5 Ways Decluttering Helped Us Get Through Covid-19
The aches and pains, a deep cough and a heavy decent of brain fog… a home antigen test in my kitchen confirmed it. I had Covid. The spicy, Delta variant too.
I was banished to the master bedroom, trying to stay both warm and cool and unable to keep my focus on any show Netflix had to offer. Three days later it was my turn to be the nurse as my husband came down with the same symptoms and we began our two weeks of shrinking our world to as small as our little, inner-city townhouse.
But, you know what? Living with less made a huge difference during our sickness, our recovery and the clean up afterwards (think, 5 loads of laundry!). That’s why I want to share 5 ways our years of decluttering and organising our house made such a difference to our comfort and well-being as we struggled through Covid-19.
If you are dealing with any long-term illness or mental health issues - this is how decluttering will be your best friend.
(NB Note: Check the detailed HSE website, or your own country’s health services, for expert advice on how to identify Covid-19 symptoms and what to do next to keep yourself and close contacts safe)
Photo by Pixbay
1. Decluttering gave me a peaceful bedroom to recover in
I cannot tell you how nice it was to look up from my bed (with the aches and shakes) and not be looking at piles of clothes that were neither clean, nor dirty or in need of repair. No bags of donations I would get to ‘some day’. No overwhelming piles of books gathering dust in the corner.
As Fumio Sasaki, the Japanese author of ‘Goodbye Things’, remarked - things not only take up physical space, but mental space. They become items on a silent, ever-repeating mental to-do list… you do not need that when your head is already sore and foggy in convalescence.
Bonus: Because I had cleared out under our bed a few weeks before, my robot vacuum ‘Jerry’ could suck up all the dust monsters without hesitation!
Photo by Max Vakhtbovych from Pexels
2. Decluttering gave me stumble-proof pathways through the house
Before my husband started showing symptoms we tried our best to keep him safe. That meant a text message to warn him when I needed to use the bathroom, which is at the far end of our house downstairs. We would don masks and he would open every door in my path so I wouldn’t touch anything.
The wobbly trip to the bathroom would have been much more difficult and taxing had there been swathes of unwashed laundry, stacks of papers, and random bags of un-homed new purchases.
I was out of breath just climbing the stairs - I’m glad I didn’t trip on any Lego!
3. Decluttering meant we could find medicines and essentials
As the primary organiser of our house, it’s in my nature as a professional, I knew where everything I needed was stored but wasn’t allowed to go and get it. Plus, I felt like death.
It was so easy to direct my husband to the small medicine box, the tea towels (for a cold compress), ice pops and anything I needed to keep me entertained.
There is nothing worse than being in pain and not being able to access pain relief! I’m so thankful we were stocked with throat sweets, pain killers and yummy treats.
4. House routines kept us clean and stocked
When you can’t even lie down without twitching or spluttering, having an already fully formed weekly dinner plan and shopping list makes a big difference. We routinely have what we call ‘goob time’ on Friday nights where we catch up with our shows and make a grocery list for the weekly shop.
When illness hit, my husband was able to quickly hand off the list to my parents without any further input from me and we had a fully stocked fridge (plus a few nice bits) to get us through our next few days of battle.
Similarly, my husband kept routine and fired off a few rounds of laundry as we usually do on Saturdays before he fell ill few days later. Covid brings a lot of hot and cold sweats, so an abundance of fresh jammies and t-shirts were very much appreciated.
All because our routines kept things easy and functioning!
5. Decluttering let us just focus on getting better
As sick as we were, we didn’t have to worry about the mess behind us on daily video-call check-ins with our parents. We could just eat soup and not stress about things going off in the fridge.
We could just stick on an audiobook and bundle up and not mentally rearrange the stuff crammed onto our bedroom shelves. We could just browse TikTok and watch a TV show without seeing perfect living rooms and feeling a wave of guilt for not measuring up.
We could just focus on getting better - our house caring for us rather than feeling overwhelmed caring for our house.
Well, there you have it - five reasons I am so glad we spent time decluttering our lives over the last 10+ years because it helped us so much with our recovery. I’m fighting fit again and back helping people make their homes into Havens through virtual decluttering sessions - have a look here for how you can get started with my help.
Stay Safe,
Suzy xx
