So much to do-so little time to do it. What are the best ways to make use of your flare free time?
LIST IT
In the morning, perhaps while eating your breakfast, make a list of the tasks you hope to accomplish that day. Or if mornings are too rushed, try ending each evening by writing out a list of the next day’s tasks. Committing them to paper-instead of trying to hold them in your memory-is also a great way to deal with your flare and fibro fog.
PRIORITIZE IT
A long list of chores can be overwhelming-but you don’t have to complete them all at once. Number each item on your list in order of importance. Then tell yourself that you will strive to cross off the top three items from the list. If you’re able to do more than that, so much the better-but at least you will accomplish your top three chores.
In the middle of a flare or having fibro fog? Try to take care of chore number one, and spend the rest of your time managing your pain.
LOG IT
Do you feel like time just slips away from you? Keep a journal of your daily activities for a week or two. That will help you to see if you are spending too much time on certain tasks or if your energy flags around the same time each day-and it will also help you see how much you accomplish in the course of a week. Once you realize how productive you really are, be sure to celebrate your accomplishments with some well-deserved time off.
DELEGATE IT
“Many hands make light work.” It was true when the Ingalls family said it in “Little House on the Prairie,” and it’s still true today. Allow your family to assist you in knocking out some of the housework-but be sure that you really are giving them the responsibility. Don’t watch over their shoulders, critiquing their efforts until they finally give in and let you take over!
Got a big project at the office? Perhaps you need a committee to help you take care of it. Here again, don’t micro-manage! The point of delegating is to free some of your time-not to give you the additional task of managing someone else’s work.
SIMPLIFY IT
Does chore day wipe you out? Then don’t do all the housework at once; instead, spread smaller tasks across the week. Separated like that, each chore won’t require much time-or energy-and you’ll still end up with a clean bathroom or tidy garage.
It’s helpful to keep supplies where they are needed. Instead of walking back and forth to the utility closet, fetching cleansers, mops, and rags, try keeping Lysol or Clorox wipes in the kitchen or bathroom, unused garbage bags in the bottom of each trash can, detergent, bleach, and dryer sheets by the washer and dryer, and so on. This may require some duplicating-for instance, purchasing a broom for the back patio and one for the garage, or a stepstool for the bedroom closet, another for the kitchen, and another for the bathroom-but the extra expense may be worth the savings in energy.
