Hey! Welcome back to some more chronic pain content.
I thought today we could talk about some practical tips to manage daily tasks in your everyday, chronic pain life. The main focus of this post is to help you create a to-do list and make it work for you.
If you have other ideas that aren’t mentioned below, share them with me in the comments. I’m always looking for ways to learn and improve my daily chronic pain life as well.
Now let’s get into it!
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Disclaimer: The information on this blog is based on personal experiences and should not be considered medical advice. The information on this blog is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please ask your doctor if you have any questions.
To-do Lists
Start your week off with a to-do list with all that you need to accomplish this week. I like to have rows for things that need to happen and a separate section for things that hopefully will happen. The second row doesn’t always get done and often missed things get carried over from week to week.
This one is my personal fav to-do list. I like to be able to visualize the whole week at once and plan ahead. It also has those rows and separate sections I mentioned above. Another good to-do list is this one, if you prefer to focus only on one day at a time.
Having a list helps with organization, thus removing stress and the need to worry about forgetting things. Keeping you on track and helping you have a great week.
Set Time Aside for Each Task
Try to have a set time for each of the things on your to-do list. I recommend scheduling it into your week so you have a specific time set aside for each task. At least the most important ones like your daily exercise, taking your vitamins, etc.. You can add this on a to-do list like mentioned above, or consider using a calendar that sticks to your fridge, so you can easily and conveniently view it throughout the day.
Try to make this consistent throughout your week, maybe 8:30 to 9:00 AM is your exercise time. Try to really protect your blocked-out time. If other things come up unexpectedly, add them to your to-do list, but don’t do them during this specific time.
Personally, I don’t like to start my days off feeling rushed or overwhelmed before work. I also don’t want to have to do tons of cleanup as the last thing before bed. To keep from creating chaos in my day, I get up early to get my exercise, Bible, and Spanish reading done first thing in the morning. I also like to have two times set aside throughout the day for cleaning in small batches to help manage daily tasks without getting overwhelmed.
Sometimes chronic pain/brain fog gets worse the later the day gets and we become less likely to tackle our to-do lists. Having a specific time set aside for tasks helps things to get done during the best hours of your day.
Be Tactful With Your To-do List
To help set yourself up for success, try not to schedule everything for one day. An example from a recent post is don’t try to do everything all on the same day. When I shower and wash my hair, I don’t shave too. I don’t have the energy to spend on both of these tasks, so I schedule them for different days.
Scheduling all your errands on one day may seem wise, but it’s also exhausting to run around doing everything. If you can, try to spread errands out throughout the week. Take advantage of things like curbside delivery so you don’t burn yourself out doing too many things
Know Yourself/Your Habits
The most valuable tool for a person with chronic pain is to understand your body. Like how to look for pain triggers, and studying your habits when pain increases. Understanding how you personally function day-to-day is incredibly beneficial in helping you manage daily tasks.
This ties into the point above about scheduling your important things during the best hours of your day. If you know you and your pain and that you tend to get a migraine every evening after work, or you always wake up with a stiff back and need a bit to get yourself moving in the morning, schedule your daily tasks around these.
If you’re not quite sure what your pain tendencies, routine or triggers are, consider checking out our Pain Tracker Bundle so you can really get to know your pain and your body. You owe it to yourself to be your own health advocate by knowing your body and doing your research.
Tomorrow
Finally, I think it’s important to note that there’s always tomorrow. If something doesn’t get done today it is okay. It’s fine, everything is fine. You can breathe and walk away. I know it doesn’t always feel okay to do that and it can be frustrating. However, learning to acknowledge and accept that there’s always tomorrow and you can walk away is really good for your health.
On that note, if you find that you’re struggling to get it all done by the end of each day, take note of this when you’re making your schedule for the week. Pay attention to which days you feel more exhausted and which days you feel more energetic. Then reassess your to-do list, does it really need to have all of these things on it? Is there anything you can let go of or rearrange?
Remember to take baby steps toward progress. You do not need to accomplish every single thing at a time. Try to chip away at the big tasks and get a small amount done daily.
- If you have a sink full of dishes and you’re unable to tackle it all today because the pain is too much, consider only washing a few, or run the dishwasher twice if you don’t feel up to scrubbing anything.
- If the laundry is too much, live out of the basket for a while, or simply fold a little here and there while you’re watching TV from bed.
I hope you find this post helpful and get some inspiration from it! If you found anything helpful and you feel better prepared to manage daily tasks – let me know in the comments so I can keep putting out content like this! Or if you’re looking for other topics, let me know what you’re interested in and I’d be happy to start working on something.
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P.S. If you’re looking for an activity you can do on a bad flare day and from bed or with your virtual community, download our free trivia here.
Playing trivia is a great way to still participate in fun activities with your friends and family without ever leaving the comfort of your bed. It’s perfect for keeping in touch with friends who you may not be able to visit regularly. Check it out and let us know what you think! 👇
