Finding balance

When you have chronic pain, balance is the key. Things that may seem completely trivial for others may require planning for someone with chronic pain, eg because we have to do it more slowly, take breaks, or rest/recover afterwards. In order to be able to plan your days and activities as well as possible, here is an exercise for you.

1. Write down any activities you need to do, or that you do on a regular basis - for example doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, going grocery shopping, dropping your kids off at soccer practice, walking the dog, going to the gym, or going out for coffee with a friend.
2. The next time you do one of those activities, assign a color (red, yellow and green) to it depending on how much energy it takes for you to do it. If you prefer, you can assign a number instead.
3. Keep the list and use it to plan your time, making sure that you spread out the red and yellow activities evenly and set aside enough time for recovering afterwards.