Strategies for succesfully decluttering your space while managing chronic pain over 25 years, avoiding exacerbations or injuries.
With chronic health issues looming over me for the past two and a half decades, I've had to learn to declutter while navigating pain and exhaustion the hard way. Here's how to declutter when you're dealing with health challenges, without compromising your wellbeing or breaking the bank.
Decluttering with Health Challenges: Your Guide
Let's clear one thing up – it's perfectly fine to call the pros in, but if you want to maintain your independence and do things your own way, here's how to declutter without causing further harm to yourself.
1. Adaptive Pacing
Adaptive pacing is a well-known pain management strategy, particularly useful for those coping with long-term health struggles. It's all about finding a balance between your capacity to perform activities to maintain a steady level of activity, rather than fluctuating between highs and lows, winding up with injuries or flare-ups.
When it comes to decluttering with health issues, the same principle applies. First, determine your baseline, then gradually increase your workload. Give yourself about two weeks to figure out your baseline, then strive to boost your decluttering sessions by 10% per week until you can manage sessions for as long as you like.
Pacing yourself ensures you can tackle a decluttering task without depleting your energy or spoons (energy units in the chronically ill community) intended for other activities like cooking, working, or socializing. Schedule decluttering sessions for a quiet day, keep supplies close at hand (I recommend using a basket with handles or a rolling utility cart), and don't forget to schedule gentle breaks.
Jen Uschold, a physical therapist and pain science expert, explains, "Imagine you declutter your entire house in one marathon day. How efficient is it if you then end up in bed or unable to do your normal activities for a week due to the flare? Taking a pacing approach, decluttering just one or two small areas a day, means you get your house decluttered over several days or weeks without having to 'pay' for the decluttering with a painful flare."
2. Prioritize Safety
When it comes to decluttering, don't be swayed by societal norms based on the assumption that you're fully able, mobile, and pain-free. Instead, prioritize the safety of your own body, taking steps to avoid any injuries, pain, fatigue, or flare-ups while still accomplishing your goals, such as decluttering.
Drop unrealistic expectations from decluttering methods that dictate setting a timer for 45 minutes or requiring you to stand or sit for extended periods if they don't align with your health restrictions. Remember, your body, your rules.
Physician Mia Kazanjian suggests, "Prioritize safety and maximize well-being in a stepwise, attainable, and even fun way." Start by evaluating what needs to be decluttered, make a plan over a cup of chamomile tea, and tackle the easiest areas first.
It can be overwhelming to walk into a cluttered house and have no idea where to start. Plan a visual storyboard, notate rooms by their importance, and come up with a schedule for decluttering. Use a small pocket spiral notebook to keep track of your progress, even if you need to stop and restart.
3. Evaluate Needs and Prioritize Tasks
When deciding which items to declutter first, prioritize the spaces that support your well-being the most daily. Focus on high-use areas like the cluttered kitchen counter, jam-packed medicine cabinet, or messy bathroom, giving you permission to let other areas wait as long as needed.
Take Mia's advice, "In what rooms do you spend the most time? On your plan, notate 1-10 the spaces that are most important to you. Accordingly, come up with a schedule for where to start the declutter and estimate how long it will take."
Use a small pocket spiral notebook to prioritize these important spaces, helping you maintain progress even when dealing with health challenges.
4. Focus on an Easy Win
When decluttering with health challenges, aim for quick, easy wins to achieve tangible change with minimal effort and risk. Clear one area at a time, like the half bathroom or one drawer, to create psychological momentum.
Utilize drawer organizers to help keep items sorted and declare victory when you complete a small task – even if it's just one drawer. Professional organizer Lauren Saltman suggests working in a systematic manner, such as setting aside trash, recycling, donation, and relocation bags, as you declutter.
5. Know Your Limits
Work in manageable chunks of time and don't push yourself beyond your limits. Even if you can only declutter for two minutes or one drawer at a time, it's better than nothing, and you can always pick up where you left off.
Remember, many decluttering methods offer suggested time frames, but it's essential to adjust these suggested timeframes to cater to your physical limits. Professional organizer Lauren Saltman advises, "Think you can only do 10 minutes? Set a timer for 10 minutes, and when it goes off, you'll have something to be proud of, and you can pick it up again the next day."
6. Ask for Help
Don't hesitate to ask friends and family for assistance. Delegate tasks like heavy lifting to loved ones, or ask for help decluttering family spaces together, making the experience more enjoyable.
Pat Bathurst, licensed marriage and family therapist at The Oasis Rehab in California, notes, "Don't feel ashamed to ask friends or family for help. Let them know exactly what you need, and don't forget to offer gratitude for their assistance."
7. Use Smart Tools
Utilize tools like baskets with handles, rolling carts, and ergonomic cleaning tools to minimize your physical exertion. Smart tools include robot vacuums, extendable cleaning tools, and innovative cleaning solutions like the Joseph Joseph Cleaning System and the eufy Omni S1 Pro robot vacuum and mop.
8. Make It Fun (and Reward Yourself)
Put on your favorite tunes, promise yourself a reward, and have fun while decluttering. Take breaks to stretch and reward yourself occasionally to stay motivated.
9. Create a Maintenance Routine
Schedule time in your diary to regularly check in on and maintain the spaces you've decluttered. Keep your newly organized areas organized long-term using easy-peel labels from Amazon, and be kind to yourself if you need to take breaks.
By implementing these strategies, you'll be able to successfully declutter your home while taking care of your health and wellbeing. Happy decluttering!
- Understanding the importance of mental health during chronic health issues, it's crucial to prioritize areas like the medical-conditions cabinet or chronic-kidney-disease-related supplies, ensuring a well-organized space that promotes health and wellness.
- With chronic diseases often impacting energy levels, it's essential to utilize science-backed strategies like adaptive pacing when decluttering, focusing on a steady work pace to avoid exhaustion or flare-ups.
- While dealing with chronic-diseases, maintaining a clutter-free environment can play a significant role in mental health. By following adaptive pacing, prioritizing safety, and focusing on easy wins, one can optimize their health-and-wellness journey and achieve a satisfying decluttered space.
