A Hard Habit to...Build?

People with chronic illness rarely build much.  Building generally takes quite a bit of physical and mental energy which is something we rarely have to spare.  But do you know one thing that you can build that is worth the time, effort and energy it takes?  Habits.  Yep, habits have to be built.

Everyone has habits - good ones, bad ones and ones they wish they had.  For those of us with chronic illness, the types of habits we need to build and the challenges we face when trying to build them might make the process harder.  But we CAN do it.  We just might need a little help.

When you have a chronic illness, the habits you want to break or build look different.  Most of us are not working on getting better at hitting the gym or going for a mile run, or preparing food from scratch rather than eating out so often, or any of the ideas that come to mind when people think of the "typical" good habits to develop. And that is OK.  We need to work on habits that will improve our health and quality of life. And while our goals might include fitness and better eating, they are often on a much smaller scale.

I personally have quite a few goals (or habits) that I want to work on.  Some are new good habits that I want to build and many others are bad habits I have fallen into due to my illnesses.  These "bad" habits need to be replaced with behaviors that are better for my health and quality of life.  Some habits are really more routines I would like to develop but have trouble remembering to actually do.

For example, my painsomnia (inability to sleep due to pain) causes me to stay up most nights and sleep all day.  I am unable to work due my illnesses, so theoretically I am able to sleep all day.  But when I do that, I get very disconnected from my friends, family and the outside world. So I have set a goal to get up earlier even if it means I need to nap at some point during the day.

I also have a few other goals that would seem crazy to a "normal" person.  One is to wash my hair at least once a week.  Washing my hair is painful and exhausting but it needs to get done.  Another goal is to eat at least two meals a day.  I have stomach issues and very little appetite.  This combined with crushing fatigue causes me to skip meals too often which is bad for my health.  A few others are to turn off my phone and my light by a certain time each night, move my body in some way for at least five minutes each day and play with my cats more often.

Now I have known for a while that these are habits I wanted to work on and was committed to the two plus months studies show it takes to create a new habit, but I was making little to no progress for some reason.  I would either forget when I last did something, if I had done it at all or even that it was a goal I wanted to build.  (Thank you very much, short term memory issues and brain fog!  You make everything so much more challenging.  Please go away).  Then I realized I was missing an important tool I needed to help me - habit trackers!

What is a Habit Tracker you ask?  Exactly what it sounds like.  It is a way to track the progress you are making in developing a new habit. There are various types of habit trackers - simple spreadsheets, artistic drawings that you color, jars you add stones too, you name it, people have thought of it.  But what has worked best for me is a habit tracking app.  It allows me to keep track of my progress on multiple habits in one easy place on my phone.  And since my phone has my medication reminders on it, the phone is always with me.

After trying multiple habit tracking apps, the one I decided to use (and pay for the upgraded full version) is an app called Tally. (ios). I chose this app for a few reasons.  It it colorful, uncluttered and once I figured it out, easy to use.  The premium upgrade that allowed me to track an unlimited number of habits was not too expensive ($3.99 at the time of writing).  It is also just pleasing to my eye.  But what was the biggest selling point for me from a chronic illness standpoint is that there is no preset habits, routines or schedules built into the app.  You can literally create and track any habit you want.  And since the habits of people with chronic illness are not the same as most, this is key.

Here is what my Tally home screen looks like.:

      You can see that I have set the goals of being awake by 11 AM four times a week, eating two meals each day, meeting my step goal (Fitbit) three days a week, etc.  Each time I do something that brings me closer to a goal, I simple double tap the correct tile and the number increases.  The satisfaction of adding another "check" is great.  :)

In the example, it shows that I have reached my goal of playing with my cats at least four times in the week.  Now that does not mean I will stop playing with them until the next week, just that I have reached the minimum of what needs to be done to keep them from getting frustrated and hyper. Since they are semi-feral cats who can get destructive if bored, this is a key goal for me.

The app also lets me have goals that are a little bit more complicated because on the detail screen for each habit I can add notes.  The goal of checking the litter box three times a week is not about scooping it.  Although this chore is hard for me and many with chronic illness, I am lucky enough to have help when I need it.  This goal is to actually check the contents of the litter box at least three times a week.  Weird, I know, but there is a reason.  Two of my cats have chronic intestinal illnesses that flare up on occasion.  Those flare ups can usually be caught early on by noticing changes in the type or amount of output in the box.  And if caught early, I can start the needed changes to their diet and perhaps prevent the flare from getting bad enough to need a vet visit.  But when I am having a bad week (or two, or three) and am not the one actually doing the scooping, I need the reminder to check for signs of a flare up.  Otherwise the first sign is usually one of the cats peeing on my bed.  And nobody like that! 

Now the purpose of this post is not to be one big ad for the Tally app.  It is to let others with chronic illness know what an amazing tool Habit Trackers can be in developing the behaviors we know will help improve our quality of life.  I personally have seen an improvement in achieving my goals since I started using my habit tracker.  Last week, I ate at least two meals every day!  I can not even remember the last time that happened.  And since I knew I would not be physically up to making lunch for the next few days due to a recent medical procedure, I asked my roommate to make me a lunch that I could just grab from the fridge and eat while he was at work.  Before the habit tracker, I probably never would have thought about it and just skipped lunch.

There are so many options when it comes to habit trackers, both electronic and otherwise, that I suggest shopping around to find whatever one resonates with your personal style.  But keep in mind that it should help you and make things easier so you can focus on your goals - not be another craft or art or computer project that you don't have the energy to keep up with - so keep it simple.

One final note about building habits.  There is a tendency to think of so many habits you want to build or break once you get started.  But you will get overwhelmed.  So make a list of any that come to mind and then prioritize them.  Once you know what ones are most important, pick just a few and work on those until you are meeting the goals (or at least close) before adding more.  I personally categorized my goals and picked a few from each to start.  My categories were Pet Care, Health/Hygiene, Sleep, Fitness, and Home/Family.  Yours, of course, may be different.

I also found that it was very easy to identify "bad" habits I wanted to break.  But I am a big advocate in the benefit of looking on the bright side.  I believe it really does make a difference in my mental health.  So instead of working on breaking the "bad" habit of sleeping too late, I am instead working on building the "good" habit of being awake by 11am.  Being chronically ill brings enough negativity in to my life.  When I open my habit tracker app, all I want too see is positive goals that are helping me move in the direction I want to go.

So give a habit tracker a try.  Go forth and track those habits.  You can create positive habits that make your life with chronic illness better, easier and more fulfilling.  Happy building!

When Cleaning Hurts: Learning That "Good Enough" Can Be Just Perfect!

I don't know about you, but the word cleaning makes me cringe.  Few people enjoy cleaning, but for people with chronic illness cleaning is synonymous with increased pain and flare-ups of their illness.  We often are just too sick or in too much pain and the thought of cleaning overwhelms us.  But the problem with not cleaning is that things get really dirty.  And that dirt is not only bad for our health, it makes us ashamed to have people visit our homes.  Chronic illness is isolating enough without our homes adding to the problem.  So what do we do?

Like everything else we encounter with chronic illness, we need to learn how to modify things so we can do what we need to do without making our conditions worse.  This post will not be instructions on how to clean each individual item in your homes.  There are plenty of books, websites, and YouTube channels out there that can teach you the specifics of cleaning.  What this post will do is hopefully give you some ideas on how to manage to keep your house relatively clean without putting yourself in bed for days (or worse).

My first and most important tip on how to keep your house clean without killing yourself if this: hire someone.  Seriously, if you are lucky enough to have a good income from either yourself or a spouse, consider hiring someone to come into your home and clean as often as you can afford.   

As kids, whenever we were trying to decide if we were going to do something ourselves or not, my mother would tell us "It either comes out of your pocket book or your hide.  So figure out which one can afford it more."  For most of us, our "hide" has very little to spare.  So let your pocket book pay for it if at all possible.  

Unfortunately, the reality for many of us is that our pocket book is empty from paying for medical care so if our house is going to be clean, our hide is going to pay the cost.

That is where learning that "good enough" can be good enough comes into play.  We may never get our homes picture perfect or how we think they should be in our minds.  We need to learn to lower our standards and accept that if the house is clean enough that our health is not being harmed, then that is good enough.  If you are constantly trying to achieve unreachable standards or live up to others expectations, you will never be happy with your home.

Now that does not mean we should not try and make the job as easy as possible.  There are tips, tricks, cleaners and systems you can use to lessen the strain of cleaning.  Try them.  Play around with them and adapt them to your own needs.  Just like each of our illnesses are unique, so are our cleaning systems.  In order to (hopefully) help you develop a system that works for you, here are some tips that work for me.

1.  Listen to the experts.  Most of the tips I am going to list here came from various sources.  Many came from The Lost Art of House Cleaning, by Jan M. Dougherty.  This is a great book by a professional cleaner.  She is the one that made realize that I do not need tons of cleaners,  just a few good ones.  The Fly Lady Sink Reflections, by Martha Cilley introduced me to the concept of breaking your home down into zones so it is not so overwhelming.  The Clean My Space YouTube channel has a ton of helpful videos on how to clean certain items and areas.  I found her video on how to make vacuuming easier particularly helpful.

2.  Don't listen to the experts.  OK, I know I just said listen to them.  But they are not writing for people with chronic illness and there are some things they recommend that just do not work for me.  

Many of them say start with making your bed and give tons of reasons why this is vital to motivating you to keep your home clean.  It is nothing but a big waste of time to me.  I need to nap or just lay in bed so often each day that I am in and out of my bed all day long.  And even more importantly, bending down to make my bed is likely to flare my orthostatic issues and put me in danger of passing out.  The best I do is drag my bedspread up to cover the rest of the blankets so that if my cat with stomach issues has a problem, only the top blanket needs to be dealt with before I can rest.  Another tip is get dressed down to your shoes so you feel "professional".  Clothes don't make me feel professional.  Mostly they just make me uncomfortable.  Clean in whatever you are most comfortable wearing. I prefer to clean in my pajamas.  

Another tip is to do your cleaning in the morning. The theory behind this is that if you get something you are dreading out of the way first thing, you can enjoy your day more.  This is actually a valid thought.  The problem for me is that I can barely get out of bed in the morning, let alone do anything physical.  So I have revised this tip to be, "clean when you have the most physical energy".

After starting this process, you will soon realize what time of the day you have more energy.  Try and schedule your cleaning sessions during these times.  For me, it is between 11am-2pm and again at 3am.  Yes, I do clean in the middle of the night.  It is better than tossing and turning with insomnia.  It took me some trial and error to figure out what I can clean without disturbing the people in my home who actually sleep, but I found a few things that work.

Professional cleaners are also big on cleaning until it is CLEAN.  That often just takes too much energy for us.  Especially since many of us will be dealing with days (weeks, months, years) of dirty build up.  Dirt builds up in layers, it can get cleaned off in layers.  Don't exhaust yourself trying to get that counter or floor or woodwork spotlessly clean.  Give it a good cleaning during your cleaning routine and let it go.  You will clean another layer off the next time you are working on that item. Obviously this does not apply to anything related to food or personal hygiene, but otherwise, tackle things a little at a time.

3. Get some good all-purpose cleaners that do not aggravate your illness.  For me, this is plain white vinegar, Dawn dish soap, and an amazing cleaner I learned about called Krud Kutter.  Krud Kutter does not aggravate my skin or my asthma like most cleaners do so it is my go to cleaner for everything but the bathroom.  In the bathroom, I do use traditional bathroom cleaners and enlist the help of my roommates for cleaners that trigger my asthma. Use your chosen all-purpose cleaners with some White Terry Cloth Rags and some Microfiber Towels and you can clean pretty much anything in your home.  I use the vinegar and a microfiber towels on the windows, sliding glass door, mirrors, faucets, sinks, counters after they have been degreased, and pretty much anything you want to shine.  Dawn dish soap can be mixed with water, put in a spray bottle and used to clean anything that needs a very gentle cleaner.  Dawn is gentle enough to be used to bathe newborn kittens who are surrendered to shelters covered in fleas, so it is pretty gentle, but do test it first.  If you need a stronger cleaner, look for Krud Kutter.  It is found in the paint aisle of most larger hardware stores or online in a gallon jug and is an amazing cleaner!  I pretty much use it on almost everything.

I have three inexpensive Spray Bottles for cleaning.  One has straight vinegar.  One has straight Krud Kutter for really tough cleaning and the third has diluted Krud Kutter (five parts water to one part cleaner) for everyday cleaning. 

4.  Figure out what needs to be cleaned.  Make a list of each room or space in your home.  Then write down what needs to be done to clean the room.  I am not talking about five page long lists for each room to make it perfect, just the basics of what needs to be done to make it not dirty.  For most rooms this includes wiping off counters, sinks, tables, sweeping and mopping the floor or vacuuming the rugs.  You will also need to make a list of areas in your home that are extremely high traffic and need to be touched up daily.  For me, this is wiping off the bathroom counters (kids and stray toothpaste issues), wiping down the stove, kitchen counter and whereever the five year old ate dinner along with scooping the litter boxes. My roommate does our dishes and laundry but you might need to add these to daily cleaning.  This list will be your "Daily Cleaning List"

5.  Assign each room a day of the week.  Think a bit about your schedule and energy levels when doing this step.  I am useless on Monday.  The kids being home during the weekend uses up tons of my energy and so my pain level is often high on Monday.  So for me, I chose to assign my smallest room, our half bath, to Monday.  It is a small job that does not take too much energy and can be added to another day if I physically cannot clean on Monday.  Our full bath is scheduled for Tuesday.  The living room is Wednesday.  The kitchen is Thursday and Friday is our front entryway.  Bedrooms are done on the weekend as needed. These cleaning task are your zone cleaning lists.  Since I use Krud Kutter so much, I call these lists my weekly "De-Krudding" for each room.

6.  Clean daily!  Sorry, no way around this if you want your house to stay clean without putting in marathon cleaning sessions on the weekend or when company is coming.  But if you clean daily, it becomes easier, trust me.  And your daily cleaning should only take a short time.  Mine takes 20-30 minutes total.  Although,  I do usually break it up into two or more sessions to avoid getting exhausted.  

I use the Wunderlist App (ios, android and desktop) to keep track of what needs to be done and when.  There is no way I would remember it in my head.  This app is actually a to-do list app, not a cleaning app but it works for me.  I enter each room as a to-do item, with subtasks listing each thing that need to be done in the room.  Then I schedule it to be due on the room's assigned day and set it to repeat weekly.  For the high traffic areas, I have a "Daily Cleaning" to-do item with the needed subtasks and set it to repeat daily.

When I am ready to clean, I open the app, click on the "Today" header and it brings up the daily cleaning list along with the list for whatever room is scheduled to be cleaned that day.  I check off each sub task as I complete it.  When the entire room is done, I check the room off and it disappears until next week.  I follow the same idea for the daily high traffic cleaning.

7.  Clean in order. Dirt falls down.  So clean up high first, then down low.  Otherwise you are spreading dirt into an area that you just cleaned and then need to clean them again.  Clean clockwise (or counter clockwise) or in slices.  Don't bounce around.  Start at one side of the room and work your way around.  That way if you have to take a break or start again another day, it will be easy to know what has already been cleaned. 

8. Protect (and listen to) your body.  If you can clean it sitting down, do it. Use pillows or kneeling pads if you have to get down on the floor. Take frequent breaks. And skip the cleaning entirely if you are having a particularly bad day. 

Most importantly, don't sweat the small stuff.  If I am not able to finish an item on my daily cleaning list, I check it off anyway and start fresh again the next day. Any cleaning you are doing is an improvement over nothing.  I no longer worry what visitors think if my house is not perfectly clean or my bed is not made.  Anyone who would judge me based on how clean my home is just is not worth having in my life.  

Be aware that even if you get the best cleaning system in place, at some point you will have a flare up bad enough that it will all fall apart.  Don't beat yourself up about it.  Ask for help if you have people willing to help.  And when you are back to your normal, just put your routines back into place and your home will slowly start looking clean again.  Trust me, I know.  As of writing this post, I just put my house back together after a doctor imposed 6 month long restriction on physical activity of any kind.  It took a month, but my home is now back to what I consider good enough.

If you take nothing else from this admittedly long post, realize this:  You and your home do not have to be perfect.  Dealing with chronic illness is hard enough without putting unattainable cleaning standards on yourself.  Cut yourself some slack and realize that good enough really is good enough.  In fact, in my mind, good enough is Just Perfect!

The Weight of the World

Sometimes living with a chronic illness can get you down. You feel like the weight of the world is sitting on your shoulders and you just can't take it any more. 

Ironically, for many people with sensory processing disorder, anxiety, autism, malfunctioning nervous systems, restless leg syndrome, or like me, nerve pain and dysautonomia, feeling overwhelmed can lead to feelings of having no physical anchor left in the world. 

I know that is not a great description, but it is the best I can come up with. My nerves are twitching and painful. I feel like I am going to pass out or crawl out of my skin.  Often the only relief for me was when my cats would climb on my legs. Weight and pressure seemed to be the key. 

Enter the weighted blanket. 

What is a weighted blanket you ask?  It is exactly what it sounds like. It is a heavier than normal blanket that is stuffed with plastic pellets similar to the ones found in stuffed animals. This allows the blanket to provide the user the sensory sensation of weight and pressure where ever they place the blanket. 

I have been wanting to try a weighted blanket for a while now and through a generous gift I was given the opportunity to do so. Although this was a gift, the thoughts are strictly my own. Here goes:

1.  It is heavy. Seems obvious but keep it in mind when ordering. Most websites that sell these have a calculation based on body weight to pick the weight of your blanket. But I know that I can not lift more than 10 pounds without risking dislocating something so mine is lighter than I should have. It was a compromise because there was no point in owning a blanket I could not pick up. 

2.  The "minky" fabric is awesome! Everyone in the house fell in love with it instantly. Including all four cats. And the fact that it was in zebra stripe made it even better. (The Zebra is the mascot for my condition, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). 

3.  It is HOT. Now this is to be expected from a weighted blanket. But especially with the minky fabric which is similar to microfleece. Because of how hot it was, I was not able to sleep with it all night. This was slightly disappointing because they are also supposed to help with sleep problems which I have in spades.  

4.  Did it work?  Surprisingly, yes!  I had a "typical for me" flare up where my leg pain shot through the roof and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin and meds were doing nothing. My dsyautonomia and nerve pain were in full flare. I was prepared for a night of misery and sleeplessness like I had dealt with in the past. On a whim, I grabbed the weighted blanket and put it over my legs and tried to distract myself with silly youtube videos. 

Within an hour, the flare had subsided to the point that I could go to sleep. I was shocked and so grateful. I think if I could have tolerated the warmth longer, it might have stopped it entirely. I now pull this blanket out whenever I start getting that bone deep, cold, disconnected feeling or any type of nerve pain. It helps almost every time. The few times it did not help I was also severely dehydrated and needed IV fluids. 

5.  Cons. They are expensive. No other way to say it. But they are worth the investment in my opinion. The blanket itself is a quality product, both in the fabric and workmanship. And as the daughter of a quilter, I am picky about my blankets. 

The heat is an issue. It is less of an issue now as New England turns to fall. In fact, I think I will like it during the cold winters. But if you live in a warmer climate or have issues with heat intolerance, you need to take this into consideration. 

After I received my zebra minky blanket, I found out that the company that makes it also sells a cotton version of their weighted blanket. As much as I love the minky fabric, the cotton might be a better option for anyone who has issues with heat. 

In my ideal world, I would have the minky blanket for the cold months and a cotton one for spring and summer. I will add that I have not tried the cotton blanket but expect it to be much the same just lighter. If I ever get a chance to try it, I will update this post. 

6.  Other uses:  This blanket has actually been used by multiple people in my home. I have a roommate with anxiety and a niece with both anxiety and ADD. We wrapped it around their shoulders during times of stress and anxiety and it seemed to help calm them. It helped my niece more, I think because she snuggled into it until she calmed. But I could also visibly see it bringing the level of my roommate's panic attack down even if she did not feel it. 

7.  So where do you get one of these magic blankets?  At Magic Weighted Blanket of course!  Seriously, that is the name of the company. 

There is of course, other places to get these types of blankets. Amazon has a few but I was skeptical of the quality based only on the photos. You can find some on etsy or ebay. You can even make your own if you are crafty. 

But having seen the quality of the blankets I received, it is worth the cost in my opinion to get it from a company that specializes in these blankets. 

I am recommending the company Magic Weighted Blanket for a few reasons. The most major being that I like and use their product. But just as important to me was their response.

When I first started looking into weighted blankets, I emailed multiple companies asking if they had any information on people with Ehlers-Danlos having success with the product. I knew it was a long shot because my condition is rare. I expected a lot of "sorry we can not help you" form responses. 

Magic Weighted Blankets was the ONLY company that responded. The others did not even bother with a form reply. This  speaks to customer service and commitment to me. A simple email saying they had no data, or even a general info sheet on the blankets would have been enough to satisfy me. 

I want to spend my money on products that work and with companies that care.  So if you decide to try a weighted blanket, I suggest using Magic Weighted Blanket.

https://magicweightedblanket.com/

And if any of you get your hands on one of their cotton weighted blankets, please let me know if it helps prevent getting too hot. Maybe some day I will get a cotton one of my own. 

As for me, when my illness leaves me feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders and I have lost my anchor, you will find me curled up in my Magic Weighted Blanket until I come back to earth. 

What Works for Me

In the next few posts, I am going to loosely review some items that may (or may not) make life easier for people living with chronic illness. 

Some products will be specifically targeted to peole with disabilities. But we all know that "special" products seem to cost a fortune, mostly due to their limited audience. So I will also be searching out products targeted at "typical" people that can be used or adapted to make life easier for those of us with chronic illness. 

I will be sharing the good, bad and ugly of each item. And since chronic illness varies so much from person to person, I welcome any comments showing a different use or perspective, good or bad. 

We all need all the help we can get. 

Is My Chronic Illness Terminal?

Scary title huh?  The answer is yes. In my opinion ALL severe chronic illnesses are terminal -ALL of them.  Wait?  What?  That is not what the doctors say. 

They are wrong. Let me explain. 

I have Fibromyalgia, Asthma, a connective tissue disorder called Ehler Danlos, severe allergies, sleep apnea, anxiety, the list goes on. With the exception of severe uncontrolled asthma, none are considered diagnostically life threatening. 

So why do I say chronic illness is a terminal condition?  Easy. The person you used to be is gone. As permanently gone as if you had physically died. 

I used to be a very active, ambitious type A personality. I was the go to person if you needed something done or an obscure fact remembered. I could run, jump, dance, lift and work for 18 hours straight without blinking. 

Then the chronic illnesses hit. Now I need at least one nap a day to even think straight. I can not lift more than 5 pounds without risking a partially dislocated joint. I can't go into crowded areas because the scents will make it hard to breathe. I have to rest for days in order to enjoy an all day event. The pain never stops. 

Sounds like I am describing two diffetent people huh?  Well in a way, I am. People ask me how I cope with my illnesses. It was not easy and it was not fast. Some days I still hate how my body fails me. 

But what truly got me through was realizing that the person I was before was gone. She had died. And I needed to allow myself and those around me to grieve that loss. The grief has lessened over time but just like the physical loss of a loved one, it still hits you at random times. 

Out the ashes of the person I was has risen the person I am today. I had to get to know this new person. Figure out how she fit into the world. And learn to love her as she exsisted now rather than seeing her as a shadow of who she used to be before chronic illness took over. 

I also had to introduce this new person to the people in my life. Some have learned to love and accept the new me. Others were unable to do so and I sadly had to let them go from my life. But it has allowed me to be happy and that is what is most important. 

So if you are struggling with what used to be or looking back, stop. Accept the fact that your former self is gone. Grieve for the loss. Understand your family and friends are grieving too. Let the past go and look to the future. 

It is time to start loving who you are now. You are worth it. 

Where Did I Put That?

One of the most frustrating things about having a cluttered, disorganized home is not knowing where to find something when you are looking for it.   But I don't have to tell you that. That is the reason we have all chosen to go on this decluttering journey.

But ironically, for people with chronic health or memory problems, one of the most frustrating parts of organizing your home is remembering where you put everything. 

It is great if you have decluttered and now have all the items a room all tucked neatly in their new homes. But if you think you are going to be able to remember where all these new homes are, forget it. 

It is time to meet your new best friend: the label. By labeling your various bins, baskets and containers, you can tell at a glance where things live. This speeds up both the time it takes to find it and the time it takes to put it away when you are done with it.  It also helps other people who are not inside your head figure out where to find anything. 

There are so many different ways to label things that your imagination is really the only limitation. You can hand write labels and stick them on with tape, print them from a computer, use a label maker, create an elaborate handmade hanging tag, you name it. All are good choices. 

But my current labeling obsession is chalkboard tape. I love it. It is an adhesive tape with a chalkboard surface. You can cut it to whatever size you need and write on it with either regular chalk, or as I prefer to use, a chalkboard pen. 

The main reason I like this is because it is so easy to change the label. I started using this tape for labels when we were organizing Paige's room.  Organizing a kid's room is a challenge because as soon as you think you have stuffed everything in a bin, more stuff shows up. This lead to lots of changes in where we decided to store things and what bins worked best for what. 

With the chalkboard tape, any time we changed our mind about what went in a bin, we could just wipe off the label and rewrite it. The one drawback to the chalkboard tape is that the adhesive on the back is not that strong so it does not always stick well to fabric bins or baskets so you might have to restick it every once in a while. 

My other current favorite choice for labels is Post it brand label roll. It is basically a big continuous roll of fully adhesive post it note in a tape dispenser. It sticks better than the chalkboard tape to some surfaces and can be easily removed from a bin but the label itself can not be wiped clean. I just use a sharpie on it and slap the label where needed. 

It is not as pretty as the chalk board tape in my opinion, so I tend to use this more on things that are out of sight. 

What ever you use, I suggest you stick to one or two labeling styles. Why? Because it is very likely that at first you will be organizing with a collection of mismatched bins, baskets and containers. (Remember, we are not running out to buy a bunch of expensive matching containers before we know what we are storing and that the system works for us, right?). 

Below are some of the various containers we used to organize Paige's room. Her room is far from perfect and everything is stored on mismatched furniture. She is at an age where her style is going from kid to tween to teen so we are not buying any new furniture until she figures out exactly what her new style will be. 

In the mean time, using the chalkboard labels helped tie the look together more, made it so she could actually find her toys to play with them and wonder of wonders, put them away!  

So learn to embrace labels. They can be an invaluable tool to help keep your space organized. I will warn you that your friends and family might make fun of you for turning into a label crazy lunatic who labels anything that sits still for a minute. 

But as long as you are not trying to label the cat, dog or any other living being, I say ignore them and go for it. 

There's No Place Like Home

I have said before that the key to an organized space is for everything in your home to have a designated home. It is a simple concept but so hard for many of us to execute.

For some of us, our things have never before had a home so finding homes for literally everything is overwhelming. I get it. I really do. Just take it one item at a time and it will get easier the more you do. 

Some of you may say "My stuff has a home but it never seems to stay in it".  If that is happening, you need to do some thinking about why. The answer might be different depending on the item. 

It might be that you are not used to putting things away because they are easier to find if they are in sight. Be patient with yourself. Trust the organizing systems you are putting into place and give yourself time to develop the habit of automatically putting stuff away. 

The other possibility is that the item has a home, but it is not the right home.  We tend to put things where "they" say they should go or where "it makes sense" for them to be. 

But in reality we should store them where we use them. Or even where we tend to put them all the time. Even if that does not make sense to other people. 

I have trouble lifting anything over 10 pounds. It is not good for me. But I also don't leave the house without the bag that holds my nebulizer, epi pen and other emergency meds. 

So if I go shopping, it is a huge effort just to get this bag, my purse and the few shopping bags from my car, up the walk and into the house.   I am literally exhausted when I get in the door and just drop them in the entry way. Which quite frankly looks like crap. 

I have tried in vain to change this habit, getting angry with myself because I was not succeeding. I finally realized this was a limitation of my health and I needed to find a way to deal with it. So I did. 

This is the bin I got to hold my bags when I get home. The stuff still gets dumped right inside the door, but it is contained in a pretty bin so it looks better. And I don't feel so bad. 

It took running up against one of my physical limitations to make this clear to me, but this really applies to any item in your house. And since we are hoping the children in our lives grow up with good habits rather than learning them as adults, here is the bin to contain Paige's school stuff. It not only contains it, it makes it so she knows where to find it!  

So store stuff where you use it not where it "should" be stored and it will be much more likely to stay in its home. 

We actually store our cordless drill in the cabinet with our spices because it is used most often in the kitchen. Do you have items in your home that might need an unusual home based on where you use it?  

What are they and where do you use them?  Share with us!