The hard truth about living with a chronic illness is that you often can't do everything you previously could. Plus you have a bunch of new stuff on your schedule: treatments, medication times, doctors appointments, the list goes on.
So how do you juggle it all? My biggest frustration is that after 18 years, I still struggle with balancing: work, social, me time, and chores. Here are few things that I've found work well for me, but I hope you'll share what works well for you in the comments below. The goal is to create a safe space to share and to learn from each other!
Consider the drain: activities use up more than time - energy expenditure, emotional exhaustion, and physical needs of each activity are also very important.
Prioritization is key. I like to rank by urgency and also make a note of what I can put off for a day or two and what I can't.
Consider the surrounding activities as a whole when scheduling something new. For example, I try not to schedule multiple social events in one weekend, because I know that gets to be too draining for me.
Color code. I use color coding to categorize things (work, social, Ollie, etc) and also for prioritization. You could also color code based on how draining an activity is.
Jot down notes of what worked for you last time (or didn't) - so you can adjust your plans accordingly.
Remember to block off time for yourself: med times as well as time for your own routines. For me, that looks like time in the morning to slowly wake up my joints and stretch, time before bed to unwind, and also time for yoga and meditation. You Time is important!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ? ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐?
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