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!
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞?