Professional organizer explains what kind of messes are 'normal': 'You're not doing anything wrong'

People usually experience constant pressure to keep their houses clean. All the laundry should be done, the house should be spotless and there should be no dishes for washing. However, according to a professional organizer, it is completely normal to have some things messy in the house.

In a TikTok video, @kayleenkellyorganize shares her experience of working with people organizing homes. She starts the video by saying, "If you struggle with cleaning and chores, this is for you. Wanna know what's normal?" Kelly then begins to list down the things that are completely normal in a household. "Not making your bed" and "a messy bathroom," she says while showing a bathroom that is filled with products. 

She goes on to talk about other normal things like "living out of a dryer," "a donation which has been living there for a week" and "food that needs to be thrown away." Kelly adds, "I've worked in real homes with real people for nine years I'm telling you this is normal, this is okay. You're not doing anything wrong and you're not alone. Welcome to the club."

The professional organizer captioned the video: "This. Is. Normal. I’m here to highlight what real LIVED IN homes look like. You can have an organized, functional home and still struggle with chores and cleaning. Especially common for us with #adhd and #neurodivergence. It will never be perfect and this shouldn’t be your goal. Focus on FEELING better in your home rather than it LOOKING better." 

The video has gained more than 81k views and 8139 likes. Many people on TikTok could relate to what Kelly shared. @kir121221 commented, "Omg! You are fantastic to put up this video. I have always struggled with what standards are normal vs. what I struggle with and mildly berating myself." @p.litchfield wrote, "My husband and family make fun of me for not being able to be neat and organized. I get constant jabs about it from my husband."

@rosie_ _ _lagrande shared, "I really thought I was the only one! I always say, 'I'm gonna do it tomorrow.' I have had a donation pile sitting for almost 2 months." @lenabbena mentioned, "Once again, I'm almost in tears listening to you say this is normal. I beat myself up every day because my place doesn't look Pinterest pic ready." @dailydetailswithdena expressed, "Yesss thank you for showing real life. It is so hard to keep up sometimes, but with some simple systems in place, it can stay decent and tidy!"

Talking about household chores, a study conducted by the University of Ohio found that mothers who work from home do a lot more household chores along with their office work, whereas, that's not the case with men when they do work from home. Moreover, in dual-income couples in China and South Korea, when women worked from home, husbands tend to take up less family-related work compared to when their wives went to offices.

The researchers conducted two surveys for the study during Covid-19. The first survey included 172 married dual-income heterosexual couples in mainland China with at least one child. The second survey had 60 dual-income heterosexual couples in South Korea, some had children and some didn't. Moreover, the study stated that women tend to feel more guilty when they cannot accomplish housework or spend time with family while they are doing their office work. Jasmine Hu, the lead author of the study and professor of management at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business, said, "We found that men and women don't have the same experience working from home."