Bio-One of Brandon decontamination and biohazard cleaning services

Calling in Reinforcements: Who Can Help You Deal With a Cluttered Home

What is stopping you from getting the clutter in your home under control? It might be that you’re overwhelmed—and that’s okay. Maintaining and cleaning a home is a huge task. When you’re trying to do it by yourself amid many other responsibilities, you might not be able to do it all. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to do it yourself. There are many support systems out there to help you manage your home. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can reach out for help. 

Family and Friends

Family and friends

Family members are often the first ones to step in when you need extra hands. If you live with a partner, children, or other family members, they should already be taking on a share of the housework as appropriate to their age and health status. 

Friends and other family members are also often willing to lend a hand to help with a limited-scope cleaning project, such as:

  • Getting ready to move
  • Undertaking some type of renovation
  • Trying to attack a cluttered room with all hands on deck

If you find yourself facing any of these, you could ask a loved one for help.

Calling in Professionals

Sometimes, you might need more help with your house than your friends and/or family are able to give—and it’s important to realize that’s completely okay! There are many different types of people who can help you get your house under control when it gets overwhelming. 

Maids and House Cleaners

House Cleaners

If your schedule makes it difficult to stay on top of cleaning tasks, hiring a house cleaner can take some of the burden off your shoulders. You can hire them to come on a set schedule, like weekly or monthly, or schedule a cleaning every now and then when you need extra help—or even just bring them in for a deep clean spring cleaning to get your home back on track. 

An excellent way to start when you’re looking to hire someone to come help is by asking around to friends and neighbors. Who do they use and recommend? Another good source is neighborhood mailers like Valpak that include coupons for local services. 

However, no matter who you hire, it’s important to understand that house cleaners typically do not pick-up, declutter, or organize homes. Rather they clean:

  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Floors
  • Windows
  • Other surfaces

Whether you hire someone to clean the entire house or ask them to focus on key areas, like the bathrooms or kitchen, you may need to pick up clutter before they come over. This makes it easy for them to access the surfaces that need to be cleaned. 

Professional Organizers

Professional organizer

If the idea of picking up all the clutter for a house cleaner to come over is overwhelming, an organizer may be the helper you need. 

Professional organizers consult with you about how best to manage and store your belongings. They may physically come into your home or meet with you virtually to help you come up with a clutter strategy.

Organizers will help you troubleshoot the reasons for your clutter, find strategies to deal with it,  and give you accountability to take care of it. 

Depending on the organizer and whether they meet with you in person or virtually, they may help you move items, but they aren’t cleaners. Their primary goal is to help you find your own sustainable strategy for a decluttered space. 

Similar to hiring a house cleaner, you should start your hunt for a professional organizer by asking around to friends and neighbors. Community mailers and social media groups are also good places to check, and finally, a good, old-fashioned Google search can help you find reputable professionals in your area.

Handyman

Handyman

Sometimes, broken appliances or structures in the home can cause a barrier to cleaning. It can feel like you can’t get things done because there is an issue you can’t fix on your own. 

A handyman can take care of minor repairs in your home. 

They can also install shelves—a great asset when you’re trying to be more organized! 

Check out websites like Angi (formerly Angie’s List) or Thumbtack for reviews of handyman services ranging across all sorts of specialties. Community social media groups, mailers, and friends and neighbors are all also good places to turn for recommendations.

Mental Health Support

Often, our cleaning struggles stem from a deeper source. 

Many of us are not just messy—we may be unmotivated due to depression or anxiety, struggling to focus on cleaning due to ADHD, or dealing with any number of other hurdles. In these cases, hiring a cleaning service is putting a bandaid over the problem. 

Mental health support

To see lasting change, it can be helpful to enlist a mental health specialist to help you find your equilibrium. There are a wide variety of resources available. For a complete list, check out this article from the National Institute of Mental Health. 

Even if you don’t have a formal mental health diagnosis, talking with someone about ways to cope with the stresses of daily life can make a difference in your motivation and ability to troubleshoot problems.

You can find mental health support from a variety of practitioners, including: 

  • Therapists
  • Certified peer specialists
  • Your primary care doctor
  • Psychiatrists

Hoarding Clean-Up Specialists

Sometimes, your home needs a coordinated team to tackle all the different areas in need of cleanup and repair. 

If your home has so much clutter that:

  • Living spaces are unusable
  • Appliances are broken or blocked by clutter
  • Mold and/or mildew is present throughout the home
  • Structural damage exists
  • Insects have infested your property
  • Other major cleaning challenges

You’ll want to enlist help that can safely and efficiently take on the challenge. 

When you work with a specialized cleaning team like Bio-One, you’ll start out by meeting one of our team members to discuss your goals and situation. 

Bio-One Team

They’ll investigate any safety hazards and ask you questions about what you want them to preserve in the home, what should be disinfected, and other goals unique to you. 

When the team begins work in your home, they will do all in their power to keep their work discreet, including changing into protective gear in your backyard or garage if desired and using unmarked vehicles. 

You will be looped in throughout the process of Bio-One’s decluttering and deep-cleaning work. 

Imagine the relief you’ll feel knowing your home is in good hands. 

Call today!

If Bio-One’s cleanup services sound like what your home needs, give us a call anytime at (361) 266-0968. Our lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can also fill out a service request on our website. 

There’s no shame in needing help with your home. At Bio-One we’re here to guide and support you through the process. 



If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: dial 711, then 1-800-273-8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.


Girl Upset - Suicide Prevention Resources

According to the American Psychiatric Association, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death (after accidents) for people aged 10 to 34. And according the CDC, published reports from 2020 suggest that the pandemic has had a negative effect on children’s mental health. 

“Beginning in April 2020, the proportion of children’s mental health–related ED visits among all pediatric ED visits increased and remained elevated through October. Compared with 2019, the proportion of mental health–related visits for children aged 5–11 and 12–17 years increased approximately 24%. and 31%, respectively.”

Researchers have yet to link recent suicides to the pandemic since 2020 suicide data is not yet available. But on the ground, there's growing concern.

The February 2021 NPR article “Child Psychiatrists Warn That The Pandemic May Be Driving Up Kids' Suicide Risk” explores possible correlation. Takeaways include:

  • NPR spoke with providers at hospitals in seven states across the country, and all of them reported a similar trend: More suicidal children are coming to their hospitals — in worse mental states.
  • The number of kids with suicide attempts coming to the emergency room at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, in California, in the fall of 2020 was double the number in the fall of 2019.
  • At Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, the number of children and teens hospitalized after suicide attempts went up from 67 in 2019 to 108 in 2020. And October 2020 saw a 250% increase in these numbers over the previous October.

For ways to help kids at risk, NPR encourages readers to read Part 2 of their story, “Make Space, Listen, Offer Hope: How To Help A Child At Risk Of Suicide”.

Suicide Prevention Resources

Survivors of Suicide – What to Do Next

The loss of a loved one by suicide can be a deeply painful and traumatizing experience; however, it’s important to know that everyone experiences suicide loss in their own way. As you begin the process of healing, consider reading the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s guide for to talk to others about what happened and identify ways to take care of yourself

Additionally, if you have lost someone to suicide, there may be a cleanup required. There is no need for family or friends of the loved one to be further traumatized or overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to clean the impacted area. Bio-One is here for you. Learn more about Bio-One’s suicide remediation services. 


If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: dial 711, then 1-800-273-8255) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.