On Cleaning
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I enjoy cleaning. Yes folks, you read that correctly. There are so many things that are out of our control (especially now), and so many times when you put so much effort into something and don’t see the reward. With cleaning, you put in the work and then you see the results. I can feel and smell my clean sheets. I can see when my tub is clean. When surfaces are dust-free, I can tell (even though it only lasts about a day). It’s also a stress reliever for me. When I feel overwhelmed or am having a hard time, I often turn to cleaning because I can zone out and focus on something else—something that makes me feel good afterward too.
I’ve always loved having my “cleaning day” on the weekend. It’s usually Sunday so I can start the week with everything being clean and fresh. But now that I’ve gotten my little pooch, my energy reserves have been way more depleted—especially since I can’t sleep in anymore. I’ve still been trying to cram all my cleaning in over the weekend and my body has been feeling it. I realized I probably need to start breaking it up and doing a chore a day instead of leaving it all for the weekend. Then I’ll have more opportunity to rest and do the things I enjoy more on the weekends.
Living with a disability or chronic illness means you have to constantly check in on your “spoons”, or how much energy you have. I’ve been cleaning on weekends since I was in my 20s, but as much as I liked it that way, I just don’t have the same physical ability to do it like that anymore. So I had to go back to the drawing board to figure out what was going to work for me. Before I had my dog, I wasn’t getting nearly as much exercise outside of physical therapy. Now I’m getting a lot more so I don’t need to use those cleaning days as my “workout” days anymore either.
Getting one thing done a day versus doing everything on Saturday or just Sunday still means I’m getting things done weekly, just on a more spread out timeline. I’ll be in less physical pain and hopefully have more energy to keep going through the week since I’ll hopefully be using my weekends mostly for rest and relaxation.
We need all the spoons we can get these days, that’s for sure! What are some things you’ve had to adjust or revisit to save your energy/“spoons”?
I had to learn to be okay with cleaning half of the kitchen at a time, for example. It was hard at first to get used to leaving something until the next day, but now I do it all the time (I’ll dust half the house, etc.).
I do little 5-15 minute tidy/clean ups (with a timer so I don’t overdo things!) But we’re lucky enough to have a weekly cleaner for the big stuff that we can’t manage since things became more difficult for me.