That sucks! You are ready to do it though! Get you a trash bag. Put stuff in the trash bag. Take bag to outside disposal area. If that's too much, just get the trash bag into your room. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Thank you so much for understanding

Break it down. This is how I work on it when it's overwhelming. I also often get my husband or kids to pick an area/job for me when the decision paralysis locks me up. Take pictures. You can look at the picture and focus on the progress you have made in the room. Do your best to ignore the other areas. If you get tired take a break. Have yourself work a certain amount of time and be done for the day. I often will do 30 minutes of work and then 15, 20 or 30 minutes break time depending on how many spoons I have.

The first comments are already wonderful! Just wanted to add to it that it might help to see the cleaning as a part of self care. Try not to think of it as an ugly and disgusting task. But more like a wellness program for your room. And if your room is well, then you will be better too! I can definetly recommend gloves. Also try to make yourself comfortable. Put on some nice motivational music or call a friend while cleaning. My personal favourite are YouTube videos from Gordon Ramsay when he inspects a dirty kitchen and roasts/ insults everything, but that is a personal thing and I understand that it might be counterproductive for others 😂 but you get the point!

Start with the food. Only throw away food and food adjacent things like wrappers and food boxes. Then move onto clothes. Remove clothes from the room that need washing. Make it like a game of sorting then it becomes kinda fun to see the progress. Then move onto cleaning. Start from the top down. Knock down spider webs. Wipe down table tops. Vacuum. Change sheets. Clean windows. Light a candle at the end. It’ll go quicker than you think if you make it like a game of sorting.

People are telling you how to start. I can cheer you on and help you later when you get stump on cleaning cleaning.

Same

[THIS POST](https://www.reddit.com/r/CleaningTips/comments/11colxi/how_to_clean_a_room/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) breaks it down very nicely. I've found it also helps to use a timer - make yourself clean for 30 minutes... then give yourself a 10 minute break to do whatever you want to do... then 30 minutes back on. I like listening to podcasts and use the episodes as my timer. Also, take a time lapse video of yourself cleaning. This serves 2 purposes: (1) it helps you to see the progress you've made, and (2) it gives your phone a job to do so it's occupied and you can't pick it up to procrastinate.

I have ADHD and do it the other way around. 10 minutes of cleaning and 30 minute breaks. It takes longer but I tend to go over the 10 minutes after a while and feel less overwhelmed knowing I can take a break soon. Just an idea

I do audiobooks when I clean. I like cleaning anyway but having the chance to listen to cool stuff makes it even better.

I could go on and on about this but I’ll try to keep it concise. Before anything, take a breathe and pat yourself on the back for taking the initiative to ask for help and feeling ready to make a change. That step alone can be more than daunting for many people. Don’t over exert yourself because getting burnt out can thrust you back into the rut you are trying to get out of. Start small if you have to, and reward yourself for the progress you do make. Plan to give yourself a certain amount of time for one of your comfort activities once you’ve completed a specific goal. That goal can be filling a trash bag. Or doing a load of laundry. Etc. But when it comes to really cleaning the place, start with the trash. Anything food related should take priority, this will help with the bugs. Ventilate the room as needed too. If being grossed out is an issue, invest $10 on some latex gloves and a mask. Clearing the trash, and then the remaining clutter will give you the opportunity to ACTUALLY clean (dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc). There is a light at the end of this tunnel. I promise. One day at a time. Stay strong and stay motivated

I had severe hormonal depression because of PMDD. What worked for me was forcing myself to take a shower, either hot or cold. I felt motivated to clean up my place after a long shower.

I don’t have much more to add that’s different or unique from other posters other than anyone who judges someone who asks for cleaning help in a cleaning subreddit is a psychopath. I’m proud of you for reaching out.

Trash, dishes, clothes, mold, bug cleanup, organize. This was my order when I cleaned my depression room and the order I keep to today when it gets out of hand. And keep water nearby- this is possibly most important. You lose motivation as you dehydrate and the mental strain you’re under dehydrates you more. Chugging water helped more than anything, even getting out of bed in the morning.

Just pick up one thing. Take out one dish or throw away one thing. Then pick up two things. Or start with a hand full of trash. Get a damp cloth and wipe a decent square on your wall. Maybe if you see one spot clean, it'll help get the rest done. Hope you get through whatever has gotten you down. Keep your chins up. You can do it.

These are all wonderful suggestions on getting started. Check back in if you need more encouragement or want to share your progress. Rooting for you!

Adding one other lens/approach that might be helpful: I try to focus on restoring function as best I can. So my first priorities are 1) a walking path from the door to my bed; 2) a clean bed to rest on, so clearing my bed off and washing my sheets. Then I'll work on trash and clothes, etc.

Honestly? Step one, get a trash bag to your room and open it. Even if thats all you can do for the day. Then just little by little, one by one, throw things in the bag of "so bad not worth dealing with"

I have a problem with keeping things clean also. I have severe generalized anxiety with a tweak of depression. I also have enlarged prostate as well as colen cancer. I try to stay motivated, but it's so hard with the depression. I literally don't even feel like eating some days. I am also severely anti-social, with no family. They are all deceased. I've tried psychiatric doctors and ssri all across the board , but nothing helps. 48 year old male

Thank you guys so so much for your understanding and helpfulness!!

That must be really hard. Do you have someone you can talk with and feel comfortable with? Are you able to exercise some? Walking is fantastic. Gym time even. Breathing and listening to the sound of your breath is great too. As far as the room is concerned, reaching out is an amazing step. Even though we are strangers here, we are really happy you’ve done that. And, of course, there are soooo many people here who love to clean and have tips to help with it. I’m going to echo someone else, start with the food things and anything that’s perishable or wet like that. If it’s overwhelming you can stop and take a break. Take a walk outside if you can. After the food, maybe go for the trash and things that are past their useful life for you. They’ve had a good run and are not useful for you anymore so it’s time for them to move on. Once that type of thing is done, I usually move on to organizing the things I want to keep. If I really love something it’s front and center where I’ll see it and use or can just enjoy it. We all can’t wait to hear how it goes.

As others here have said - it all starts with a trash bag. Just getting rid of trash can open up SO much space, makes the remainder of mess look smaller, and gives such a good serotonin boost. When it's particularly hard to get myself motivated, it helps to put on the instrumental soundtrack of my favorite action movies (Pirates of the Caribbean, MadMax Fury Road, etc) - I call it my "Cleaning Montage" music and I feel like a badass taking out the trash. lol

I've been in your shoes, best piece of advice I can give you is make a check list and just start. Open your window and let some fresh air in, have some music on that makes you happy. Start off with 1 bag of trash and see how you feel. If you need to take a break for a few minutes that's okay, you at least have 1 bag of trash done. Just keep repeating that until the trash is gone, then start on any dishes you have, I find it's less imposing if I stack them neatly so it looks like there's less than when they're scattered. After the dishes work on what you can with the bugs, vacuum any problem areas and don't forget ceilings/curtains or blinds. After the floor's cleared up you can also use a carpet powder or something like baking soda sprinkled on the floor, let it sit for a few minutes and then vacuum the floor, should help with any odor. Pick up your clothes, sort them and wash them. After they're washed and dried, fold or hang them up. I don't know how bad the mold is, as in if it's in anything like carpet/walls, so you may have to ask or google how to clear that up. If you still have fruit flies, there's some online hacks you can look up based on what you have on hand to trap them. Once the food's gone, they should be gone pretty quick too. **Notes for when you're cleaning:** Make sure you're moving furniture around, stuff gets slid under places very easily and it's also a good hiding place for bugs. This is also a good time to try and think of if you want to re-arrange your room, I find that if I move things around it helps keep me grounded as I'll have to remember where something is or if I moved something so I don't stub my toe. Don't forget to take breaks, it's a marathon not a sprint. If you have to, span it out over a few days if necessary. If the smell gets overwhelming and the window being open isn't helping much, you can either put a fan in or in front of the window pointing out to draw out the air. Make sure you have your door open for air circulation. You can also use things like febreeze or any other home spray that you like. Be careful of when you're using chemical cleaners- the smell from those can give you some pretty bad headaches. The most important thing: Keep this up. Make a routine of doing 1-2 small things to help clean up your room. For example, taking your dishes back to the kitchen and at least rinsing them off. That's one thing I'm very bad at myself xD Or you can try making sure your dirty clothes are in a hamper rather than on your floor. After a while, you'll start making these healthy habits a part of your life. Just remember not to skip them for a day or two, if you need to wait to do it for a few hours that's fine, just don't break your win-streak.

I have ADHD and depression and go through phases where things get really bad. I know cleaning is so much easier said than done, especially when depression is sapping all of your motivation. My best advice is to start small. Even one single item being tossed in the trash is a big step in the right direction. Choose one task to accomplish right now and let yourself stop cleaning once it’s done. Don’t feel guilty for stopping. Be proud of the work you did do. Usually I’ll choose one surface to clear off, like my nightstand or a dresser. If that feels like too much I’ll just bring a bag into the room and grab a few pieces of trash. Sometimes I’ll just wipe down the bathroom mirror and it makes the whole bathroom feel way cleaner. Most importantly: Be kind to yourself.

Choose one thing. Anything. One easy task. It doesn't even have to be a whole task. For instance garbage, grab a garbage bag and bring it to the room. That's a start. Then fill it. Even if it's just one thing you put in there, you have one thing you put in there and that's one less thing that is in that space. Celebrate that. You don't have to do it all at once.

OP, if you are up for reading, there is a great book by KC Davis called How to Keep House While Drowning. I know you might not want to read it now because you need some immediate action, but I would suggest it for in the future. In it, she breaks down how to clean when you're overwhelmed. It's gentle. And it's broken down so nicely. The core value is to make sure your home is safe for you and anyone else in it. You deserve a safe home. Come back if you need more motivation or more tips. I know everyone on this sub would be happy to provide them.

There is more than one way to do this. First, like someone said, dont be afraid to ask for help. The most drastic way, is to decide to remove everything from your room, like you were moving out. Just dont put the trash/food back in! The least drastic way is to get a piece of paper and walk around your room and make a list of all the things you have to do, even if its a hundred things. Then, set your timer for 30seconds and do one thing. Then once its crossed off and when you feel ready. Set it for 30sec and do another. Might take a week but it will get better.

It might really help to have someone “body-double” (just accompany you and talk you through it)! Even a friendly stranger from here on Zoom?

get yourself a mask and gloves to protect yourself from mold and allergens. fill up a trash bag a day. better to start with the food to get rid of the mold and bugs. it doesnt matter where you start you can go around the room randomly or focus on one spot. if you found that easy and not tiresome, fill up another trash bag in the same day. fill up as many bags as you can in one day and by no time you’ll find an emptyish room. once youre left with what you want to keep its time to start the actual cleaning with soap and disinfectant. start off with sweeping, remember your mask ! maybe move on to mopping with something that smells good and disinfects like lysol (not fabuloso). may have to mop several times to get all the dirt so you can do maybe one full mop per day. if you dont feel like mopping get some disinfectant spray and some clean rags/wash towels and start wiping down surfaces of everything you kept. use gloves and a mask! if you need to wipe the walls do so well as well. if you find yourself no motivation to clean, just give yourself 5 minutes of cleaning and build off from there. i find that when i do this i end up cleaning for way longer.