How to Catch Up After Being Down

This was a hard week for me. Tuesday my pelvic region got twisted, causing my right hip to slip in its socket which resulted in awful pain on weight bearing, getting in and out of chairs and walking right after getting up. I thought my hip was fractured and wanted to go to the emergency room, but my dear husband was at home when it happened and he talked me into seeing the chiropractor first. She was able to make the right adjustments and I walked out pain free and have been able to walk fine since.

Over the course of the week, my right shoulder, my hand and fingers were bothering me alot and as the week progressed I developed a humdinger of a headache and had some sleepless nights. As a result of all that, I have become extremely fatigued.

Needless to say, between being taxi-mom for my two teen-agers, making multiple trips to the boat docks to see my parents off and meet them again and all the physical issues that seemed to plague me, my house has degenerated into a train wreck of a mess.

It was overwhelming to look at and think about mustering up the energy to clean it up when I am so exhausted. So how does one catch up after being sick and not being able to do it all? Here is my strategy:

1. Delegate: I walked into my kitchen. The dishwasher was full of clean dishes and the sink and counter were full of dirty. My daughter's job is the dishwasher and my son's job is the dirty dishes. However she was gone to a movie. So I began to do the job myself. Then I stopped short. This job belongs to the kids. I better use my time cleaning other areas. So I decided to stop and let my daughter do her job when she got home from the movie so my son could do his after her. This saved my precious energy for other tasks.

2. Set a timer for 15 minutes: Set a timer for 15 minutes and start working on a task. Don't stop until the timer goes off. If you finish that task start the next one. When the timer goes, then reset the timer for 5 or 10 minutes, whatever you need to rest and drink some water. Then when the break is up get up and do 15 minutes more. You'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish with this method.

3. Reward yourself when you have reached a particular goal with something pleasant. Here are some ideas:

a. a soak in a hot tub or bubble bath

b. a cup of tea and a good book

c. if it's nice out, sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and the birds

d. a Starbucks coffee

e. time out with a friend

f. go shopping for fun, maybe just window shopping if money is short

g. internet time

h. get a massage

i. a sweet treat

j. watch a fun movie

k. work on a hobby