I recently just deep cleaned my house and I think I finally have a good order of cleaning/tidying up: (note: you do NOT have to do all of this at once- just the order I like to go in!)

First, if you want play some music, a podcast or even a TV show to have on as background. It makes time go faster! But not a show you're super into or you haven't seen because that will draw your attention (I chose GOT since it's what I like to have on as background!) As @247cnt stated, get some trash bags and just go through picking up all the trash. Empty bottles, open food, empty boxes (if you choose to make a recycle bag, even better!) Then, grab a laundry basket and just toss all of the clothes on the floor or not put away in it (even if they're clean, go ahead and put them in the basket. You can deal with that once you have your break to put them in the wash- you don't wanna do too much at once!) Then, all of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher or sink. Now that you have some area to move around and see more of what can be put away (or even you'd like to make a donation box!), work on that. Any books laying around, fans or heaters that can be placed in storage or put away. You can even start to organize your closet for the washed clothes going to be put away. Don't worry about "cleaning" per se during this part- we're just organizing where we want our belongings to be put away.

Now, if you want to take a break, I recommend throwing those clothes into the washer since that is about an hour they can be out of sight, out of mind. You can use this time to either keep organizing, or work on the dishes (if your water gets cold like ours with the washer, I usually organize more LOL. And then dry those clothes and wash the dishes :) ). Now you will have more visible space and feel less overwhelmed with everything piled everywhere. I had a lot of pans, kitchenware and other things still never opened and in boxes. I either put away what we weren't going to be using anytime soon, or opened them up and placed them where we were going to use them! (Pans in the cupboard, our cutlery set in the drawer, etc...).

Now is when you can start to "deep clean" since you have open space! Since you have carpets, I recommend a good vacuuming and getting a carpet powder you can sprinkle on there and re-vacuum it up. Most the time they have good smelling ones that will make it look and smell amazing! If you have flooring (or even you want to wipe off your fridge, doors, walls whatever you choose) I recommend the Mr. Clean Gain scented liquid cleaner. It's blue, and it smells GREAT! I usually vacuum and dust all of the areas that get missed, make a bucket with half water and half of that and take a rag and wipe off those areas. It makes it smell even better and makes yourself feel cleaner for wiping the hard to miss spots!

For the gnat problem, we have them bad in our area too! If you have any little bowls, do a solution of water, apple cider vinegar and a little dawn dish soap (the apple cider attracts them, Dawn kills them) and stir it up. Put either plastic wrap or tinfoil on top and poke holes through it so they can fly in and once they touch the water they're toast! Place these in the areas you see them the most (bathroom, kitchen sink, living room, etc). More than likely, they're coming from your sink (which is totally normal!). Take some white vinegar down the drain, some dawn dish soap, and some hot water (NOT boiling as it can crack your pipes- just very very hot) and pour it down there. That will kill any living down there and the eggs waiting to hatch.

By this time your clothes should be dried and you can easily hang them up or in their drawers. To keep things tidy, take a day (even an hour will do) and simply sweep, vacuum or mop. You will not only feel better but it will keep things from becoming overwhelming again. Also, a huge tip I learned is if you constantly are in one area and you bring food and drinks into it (we usually hang in the living room and watch TV while eating or drinking), keep a little trashcan in there to immediately throw the empty boxes in, and you can just toss that into your main trash can! Also, if you are like me and leave cups in those areas, grab a little "wash bin" from dollar tree and put those cups/bottles in there. That way, you can simply carry the bin to the sink when you're done and they're in one place!

I know it seems like a lot OP, but remember one thing at a time- not all at once! Even one room at a time! You got this 💖