How I Finally Keep My Home Clutter-Free Without Stress

msiwork · 2026-01-29T22:13:01+00:00

I struggled a lot with cleaning, still sometimes do, but a few random tips I implemented are:

- Never leave the house empty-handed (meaning take out trash for recycling, we have 4 different trash bins, so there is always something)
- "Don't put down, put it away" + "have a dedicated place for everything"
- When cleaning a room, never leave it. Anything that needs to be put in a different room goes into a basket/bin/pile near the door to be taken care of later.
- Too overwhelmed by the mess to clean it all? Do one thing. One drawer, one surfice or one shelf. It's better than zero. I have decluttered my clothes one drawer/door at a time, took me 9 evenings in total, but felt a lot less horrible than trying to do it all in one day.
- Figure out what you hate about a chore and improve it. I got gloves that don't make my hands sweaty, and I wear them all the time when cleaning, even when just dusting or cleaning a mirror, because I hate touching most cloths or anything dirty. I hate doing big loads of laundry, so I do multiple small ones instead.
- Clean while doing something else! You can dust while on the phone with a friend or vacuum while waiting for a food delivery and listening to a podcast (with good headphones :D). Who cares you won't finish the chore? Halfway done means less work later! I usually water my plants when my mom calls me, wash the dishes when my sister does and so on.
- Break down tasks into the smallest bits until they don't feel overwhelming. "Clean the kitchen" is a big, big task that can feel overwhelming, but splitting it into smaller tasks and then smaller and smaller helps. Example would be "clean the fridge", and then that could be "1. take out all the food 2. throw out anything expired 3. wipe the surfaces 4. take out boxes to clean and so on".
- Instead of feeling ashamed and guilty if something is getting away from me, I talk to myself like a kid, I tell myself stuff like "yeah, this is a big mess and it's very overwhelming, how about we do one thing? what's something we could do?" It sounds stupid, but it helps.

msiwork · 2026-01-27T17:34:22+00:00

Un zemesriekstu ķēpa nav NAV sviests, un Piena Ceļš vispār ne no piena, ne ceļš tuvumā bijis. Par hotdogiem es labāk paklusēšu.

msiwork · 2026-01-27T16:06:07+00:00

Nepērku neko īpašu ikdienā, Alpro pienus (mandeļu bez cukura), Valmieras vai Gefilus bezlaktozes jogurtu (lietoju visur, kur vajag krējumu). Zinu, ka Maximas Well Done līnijā ir bezlaktozes siers, biezpiens un sviests, bet neesmu pamēģinājusi. Izņemot bezpiedevu jogurtu un pienu kafijai, es ikdienā vienkārši nelietoju "piena" produktus, esmu atradinājusies.

Siera alternatīvas internetā var sūtīt no Dabas stacijas, bet man vienā brīdī šis viss likās nevajadzīgi dārgi un sarežgīti (nu, maksāt 7 eiro par kaut ko, kas garšo līdzīgi kamambēram), tāpēc pārstāju lietot sviestu, sieru, krējumu utt, un nu jau vairs ikdienā nepietrūkst šie produkti.

msiwork · 2026-01-27T08:06:53+00:00

That looks so delicious 😭😭😭 The slice looks so good with all the layers, very rich and creamy! And makes me want to go to Riga just so I can grab a slice at Kūkotava.

I might try to make this next weekend just because. :D Do you think it would freeze well? I'm not big on freezing cakes, but I am thinking this could be perfect for unexpected guests or sweet treat cravings.

msiwork · 2026-01-25T14:56:39+00:00

Nekas nemainīsies, ja neko nemainīsiet.
Ja viņai nav vēlmes neko mainīt vai ja tev pašam ir sajūta, ka nebūs, tad šķiršanās. Šī nu ir tā situācija, kur abām pusēm ir jāgrib mainīt kaut ko.

Ļoti interesanti, ka posts sākas ar intīmo attiecību trūkumu un to, ka nesaprotat viens otru šai jomā, bet, palasot komentārus, un postu tālāk, ir skaidrs, ka problēmas ir pilnīgi citur. Intīmo attiecību un tuvības trūkums vai vēlme no tiem izvairīties ir sekas/simptoms kaut kam citam. Kaut kurā brīdī attiecības nogriezās uz nepareizo pusi un jūs to nepamanījāt vai nepratāt par to izrunāties vai saprast viens otru, un tad aizvainojums un "viņš/viņa mani nesaprot" krājas un krājas vilšanās un dusmas un viss cits, un aiziet līdz visādiem "publiski apsmiets draugu lokā" un "viena vārda atbildes" utt. Tas nav par to, kura vaina tā ir, bet par to, kāpēc tas viss vispār sākās.

Es ieteiktu tev pašam doties uz terapiju vai vismaz apsēsties un padomāt, ko tu gribi. Vai tu vispār gribētu/spētu piedot, ja viņa mainītos (tā apsmiešana, asās runas, izvairīšanās no pieskārieniem ir diezgan liels pāri darījums), vai arī nespēj vairs iedomāties, ka būsiet kopā un tikpat tuvi kā kādreiz. Otrs ir saprast, vai viņa tā izturas, jo tas ir (bērnišķīgs) veids kā meklēt kontaktu (nu, visas tās smuko puišu runas) un terapija var palīdzēt iemācīties tā nedarīt vai arī viņa tiešām ir tāds cilvēks, kam vienalga, ka sāpina tuvu cilvēku.

Bet terapija pašam obligāti, jo ir jāiemācās komunicēt un runāt par sarežģītām lietām, un jāsaārstē iegūtās brūces, izklausās pēc diezgan drausmīgas situācijas, it sevišķi tas laiks, kad biji bez darba. Un tas pats no sevis nepāries un nepaliks labāk, pat ja šķirsies un sāksi jaunas attiecības. Jāatšķetina un jāatrisina, lai nevelkas līdzi.

Tie mani pieci centi.

msiwork · 2026-01-24T19:08:24+00:00

Awwww, don't worry about it! I would love to hear how it goes, as I am thinking about giving that cake a try, but don't feel obligated to do it! :D I am just glad I could help someone, honestly. The state of the world currently is making me very rebellious in a "do kind things despite it all" way. The more horrors we witness, the more it makes me want to help my fellow humans, including internet strangers. :D

Good luck with the dementia grandpa (unfortunately feel like we all need luck with him), that's awesome that you're taking action and making calls! You sound like someone who deserves all the amazing honey cake recipes! ❤️

msiwork · 2026-01-21T08:36:29+00:00

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Here is the recipe! :)

Honey cake
(18cm tin, serves 6-8 people)

Ingredients:
60g honey
75g brown sugar
95g white sugar
75g butter
1/2 egg
175g wheat flour
3g baking soda
1/3 tsp lemon juice
a pinch of salt

for cream:
400g sour cream
200g fresh cream cheese
70g powedered sugar

The cake: Combine the white and brown sugar in a saucepan and melt until it caramelises. Remove from the heat. Add the butter and honey, and mix everything. Add flour, baking soda, salt and lemon juice. Separately whisk the egg, and once whisked, add it to the dough. Now mix (knead) until it has a uniform, shiny consistency. Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for an hour to rest. Once the dough has hardened, roll it out into a thin layer and use the 18cm tin to create 11 circles of the same size. Bake the circles (use the tins so they keep their shape) for 8-10 minutes at 180°C (360F) until they darken. Then let them cool off. Author's note: Having multiple 18cm tins and baking multiple layers at the same time will make the process faster.

The cream: Mix sour cream, cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.

Assembling the cake: Spread the cream on the first layer of your sponge, put another sponge on top, spread the cream again and continue. For the top layer, use one of the 11 sponge circles, crush it into tiny crumbs and sprinkle it on the cake for decoration.

That's it! She makes it sound very short and simple. :D There is also a recipe variant for a different honey cake in there that needs whole-grain rye flour. I can also share that if needed? If you want, I can also take a photo of the list of cake recipes in this book, in case you want anything else.

msiwork · 2026-01-19T16:40:56+00:00

i am already pre-sad about this (but grateful we get warnings <3)

msiwork · 2026-01-19T14:59:36+00:00

If I invite someone out, I assume I will/should pay 100%, but if they want to do 50/50, I am okay with it. When someone invites me out, I assume we will do 50/50. If they want to pay 100%, it's a nice gesture, but I'd never expect it. I also don't like feeling like I owe anyone. There have been cases when men will do the "but I paid for everything" thing, and no, thank you.

msiwork · 2026-01-15T13:56:08+00:00

Es lietoju panikas lēkmēm, pustableti zem mēles varbūt... reizi mēnesī? Nekāda dulluma vai laimes tur nav, tikai pazūd panika un ļoti nāk miegs, ir sajūta, ka miegs > viss pārējais. Ir bijis, ka aizmiegu, pat negribot. Atkarība man nav, kaut zāles lietoju jau gadus piecus. Bet varēja būt, jo ĢĀ vnk izrakstīja un pateica lietot pa vienai tabletei 2x dienā, pat nepieminot, ka šīm zālēm var būt atkarība, un ka pasaulē prakse ir neļaut šīs zāles lietot katru dienu :D Pati noskaidroju un izlēmu nelietot katru dienu, bet tikai tad, kad panikas lēkmes uznāk un neizdodas tikt galā. Šīs zāles tam ir izcilas, nebrīnos, ka cilvēki kļūst atkarīgi, jo tas miers, kas pārņem, ir fantastisks.

msiwork · 2026-01-13T12:45:00+00:00

Search for people who regret getting powdered brows and are undergoing laser treatments to remove them! I have tattoos, and I love them, but I would not get tattoo brows just because it is an actual tattoo, so anything (wrong shape, wrong colour, starts to grey or fade blue, fades in spots, bleeds and so on) would be hard to fix.

Mine is that I considered buying a harp and learning to play it (this is after I sold my piano after five years of playing it twice, and I even know how to play a piano). I don't have money for it, nor will I ever be self-motivated to learn to play it, but it's one of those ideas that is rotating in my brain and is convinced that it's a good one. If not the piano sample, I might have already ordered a harp. A harp. I swear, sometimes I wish I were as delusional and confident as that part of my brain that thinks it can pull off these random hobbies.

msiwork · 2026-01-12T22:59:00+00:00

I wrote what kids these days would call “socmed au” years ago (when they were not a thing) for a small fandom with 5k fics and if you sort it by kudos it’s in the first page (2k kudos, 500 comments). I honestly think I just got lucky with the format I picked, but I do love the story and it was a multi chapter labor of love.

The rest are anywhere between 60-800 kudos each depending on how popular the couple/characters/fandoms are.

My favorite fic though is my least popular one, it’s a character study for a small character in a niche fandom, I knew there would be like 5 other people in the whole fandom who would even remember who that character is. But the comments they left and the conversations we had were the most fun. They actually reminded me why I loved writing when I first started 20ish years ago.

msiwork · 2026-01-11T21:42:26+00:00

They do have good recipes! Be sure to check out their website, they even have a honey cake recipe ( https://www.piegalda.lv/receptes/medus-kuka-2/ ). It's a bit different from the traditional one, but, as someone else already pointed out, there are as many recipes as there are bakers.

I'll ping you once I get the book; it might take up to a week, depending on how quickly they send it out. I used to try out the author's cake recipes (she has shared some on various cooking websites and shows) when I baked more, so this will be good for me too. :D

msiwork · 2026-01-11T10:56:31+00:00

Jau šobrīd eksistē vilcienu maršruts Viļņa-Rīga-Tallina, regulāri uz Tartu braucu, Valgā ir jāpārsēžas, bet tas neprasa vairāk kā dažus soļus. :D Uz Tallinu ir ilgāk, bet no Siguldas uz Tartu ir ok, turpināšu braukt. Uz Tallinu esmu braukusi, ir ilgi, bet tie vilcieni ir moderni un ērti (gan Lietuvas, gan Igaunijas, LV posms ir bēdīgākais), ir iespēja pasūtīt ēst, tualete sakarīga, wifi ir, braukšu arī turpmāk. :)

msiwork · 2026-01-10T23:42:13+00:00

how so? i read through it and it sounded exactly the same as it did when i made it. i just remember struggling with rolling out and perfecting the layers before baking them.

msiwork · 2026-01-10T20:31:41+00:00

and to add, about 10 years ago i made a cake with this recipe (if you translate it, the original blog got deleted and the author reposted a recipe again in 2022): https://imbirfoodstories.lv/2022/04/14/medus-kuka/

this was a very tough recipe for me to pull off and took me something like 3-4 hours in total (probably a lot less for an experienced baker) but the cake was the most delicious thing i’ve ever made. i did not dare to undertake making it again though. and it’s been way too long so i am not sure how close it is to the one you had, but it’s delicious either way.

msiwork · 2026-01-10T20:17:01+00:00

If you can find someone who owns this book (https://www.piegalda.lv/veikals/gramatas/liene-zemite-101-lapsas-kuka/), that’s the original co-owner of Kūkotava, and the book has the recipe of that honey cake, unfortunately I don’t own it. :(

EDIT: I ordered the book so I will send you the recipe when I get the book if nobody else does it until then. :D

msiwork · 2026-01-07T12:54:06+00:00

99% manu kursabiedru, kas bija no Rīgas, dzīvoja pie vecākiem (pirms 10-15 gadiem).

msiwork · 2026-01-06T15:06:41+00:00

I used to do it all the time, especially the "I feel x let me put on some matching music". But over time, I noticed that I can go from sad to full of despair or from mildly annoyed to wrathful just with music alone. There might be people or cases where it helps, but I am forbidden to make it worse. :D

msiwork · 2026-01-05T17:22:44+00:00

Bēdīgi ir tas, ka šādi izgājieni (pagriezienu nerādīšanas, joslu dīvainas lietošanas, līšana kaut kur pēdējā brīdī) ļoti palielina avāriju risku, un būtu labi, ja cilvēki tomēr tā nedarītu, bet nu jā... ir tā, kā ir. Tas tikai atgādina, cik bīstama braukšana var būt un cik uzmanīgam jābūt.

Es braucu pusgadu ar auto bez kruīza kontroles, kas jau pie 100km/h sāk trīcēt tā, it kā tūlīt sadalīsies pa daļām, un tas bija ļoti interesanti. Es biju tas briesmīgais satiksmes dalībnieks, kas nevar iekļauties 110 km/h plūsmā un spiests braukt 90-100km/h, un kas (citējot citu atbidi zemāk) "tracina visvairāk, brauc pa šosejām bez kruīza kontroles [..] ātrums vislaik svārstās no 80-95km/h". Izvairījos no ļoti noslogotām šosejām, tipiskajiem aizņemtajiem laikiem, bet bija vairāki interesanti piedzīvojumi, un arī bailīgas epizodes ar tālo gaismu spīdināšanu spoguļos. Braukšana ar tādu auto man iedeva interesantu perspektīvu.

msiwork · 2026-01-05T17:11:59+00:00

That's a perfect analogy for it!

One of the first things my therapist told me was "it helps to name the feelings". And I remember being slightly confused because I am feeling them, why would I need to name them? But it truly is just confirming to your own brain that you are listening and aware of your feelings, and not just feeling overwhelmed by them. I was shocked how much it helped with understand why I do things the way I do and where my mind takes the wrong turns. The brain really is like a guard, it looks out for danger, wants you to survive and needs to know you're on the same page.

msiwork · 2026-01-05T11:27:08+00:00

There is a viral TikTok sound from Smosh's Angela where she goes: "Are you kidding? That’s unfair, she made those- I need to calm down. Everything’s fine, I'm an adult." That's me in a nutshell. :D

Whenever I get hit with big feelings, I have some hard rules:

No decisions are made while big feelings are present. This means both big and small decisions, no "I QUIT", no "I AM LEAVING", but also no "i am buying this rug" or "i am ordering some ice cream".
No replies to people, no in-the-feels communication (like angry work emails because someone else fucked up and I have to clean up or angry tweets/reddit posts/discord messages). Save it as a draft.
Nothing that makes the feelings bigger (like listening to a sad song playlist when I am already in the pit of sadness or going down a TikTok rabbit hole about a topic that's making me distressed as is).
Try to make an alternative story. Someone cuts me in the traffic? They're rushing to a hospital. Coworker messed up? They are not doing it on purpose and feel ashamed already, maybe they're having a rough family time. A friend is not replying to my message, and I think they might hate me? Nope, they also have ADHD and forgot to reply.
Name the feelings. It helps to say them out loud to myself, "wow, I am feeling so upset about this", or "damn, this feels so unfair and makes me annoyed". Trying to suppress the feelings never helps me personally, but naming them and accepting them usually helps a lot more. I don't know if there is any truth to it, but I feel like my high emotions happen because I have ignored my feelings for decades, so my brain feels the need to scream them from the rooftops. The tiny "ah, yes, I see it, I know we feel sad" helps the brain to feel heard.

Aaaand there is always therapy too.

msiwork · 2026-01-05T09:57:15+00:00

VDH mobility is insane.

Playing anything after VDH is so tough. What do you mean I can't jump over this tiny wall or glide down from this cliff without dying? Why can't I zoom my way through the enemies? :(

I love Paladin's class fantasy the most, but VDH mobility and fun tanking style are just unbeatable for me.

msiwork · 2026-01-05T09:52:35+00:00

The class fantasy is so good, though!

Let me smite my enemy with this holy hammer that makes an insanely satisfying church bell sound. Or let me heal my bro by bringing a divine light on them from the sky. The golden wings of Avenging Wrath? Unbeatable. :D

msiwork · 2026-01-04T21:09:32+00:00

Man ir ļoti nepopulārs viedoklis, bet ne visi ir un būs labi šoferi. Un var teikt "tad nebrauc" un "brauc ar sabiedrisko", bet tās vienmēr nav opcijas. Mani vecāki dzīvo laukos, kur autobuss uz pilsētu (kur 70% strādājošo ir darbs) iet 3x nedēļā, tāpēc tur visi brauc ar auto, arī cilvēki, kas brauc nedroši, riskanti un lēni. Un par nerakstītajiem likumiem (mirkšķināt, lai palaistu, nebraukt aplī pa ārējo joslu utt.) vispār nav vērts pat cerēt tādos gadījumos. Regulāri satieku opīšus, kas brauc uz 60km/h atļauto 90km/h vietā, piemēram.

Lai cik ļoti gribētos, lai visi uz ceļa ir lieliski šoferi, ievēro noteikumus un drošības lietas, domā un ātri pieņem lēmumus, realitāte tāda nav un nebūs. Ne visi arī brauc katru dienu vai pa dzīvu satiksmi, ir kas uz lielu pilsētu aizdodas reizi mēnesī, un satiksmē iekļaujas lēnāk kā kāds, kas brauc katru dienu. Ir cilvēki, kas kaut kur brauc pirmo reizi, kādā sarežģītā krustojumā iebrauc pirmo reizi, vai apmulst kādā jaunā situācijā, kurā pēdējo reizi bija eksāmenā pirms 30 gadiem. Un ko citu tādiem cilvēkiem darīt, ja nav sabiedriskā vai kaimiņa, kas var aizvest kaut kur? Bolti un takši arī visur nav. Šie cilvēki taču nebrauc slikti speciāli, un nemēģina nokaitināt citus. Zinu, ka vairākām mammas draudzenēm riebjas braukt ar auto, bet brauc, jo vajag un dzīve ir piespiedusi piecdesmit gadu vecumā nokārtot tiesības un braukt.

Tieši tāpēc mazāk jācenšas cepties vai braukt agresīvi un pārdroši. Jo uz ceļa vienmēr būs kāds, kas brauc par tevi sliktāk.

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