With pacing, as with many things in life, a few minutes planning can help you to manage your energy levels throughout the day and in the longer term. Planning might feel unfamiliar and take a while to begin with, but should save you time and energy once you’ve got used to it.
Planning can help you minimise wildly swinging energy levels. It is easy to fall into the seductive trap of doing lots on a day when you feel good and then paying for it by having several low energy days. Planning can help to see the patterns in your life and energy levels, and to make adjustments to smooth out the swings in energy levels.
There will be times when it is worth making the big energy expenditure that you suspect you might pay for later. Having a sustainable rhythm will allow you to minimise energy crashes and build up your resilience so that a big expenditure is recoverable from when you need it.
Starting Off
If this is the first time you’ve done any pacing, it might help to start by brainstorming everything you have to do so you have an idea of what needs doing collected in one place. This can be updated as you go along. Don’t just include work things remember pacing is holistic so include all parts of your life. For example, include your other responsibilities such as housework, making food, caring for others, helping with school work etc.
Once you’ve done this, have a think about and list, the things that you would like to do and which keep you healthy. That is not just physically healthy but your mental, emotional and spiritual health too. This might be food preparation, reading a book, watching TV, going for a walk, crafting, praying etc.
Try to be as specific as possible when you list tasks – make them concrete and boundaried where possible. For example rather than writing ‘write report’ you might want to write ‘write Introduction to report by xx date’.
Prioritising
Think about which tasks have deadlines and make a note of them.
Now think about your priorities. Don’t worry about when you are actually going to do each part yet.
You could divide your list into four categories under the headings:
- Must do: for things that you need to do soon
- Should do: for things that you need to do but not so urgently
- Could do: for possibilities
- Would like to do: for things that are enjoyable
When you are choosing what to do on any particular day, try to get a mix of the four categories, in particular don’t miss out on the ‘Would like to do’ category as these are the things which are particularly life giving and can help to restore your energy and nourish your mental, spiritual and emotional health.
Manage your expectations
In this time of uncertainty and anxiety, it is to be expected that it will be more difficult to concentrate than usual. This might lead to a lower productivity than you would usually expect of yourself. Be kind to yourself, you are working under a large amount of stress (see previous post) and with more distractions than usual. Don’t expect to be as productive as usual, and certainly not more productive than usual. You have a lot to deal with at present and are doing well. Give yourself regular breaks and do things to keep yourself healthy.
Energy Management
In order to manage your energy and productivity levels, it is a good idea to break large tasks down into smaller steps. For example if you have a 1000 word report to complete, you might think about breaking it down into research and writing, breaking the writing down further into sections such as Introduction, Policies, Practice, Discussion, Conclusion, Supporting Work, Figures etc. Break your project down as far as you would like and assign each part as an individual task, with a final task to tie it all together.
You will probably find that you find some tasks easier than others, and that the more difficult ones sap your energy more than the easy ones. It can help your pacing if you follow Hannah Ensor’s advice of changing activities before you get too tired. Categorising your tasks as Easy, Okay or Challenging can help you to do this. Hannah Ensor has also created various resources which help with pacing using this model, which I have found useful.
At the beginning of the day, you can then choose a short list of tasks, which are a mixture of easy, okay and challenging to complete. On different days, some tasks may feel more or less manageable; if that is the case, just adjust their categorisation and the amount of rest and recovery you need to suit how you are feeling.
Don’t choose too many tasks: perhaps start with no more than three. You can always set yourself further tasks once you’ve completed your first list. Choose your tasks from all sections of your master list: don’t just choose tasks from your ‘Must do’ list unless there is a crisis which must be sorted out immediately.
If you are having a low energy day or period, you can decide to choose tasks from only the ‘okay’ and ‘easy’ lists, or only the ‘easy’ list. That is fine, you are still doing things: it is okay to not be okay. If you are struggling with a task, stop and change to one in an easier category or have a break.
Don’t forget to schedule in breaks, food and drink, exercise and relaxation. You will best be able to manage your energy levels and be as productive as possible while staying in good health and with the minimum amount of stress if you take care of yourself.
Don’t worry if you have a bad day (or week), we all have good and bad days. Pacing can seem complex and hard at first, but will become easier with practice. Experiment to find which practices help you.
If you get stuck and are finding it difficult to concentrate, check out my next blog post.
Remote Chaplaincy 