I HATE CLEANING (A NEW SERIES WHERE I CLEAN)

11 May, 2026

I hate cleaning and I miss writing.

As mentioned in yesterday's weekly reflection, the apartment is gross. Every time I want to blame Daniel for not being cleaner, I remind myself that it is merely a projection, because I am no better. The dining table is currently cluttered with 90% my things. Whenever I chastise him for having a high-tolerance for dirtiness, I am reminded that my tolerance is just slightly lower, where I am bothered by the grime before he is.

Rather than get into why I am a gross and messy person, I'd rather focus on how I can improve my habits. A while ago, I wanted to explore what D&D class I would be with the idea of treating myself like a character in which I can level up. I still want to do this, but it's just a distraction to postpone the actual work of self-improvement.

So here's a new tactic, merging one thing I love to do with one thing I hate:

WRITING + CLEANING

As you might have gleaned from my posts, I love deep-diving into projects of my choosing. So why not treat this as a project, where cleaning regularly isn't just a healthy habit but an activity I can document?

Weekly deep-cleaning

I will pick the most offensive area of the week and deep-clean that part. This week I have chosen the dining area because I miss using the dining table, and I'm tired of seeing my Spring Festival decorations still up.

My goal is to clean it all today, because I fear that if I do it throughout the week, it'll just a) take longer and b) what if new stuff piles up again. So let's just rip the band-aid off!

I like to do different tasks in between main tasks, so this will be a task-based update, rather than hourly or something. Let's begin.

11:21

• 
  It looks worse in person, trust.

Somehow seeing the space from the 0.7x zoom makes it seem like I can clean this in 10 minutes, but you'd be mistaken! I don't want to simply dump the clothes from the chairs and onto the bed; I want to put them away properly. So that will take time.

12:11

• 
  No more clothes.

Not only did I put the clothes back in their proper places, I even washed some stains out. I assigned Daniel to clean the cushions which all have a layer of Boba's fur on them. (Not visible in the photo.)

13:34

• 
  Clutter gone. Looking good.

I put most of the clutter back in their appropriate places, though I did dump a few things in the office to be dealt with at a later date. Daniel also got involved, so the cushions are clean and he also got rid of that big cardboard box. Next up: Removing the Spring Festival decor.

I have a 1-hour call followed by lunch, so I hope I don't lose too much momentum in the late afternoon. I also feel like taking a break now before the call to decompress a bit.

17:14

• 
  Amazing how clean the floor looks on camera because it's very dusty and dirty irl.

I rested on the couch for a bit after my call, hence the longer time in between. I also watched one episode of Bridgerton while eating lunch. Last step: vacuum the area and decorate it for summer! Cleaning = the chore; decorating = the reward.

18:33—DONE!

• 
  A little late for spring decor, but better late than never, amirite?

I'm done!

And I finished all my tasks in between. What a productive and non-depressive Monday it's been! My doc was, unfortunately, right—I need plans. If I don't have plans to anchor me down I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly through purgatory. Tomorrow will be a busy day as I have a full agenda. Busy days are usually my least depressing days, because I don't have time to dwell.

I'm going to play Tomodachi Life for like an hour now and I also promised Daniel that we'll play The Alters tonight; maybe even finish the game. If we weren't playing it together he would have finished it a long time ago, but I started to get scared that Jan Dolski will die or something so I kept postponing, until we pretty much stopped playing for months.

This was a very helpful and productive post. I'll do this again next Monday.

Previous | Next

#2026 #blog #cleaning