Frequently, I experience something I call the Clutter Conundrum. I work from home, and when my house is out of order I find it hard to concentrate, but you don’t exactly have the time to give the house a deep clean because I’m working. I imagine parents walking in the door also feel out of sorts coming home to a mess. It’s deeply frustrating (… she said as she stared at several pairs of her children’s socks strewn across the living room). But TikTok user @aesthetically_ally_, who works as a therapist and uses her platform to offer advice on cleaning, organization, and other “mom hacks” has a solution and, frankly, it’s pretty smart.
“If you’re looking for a busy working mom hack to keep your sh*t together during the day, during the week and not feel totally overwhelmed and overstimulated when you walk into your house, keep listening,” Ally begins. “I can’t stand having a dirty house or a messy house. For me, that is my overstimulation nightmare. Let me introduce you to the cleaning cart.”
The cart is a simple, rolling cart with several stacked drawer/shelves on it. With a client appointment in 17 minutes, Ally demonstrates rolling the cart through the house and putting anything where it’s not supposed to be (abandoned craft projects, stray shoes, hats, papers, electronics, etc.) on the cart before placing it neatly against a wall.
“The purpose of the cart, obviously we’re going to have to put those things away, but it is so much nicer to just not have those things cluttering all of the flat surfaces in your house,” she explains. “It helps so much with that overstimulated feeling that you get when you have to come in after a crazy busy day and have to start taking care of everybody and everything.”
In the comments, Ally explains that as soon as everyone gets home they immediately have to retrieve their belongings off the cart and put it away. “It’s so much more effective than giving the directive of “clean up”,” she says.
Commenters were largely delighted by the advice. Some noted that they’ve found similar success with a laundry basket, though “Ally” says the wheels were a game changer for her because they allow the cart to move easily through the house instead of having to be hauled. Others liked the idea of having on shelf/drawer on the cart per person in the house so all items were consolidated, which would allow them to easily put items away instead of having to sort through the whole cart (more work for the initial cart-loader, sure, but maybe good for younger children or kids who need a little extra help with executive functioning). Some were concerned that the cart would not get unloaded and become yet another “ADHD doom pile” and, honestly, I don’t have ADHD but relatable.
So if you’re having trouble keeping your house in order, consider picking up a little rolling cart—it might just make working from home (or coming home from work) more zen.
