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For many of us the topic of cleaning, reorganizing and de-cluttering our homes is a tough subject. At one point in my life years ago when the kids were young and before the pain, I was able to get up each day and go room from room cleaning and tiding up each day. My house was kept very clean and there was no clutter or items out of place (other than the kids’ toys).
The pain started and I still managed to keep things in order and as my kids got older they helped but then the kids’ grew up and moved out. The pain has increased over the years and so have the clutter, disorganization and plain old dust. Now I look around and see so much that needs done and look at my to-do list and it is never-ending.
It didn’t happen overnight, so it is not going to get cleaned overnight but it can be frustrating just finding a place to start. I manage to keep our living area picked up, vacuumed and kind of dust free for the most part. It is the spare room (our catch all room) the bedrooms, the attic and basement that is the bad parts.
I can only manage about 30 minutes at a time before I have to stop because the pain increases. I stop and rest and then try again. Some days the pain eases during the break and other days it just will not let go so I don’t manage to get anything else done. I have tried taking my breakthrough medications an hour or so before I start hoping that would keep the pain at bay, but with the damage to my back, neck and legs it just cannot keep up with movement.
What I need is a housekeeper but there is no room in the budget for that.
How do you manage? What tips or tricks do you have that helps keep things in order and tidy?
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I also am experiencing all of what you are going through.It is soooo frustrating as I have always enjoyed having a nice clean home,and believe it or not loved 2 clean & keep things organized & tidy.One of my solutions was to”declutter” just simply minimize the amount of Knick-knacks & such,yep just pack a bunch of them away only keeping out those of which r nearest & dearest 2 u.This results in a whole lot less tedious dusting.Another remedy 4 less dusting is 2 wherever u can place pretty doilies & such under all yr trinkets & they sure hide that nasty dust until u get around 2 it,it would b yr little secret.Well hopefully these tips helped you out,take care.
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I am in the process of getting rid of things. I am giving things away, sharing with family who may want the items and donating items. It has gotten so bad that my attic is full of boxes, books, furniture and it is just too much stuff. It is time to downsize so I can have room in the attic to store things that do matter to me, like family keepsakes and such. That will then make our living areas easier to clean and maintain.
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I’m trying to get my place cleaned up as well. I have way too many things for the space I’m in. I sometimes worry that people think I am a hoarder. I don’t want to be like this, but by the time I get off of work, I am so exhausted that I don’t have the energy or motivation to clean. I’m embarrassed to have anyone come by and see my place now.
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Hi Zenfollower,
I totally understand, but please don’t be hard on yourself. I am finding that if I just take a couple minutes a day to work on something that those few minutes add up and before I even realize it, I have finished at least one thing that needed done.
I also lacked the energy & motivation but once I completed a couple small jobs, it seemed to help motivate me to keep going. Some days are more productive then others but that is ok.
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We are in the process of decluttering and downsizing and I am finding it is so helpful mentally to be able to look at the progress we have made. It is slow and will take time to complete the whole house but it does sure help to look around and enjoy what you have completed so far. It has given me a boost of energy to keep moving forward and believe it or not, it even seems to help my pain levels. I find it is a wonderful distraction from the pain to do a simple easy job when hurting. I am able to keep moving forward and at the same time distract myself from the pain. That is a big win-win in my book.
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One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is delegating. As on oncology nurse we often reminded patient’s that they don’t have to it all by themselves. I know I like to “do it myself” but as a person with persistent pain I don’t. I do cooking, clean up from cooking, shopping, and laundry (at my own pace) and take out is fine if I am not up to cooking. My husband does the rest (although I have to admit I had to lower my standards a bit. My daughter does the dusting when she is over. Of course this is a different story if their is no one or family and friends are unwilling but don’t let pride get in the way of asking. Also if someone says “I want to help” or “what can I do” be specific and give them a task; “Could you get my groceries , it would be a huge help”; “afternoons are hard, can you take the kids for a couple of hours twice a week?”, “Would you be able to vacuum for me today (or maybe weekly)? Because my son moved in with us and we have the grandchildren here a lot, we converted my husband’s office into a bedroom for them and he moved into my office. There was a lot of paring down to do but I started way ahead doing a little each day so it wasn’t overwhelming. As I am retired, I got rid of a lot of books and journals. I am still working on paring down files but a little at a time.
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Cleaning is not my thing but i clean once.In Finland where i born we use to call siivouspalvelu or cleaning service in order to make our home cleaning including the carpet where it is always one of the messy stuff in the home.
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Going through this decluttering process is hard when you live with pain. I am still struggling along to move forward but it is so frustrating to have the pain stop you in your tracks just when you are finally making progress. Then it is hard to get started again. I have accomplished much but then something happens to stop me and I have to build up the energy to start again. This is going to take a lot longer then what I had first hoped but I refuse to give up.
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