Creative Time Management Series
From this point, I am adding more structure to this blog. On Saturdays, I'll give a general update on Michelle's and my progress with our illnesses and the candida diet/grain-free living. From now on, I will also write brief, practical posts Monday-Friday tied together with a common theme. And for the first theme, I'm looking forward to writing about one of my favorite subjects: time management!
When I first became ill, I felt cheated. My healthy, geeky, Type A self had devoured countless time management, productivity and organization books like candy, but once I got sick, it seemed that none of the rules applied to me anymore. Forget all the strategies for increasing productivity and achieving success through determination and willpower--I couldn't even clean my bedroom or think straight for longer than 15 minutes. My new strategy was rest, and if that failed, rest some more.
But now that the initial overwhelm of SEID has subsided, I realize that time management is more crucial than ever. After all, time management is really just energy management. I just need to think outside the box to apply it my circumstances. So the next couple weeks, I'm giving my take on basic time management principes and sharing how I turn them into SEID-proof weapons in my productivity arsenal.
Today, let's take a look at Energy Point #1:
Make your natural energy pattern work for you.
The first question to ask is: am I a morning person or a night person? If you have a chronic illness, especially SEID or adrenal fatigue, the question can get complicated. I am naturally a die-hard morning person. Before I became ill, I scheduled my most creative tasks for the morning. I would slowly lose energy after lunch, and my afternoon coffee or tea break was essential in recharging my physical and introverted energy so I could finish the workday strong. I knew never to give into the temptation of practicing heavy-duty Rachmaninoff after eight at night, because my brain would be done for the day.
But when I first experienced SEID symptoms 18 months ago, my body did a 180 overnight and I turned into an evening person. Now I feel my worst in the morning and improve throughout the day, into the evening. The same goes for my post-exertional malaise. The recovery time from executing a task in the morning is up to three times as long as the recovery time for doing that same activity later in the afternoon. So I've changed my routine to match my "new" normal energy pattern:
-Morning: non-physical tasks
-Early afternoon: light tasks around the house
-Late afternoon: physically demanding tasks like grocery shopping
-Before bed: boil eggs for breakfast and cook meat for the next day
The simple act of standing 15 extra minutes in the kitchen cooking during my highest-energy time of the day can mean the difference between wiping myself out preparing lunch the next day when my energy is lower, and easily throwing together a soup or stir-fry without having to recover from simply making lunch.
Action Steps: -Identify your body's natural energy pattern throughout the day. If it has changed since you became ill, acknowledge and accept that. If you aren't sure of your body's energy pattern, log your activities, symptoms, and mood throughout the day for a week to give yourself a clearer idea.
-Compare your energy pattern to the activities you actually do during your periods of higher and lower energy. Do you need to make changes in order to maximize your productivity?
*Tomorrow, I'll tackle the popular Pomodoro productivity technique (frequent, short breaks) and discuss how to reduce the total amount of time needed to rest each day by resting briefly and resting often.
