Written by: Stephanie Collinson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As an entrepreneur you become your own boss, you choose when you work, how often you work, where you work, and how you work. It can seem really empowering for you to set the tone for your work schedule. However, when you throw a chronic condition into the mix it can feel really overwhelming. Chronic conditions can be unpredictable and you might feel you are constantly rearranging and changing your week around to fit around your needs. It can make you seem flaky, unreliable or that you are avoiding certain people and projects. So how do you manage this and create a schedule that suits your work and your chronic condition?
1. Write down the tasks you do each week.
Are you trying to do too many high-energy tasks all in one day? This includes maybe some housework that is exerting a lot of energy plus back-to-back zoom calls all afternoon. Although both tasks require different levels of physical and mental energy, you may be setting yourself up to fail because you are not managing your energy levels in an effective way. You will likely feel physically exhausted, which is going to impact your mental fatigue. Can you break down the task into manageable chunks so you don’t have to do it all at once too? This is also something worth thinking about.
2. Rate the energy level of each task.
So is this a way to measure each task you do in terms of how much energy you exert? Yes, rate each out of 10 and see which tasks can be done on a certain day. Spread out your zoom calls for the week or leave space between a day which you know is going to require high energy. Put yourself in control as much as you can. This will help you begin to figure out what tasks can be done together each day and which may need more periods of rest before and after. It will also allow you to create space and boundaries around your energy levels, which I think is really important for others' expectations as well as your own.
3. Anticipation of a flare-up may be better managed.
You are in more control of when you potentially may experience a flare-up or heightened symptoms. If you know a higher energy task may leave you feeling exhausted, then you have planned time around there to rest. Likewise, if you planned for a potential flare-up but you find you have more energy to complete a lower energy task, then you can fit this into a schedule earlier than planned. It creates both planned and flexible time slots for a variety of different situations. If you can plan ahead and communicate with your family, friends, and colleagues that this is how you manage, then this will improve your levels of anxiety, too, for sure.
4. You give yourself more control.
Ultimately this is all about giving yourself more control. You will learn to respond, adapt, plan, and communicate better overcome with the pacing approach. Pacing is vital for any chronic condition, but it can be applied to anyone who finds their days exhausting, overwhelming, and stressful. Could you introduce this pacing approach to allow you more control of your life?
So I encourage you to set some time to look at your day-to-day schedule for each week and see if you can apply pacing to your own life.
Stephanie Collinson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Steph Collinson is an occupational therapist, virtual assistant, and holistic mentor. After working in the NHS as an occupational therapist and struggling to manage her long-term condition of IBS. Steph decided to start a side hustle in August 2020 after discovering a course online which promised time and financial freedom. Steph has successfully begun to work for herself less than a year since starting up her business to pursue a life she is passionate about and is meaningful to her.
Steph now helps mentors and allied health professionals in the online space get visible, create inspiring content and connect with their ideal clients. She also has her own podcast called The Meaningful Mentor, which discusses the daily impact and challenges of living with long-term health conditions and provides helpful tips and insights to her listeners. Steph's mission is to support those with long-term conditions to live a more meaningful life daily while running their online businesses.
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