For anyone familiar with Bi-polar disorder you already know that for us to get motivated enough to complete ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) is like trying to round up a herd of cats. It does not fucking happen. Being a relatively ambitious person, it does bother me that at 31 I still struggle with making myself complete tasks that don’t seem worth it to me. Running out of coffee will have me out the door to the DD drive thru in 30 seconds or less, but it takes me a week (or longer) to fold and put away my clothes. The struggle. I am not a filthy person, I just lack the motivation to stay organized. Little things like putting away my sewing machine, or organizing my vanity table seem like insurmountable tasks. This is of course counter-productive since we manic depressives have an easier time managing our episodes and thoughts when our environment is managed. Organization and routines are essential to good mental health and recovery.
Being behind our peers is nothing to be ashamed of. It took me a long time to square with that. While we can be highly motivated and ambitious, structurally speaking we are far behind our age bracket. We just don’t see those little things like dusting, filing, or sorting laundry as a priority. While the normies (cute pet name, am I right?) were polishing up the most basic of life skills, we spent that time trying to keep our shit together. I highly suspect this is why we struggle in those areas.
I recently came across an article on the 1 Minute Rule. The short of it is to make a habit out of performing every day tasks that would normally take 1 minute or less to complete the moment you notice they need to be done. The point of it is to observe and recognize the long term benefits of sacrificing small moments of me time. To make a habit out of taking care of little tasks immediately so that the larger projects are less overwhelming.
It has been about a week now and I’m already starting to see the benefits. It is surprisingly nice to navigate a bedroom floor that is clear of categorized piles of clothes, crawling into a made bed, and having table space to do my make up. I have noticed that it has been helping with my anxiety. The neater my space, the more efficiently I seem to carry out tasks that normally cause me anxiety (putting on my face, choosing an outfit, do homework…etc). The stuff I enjoy like playing with my dog, knitting, and video games have become more pleasurable. The relief from anxiety has helped me come part way out of a depressive episode.
I wholeheartedly intend to make a habit out of this.
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