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Can't Squeeze Another Minute Out Of 24 Hours In A Day
TIME MANAGEMENT
Hi all,
I've discovered that no matter how hard I try, I can't squeeze another minute into the day so...I decided it was TIME to manage my TIME!
Never having been good at time management, I usually just go with the flow but now find it frustrating that no matter how good my intentions, the world tends to pull me every which way so that I don't get back to my writing/editing/marketing/and.../and.../and.../spell checking...LOL
So, how do we fix this? I have to give in and start my day with a routine. Since I'm unable to leave home to work in the environment due to health issues, I am a full time, stay at home writer. This would be great if I didn't have the love and cares of family, friends, chores, pets, and so forth pulling me away from my beloved computer.
The best time for me to write is at night. I begin the day with chores, using up a few precious hours to keep my small cave (house) orderly and tidy so it won't distract me. My pets demand attention so I take breaks and feed, play, and walk a bit with them. The phone is my nemesis since I also answer for my husband's business clients...some I admit I 'accidentally' let the answering machine get them. LOL
Hubby and daughter usually do the groceries for me and any other shopping but with my special mask (to block out fragrances etc that make me ill) I have begun going out into the 'real world'.
I still get sick from the chemicals, but not as badly to knock me off my feet for days.
Every spare minute I find I'm on the computer researching, checking my multiple emails (3 pseudonyms and blogs, and 5 websites...)
Every spare minute is used wisely. No TV, no MUSIC,
no ANYTHING else to distract me. Oh, sometimes to my dismay my body
forces me to nap or rest. Precious time wasted but if I don't, I end up
more ill so I give in.
So, what kind of things to you do to make every moment count?
Cave dwelling with MCS: A life of avoidance
July 21, 2009 by
Susie Collins
Filed under
Blog,
Franny Armstrong,
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
For eight years, I’ve done a cave dweller dance: Staying at home, avoiding people, places, and even nature.
Post by Franny Armstrong on www.thecanaryreport.com
(Editor’s
note: Please help me welcome Franny Armstrong as a contributor at The
Canary Report! Franny is a writer of “paranormal
romantic suspense” novels filled with private investigators, police,
and even Royal Canadian Mounted Police who use their amazing psychic
abilities to catch the villains. Franny also uses her technical and
journalistic skills to create helpful, upbeat stories and articles to
enlighten and motivate people. She’ll share at The Canary Report her
life with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and other adventures. Read
Franny’s full bio
here.)
Having Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) truly limits your life. The best advice that my doctor, allergist, ear-nose-and-throat specialist, and even psychiatrist had for me was to avoid running into fragrances. Yeah, right, like I couldn’t figure that one out! LOL. Easy to say. Sure. Easy to do? Not so much.
For the past eight years, I’ve done a cave dweller dance and stayed at home, avoiding people, places, and even nature! I seemed to be allergic to EVERYTHING! The allergist tested me… no allergies found. He sent me for asthma testing… perfect lungs (non-smoker). He even sent me for a cat scan, but by that time I was too ill to travel the one-hour distance to my appointment to find out the results. I was just plain ill, so ill that I couldn’t drive myself anywhere.
For me, MCS meant extreme fatigue, mass confusion, loss of mental focus, irritability (who wouldn’t be grumpy in this shell we live in?) and so many other symptoms I can’t even list them all. Yet, was I safe in my cave? Nope!
My loving family, though supportive, didn’t truly understand what was happening to my body. They’d buy scented laundry detergent, fabric softener sheets for the dryer, scented shampoos for themselves, deodorants, cleaning products, and so on, bringing these harmful chemicals into my cave, leaving me nowhere to hide.
To live in a cave as a family, we have to learn to compromise. For instance: I won’t squeeze the toothpaste in the middle of the tube or leave socks rolled into balls, if hubby doesn’t leave his newspapers in the middle of the room, on the floor, or beside the bed and toilet… grrrr!
In the case of fragrances and other chemicals, since I couldn’t do the shopping, I had to depend on my loved ones to buy the products that didn’t make me choke, cough, have sinus infections, or make me hit my pillow for up to twenty hours a day. It’s a never-ending learning experience.
Change is not a four letter word, yet that’s what must happen in order to allow us cave dwellers to survive in this toxic environment.
Today, I feel better than I have in years. I’m taking vitamins and minerals that don’t harm me, cleaning with only scent-free, color-free, soap and vinegar, and use lots of petroleum-free elbow grease. FREE, FREE, FREE!!!
Just the other day, my hubby wasn’t even thinking about it when he oiled the hinges on the squeaky door using a spray that sent me into a massive coughing fit. He was stunned, completely forgetting about MCS since he uses the product for work every day (and he’s an asthmatic, too!).
As cave dwellers, we must educate not only ourselves but our families, friends, and even strangers who come to our doors (a “Caution: Severe Reactions To Fragrances” sign in the window might help.)
Many people don’t even realize they are wearing a scent when they come near. I tend to hold up my hand before they get to close, halting their approach, then ask if they are wearing a fragrance. This is very unsettling for some, not a problem for others, when you explain you’re allergic to them. (You and I know that “allergic” doesn’t describe the difference between MCS and allergies.)
Education is the key. That’s why blogs like The Canary Report and other MCS websites are key forces in making others aware of this debilitating illness. It took many years before governments and medical associations acknowledged Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, so take hope. Teach those you live with or who walk in your door about MCS, since knowledge is the best defense against it.
I wish you health.
Photo of and by Franny Armstrong.
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