Managing a Household
If you are having a rough go of it, managing your household can feel like an impossible task. All of the cooking, cleaning, maintenance, etc. This can be hard for many of us living with chronic illness, especially those of us who experience fatigue on a regular or semi-regular basis. How do I manage all of that with chronic illness? Delegating, planning, and good habits.
There is one major task that I have delegated to a professional: lawn care. I tried to do this one once entirely on my own at a time when my PI was just diagnosed and not yet treated. I didn’t have an inkling yet about my POTS either. I was so sick after cutting my grass in the heat of the Southern US, and my mom insisted that I never cut my own grass again. I’m grateful to her for making me see that it’s okay to NOT be able to do something. I haven’t regretted delegating that piece of household maintenance once since that day, so if there are tasks that take too heavy a toll on your body, I’m here telling you that it is more than okay to delegate to a professional or ask someone you know for help!
The rest of the household just takes a little planning for me to keep up with it, even during times when my illness is kicking my butt. First, I have the task that has to happen every day: cooking. I have to eat, so I had to find ways to nourish my body, even on days when I didn’t have the energy to cook. I do this by keeping plenty of pre-cooked homemade meals in my freezer. On days when I have a good amount of energy, I cook large amounts of foods that can be frozen. Soups, pasta sauce, stuffed bell peppers, etc. When I am feeling sick, I can just take a frozen meal out and defrost it with minimal effort. In addition to pre-cooked frozen meals, I use a slow cooker. Slow cookers can be a chronic illness patient’s best friend. I have found plenty of recipes online that call for me to just dump all the ingredients in and turn the slow cooker on. Very minimal effort required, and it is pretty easy to find a decent slow cooker for a reasonable price.
Cleaning and laundry takes a little less planning than the cooking, but it can still be very daunting to tackle if I let it build up. For me, it was more about developing regular habits and figuring out what tasks needed to be prioritized. I try to do at least one household task a day to stay on top of it, and because of my immune deficiency, I prioritize the tasks that involve sanitizing surfaces that will grow bacteria. No matter how I am feeling, I always clean the bathrooms and kitchen at least once a week. I do these on the weekend when I don’t have to expend energy on my day job. On days when I am not feeling great, I opt for the tasks that are easier and take less manual effort, like laundry. On days where I have more energy, I opt for the tasks that I can’t do on my really sick days, like cleaning the floors or the furniture. My significant other gifted me a robot vacuum this year for my birthday, which made my household maintenance much easier. While some robot vacuums are very expensive, there are some far less expensive alternatives out there that work well.
I also have one golden rule in my house that I try to stick to with no exceptions - I do not go to bed with dirty dishes, pots & pans, etc piled up in my kitchen. Once a pile starts, it builds up quickly. Waking up to a pile of dishes to tackle stresses me out, so I do myself the favor of always cleaning up whatever I cooked with that day. If I’m struggling with energy, I try to cook with as few tools as possible so that the clean-up is easy. I certainly have times (especially after an infusion) where I may accidentally leave a pot soaking in soapy water overnight, but overall, this rule helps me stay on top of things so that I don’t have to expend a lot of energy cleaning up a large mess all at once.
My household maintenance methods may not work for everyone, but it is helpful to start developing a routine that works for you. Focus on the items that have to get done first, then fill in the gaps with the ones that you want to accomplish but could wait if you are having a rough day. Most importantly, do not be afraid to ask for help if there is a task that you cannot do. Overextending yourself on one task is the quickest way to guarantee that you will not be able to handle the rest of what needs to be done.
Chronically yours,
Jen
