Raelan Agle
CFS Recovery – 3 Strategies for Managing Your Home
Here I share 3 easy ways to reduce your stress and keep things organized and clean at home during your chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS – or other illness!) recovery.
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hey everyone raylynn here so some people have been asking me for some shorter videos some bite-sized tidbits of information with strategies that you can consider using for your chronic fatigue syndrome or me or long covaid or whatever it might be that you are currently facing so in response to that i've started a series called quick tips and topics to address just that today's topic is how to keep things organized in your home i'm starting to appreciate that when you're really unwell having a home that feels chaotic and messy that you can't keep up with can just add to that stress and that feeling of being out of control in your life so i'm going to share three ways that have worked for me to keep my home organized and under control most of the time whether i am healthy or unwell so the first strategy is around clutter i have a strategy for reducing clutter in my home that i stick to religiously because in terms of organization and keeping things around you sort of neat and orderly clutter is the enemy if you have stuff piled up on counters and in drawers and in closet corners and all over the place stuff that you don't use you don't even know what's there it's really really challenging to keep things orderly and clean so how i stay on top of this is not to attack it all at once because even a healthy person would find that to be an incredibly big challenge to take on is i have a reminder on my digital calendar once a month so the first of every month a reminder pops up and it just says declutter and i put it on my schedule for the day because i make a schedule every single day and i make sure at some point in that day i spend at least a few minutes and devote it to decluttering now what this looks like can vary typically what i do is i take a bag in my closet i keep a stack of extra shopping bags and whatnot in case i need them and i'll grab a big one and i'll just walk around my apartment and i'll start grabbing things now if you're new to this and you haven't done any decluttering in a while you might just want to pick a room or even just a drawer and just start there but since i do this regularly the amount of clutter that i have is pretty minimal so i can do a sweep of the whole place and then i just walk through i'll look in the pantry what's piled up in there do i have a bunch of expired food that i'm never gonna use let's throw it in the bag you know i look in my closet i'll grab a couple shirts things that i haven't worn in years that i think i'm gonna wear but i'm just never gonna wear in they go i'll go in my makeup drawer and get rid of two of my lipsticks that i bought that are the wrong color for me i don't know why i'm keeping them i'm never gonna wear them and so forth so you can just go through your home either targeting one specific place or just doing a sweep and grabbing a bunch of stuff and then you get rid of it and you can either donate it you can give it away even if you throw it away i know it feels wasteful and we don't like this but who is it helping to keep the stuff stored in your cupboards and corners and closets cluttering up your life making things more difficult and your life will be easier this is an energy saver when you open the pantry and only food that you're actually going to eat is in there it's so much easier to find what you're looking for same thing goes for your kitchen cupboards and your pots and pans and your makeup chore and your closet with your clothes when all you have are the things you actually use it's so much simpler to make your way through the day now the second strategy that i use is something that i read about ages ago and it's called reset the room and i cannot remember where i read it so i cannot give this person credit if you know please let me know in the comments so resetting the room means that every time you're done with a room you reset it back to its original state i think when things get overwhelming when it gets to the point where we feel like we can't get on top of things it's because we let things go for quite a long time which is understandable if you're currently facing health challenges but then it's just too big of a project to take on to get things back in order so if you make something in the kitchen when you're done you reset the kitchen to its original state that doesn't have to be immediately it might be in an hour or two hours after you've rested whatever works for you but at some point in that day for sure before the day is done you reset it back to its original orderly state same thing with your bathroom or your bedroom if you're getting ready before you go to bed that space is reset back to its original state i love love waking up every morning to a home where i'm not dealing with yesterday's crap it stresses me out and exhausts me before my days even started to get up and see a mess i didn't clean the bathroom up from yesterday oh i hadn't wiped down the kitchen counters there's stuff thrown around the living room i find so much peace and happiness comes from my life whether i'm healthy or sick to wake up in the morning to a place that doesn't have yesterday's baggage to deal with and i know this can be challenging when you are unwell and i struggled with this and it wasn't 100 of the time that i was able to reset the room but i surprised myself i would say even on those days i would have some days at the end of the day where i was just feeling horrible i'd been laid out on the couch for hours unable to move and as i'm thinking about pulling myself off the couch to go to bed which is the only movement i feel like i can manage i'm looking at the kitchen and i see that my dishes are still strewn about and it's still a bit messy and i think today is one of those days where i don't reset the room there is no way i can do it there is i can barely sit up this is not happening today and it's amazing but even on those worst of the worst days i'd say 9 out of 10 times i was able to pull myself up and kept myself to just spend one minute before i went to bed to put things away because i knew if i had a rough day i was probably going to wake up feeling pretty rough the next morning and waking up the next morning with yesterday's baggage was going to add on even more stress so i'm certainly not advocating pushing past your limits you know you do you you do it safe and healthy and works for you but i just found that most of the time i could muster up what i needed to stay on top of these tasks in my home now in terms of cleaning i have been fortunate that most of my life i have been paying people to clean my home even when i couldn't afford it i was going into debt paying people to clean my home i have not always been the best with money but there were times when i did have to do my own cleaning and the way i tackled it was to assign a task to each day and to have a schedule and a plan so let's say tuesdays are bathroom days wednesdays is dusting thursdays is sweep the floors and you can have flexibility with that plan if you don't feel up to it on that day then you can skip it but i find by targeting one room or one task at a time and scheduling it to specific days really helps to make it more manageable and help me be able to stay on top of it maybe you only need to clean once a month which is another way to make this all very manageable i find i can lower my standards on cleaning more than i can lower my standards on organization as long as i'm not looking around at chaos and things thrown about i can kind of handle the dust building up on the furniture and bonus tip just before i wrap this up is that if you live with a messy person have a conversation with them and talk to them about designating some messy spaces for them so maybe there's a spare room or a section of the office or maybe you have two bathrooms and they can have one of them and you just never go in there so if you can contain the mess i find because the mess really bothers me whoa it's really hard for me to live with the mess but not everyone that i live with has always been the same as me so if we have some spaces that we both have agreed upon okay that can be your chaos zone then i'm okay with everything else so that's it so i'd love to hear your tips what works for you how do you stay on top of your stuff what tidiness or cleanliness tips do you have that help keep things moving and if you enjoy this much more like this coming so consider hitting that like button and subscribing take care and i will see you in the next video
#CFS #Recovery #Strategies #Managing #Home
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What I find hardest is distinguishing between legit bio feedback and the negative neural chatter that perpetually tells me movement is impossible. I have found the only way to figure it out is to move. If it was a lie all I need to do is move and the spell is broken. I can do 1 simple thing before running out of energy and needing to rest. If it is legitimate bio feedback the signal gets WAY stronger and I listen and sit or lay back down immediately. But it is a lie 9/10 times. Again, this doesn't mean I can do a marathon of anything. But I might be able to unload and reload the dishwasher. Or trunk over laundry. Or empty out small trash cans from each room so I can walk the bag to the curb after another hour or two of rest. And that is really all that is needed to set up my future self with a tiny foot hold to climb out of the low place. My life is consistently better when I follow through on my commitment to do something every day to make life 1% better for my future self. And it is okay for that to look like rest when I am frustrated about not having the energy to accomplish anything when all efforts are met with the shouty all caps SIT DOWN. I wish I had the budget for outside help. All I've got is a teen ans a preteen and we all know their "help" requires more spoons than doing the task ourselves. I did once splurge on a robot vacuum though. So if I can nag my kids enough to not have things on the floor I might be able to deploy Rosie.
This is very practical thank you. I have a progressive genetic condition that got worse after covid and am struggling with my new baseline. I moved to a smaller lower lever apt and that helped but struggling with knowing limits and scheduling because I start a task and want to keep going and overdo it and am very sick 2-3 daysâčïž
I have found over the past few years having less, my house feeling open and tidy has reduced so much stress.
I found it a sort of therapy, I was holding on to clothes that were no longer serving me. They didnât fit the life I had created. I needed to make everything easier.
But first coffee is a great channel too
Life changing for me! Check out minimal mom or cas clutterbug
Awesome tips Raelan! After many years of illness I came to the same conclusions. I would add that itâs also about accepting that itâs never going to be perfect for now. As my mother said tome one day, if itâs a house, itâs not a home;)
Are you saying your Geoffrey is messy?! đđ€Ł I live with a messy man too! I'm with you on every point Raelan…I do exactly the same…I reset the rooms…Its so much quicker and easy to keep on top of things rather than let it go and then have to spend ages and lots of energy later on…plus its easier to find things etc…we all know organisation saves time and makes life easier right đ getting a cleaner was the best decision i ever made…it broke my heart that I couldn't clean my house and i clung on so long but it's so helpful…she does the physical like the floors and the bathroom once a week and I keep on top of the other stuff…I couldn't recommend this more…we budgeted hard to afford this but it is worth it! Xx
I hired someone to clean as well. Over the past number of years, I have taken it on myself. I have cleaning routines as well. I always set my timer to prevent overdoing things. I get to the finish line by being consistent. As for decluttering, getting rid of one item daily goes a long way. I find by using this method, I avoid getting overwhelmed with having to make too many decisions, and it's a great way to dip your toe in. Decluttering is an exhausting process even for healthy individuals. A big thank you for another wonderful and inspiring video! You have created such a supportive channel, Raelan! My life has changed so dramatically because of your book and videos! đ€žââïž
Thank you so much! I have Fibromyalgia and this is so helpful to me. Love your videos đ
I have Me, l can not do vacumimg it is the hardest for me, clutter is not a problem. I would like if You know any ways of earning money from home, l like writting or any advice about it it would be helpful, l am from Serbia and here doctors are complety not familliar with cfs and is hard to have days off work but l have Me for more than a dacade and sometimes is more harder to go for work, thank You in advance
Thank youâ€ïž very helpful videođ
I really like your videos! I have not had me or cfs but easily get very tired. I am trying to change the way I spend my days. You give me so much inspiration!
Hi ,sorry my english…đ I understand right, that you paid people for It to Help you when you have been on your worst?
Great video do you also meal plan
As a former domestic goddess the mess really bothers me too even though I no longer have the energy to be so anal about it ! However, even at my very worst when I was laying on the sofa & could barely get up to go to the loo, I ALWAYS tidied the sofa area (folded blanket & puffed up the cushions) that I knew I would be going back to the next day. Even the bare minimum can give us a boost. Although I'm not 'cured' I'm a good way there & it's a joy to be able to declutter. You're right Raelan. It's therapeutic !
What was the cause of your illness? The rooth cause
What was the cause of your illness? The rooth cause.