Organize for Wellness
One of the top reasons for situational disorganization is an illness – our own or someone we care for. A major illness or accident will impact everything in our lives: energy levels, routines, finances, schedules, and our possessions/home systems. Professional Organizers call this type of disorganization situational, and it can be overcome with the right resources. Here are some tips to fight the overwhelm from a health setback:
Give your brain a break
Our short term memory can only effectively remember 3 to 5 things. That’s on our good days, when we aren’t stressed, ill or sleep-deprived! During a health crisis, you may be all those things and still be called upon to remember and perform many new tasks. The good news is that there are a number of ways we can aid our memory and just a few examples are:
keep a medical journal (better to have one notebook than 100 post-it notes)
use your note app on your phone
take pictures, recordings or video to capture information
set reminders and alarms to remember medications
create a shared family calendar for appointments
Our stress levels go down when we aren’t worried about forgetting something!
The right kind of help
Your time and energy is best spent on healing for yourself or your loved one, but recognize that these new activities may take hours out of the day. Offset those hours by outsourcing some responsibilities. Is it possible to hire someone to snow shovel, cut grass, clean house, or organize your paperwork? Would it help to spend a little more on food to get groceries delivered or enroll in a meal service? It takes time and energy to set up these services, so outsource those tasks, as well. Family and friends WANT to help, so ask them to help you find and schedule these specific resources for you.
Make space for health
Bottles of pills, devices, discharge instructions, medical bills...the list of new stuff coming into your home during a health crisis is almost endless. For many of us, those new piles add to our sense of overwhelm. Overcome this by giving these things a home!
Find space in the bathroom by eliminating out of date or unused medications or moving extra towels and supplies to another space.
A simple tray or low basket on the bath or kitchen counter will work to contain medical items while keeping the overall space neater.
Give all that medical paperwork a home. I like to use the IRIS portable, hanging file box. Hanging files contain and separate categories of paper like medical bills, insurance statements and medical instructions. Best of all, you can tuck it away to keep your surroundings tidy and easily take it wherever you need to go.
Use your smartphone
A note taking app on your phone or even your photos can be a huge help to keep new, but very necessary, information easy to find. Take photos of all medications and instructions and save those photos to a new album or tag as a ‘favorite' so you don’t have to endlessly scroll to find them. Add important phone numbers and addresses to contact info or take a quick photo of those business cards and important documents to be able to access quickly if you are not at home. Once that information is digital, it’s easily shareable with key family members or health workers.
I hope these tips help you feel a sense of control, peace, and wellness!