I'm getting so clumsy!

[vacuumfreeeke]

Hello. I've always been a little clumsy, but lately it's been getting worse and worse. I was putting the dishes away a couple days ago and I went to put a bowl on counter so I could unload the silverware basket. Well, I extended my arm to what I thought the counter should have been, released the bowl and heard CRASH. I simply MISSED the counter! I've done this many times in my life with dishes. I just dropped the bowl right on the floor when I was meaning to put it on the counter. A couple weeks ago, I put some BBQ chicken quarters on a plate and covered the plate with foil (my lidded tuperware were either full or dirty) and turned around to put the plate in the 'fridge. Well, I must have turned around too fast because the plate hit the 'fridge handle and all three chicken pieces landed splat on the floor. What a mess, and waste of food! Just yesterday, I was ironing some jeans and and needed to move the ironing board. I accidentally grabbed it by the place where the button to collapse the legs was. The ironing board fell down, and me with it (I tried to catch it or something) Rowenta did about 3 flips and then landed on the carpet... and the carpet melted onto the sole plate. What a mess! I tripped over the ironing board once about a year ago and broke the sewing machine that I was carring in half (well, the plastic housing of it anyway... and the power cord snapped in half).

Does anyone else here have any clumsy issues? How do you deal with it? How do you know what level of clumsiness is considered OK or normal and what means there's a more serious problem? Now, I did turn 25 on Wednesday, but I've always been clumsy so I don't think age has anything to do with it!

 

[oldhouseman]

Well, you sound

like my partner. He is 55 and gets worse as time passes. Just this year alone he has broken the handle off my Danby front loading washer, 2 cell phones, 3 computers (at work), two vacuume cleaners, more dishes than I care to think about, the kitchen faucet, the bathtub faucet, 2 digital cameras, and last Monday he broke a cast brass 200 year old door knob. And I did not list the things he has spilled, platters/plates knocked off counters and tables. After nealy setting the house on fire (twice) he is not allowed to touch the kitchen stove. I think there are just some people who are more prone to such things. Keep good household insurance coverage!

 

[danemodsandy]

Vacuumfreeke:

There are some simple things you can do to help with your situation; my partner is a klutz and they've helped him.

1) AVOID MULTITASKING. Especially in the kitchen, it's a good idea to do one thing at a time. Don't try to watch TV or talk on the phone or to someone in the room and do kitchen stuff at the same time. Focus on the task at hand.

2) SLOW DOWN. Take your time when doing things that can cause accidents, like unloading the dishwasher.

3) PLAN AHEAD. This one takes some getting used to. If you need to unplug the iron and put it and the ironing board away, visualise yourself doing it before you actually begin the task. Think it through, like: "Okay, I need to unplug the iron, dump the water out of it, wrap the cord around it, put it in the cabinet, and then fold the ironing board and put that in the closet." If you do this, your brain gives your body a map to follow.

4) WORK WITHIN YOUR FIELD OF VISION. You could have avoided your broken bowl if you had been looking where you "thought" the counter was. Working on an idea of where things are doesn't always work, as you've found.

5) CLEAR THE AREA. Clutter and cramped spaces will ultimately defeat even the best-coordinated person; those of us who are clumsy don't stand a chance. De-cluttering your personal space will go a long way to helping avoid accidents.

Believe it or not, these simple things can do a lot to help with your situation if your clumsiness is not based in some medical problem. I myself am somewhat butterfingered, which in my case is medically based. I have to be careful when handling fragile stuff. Because of that caution, I hardly ever have any accidents. It's largely a matter of knowing what your tendencies are, and taking care.

If these things don't improve the situation, try talking to your doctor. You could have ADD or some sort of neurological problem that is causing the clumsiness. For most people, the steps I gave you, practiced over time, will usually make things better, at no cost.

 

[toggleswitch2]

The mind is racing, but it is not going anywehere but in cir

Great advice. To this I can only add:
Only move your body in the direction in which you are looking.

Conversely: Turn your head to looks at what you are doing and where you are going.

I've also dealt with klutzy partners who are so busy minding everybody else's business, worrying, trying to control everything and everyone that they simply don't have the presence of mind to watch what they are doing.

FOCUS. It's not just for cameras.

P.S. on bad days I often miss the little ramps where the sidewalk level lowers itself to the road level OOOH MY ACHING BACK as I mis-step and throw off my whole balance!

 

[rp2813]

I've done the same thing, misjudging distance putting something back on a shelf or whatever. My partner is pretty klutzy but Greg, I have no room to complain as he's quite a number of mishaps behind your other half. Clearly patience is a virtue you know inside and out.

 

[charbee]

It may kinda all come down to the old hippie adage from Ram Dass: "Be Here Now."

Attention, Focus, whatever you want to call it. It's the act of being "in the moment" that counts. Not worrying about or thinking about anything else that may or may not happen in the future, not thinking about or regretting things that happened in the past, just being where you are WHEN you're there, and giving your total attention to whatever it is you're doing while you're there. It's hard work to do it. It sucks because most of the time we're all on auto-pilot and not really being "in the moment," and that's really the whole point.

 

[spankomatic]

The increased cell phone use is effecting the magnetic field. This is causing slight dullness in our senses... The bee's are confused too... Cause and Effect.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I'm a Major Klutz

I was helping my roommate clean out his closet, the roof leaked, and everything was soaked. The closest is very narrow, while I was cleaning it, I turned around and WAM, I ran into a coat hook. I now have a nice bump on the left side of my forehead. Then later on I was trying to find something in the cupboard, and again WAM I hit my head against the open door. I'm always spilling something, knocking something of the table, desk, or counter, tripping over the vacuum cleaner. I have very bad vision which could be corrected with laser surgery, but I can't afford it. I little or no peripheral vision. I also have ADD which I was taking medication for, but since I lost my job and have no insurance I had to stop taking it. I get so angry with myself when I do something stupid. I'm really surprised that I haven't ended up in the hospital yet.

James

 

[rp2813]

I agree that we have all been gradually pulled into the practice of multi-tasking. The "be here now" behavior which used to be the norm has now become something we need to remember to do. We are assaulted with so much audio-visual stimulation anymore that directing attention towards and staying focused on one thing is becoming less and less possible without stopping and thinking about what one is doing. Maybe future generations will be able to function doing many things at once, but it's not something your average boomer was trained or wired to do.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Wow... thanks for the responses. I was diagnosed with ADD as a child, but I never thought that could lead to my clumsiness.

I do drop and spill food and drinks ALL the time. Oh well... it might be messy and expensive and possibly dangerous, but it makes a good story!

Slowing down and remembering to be present in the moment are valuable pieces of advice. Let's see if I put them into practice.

 

[autowasherfreak]

Multi-tasking

That is one I have never been able to do. I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time. I have to one project, and finish it before I start another project, otherwise I end up with a huge mess, and nothing gets done. If I take apart one of my typewriters, I have make a list of the parts, where they go, and take pictures with the digital camera. Otherwise I forget what goes where, and the typewriter is worse than before I took it apart. My short term memory sucks, I'm only 43 but I can remember things that happened 30 or 40 years ago, just like it was yesterday. I can't remember peoples names when I first meet them.

James