Mighty Well
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Friends in the Fight
    • Friends in the Fight

      Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

      February 17, 2021February 17, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      World Cancer Day: 5 ways to support someone…

      February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      We Are Mighty Well

      January 22, 2021January 22, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      Making the Invisible Visible

      December 16, 2020December 16, 2020

  • Chronic Illness
    • Chronic Illness

      Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

      February 17, 2021February 17, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Diabetes Resource Guide

      February 5, 2021February 5, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      World Cancer Day: 5 ways to support someone…

      February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Mighty Well Staff Picks

      January 27, 2021January 27, 2021

  • General Wellness
    • General Wellness

      5 Healthy Meals You Can Cook on the…

      February 24, 2021February 24, 2021

      General Wellness

      Spread love, not germs, this Valentine’s Day

      February 12, 2021February 12, 2021

      General Wellness

      New CDC Guidelines on Double Masking

      February 11, 2021February 11, 2021

      General Wellness

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      General Wellness

      Looking Towards the New Year With Hope and…

      December 30, 2020December 30, 2020

  • Shop
  • Home
  • Friends in the Fight
    • Friends in the Fight

      Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

      February 17, 2021February 17, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      World Cancer Day: 5 ways to support someone…

      February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      We Are Mighty Well

      January 22, 2021January 22, 2021

      Friends in the Fight

      Making the Invisible Visible

      December 16, 2020December 16, 2020

  • Chronic Illness
    • Chronic Illness

      Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

      February 17, 2021February 17, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Diabetes Resource Guide

      February 5, 2021February 5, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      World Cancer Day: 5 ways to support someone…

      February 3, 2021February 3, 2021

      Chronic Illness

      Mighty Well Staff Picks

      January 27, 2021January 27, 2021

  • General Wellness
    • General Wellness

      5 Healthy Meals You Can Cook on the…

      February 24, 2021February 24, 2021

      General Wellness

      Spread love, not germs, this Valentine’s Day

      February 12, 2021February 12, 2021

      General Wellness

      New CDC Guidelines on Double Masking

      February 11, 2021February 11, 2021

      General Wellness

      Body Positivity Month

      February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

      General Wellness

      Looking Towards the New Year With Hope and…

      December 30, 2020December 30, 2020

Mighty Well

General WellnessThe Undefeated

Spring Cleaning — Hitting Refresh During the COVID-19 Outbreak

by Ariela Paulsen April 2, 2020April 2, 2020
written by Ariela Paulsen
Spring Cleaning — Hitting Refresh During the COVID-19 Outbreak

As the days get warmer, I always find myself throwing the windows wide open and wanting to sweep away a winter’s worth of dust and grime.  My antsy, cooped-up, squeamish response to a global health pandemic has only increased that impulse.

Even experts — on change-making, mental health, and physical health alike — agree that changing your physical environment can have a tremendous positive impact.

So, let’s do it!  Let’s use this time at home to refresh our lives, priorities, and homes.  If this feels daunting, check out our tips for making your spring cleaning fun, productive, and spoonie-friendly:

Clearing the clutter… with structure!

Marie Kondo’s strategy for tidying up swept the internet this year.  For good reason! She provides structure to what can be a nebulous task.  “Make things less messy” becomes a step-by-step process. So whether you like the philosophy in Tidying Up or not, find one that works for you!  Ask friends (and the internet) what has worked for them, or just come up with your own method. It can be helpful to attack one room at a time, rather than trying to get the whole house done at once.  My process looks something like this:

  1. TURN ON MUSIC.  Something that’ll keep me upbeat and fun!
  2. Take a look around the room and congratulate myself on the ways in which I have successfully stayed organized.
  3. Head to the areas that could use some reorganization — usually closets, cabinets, and other storage spaces.  Or that one space on the floor that inevitably becomes a pile of things to go through…
  4. Picking one space at a time, take out all items and sort into piles — keep, toss/donate, relocate.  Once all items have been placed into piles, I put things away in a way that will be easy to maintain (see the section about containers).
  5. Focusing on one type of cleaning at a time (ie sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming…), do a thorough cleaning of the whole room, including the tough-to-get crevices like behind/under furniture.
  6. Once it’s all clean, do a little dance and celebrate in some way!  When you’re feeling ready for more, head to the next room and repeat steps 1-6.

Containers and organizers

I have a vivid memory as a young child of playing “catalogues” with my older sisters.  We would flip through the many magazines and catalogues my mom had collected and circle the items we liked, then pretend we were older with homes of our own, and discussing what we would do with our new things.  My oldest sister would always squeal with excitement at the sight of any type of organizer. I always thought she was silly, but now as a scatter-brained spoonie adult, I totally get it! Keeping things in order in a haphazard closet is nearly impossible.  Keeping things in order in clearly labeled bins is downright fun! (Ok, maybe not everyone is my level of organizer nerd, but it’s certainly a step up!)

For those of us who have a whole mess of medications and other medical equipment, check out our tips for organizing medication.  The Mighty MedPlanner is great for organizing smaller supplies, or the Mighty Pack for keeping all your equipment in one place.

Self-compassion

Remember our whole New Year’s focus on self-love?  Here’s a great time to practice!  You will not get to everything in one day — you may not even finish one room in one day.  You will find places where you are ashamed at how sloppy you’ve been all year. You will have moments in which you throw up your hands and say “well, good enough!” 

All of this is ok! 

You are doing an amazing thing for yourself and your space, and any forward movement is wonderful.

Ask for help

Mighty Well Team holding their arms up to show strength

One cool thing about cleaning is that it can be a form of exercise!  This means, however, that not all bodies should be doing all types of cleaning.  Vacuuming hurts your shoulder? Ask for help. Need to move some furniture? Don’t do it alone.  Your fatigue sets in after 15 minutes of any cleaning activity? That’s ok. Allow yourself to take breaks, and talk to those in your home to see who will help.  Remind them of the benefits of a spring cleaning, show them you’re working your hardest to make it happen, and ask if they will collaborate. You can even make it a fun bonding experience by laughing at (or making silly sculptures from) the junk you’ve accumulated.

Nurture your nose

Ok, maybe being home so much has made my titles a bit silly.  But in all seriousness — cleaning can be rough on our respiratory systems, and now is the time to bring as much love to our lungs as we can!  When cleaning, notice when dust is flying into the air, or where there may be mold. It is important to address those areas and get the allergens out, but consider wearing a mask (even a homemade mask!) and open the windows.  Avoid using feather dusters; rather, wipe with a microfiber cloth or use the duster end of a vacuum.  If you are particularly sensitive, use this as an opportunity to practice asking for help! And finally, take a minute to look at your cleaning sprays.  When possible (and without going to a crowded grocery store), use plant-based cleaning sprays without strong scents and chemicals.  

Mostly, I hope you have fun!  Remember that any cleaning you do now is a bonus, so if it doesn’t get finished, that’s ok!

As always, we’d love to have you join our Friends in the Fight community, for tips and distractions to get us all through this strange time.

coronoaviruscovid-19Organization Tipsspring cleaning
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Ariela Paulsen

Ari struggled with a wide array of health problems for decades before being diagnosed with EDS/POTS/MCAS/etc at age 25. She began writing as a way to heal while spreading information and helping others through their own journeys. She loves being part of the Mighty Well team, sharing the stories and strengths of spoonies everywhere!

previous post
Chronic Illness Accommodations At Work
next post
Vascular Access & Life as a Patient: Interview with Emily Levy

You may also like

Alternative Methods for Combating PTSD

April 15, 2019

Wendy Williams: on Graves’ disease and the power...

July 23, 2020

Getting Back To It

June 30, 2020

Both Patient & Provider: Meet Mighty Well Ambassador...

November 5, 2019

Body Positivity Month

February 10, 2021

Chronic Illness Accommodations At Work

March 23, 2020

Compassion in Uncertain Times

June 4, 2020

Halle Berry Opens Up About Type 2 Diabetes

June 11, 2020

Hosting Loved Ones With Chronic Illness

December 23, 2019

Reflecting at the End of a Decade

December 30, 2019

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

About Us

Hi, We're Mighty Well.

The mission of Mighty Well is to help patients and their caregivers turn sickness into strength. We are leading the global charge that changes the perception of patients from victims to fighters. We do this by improving the experience of being a patient. We create the products we wish we’d had: functional and stylish apparel and accessories that you can wear with confidence - and content that can help you get through the good times and the bad. It’s wellness you can wear.

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username

Recent Posts

  • 5 Healthy Meals You Can Cook on the Road with a Kitchenette

    February 24, 2021
  • Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

    February 17, 2021
  • Spread love, not germs, this Valentine’s Day

    February 12, 2021
  • New CDC Guidelines on Double Masking

    February 11, 2021
  • Body Positivity Month

    February 10, 2021

Categories

  • Adaptive Wear
  • Chronic Illness
  • Featured
  • Friends in the Fight
  • General Wellness
  • Healthy Work Environments
  • Lyme Disease
  • Medical Devices
  • Mightier Together
  • Mighty Models
  • PICC Line
  • Popular Posts
  • The Undefeated
  • Treatment and Care
  • Uncategorized

Tags Cloud

Active Lifestyle Adulting Best Fit for Your Lifestyle Be Your Own Advocate blm Chronic Illness coronavirus coronoavirus covid-19 Diabetes Disabilities Dysautonomia Family Feeding Tubes Fibromyalgia Gastroparesis holidays invisible illnesses Living Mighty Well Living With a PICC Living with a Port LLMD lyme disease Lyme Into Lemonaid Lyme Literate Doctors MedPlanner mental health Mental Illness mighty mask Mighty Pack mighty well mask Misdiagnosed Mom with Lyme New Years Organization Tips PICC PICC line cover PICC Line Dressing Change PICCPerfect POTS Prevention Self-love Support Systems TPN trans black lives matter

Our Story

Mighty Well - Founder - Emily Levy - Our Story

 

It all started with a cut off sock, a cute hockey player, and an 8 AM finance class. Oh, and a PICC Line. That moment inspired us to launch our first product, the PICCPerfect PICC Line Cover.

 

We know it stinks to feel defined by a diagnosis or feel like just a name on a doctor’s chart. Sounds like you? Read how our founder turned sickness into strength.

Recent Posts

  • 5 Healthy Meals You Can Cook on the Road with a Kitchenette

    February 24, 2021
  • Diagnosed With Diabetes… Now What?

    February 17, 2021
  • Spread love, not germs, this Valentine’s Day

    February 12, 2021

Join the Fight

Mighty Well's Facebook Page

Find Us on Instagram

No images found!
Try some other hashtag or username
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Mighty Well © 2018 All Rights Reserved


Back To Top