chapter 28
when your body doesn’t cooperate
sometimes the barrier to getting care tasks done isn’t your mind but your body. Your mind wants to, but your body feels like it has sand sacks for legs. Maybe it’s because you were up all night. Maybe it’s chronic illness or pain or pregnancy. Maybe you’re going through a situation in your life that’s extremely stressful and it’s affecting you physically. It’s times like this when racing the clock or playing motivation games don’t really help. What does help is to just let yourself move as slowly as you need to. No timers. No agenda. You may not get it all done. But you get more done than you would’ve if you hadn’t done anything. Below is an inexhaustive list of products and routines that may be helpful to you:
Grabbers for picking things off the floor without bending
Rolling office chairs or stools for moving about the house for
care tasks
A shower chair for showering without fatigue
Cleaning caddies and supplies for each room or floor to reduce
having to walk
Three-tier cart for supplies to roll around instead of carry
A long-handled dustpan
An automatic scrubber attachment for drill
Sweeping or using a rake to gather items on the floor into a
pile so you can sit down to sort them out
Doing only a commercial-worth of time while watching a show
to pace yourself
Timing to stay within safe exertion limits
Installing grab bars in bathrooms or other high fall risk areas Doubling or tripling recipes to freeze for hard days A “gentle movement” playlist of slow songs to help you move
slowly while you work
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