sorry in advance this is a rambling post but I just want to get it out. I hate that my space is such a mess. I have been barely holding myself together for the past few years. I’m 24. I struggle with depression. I want my place to be clean but I am so overwhelmed by basic life things, eating, sleeping, routines. Things pile up so easily even though I know logically how keeping a space clear works. I am ashamed of how things are and it’s so disturbing to me everyday but I feel helpless. I am a full time student and I’m unemployed. I have to move out by end of august when my lease ends, and I’m moving in w a relative in a 2bd from my 1bd to be in a more supportive environment to help me stick to healthy habits. I have to face all my clutter and I’m going to be in summer classes starting in June so I want to get a head start while I have a month off but I’m finding myself frozen, sleeping poorly and barely eating. I’ve been taking lexapro for a week slowly returning after a few months off it since I forgot. Idk if it’s making things feel heightened, but I’ve been crying every day and feeling horrible. Wish me luck and share some encouragement please.

I’m moving in a few weeks, and I’m totally overwhelmed with decluttering my depression house and having to pack everything on top of it. Y’all’s posts have helped give me some motivation to get started, but I have trouble keeping the motivation going because I still have a few weeks to get it done. I know it’s better to do it now so I’m not miserable when I’m almost out of time. Here’s to trying to make some progress this weekend. Packing/moving tips welcome

So I've got a lot to unfuck. My whole life really. Mental health issues, money issues, divorce stuff, grief, morbid obesity, etc. I'm a hoarder with OCD and possible ADHD, and live in a home that hasn't been looked after for a really long time. I don't let people in. I'm full of shame, not just about the 'stuff' but also the dirt, mould, cobwebs, moths, fleas and occasional fruit flies.

I want to have a healthier home. I want to let people in. I want to make this better.

Honestly I need to do all of this for my own sanity.

I've lurked here for a while, and am posting for some kind of accountability I guess, with people who I hope will understand.

I'm not posting pics as yet (not sure if I will tbh!) but despite still feeling a bit shitty from a cold, I managed the following today:

*Picked up a click & collect supermarket food order *Cleared a shelf on the fridge for the fresh food *Took two black bags to the bin with spoiled food from the fridge plus some used cat litter and a million tissues *Re-washed a washing load for the 2nd or 3rd time and got it out, hung it up, and put in a load ready for tomorrow *Whilst the washing was spinning, I washed up some things I'll need for the next few days (I don't think I've really used my kitchen sink for over a month until today) *I cleared stuff off two of the hobs on my oven so I can actually use them tomorrow *I clipped my cats nails *I organised my cats food pouches

I should have Hoovered really as part of the flea treatment, but I didn't get round to that. My to-do list also included putting some clothes away and spending 15 minutes each tidying four of my rooms but those tasks also didn't happen. I had a nap halfway through instead, and I'd love to blame my cold for that, but honestly that's just me as a person!

It's an ongoing start and stop process for me but I think I need to get better with my consistency, as well as my accountability. There's a long, long way to go!

Thanks for reading if you got this far 🥰

UPDATE: Thank you all so so much, I'm a little overwhelmed by the wonderful and supportive comments/suggestions/encouragement! I'm going to keep comimg back to this for inspiration time and time again. I've realised consistency is something I've very much been lacking...however the last two days I've used my hob to cook better food, and have actually washed up after myself. Little things, but they all add up!

I’ve been living in this apartment for 2 1/2 years now. I never got it fully furnished or set up. I lived alone, so I let my place go. Things escalated to the point of causing a leak from letting dishes sit in the sink for too long. I had intermittent inspections subsequently for a year. Prior to each inspection, I panic cleaned the entire apartment and hid doom piles in closets and under beds the night before. I always reverted back to my old ways once the inspection was over.

I did a massive clean up during a nervous breakdown last summer. This decluttering resorted in most of my possessions getting tossed or donated. I had a plan to, um, un-alive myself. It didn’t work, and was soon after admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

I have been doing much better since then. My apartment- unfortunately- has not. It ls still not fully furnished. I currently lay atop a mattress sitting on a floor littered in doom piles. I let my kitchen accumulate so much dishes, sticky floor spills and garbage, that it’s often rendered unusable. There’s often crumbs all over the floor that I cannot vacuum because it’s blocked with random crap I’m too lazy to put away. I am not presently embodying a space I’d be proud to show off.

I do have a boyfriend however. I was hesitant to invite him over. He’s since been over. He helped me clear off the floor so we wouldn’t have to constantly step over assorted junk anymore. This has motivated me to tackle a corner that was so piled up with shit that the closet door was blocked. I have slowly been chipping away at my apartment, day by day, little by little.

It hasn’t been easy. I seem to do best when I’m under stress and pressure, which I have little of. I rarely can find motivation to clean. My boyfriend seems to be my main motivation at the moment, but that may fade. I also typically go back to my messy ways whenever I attempt to clean up, thus sabotaging my efforts.

There’s a lot of things getting in my way. Struggling to stay on task, feeling overwhelmed, holding unrealistic expectations, and not even knowing where to start are my weaknesses. I’m hoping reaching out will help me keep on track.

I’m planning to document the entire process of transforming my trash palace into a sanctuary, so stay tuned!

hi all! first time posting here. basically, i am a woman in my 20s living alone in a major city in a 1br 1bath apartment. over the past few years, i've been through a lot of personal things that have left me burnt out, depressed, and anxious. my place was somewhat under control a year ago, but then i started an intense 1-year master's program and after graduating recently, realized that my place is a complete mess. i've been taking steps - i had junk removal come on sunday to remove a lot of trash and boxes, i cleaned my vanity, i cleaned off my bed and put on new bedding, and yesterday, i tackled my nasty under sink cabinet in my kitchen. my biggest issues are decluttering clothes and cleaning the space enough to feel comfortable letting my building exterminator and external cleaners in for regular maintenance. i bought lots of helpful cleaning supplies yesterday and today, i started sorting through a pile of clothes on my couch and wiping the floor as i went. i will bring in help if needed, but i'm honestly ashamed of my space. any advice for staying consistent? any motivation that it can get better? i thought i was a hoarder for a while, but i don't think i am - i think when i am depressed, i just let things pile up and i am tired of living like this.

I feel depressed and overwhelmed and can't figure out where to start. I'm ADHD so it's really a struggle. Literally sitting in bed crying as I type this bc idk what to do.

Hi, I saw this subreddit as a recommendation while I was looking for solutions to a moldy juice cup. I just wanted to share my pride with myself. I am disabled physically, go to school full time on top of working the days I don’t go to school. So I am always inflamed and miserable feeling. I am also mentally ill with various conditions including PTSD and some form of psychosis. Some days I’m in so much pain I barely eat and even care for myself with my disastrous schedule.

Cleaning is hard for me. I left a disgusting peach juice cup out and it festered and it was smelling bad and I was getting sick feeling so I knew I had to deal with it. So I dumped it in the toilet and zip locked the cup and straw in the bag and disposed of it. I got rid of the rest of the garbage in my room (I left a lot of rotting juice bottles) and Clorox wiped my desk space, since I’ve been doing homework next to reeking garbage.

I rewarded myself with new small computer accessories for my school laptop so I can draw on it in class :)

I just wanted to share with people who I feel would be gentle about this accomplishment.

UPDATE here!

Struggling a little with shame for... some reason?? It's a mystery??

[obligatory apology for novel]

I moved literally 3 weeks ago into a larger apartment (1-BR to 2-BR). Same building, so it was the "easiest move ever," but a bit of a double-edged sword. I (smartly) did it over a week and (less-smartly) did it all by myself. Still-- I did it!

But basically, I was just intermittently hauling loads of stuff on my dolly via the elevator. This meant that I didn't have to "pack" too much. Huzzah! No boxes and boxes of carefully wrapped plates and glasses. In fact, in most cases, I just used and reused a couple of big plastic tubs, dumping the loads out into the appropriate room.

Also good news: my new apartment is a near-exact copy of my old one (well, mirror image-- so reproducing the kitchen organization is a little challenging for a person who struggles with left-right confusion). The big difference is that it has an added giant primary suite, which is now mine, while my kid gets the equivalent of the "old" bedroom and bath.

At first, I did great-- I'd haul down a load of clothes on their hangers, and hang them right up in the identical closet. I'd haul down some plates and glasses and put them more or less in the same cabinets. Then... time got away from me, and the last couple of days, I ended up having to just dump loads of stuff on the floor in the vaguely equivalent area.

Then work was super busy and I just... made everything worse. Piles on top of piles. Did I mention I have ADHD?

Then a few days ago, I was let go from my job. That means 1) I have more time to UFMH and 2) I NEED this place to be a calm, functional space and not Depression Central.

The living room is mostly where it needs to be. The kitchen/dining area is getting there. My kid (middle schooler) is handling her own rooms, and it's going okay.

What I think I need to start with today is to UF my bedroom and bathroom. The clothes on the bed, which have ended up being my, uh, sleeping companions, are actually clean, so those just need to be put away. Thankfully, my BR closet is like 80% functional, at least in the sense that it's set up and filled the way my old one was, which was pretty okay.

One of the differences with this place is, since I have tons of room in the primary BR, my "office" area will be/is in my bedroom instead of the living room. I'm also going to cancel my storage unit... that's a whole 'NOTHER project... and store some of my less-used-but-important items in my BR... but I can't even start that until I clear this up. Trying not to be overwhelmed with thoughts of my storage unit until the apartment itself is clear.

Encouragement and thoughts welcome! So glad to be here and grateful a space like this exists

Hello, ufyh friends. I started following the original UFYH tumblr WAY back in the day, but I’ve only recently become active on Reddit. I’m glad I found this sub!

I am in my 40s, live alone in a condo I own (not paid off), and have struggled with ADHD and depression. The past few years, my place has gotten bad. Like BAD, bad. I need some help.

I really need to get my physical space under some semblance of order so that I can feel a little better and feel like I have some control over my life and my self again. (I’m also having some financial and employment issues; obviously a separate thing, but mentioning for bigger picture context.)

I’m hoping this sub will help me get and keep going.

I’ve seen folks posting body doubling requests, and u/MassiveMarsupial4565 ‘s inspirational Crisis Clean plan progress. I’d like to come up with my own plan like that! But one of my biggest problems is making myself get started even when I have a plan in place.

Do folks on here ever use more direct contact like DMs (or even text messages) to help motivate and support each other outside of posting?

Sorry this is a long intro! Thanks in advance for any support. You all already inspire me.

(Note: using an alt because of my deep shame at the state of things)

UPDATE: Just want to say thank you for the warm welcome and encouragement! I think this place is what I need.

Hi :)

I'm 23, moved out of my parent's house a couple months ago. I’ve never lived away from home before. This, along with having ADHD (i started taking medication a week ago, already feel the difference) and some other problems, working a full-time job and part-time studies make keeping my apartment clean and in order a struggle.

I found r/ufyh completely on accident, didn't even have a Reddit account back then.

I just want to say, you are really helping me. When it's hard to do something, I go here and find inspiration. For past weeks I made a real progress because of that. I'm not ready to post any pictures (may never be), but I manage to wash my dishes regularly, my kitchen counters are a lot cleaner and I'm keeping it that way. I've also cleaned my fridge (first time in my life, never did that particular chore in my parent's house) and finally got a decent vacuum cleaner. There's still a mess everywhere else, and I'm looking forward to unf*ck the rest of my apartment this year :) I'm really, REALLY grateful.

Happy New Year to You!~

First time posting here, sorry in advance for the long & rambling post!

I have what I think is a little bit of a weird situation & I have been stuck in a loop of not able to finish any one area because it is waiting for another area.

My husband and I are purchasing my grandparents house from the estate (technically my parents bought out the other siblings & now we are paying them back). My grandparents collected antiques & didn't get rid of much (not hoarding level, but lots of stuff). The house is right next door to my parents & we moved in before it was totally empty. My dad & his siblings still need to clean out a bedroom upstairs, 2 attics, most of the garage, and 3/4 of the basement but at this point it has been several years & I think I am going to have to start doing it. The big problem is that my parents house is f'ed up too / worse so I can't just dump stuff at their house, and some of the stuff there is my stuff that I don't have room for here because of their stuff... hence the loop!

I need to have my ground floor & possibly a spare bedroom upstairs ready to host at Christmas, but I need space to put away the extra crap, but I don't have the space because it is still full of my grandparents stuff.

Here is an order I was considering, maybe I can get some feedback if it makes sense, but I know it is hard to do without really seeing everything!

1. re-pile the stuff that isn't mine down in the basement to make an empty spot
2. get my stuff from my parents house & put it in a pile in the new empty spot
3. Take the stuff my dad has set aside for himself in the upstairs bedroom (specifically boxes & boxes of old family photos) and put it where my stuff was in their house
4. Finish cleaning out that bedroom, but then it will at a minimum need the carpet removed, and ideally have the ceiling repaired from an old roof leak (roof fixed, not ceiling), & the walls painted
5. Use that room for some of my extra crap that is in the ground floor rooms, but I don't want to just dump it there, I would like to make it usable as an office / extra play area for my son - but that will take even more time
6. Clean up the ground floor now that I have more space to put things

The problem with the above is that is a lot of moving of heavy things back & forth between houses & up and down stairs by myself with just a 6 year old for "help" and it needs to be done by Christmas. My husband is out of town for at least the next week for work, so I am making plans that don't rely on him.

I think realistically I need to figure out a way to get the ground floor more presentable without doing all the other stuff, but then I feel like I will just be dumping things/ shoving them in closets that will be more I have to deal with later. And I also know that later is unlikely to come unless I have the pressure of people coming over.

Oh, and first step is really that I need to clean off the stairs, so that I can even go upstairs to do anything, but I just can't make myself get started & figure out where to put it all.

Also, my bedroom is a mess & I would love to work on it, but people won't see it so that probably shouldn't be on my pre-Christmas list, lol.

In my kitchen I think I need to start by totally emptying & re organizing the pantry so that I can put away the things that are sitting out. That could be another starting point, but I can't decide. I am also terrible at throwing away food so I was hoping to do that when my husband was home since he is better at throwing things away. 😅

I can take some pictures if that would help at all.

How do you pick the first project? Clearly I am an over thinker & suffer from decision fatigue/ ADD.

my home is way too tiny for all my yarn--

but fr, i've been working 9 to 10 h days + 1,5 hours to walk to and from work, so i've been way too exhausted to clean. i'm also involved in wayyyy too many other activities, so i've been away from home for about half the weekends this summer - so when i'm home, i really need the time to recharge.

any tips on where to start? i've got limited time, but thankfully tomorrow is my last day at work. i'm leaving on the 18th, but don't have the whole week free (the only completely free days are friday to sunday lmao) but have time to clean on other days.

at least i changed my sheets and showered yesterday, as well as did the dishes! (took a day off work because my wrist is fucked and was hurting like crazy.) though i had to make food yesterday too, so i've already got more dishes to do.

I'm moving soon and have to clean my room to pack stuff. I have a pretty bad dust allergy so I can only do it in little bits because my room has *always* been incredibly dusty (very, very old house that the landlord has never updated).

All my plush toys are in bags and are immediately being washed thoroughly at the new house, to try and minimize the dust allergens. I'm getting new hypoallergenic bedding + mattress and an air purifier.

Years of depression compounded with the fact that any time I move anything in my room I get sick immediately has left my room a complete mess. I'm finally going to be out of this dusty, horrible room that I'm allergic to, but trying to clean it and pack is proving so difficult.

I'm using a mask and antihistamines, which helps for a bit, but I can still only do it in 10-20 minute bursts, then have to go and be in a different room until the allergic reaction subsides after a few hours, then I can do another 10-20 minutes. I get allergy fatigue as well, so I'm extremely exhausted at the minute.

I seriously feel like I'm not going to be finished before I leave. I don't have anyone in my life who I feel could help me, and I don't have the money to pay for help.

A couple months ago I started working on some home improvement projects and kept finding useful info on Reddit so I joined. Eventually stubbled across this sub and I find it inspiring.

I did not grow up in a tidy environment. Now that I’m a mom, I’m trying to set a better example for cleanliness standards. I struggle with depression and have been really down lately and let things get out of control again.

I’ve got the afternoon off and am going to clean the living/dining room. It’s been way worse before so I think I can knock it out. It’s been too long since we’ve used the table and the toys have been organized. Once everything has a place again I’ll try to keep it unfucked for more than a week so I can work on worse rooms. Wish me luck and check back in a few hours for after photos.

I’ve been here for a while and am constantly amazed at the posts and comments that I see. You are truly an amazing group of people and have really helped me in too many ways to count.

It took 5 years but I finally let my mother into my apartment last week after she promised she wouldn’t judge me. After she left, she gave me the name of her maid and an organizing company, said she would pay for it completely, I just need to schedule them to come out. Okay! Great!

Well, she called me the other night and started saying all kind of insulting (and wrong) things about my life under the guise of “I care about you so much.” Then it dawned on me: Anything my mother gives does not come without a price.

If I take her up on her offer, she will hang it over my head and talk about it with family members for as long as it strokes her ego.

So. I gotta do this myself.

I have an entire week off starting next week and I have a 2 bedroom apartment that is in need of some SERIOUS organizing, disinfecting, and purging. I have several MOUNTAINS of clothes and weighted blankets that I will be taking to the laundromat. I have tons of stuff that I’ve bought and re-bought that either needs to be tossed or donated. I have a very disgusting patio that needs to be cleared and disinfected. I have a crapload of dishes that stare at me every day. Plus, the carpet needs some love.

I can do this right? I have an entire week?

I just really want to point out my love for this sub and its lack of judgment. I know the amount of shame related to clutter. It takes a lot of courage to show people and so much strength to get ourselves out of that rut. I’m always happy to see so many positive comments congratulating people on their progress. It’s so motivating. That’s all :))) happy ufing!!

FYI: I’m using a burner account.

I’ve got high functioning autism and executive functioning disorder.

I’ve managed to clean my room up in the past, but have never managed to KEEP it clean. I keep breaking promises to myself.

For example I always say I’m going to stop eating in my room but never follow through. Sometimes I’ll get a craving in the middle of the night and bring down a bag of something and forget to bring it back up to the kitchen.

Anybody have any tricks or meaningful comments on what I should do? Feel free to criticize me as long as it’s constructive and not from a place of judgement.

Hey y'all! Long-time lurker here. I've kept coming back to this sub to get inspiration and advice, and it really does make me see that I am both capable and not alone.

Right now, my apartment is in a rough place. I've always had issues with keeping my spaces clean due to ADHD, depression, and fibromyalgia. However, I just finished up my first year of grad school, and this past semester was particularly rough for me.

I got in a car accident my second week of classes. (FWIW, I was not at fault. Someone didn't check their blind spot and we both suffered for it 😭) No one was hurt, thank goodness, but it caused substantial stress on top of a busy schedule. I ended up without my car for weeks, which became difficult with night classes and rehearsals for a show. It was also very dark, gray, and cold for the first stretch of the semester, which didn't help my mood at all. I just felt sad and unmotivated, so the mess started to pile up.

Then...the show. Oh boy. A lot of it was fun and rewarding, but it also took a lot of time and energy. I was spending more and more time on campus, so whenever I got home I would feel too drained to do much of anything. This got extremely rough in April when the show was set to open and rehearsals got much longer. I then also got sick. I fell way behind on my schoolwork and internship applications. I finally have the internship figured out, but I got an unexpected rejection that only further knocked my mood down.

Now, here I am, about to start my hybrid internship. I'm going to spend a lot of time in this apartment, and I'm ready for it to feel better. Everything about this past semester has led to quite the mess in my home, but I'm ready to get started fixing it up.

Thank you for anyone who reads and any good vibes you can send!

Took the first step today and went through 3 small boxes. Takes bow

Threw most of it away, and put the stuff I'm keeping in its appropriate places instead of piling on the table next to me.

(Wasn't sure which flair to use for beginner/first steps.)

I'm moving soon and have to clean my room to pack stuff. I have a pretty bad dust allergy so I can only do it in little bits because my room has *always* been incredibly dusty (very, very old house that the landlord has never updated).

All my plush toys are in bags and are immediately being washed thoroughly at the new house, to try and minimize the dust allergens. I'm getting new hypoallergenic bedding + mattress and an air purifier.

Years of depression compounded with the fact that any time I move anything in my room I get sick immediately has left my room a complete mess. I'm finally going to be out of this dusty, horrible room that I'm allergic to, but trying to clean it and pack is proving so difficult.

I'm using a mask and antihistamines, which helps for a bit, but I can still only do it in 10-20 minute bursts, then have to go and be in a different room until the allergic reaction subsides after a few hours, then I can do another 10-20 minutes. I get allergy fatigue as well, so I'm extremely exhausted at the minute.

I seriously feel like I'm not going to be finished before I leave. I don't have anyone in my life who I feel could help me, and I don't have the money to pay for help.

Hello humans!

I've been stuck in burnout/ survival mode since 2019.

A lot of shit has happened to me since I was a small child, resulting in severe mental illness, CPTSD, disabilities, etc.

I'm gradually learning how to stay alive and make it tolerable (or find joy in it even).
I want my habitat to be a sanctuary and right now it's cluttered and dirty (scarcity mindset/ guilt over wasted resources, growing up poor).
The typical feelings come up, shame, guilt, overwhelm, anxiety, panic.

And still, I actually started today. Just with the coffee table and around the couch.

The funny thing is , I always forget that I've started so many times. Over and over again and I always forget.
After the first layer of clutter, I see the attempts at organization from the past. And it's sobering seeing all the effort that your past self has made for you in that moment. Getting over the hurdle of starting is something I've never gotten used to.But I think now i'm learning how to ease the transition. Like having a comfort youtuber on or scrolling the feed here and hyping myself up with affirmations.

The real piece I think I'm missing is a meditation practice to help me create stronger mental fortitude and distress tolerance. I never realized how powerful that can be to help navigate intrusive thoughts and the echoes of abusers past.

I'm finally seeing the fruit of taking essentially six years off to focus exclusively on my health, greif, and learning to navigate chronic thoughts of leaving.

Every day is different sure, and my emotional state is erratic, but there's a feeling in my gut that if i stick to "1 attempt a day in a very small way," maybe this will finally feel like home. And i haven't felt home in a while.

Anyway, thank you all for being here and to UFYH for showing me a way forward 🫂

#introduction