What do you do when...

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
...you are stressed/out of sorts?

I'm thinking of the Grey's Anatomy thread and how Izzie bakes when she is stressed/confused/upset/out of sorts.

I declutter my house. And organize things. And putter. And move things from room and room. And rearrange furniture.

I can't tell you how many bags of *things* I've donated- I've lost count. And today I am doing it again.

I have a bag started and have some more books in it. There are some clothes to add, too.

A couple of weeks ago I bought new knobs for my kitchen cabinets to update the look from antique brass to nickel...and then painted the hinges to match. That worked so well that this morning I am painting the last vestige of brass in the kitchen- an overhead light- with the same metallic paint.

...putter, putter, putter...someone save me! :blush:


So what do you do?

Suz
 

hearthope

New Member
Well Suz~ I have a half painted kitchen. I started it A long time ago and I can't tell you why it is not finished.
I stayed at the shop late everyday this past week, doing odds and ends that never get done.
I spent last weekend in the flower bed.It helps to see the garden ready to grow.

I try to do anything I can to keep my mind focused on something else....If I let my thoughts of difficult child take over I end up in the bed..
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Suz,

Of late, I've played piano. Also, I find myself obsessed with getting laundry done. Huh??? Oh well - feels good to have the laundry folded & put away.

This past Monday, I spent 5 hours deep cleaning my living & dining rooms. Washing walls, vacuuming upholstery, high dusting, etc. It looks great!

I guess for me, it's keeping busy or sleeping. I really don't want to sleep my life away though. :rofl:
 

everywoman

Well-Known Member
I do the same. I have redocorated/decluttered so many times in the past that I have run out of little projects to do. I'm now on to things like new flooring and furniture.
 

Sue C

Active Member
I hate to say that when I'm too stressed and out of sorts I take naps to escape. I feel paralyzed and don't get much of anything done around the house. I wish I could handle my stress the way some of you do by decluttering and organizing 'cuz my house needs it! Hey--one of you could use up your energy and come over and declutter/organize for me and I'll take a nap for you! Sound even? LOL

Sue
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Keeping busy seems to be the way to keep the thoughts away. One project after another and some are simultaneous. Remodeling, organizing, planning holidays, family reunions, graduations. I make lists and lists of lists.
I helps to relieve the clutter in my head to have order around me.

Exercise helped me a lot, too. I need to focus on returning to that to help.

Sometimes I have to force myself to get out of my comfort zone and go out. Meet with people I don't know in some sort of social setting. I hate it beforehand but once I'm there it seems like life isn't as oppressive. It takes my mind off or what ever issue it is that is stressing me.
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
[ QUOTE ]
I helps to relieve the clutter in my head to have order around me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely.

For me it also satisfies the need for instant gratification because I can see positive results so quickly.

I am so happy to see that there are many others who hyperfocus on projects in order to escape.

I painted my bedroom 5 times in 2 years until I found just the right shade of green. ("Olive 3"- Laura Ashley :cool:)

:hammer: :rofl: :hammer:

Hearthope if you lived closer I'd come over and help you finish painting your kitchen when I get in one of these moods. :grin:

Suz
 

ScentofCedar

New Member
I do get into cleaning and organizing. There are times when that can help me to feel less chaotic. So much of the chaos that happened to our family happened at home though, that cleaning or rearranging things never fully rebalances me. Like Fran, I feel better when I have branched out into the real world. I too dislike thinking about doing that ~ but once I am out there, I feel better, and am able to come back into my own life again in a more balanced way.

Mostly what I do when I recognize that I am really stressed is lay on the sofa in the sun in the middle of the day and read. I find it less necessary to do that, now. When I was working and the kids were being such jerks, it was a mandatory thing for me. If I could not lie on the sofa, I would go into my bedroom ~ but somehow that just was not the same. Sometimes, I eat as much chocolate as I want. Sometimes, I stick with apples and cottage cheese and tea. I don't take calls during that time, and I don't read anything worthwhile. (!) Just a novel. If I fall into sleep, I love that part. I love waking up in the sun, love having taken that time for myself.

It rebalances me, every time.

Another thing I found really helpful was the kind of retreat Timer just did with her husband. I don't do retreats with husband (he refuses).

But I love to do them for myself.

We cannot give back from an empty cup.

Cleaning too much makes me hyper, now that I think about it!

husband drives around by himself.

That is his ulimate relaxation.

So, everyone is different, I guess.

For me, it is the reading (and the eatiing that goes with it) in the sun.

Hot baths, with bath salts and candles are another thing that would calm me, when I had the kids at home with never a minute's break from the constant chaos we went through for awhile, there.

Behind a locked door, of course! :laugh:

Good topic, Suz.


Barbara
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
I play mahjong on the computer or get out the newspaper and do the sudoku and the jumble and the cryptoquote and the two crossword puzzles. Or I might read a good book. Anything to keep my mind so busy that I don't have time to dwell on whatever is bothering me.
 

rejectedmom

New Member
I go window shopping in the antiques mall, read a book, eat chocolate, or come here. If I am really wound up aand can get away i go to my cottage alone for a couple of days. -RM
 
G

guest3

Guest
OK you declutteres and cleaners...if you run out of work I will give you my address. I........I am ashamed to say.........eat when I am stressed and when I am really really stressed (like this week) I drink beer or wine (yes in moderation, no worries), but It is why I have 70+ pounds to lose and I have high everything! I wish I could declutter as my house is a wreck. LOL this is my life
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
If I ever start doing the r-e-a-l-l-y good cleaning. I end up going into a frenzy and feel worse than I did before I started. I'm sure you know the routine - I take down the curtains to wash them, then I see how dirty the windows are. After I've washed all the windows, I'm up there noticing all the tiny little cobwebs I could never see before and while I'm getting them, I can't help but notice how the walls really need washing too. The gas heaters turn everything orangey after a while but of course, you can't just wash PART of a wall! And how did that ceiling fan get so dusty ... I just did it! And sometimes I THINK my house looks clean, then when I'm home on the weekend and see it all in the bright sunlight ... yuk! How did I miss all THAT?!?! But it does get my mind off of whatever is bothering me.

When I first moved in to this house, I had all kinds of things to occupy my time. I bought a flea market dining table and five chairs that were in pieces and it kept me busy for weeks, reassembling chairs, sanding and refinishing and recovering the chair seats. No time to think of anything else while I was working on it and it ended up looking GORGEOUS! And I still feel good just looking at it ... much better than if I had just bought them that way! And I now have pretty shelves going all the way across my kitchen wall that I made myself! Started out with a board, some molding and wood brackets from Lowe's, and with my rusty old saw and my Dollar Store screwdriver set, I turned them into shelves! I still smile every time I walk in to the kitchen!

My favorite thing, if I have a little extra money, is to spend a whole day hitting the stores and just "shopping"! Usually I go by myself so I can go at my own pace ... I've been known to spend over three hours just in the Hobby Lobby! I have one friend at work who "shops" like I do and we sometimes spend an entire Saturday hitting every antique store within a 50 mile radius! Neither one of us spends a whole lot of money, just enough to buy a few things that make us feel good! I prefer to think of it as "fiscal therapy"! Works for me!
 
I bridge the gap between the clean-ers and the nap-ers. I do both. When the stress first hits - with teeth gritting and fists clenched - I get into a really tough cleaning job - like under the fridge or behind the stove. I don't start out to clean - I just find myself cleaning in a frenzy. But then after a few hours of the frenzy - I collapse. And then my fibro kicks in and I am in pain for the next two days. So then NOTHING gets done after that.

So my life runs like this.

Periods of relative calm where I can get things done.
then
A stressful event where something gets hyper-clean.
then
2 to 3 days of nothing!

And the cycle continues......

Amy
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
I used to clean. Lately, I'm just too pooped to do that, so
most of the time I do laundry, play on the computer or take
a nap. Sad. DDD
 

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
I clean - but I have two stages - first one is where I am stressed, not stressed enough, so I leave little piles of stuff everywhere - second state is toothbrush to the grout time and piles are no where to be seen.

It used to be a joke in the office when there were a lot more staff - my desk was so piled with files, tons of phone calls to be returned, and what was I doing?? Cleaning out my drawers and washing out the fridge at work. My stressing was pretty obvious and everyone used to chuckle

With cleaning for me, its just not so much cleaning as an attempt to bring order and control to something

Marcie
 

hearthope

New Member
Thanks Suz for offering your help! I really can't say why I haven't finished it.
My house goes from imaculate to downright shabby depending on what is going on.

Right now my shop is imaculate and I am trying to redecorate it so my house is suffering.

It is so funn y reading all the post. It seems as if you guys have been a fly on the wall around here.

I forgot to mention the chocolate!!!! Hey, when I come in with loads of the good chocolate they all know to stay away!!!
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
I declutter my house. And organize things. And putter. And move things from room and room. And rearrange furniture.

I can't tell you how many bags of *things* I've donated- I've lost count. And today I am doing it again.

I have a bag started and have some more books in it. There are some clothes to add, too.

Suz this is a great post.
I just copied and pasted because yours - this is me today. I start Paxil CR tonight. Maybe this will help me. I am so organized, even my clutter is organized, so that it doesn't look to the untrained eye like I have clutter, but i know I do and I feel like I can't breathe. So I get paper grocery sacks and I lable them and sit them in the corner and start "Donating" and even those are organized. I'm not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but I think I have tendencies because I even make myself crazy.

I used to eat, nibble....but I stopped that. And then when I'm dizzy from running in circles.....I hit the woods for a walk. THAT is the best therapy in the world.

Thanks for asking.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I take lots of naps-probably not the best way to relieve stress but I also exercise to relieve stress which is probably a good thing!
 

Martie

Moderator
Suz,

Unfortunately, I either play computer games or read a book (novel). That is why my house is a de-clutterer's nightmare.

I wish I could move you and your obsession to my house for a couple of weeks. :laugh:

Martie
 
Top