By Christina Morton DesAuguste
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently loving Buoy Hydration Drops (and Immunity Drops!) and the new season of Queer Eye (Jeremiah! Need I say more?).
No A.I. copy & paste here! All our blogs are still written by humans.
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This is always that time of year when I think, “I’ve made it. Winter is halfway over and I haven’t gotten sick.”
Well, first of all, I need to be honest with myself: winter is not even halfway over yet. The sun and quick melting snow in Colorado fool me all the time, but there is still plenty more winter left (including the traditional May snowstorm we’re likely to get).
Maybe you’ve had the same thought. But we can’t allow that false sense of security to fool us into thinking that we’ve made it through the winter. There will be more snow. And especially now that kids are back in school, there will be more sickness spread about like confetti. Even if you don’t have kids, your coworkers or clients or friends probably do, and trust me, they will share the love.
So this year I’m trying to be prepared. If I have routines and systems and plans in place now that means that it all won’t fall apart when I’m sick. When your home is organized and clean, missing a week of your routine isn’t devastating. When you plan ahead for your kids, you can delegate to someone else without worry. And when you plan ahead for things like meals, you create more time for yourself to rest and recover.
Being an organized person means thinking about things like this and having a plan for life to happen.
Maybe you and I won’t get sick this winter, but in case we do I want to be ready and offer some suggestions that might help you too.
1. Prevent
I’m taking immunity boosting supplements, drinking lots of water, and washing my hands often. Think about what else you can do, and have your kids do, so that you lessen the likelihood of getting sick.
2. Try to get ahead on work
This may be difficult in some situations, but if you’re able to put in an extra hour on a day when you feel great, it may lessen the burden on days you don’t feel great. Look at your to-do list and your schedule and see if you can make a little more time for items/projects with deadlines this winter.
If you start to feel that tingle in your throat a day or two before a big meeting or presentation, you can A) write out a script that someone else can take over on the big day, or B) record a video of yourself sharing the information. That way you can play it during the meeting to save your voice and then just answer any other questions over the phone/Zoom (Stay home, please. No one wants your germs. Thank you!).
3. Stay on top of cleaning your house
It truly hurts when you are sick for days, barely able to function, and then you notice the shower is getting gross or the floors are starting to feel sticky. No one has energy to catch up on cleaning when they’re sick.
So if you implement a system and really stick with it this winter, you’ll have a little breathing room to take a break while you’re sick before things get dire.
This is also a good thing to note if you use a house cleaner. They probably don’t want to be around you and touching all your stuff when you’re coughing and your germs are everywhere. So if they need to skip while you’re sick you won’t be in a desperate situation. Make sure you have a schedule in place so the house is in good shape.
4. Stay on top of tidying your house
The same principle applies to staying organized while you’re sick. You won’t have the energy to do an overhaul or even extra tidying while you’re sick, so do the overhaul now and make sure you’ve implemented a routine for staying on top of it while you’re healthy. That way it won’t get out of hand when you have to skip a few days.
It’s especially important to make sure you’ve implemented a routine with your kids for times like this. If your partner needs to take over roles they normally don’t do (morning routine/drop off/after school activities/homework/bedtime routine), or if a sitter or grandparent needs to step in, it’s a whole lot easier when there is A) a written schedule and routine for them to refer to, and B) the kids know the expectations. If the kids know the routine is to get home from school, put their shoes and coat away, hang their backpack, and put their lunchbox by the sink it means there isn’t clutter all over the mudroom, kitchen, and living room that you have to try to deal with while you feel awful.
Have it written down and easy to follow for someone jumping in last minute.
5. Have a comprehensive grandparent/sitter guide ready to go
Beyond keeping the house tidy, it’s also really great to have a written guide for everything else kid-related. You may already have most of this put together for a babysitter, but think about the things a sitter would need during weekdays, not just date nights. Maybe you have this for a vacation you took without the kids recently, but make sure it is up to date for the current school year and all their activities, etc.
What schools do they go to? What is drop off and pick up time and specific instructions? Do the kids wear uniforms to school? What are their allergies and typical lunches/dinners, things they won’t eat, etc? Who are carpool contacts or friends who can help? What after school activities are they in and where/when are they and what equipment/uniforms do the kids need for them? Where is this season’s game schedule posted? What are other general rules you have for the kids (especially rules about screens and things for teenagers like “no boys in your bedroom”, etc)?
A few years ago I had to fly to Texas to take care of my niece and nephew on short notice when my brother-in-law’s mother passed away suddenly, and there wasn’t time for him and my sister to brief me on all the details of the kids’ routines/schedule/food preferences/etc. Luckily, they had a lot of it written down, the kids knew the drill (about 7 & 9 at that point), and they had some awesome friends and neighbors to answer any questions I had. But more detail prepped in advance (like the name and address of the kids’ school!) would have been even more helpful.
This is a great practice not just for days when you are sick and able to still answer a phone, but also in case the worst happens and you are unconscious or deceased and the family/godparents have to step in. It is hard to think about, but that’s not an excuse to not prepare.
We never know what may happen and it will show incredible love to your children (and surviving partner or godparents) to have things written down and easy to follow.
The thought of being sick this winter is just a great catalyst to make sure you have this done for the rest of life.
6. Make freezer meals ahead of time
This one is clutch and probably the easiest to implement. Make some crockpot/Instant Pot recipes or soups and freeze them so they can be ready on short notice. Even if you only freeze the protein part of the meal, it makes a huge difference when you need a quick and easy solution. Remember to think about breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Here are a few unique freezer meals I’m going to try this winter (because you can only eat chicken noodle soup so many times!):
I’m relatively new to freezer meals, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for regular life and the thought of getting sick is just motivating me to finally make it happen this winter!
A few other things I like to have on hand: tea (Throat Coat is a winner), honey, saltine crackers, chicken noodle soup, and Gatorade, Pedialyte, or other electrolyte source.
7. Have a sick kit
It’s so helpful to have your go-to meds on hand when you get sick. Sometimes things come on suddenly and it’s hard to run to the store to grab what you need. Think about the things you normally like to have on hand and make sure you are stocked. Here are some examples:
Cold/Flu meds like DayQuil/NyQuil/Muscinex/Alka Seltzer
Cough suppressants and lozenges/cough drops
Vick’s VapoRub
Tummy meds like Pepto Bismal or Immodium (and make sure you’ve stocked toilet paper)
Facial tissue
Vomit bags (or at least make sure you’re stocked with trash can liners or toilet bowl cleaner)
Humidifier (check the filter to see if it’s in need of cleaning/replacing)
One client of mine with lots of kids likes to have a sick cart that is stocked and wheels from room to room based on who is sick! Maybe a version of that for your life could be helpful (just a basket might suffice), but be mindful of leaving medicine in easy reach of young children.
I hope this list helps you think ahead and make arrangements so that you aren’t stressed when you’re sick! It’s so much easier to do a little at a time and plan ahead, rather than scramble and be overwhelmed at the last minute or while you’re sick.
Here’s to staying healthy and organized this winter!
Christina
PS: If you want some guidance on how to get your home organized so that it’s just regular tidying like I mention in #4, you can still join my Fresh Start Organizing Challenge! It will help you get every area of your house organized, as well as set up systems/routines/rhythms to maintain it. You can join for free below.
January 9th, 2025
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