Problems with cleaning and organizing my apartment

I am terrible too, my boyfriend and I are basically clutter slobs.

So coming from someone who understands, I suggest the following....

-in closets, get little Rubbermaid totes and have one for different items (medical, boyfriend's stuff, my stuff, hair products, candles and smell good items, etc), that way everything has a place!
-try to clean up coffee tables and kitchen tables every day
-try to run dishwasher every day (if you have enough dishes, we do ours about every other day)
-take time every sunday to tidy up (we pick sundays at least)
-get the boyfriend to vacuum (at least that's what I do lol)
-once to twice a month, do a huge sweat dripping clean, dust, scrub, etc

Now laundry, I cannot help you with, because we are TERRIBLE at it and my mom still does some of it even though I don't live at home :embarassed:

Your boyfriend should be helpful and show appreciation when you do housework. I was always a slob and my boyfriend is a neat freak. He put it simply, that making changes and doing housework because I know it's important to him shows him that I care. He always thanks me and is never negative if I don't do something. He just does it himself and when I see him doing something I meant to do or should have/could have done, I try to find something else that he missed. If he was a slob, I would have no motivation to do any of that work, but I love having a clean house all the time! Totally worth it

Also one trick I've learned is during commercials I get up and do something. put clothes in the washer/dryer, load/unload the dishwasher, tidy up etc.... It's like a 3 minute speed cleaning and the idea is to get back by the end of the commercials. I end up getting a lot done, without feeling like I've spent much time at all doing housework.

I second the Flylady suggestion. I'm a complete neatfreak so this has never been an issue for me but I know many people who have followed that system with great success.

I need everything to be clean or I can't focus or sleep. I make a checklist every day of things that need to be done. Today's says "Laundry, Mop kitchen floor, Grocery shopping, Dishes, Make the bed" (dishes and make the bed go on there every day). I accomplish one thing every couple of hours. I set an alarm on my phone before I go on the computer so I don't forget that the laundry needs to be switched or something like that. Every day before I clean my makeup off and go to bed I do the night's dishes. By making it part of my routine, it gets done.

Side note: We go to the same school. Go Bulls!

Yay USF! Same year too. You would think my crazy, OCD study habits would have rubbed off onto my cleaning. I can spend 8 hours studying biochemistry, but I can't spend fifteen minutes packing away laundry.

Haha you're better than me. It's my study habits that need work. I did well in my general education classes (because they were easy...) but I start my major classes in the fall and I'm worried. No use having a clean apartment if I don't do well in school!

I've been where you are.

I tried FlyLady (which has some great ideas, but can be overwhelming at times) and finally switched to Motivated Moms. (I don't think you are a mom, but that is OK).

http://www.motivatedmoms.com/products.html

What I like is that some chores are daily and some are done once a week, and they track the once a month, two months, three months, twice a year and once a year projects for you. AND their products are half price because it's less than 6 months left in the year. When I first started, it took me awhile to get the hang of it, but now I can do the chores in less than 30 minutes most days. A few chores take longer, but not by much.

I've lived the dorm life and now am living the apartment life. Even while I still lived at home with parents nagging me to clean my room, I struggled with clutter. It wasn't too bad in the dorm because I had to share a bedroom and thus keep all of my stuff on one side and relatively contained. When my boyfriend and I got our first apartment together two years ago, it was a huge culture shock, realizing that I (or I should say, we) had to actually do laundry if all of our clothes were dirty, had to do dishes in order to have things to eat on and drink out of (the first apt. had no dishwasher!), and other chores etc. I am embarrassed to admit that at one point it got really bad and we actually had a pest problem because of it. (Though I think it is also partially our apartment complex's fault, other tenants have had pest problems too). After that I kind of came to the realization that if I let things get this cluttered and dirty, A) our place is gross, and I'm unhappy, boyfriend is unhappy, we fight, it's not good. The two of us have since moved to a second apartment which is nicer than the first (it has a dishwasher!) and we're still in the process of unpacking and getting organized, but both of us are making a better effort at keeping it clean. I used to hate cleaning and feel like it took so much time and energy out of my day, but if you stop and think about it, the next time you're eating at your desk, how long would it take you to get up when you're done, take your plate to the sink, and wash it and put it away (or at least rinse it; don't know if your place has a dishwasher or not). Or if you get something out, put it away, it'll only take a second and you'll be less likely to lose things.
My advice would be that you have to make your boyfriend understand that the two of you live together, you both make messes, so you both need to clean up after yourselves. If the argument happens because "it's not my mess", that might be a different issue...My boyfriend also struggled for a while with cleaning up after himself because prior to living with me he lived at home w/parents, but he needs to know that you're not a maid! And you should set the example for him by picking up after yourself, and encouraging him to help you clean areas that you both use like the kitchen, bathroom, etc.
Sorry for the long post but hope it's helpful, and good luck!

First thing to do is get ready of the stuff you DON'T use. Making room for stuff you never use is a waste of space. Then strategically set things that you use (say dishes and utensils) closer together. For some reason when I put them further apart, things ended up on the counter more. So keep the pots and pans closer to the stove/oven, utensils closer to the plates, etc.
Make it a goal to try to keep your counter free of clutter. This helps to cut down on just "stacking".
Most of the time you just have to make it routine. I'm now OCD about clean up that I even do it in the gym when I'm not even on the clock. I find myself restacking weights when I'm "resting" between sets.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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I used to be like that- and my parents made me clean my room! It was a running joke in my sorority that my room had two paths amongst the crap- one to my bed and one to the bathroom. Idk if this will be much help, but a) little by little. if it helps you to pat yourself on the back for putting laundry away then go for it! b) keep working on it- if you truly want to change it, you will. I am now not quite a neat freak, but whereas I used to clean MAYBE once a month...it's a few times a week now. Good luck! :flowerforyou: