I'm really starting to struggle with general tasks like shopping, cleaning the house, cooking, getting myself and my son ready and looking after him. I feel like I can't get them all done in one day, and when I try I end up completely wiped out for a solid week.
I've been considering just getting rid of most of my belongings and furniture so there's less to deal with but the idea's pretty daunting! Has anyone tried it and has it helped much? I find myself just putting all the same things back in their place day after day, lifting things up constantly to clean underneath and wasting all my precious, limited energy x
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ChunkyDuck
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Hello and welcome, ask your self do I really need to clean everything or every room daily the answers you should be telling yourself is NO. Set a time amount for cleaning each day and Saturday and Sunday’s are days off a day of rest. There are 5 days a week so set up a plan to keep the kitchen tidy everyday then add a room each day so you say clean round the kitchen if doing daily won’t take long then say a bedroom and that’s it Tuesday quick tidy of the kitchen then the living room rest of the day off and so on plus you may want to go for a walk if able to or shopping ect. It’s not a competition, look at my house all clean and tidy but i am tired out . No do a little and enjoy what you have achieved and save some for another day once you have set up you routine or best method of cleaning to suit your abilities ect life will should be a lot easier.
I used to deep clean every week and polish and hoover everyday, I would think nothing of going through the whole house, cleaning the windows and doing the ironing all in one day - then fibromyalgia came along - so now I pace myself and try to do one room a day - sometimes I can sometimes I can’t but the hardest thing was accepting it - I’ve now got my head around it ( 18 months later) and just do what I can when I can to keep myself in the best health I can
With fibro, we often have to reassess our priorities and do the best we can with the time and energy we have.
I guess it’s a question of looking at what matters to you. Would you rather have a spotless house or have more energy/time to spend with your son, for example?
That said, decluttering can be a good idea, especially for people who find “busy” rooms overstimulating. But don’t feel obliged to get rid of things you love!
As for the cooking side of things, I recommend batch cooking on days that you feel ok - and freezing meals for days when you feel rubbish. And I wouldn’t feel guilty about having the odd pizza in the freezer for really tough days, either 🙂
Hope you can come to some sort of compromise with yourself x
Hello ChunkyDuck. Oh mate - you are going through a bad patch. But how would it help you or your son to live in a spartan house with no homely comforts. It would be like living in a prison cell!
My home is my sanctuary and I get great comfort from having all my accumulated stuff around me. Throwing it away would destroy all my precious memories. Of course chuck out the clutter (we’ve all got some of that) but treasure the rest.
My advice is to try to establish a sensible cleaning routine - little and often works for me. It hasn’t got to be pristine. Cooking needn’t be time consuming or difficult - just tasty and nourishing. A slow cooker is a brilliant bit of kit.
Just my opinion - but try to remember it’s you and your son’s home - it’s precious.
Hello, quite understand what you are saying but just do the essentials and lots of mini breaks during the day with a cuppa, pacing really is the key with this horrid condition. How old is your son ? Good idea like someone says make a meal that can be used for 2 days ie a casserole or Shepard’s pie that will give you time to do alittle something else. I always tell my daughter when the washing’s done fold it into the linen basket so much easier to find when you do a little ironing at a time say. My hubbie got me a dyson type Hoover it glides along and so light to use, I found that has made all the difference and half the time xx
😁😁😁I tried your annual method of dusting, but I found it took another year to clean it up. Now I’m trying the semi-annual way. I’ll report in 6 months...😇
Hi yes I did and was great having nothing and living out a bag but that was before I got so unwell and still have it in my mind to do again I now hate cleaning /cooking and daily life because I just don't have the energy to do these things and when I do them I am then unable to have any type of life I no what the answear is I need to get someone to help but it hard to find so I make do and my place gets worse see if you can get some help don't beat your self up when you can't do something and try hard to injoy life I wish you the best of luck sorry I was not much help x
Hi my kitchen was driving me nuts as the cupboards were full of rubbish my daughter came and put everything in order so I can reach the plates I threw out what was broken plastic tubs and she got me baskets for the cupboards so it’s all organised , I found some old jars and I have put the dish washer tabs in them and the washing pods this has made my life so much easier as I cannot get the packet of dishwasher open and the lids for the washing pods are are a no go , we have 2 dogs and I find hair everywhere on my lounge floor it’s wooden found a brush that is rubber in b&m and it’s fab I can just go round and collect all the hair up without having to Hoover don’t worry about house work hope this helps a bit take care x
Hi, I used to clean everyday and after developing fibro can barely put a duster around most days. It took a lot for my bain to stop nagging at me but other things take priority over a clean home.
If I haven't used something in over a year I give it to charity as I cant stand clutter and uncleanness. But a house wouldn't be a home without knickknacks and reminders of our past. Life isn't going to end if your home doesn't cleaned every week. Just keep on top of the important stuff. Could you not make cleaning a game for your child or a job for pocket money, age depending?
Good luck and dont let the little things get you down
Have you heard of the spoon theory? It's a godsend to people who struggle with this sort of thing, you have so many spoons, somedays you have lots , somedays you don't, somedays it's stick a fork in me I'm done. Everything you do takes spoons, sometimes it takes a little sometimes a lot, and it's okay to run out of spoons.
It makes it easier to work out what is absolutely essential in that day, assess how many spoons you have not what "needs" to be done, some things can wait, and some things can be farmed out [I love my roomba, it made things easier and I bought the cheapest one I could find and it only picks up half the dirt - but half the dirt is better than none]. You can work out spoons [you can't save them for another day] and reassess. You don't need to get rid of anything, you just need to accept that some days are going to be better than others and learn to work around it - which is a hard lesson. Prioritise the important bits, let the less important bits wait a bit, see if there is a way that you can do it less often.
Hi you don't need to all this evey day set yourself a limit what you can do without tireing your self out I help my wife about the place but I know what I can do and can't so just take it eady and relax more
Love the 51 shades of grey, moo ;-). Thankfully I was a minimalist quite a time before fibro. My "own room" doesn't contain much. And thankfully my wife doesn't see dirt or chaos more than I do. And I on the other hand enjoy a bit of cleaning and buying grocery etc. I take it as a bit of exercise and I do it like exercise: in short stints of 3 to 20 mins, task-switching. Kitchen sink first (often while slowly eating, cos my body prefers me moving/standing to sitting anyway). Moving things inside and out of the (large) flat is energy-saving: When I'm going somewhere else I take something with me that's along the way. (Outside I watch out not to overdo that tho.)
Dust when I see it, every few weeks, 10-15 mins for the whole flat, hoovering 20 (or 2x10) mins for the whole flat once a week. My room 3 mins every 2-3 days, coz our 2 guinea pigs love scarpering around on my carpet :-). Now I've been putting newspaper everywhere they sit for longer (under the heating, in the corners) and renew that at least once a week. That was my biggest strain in the last months. But it's good for them (and us ;-)) to run around outside the cage for 1-2h/d...
Thanks, this kind of simplicity is exactly what I'm aiming for! I know I can't go too extreme with having a child, but all the research points to children being much happier with less. Your household tasks sound lovely and manageable
One of the many special moments when they aren't scarpering and popcorning or doing mischief... (Left back leg stretched out, face turned to the camera)
Awwww 😍 They are so cute. And they’re so relaxed with you there. Lovely. I really miss my pigs. Always had indoor ones as it’s so much more fun...and the popcorning is hilarious to watch. Thanks for the pic! x
I do try to take things with me in a pouch when moving around - but often I find I've got something that should have been upstairs when I've got back downstairs again because I've forgotten I had it in my pouch D'oh! #FibroFog
LoneEra Piggies!!! Me too - I do miss mine although I've got a lovely Bengal cat who keeps me company these days - but here is a pic of my boys at their happiest in the parsley and lettuce patch!
Thanks for all the responses! I don't own anything sentimental, I only buy what I think might be useful but am starting to realise that I don't use most of it! I don't attach memories to objects, I'm more a photo/video person and have always hated clutter and junk.
My son is 3, his favourite activity is emptying the contents of boxes and cupboards onto the floor to play with for 2 minutes then moving onto the next one😂 I wouldn't need to clean anywhere near as much if he was older, but obviously for safety and hygiene reasons I need to keep on top of it all.
I've spent all night and all day decluttering and so far, so good! I feel massively relieved and the house looks great. I'm really hoping to hear from anyone who's tried it and found success, as I'm sure there's still plenty more that could be done x
Sounds like you’re making great progress on the decluttering - good work. Now all you need is Marie Kondo to pop round 🙂 Seriously, hope it makes life easier for you x
Hi chunky duck. I de cluttered when we downsized. So less to cope with.. now i know ive got fibro im learning to pace myself. Stress is the worst fibro trigger.. does it matter, is it life threatening, do i feel like doing it. If Answer is no to any of these dont do it. If some 1s coming round theyre coming to see u. If the dust offends them give em a duster. People who matter dont mind. People who mind dont matter. Good luck.
Someone once said to me that at their funeral they did not think anyone would comment on how clean her house was. If it gets to the point where I notice I clean, otherwise apart from being clean myself having a clean place to cook and eat and clean toilet/bathroom I leave it . When I have a good day I do not want to spend it cleaning all day, little and often, no-one can visit at the moment anyway, and they come to see me not my house.
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