Deculuttering and deep cleaning while perpetually tired.

[ltlmrs]

delete to remove personal details.

[eclipse]

Obviously, I can't diagnose anything over the internet, but you sounds a lot like me when I was depressed. I've always dealt with mild depression, but after my 1st and third births, I really hit low - and it was seriously exacerbated by lack of sleep. Obviously, getting better nutrition, getting exercises and sunlight, sleeping, etc can help a lot, but managing to do all that while already depressed and without energy is very, very hard. The only thing that worked for me was medication. Medication can be a first line of defense while you work on other things - therapy, getting your house in order, getting healthy, etc - or it can be a last resort if therapy doesn't help.
I know not everyone is comfortable with medicating for something like that, but it is an option.

In any case, my main symptom of depression is tiredness/lack of energy/low motivation. Wellbutrin really helped me get that energy and drive kicked back up. It's also helpful that I'm able to have a cleaner come once a week to keep me on track. Obviously, it you are working and you dh is working two jobs, this probably isn't in your budget (I happen to live in a country where this service is very inexpensive), but do you have friends, or are their people from your church (if you have one) that would be willing to come out for a day or a weekend and help you really declutter? Or would your mother be able to help? I know it's embarrassing to think of having anyone see your place while it's filthy, but it's so helpful to have the man power to get it done quickly and to have outside eyes look at what you're keeping and where you're storing things. And people who love you will want to help you, not get all judgmental about it.

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

I could have pretty much written this post myself a couple of years ago. I am a low energy person, my DH used to work 2 jobs and I had 2 under 2 with my youngest having health issues that consumed all my time. It was hell. I basically just had to turn on some peppy music, put a movie on for the kids and then do a massively huge declutter. My theory was that if I got rid of stuff then I'd never have to clean it again. So I got rid of like half our possessions. My kids are now sleeping through the night and my son's health issues are nowhere near as time consuming as they used to be. I have fallen into a nice schedule for cleaning. Even if you can do a 15 minute quick cleaning after your child falls asleep then that would help you to make some progress.

[ltlmrs]

The place is fairly tolerable. If someone were to walk in I wouldn't die of shame or anything. I'm just having trouble getting to *real* decluttering and meal planning and just good routines.

Thanks again!

Edited by ltlmrs - 7/13/11 at 6:48am