Easing Family Caregiver Stress by Clearing the Clutter

Family Caregivers in Wayland, MA

Stress is a reality for the vast majority of adult family caregivers and can have a serious negative impact on physical and mental health, emotional stability, and the ability to provide high-quality, effective ongoing care for their aging loved ones. Managing this stress is an essential element of taking care of yourself so you can best take care of your senior parents.

While there are many ways you can combat stress in your actual family caregiver activities, one of the most effective approaches is to create a calm, controlled environment in your own home. By clearing the clutter out of your home, you create a greater sense of organization, peace, and restfulness. This helps you truly relax when you are home, letting go of all of your tension at the end of the day rather than continuing to feel stressed because of the chaos in your home.

Clearing the clutter out of your home does not have to be a daunting task. Working on it a little bit at a time progresses you toward a neat, controlled, and comfortable home environment. Try these tips to let go of the clutter and achieve less stress:

• Make a list of your favorites. You probably do not know what most of the things are that make up the clutter in your home and would not miss many of the items if they were no longer there. Get out of the house when you do not have to look at the clutter and pretend that there was a flood or fire and you need to decide what to replace immediately. Write a list of the most important things you would replace as quickly as possible. This can clarify what really matters to you and might show just how little other things matter, making it easier to get rid of some things.
• Set a timer. If you just walk into a cluttered room with the intention of cleaning it out but no end point in sight, you are likely to get overwhelmed. This is counterproductive and actually make you less likely to get the home cleaned out. Instead, set a time for a short period of time, such as half an hour, and commit to cleaning with full intensity only for that length of time, then moving on. Spend that set amount of time going through items, getting rid of things, organizing, or even setting up an organizational strategy, but as soon as the timer goes off, stop and do something else.
• Think utility first. Make sure that the items you have in your home have either a clear functional purpose or a strong sentimental meaning. If you have several items with the same utilitarian use, choose one and donate the rest. If the items are sentimental, try to determine if they are truly meaningful or you just cling to them because you have had them a long time. If you do not have a strong, clear emotional connection to the item, donate it or consider giving it to a family member or friend who may have a stronger emotional attachment.