Tips For How To Pace Yourself With PsA

Do you struggle with pacing yourself? I do!! Even though I have improved I am always looking for new ways to prevent hitting a wall and knocking myself out for extended periods of time.

One step at a time

One of our PsA community members, Cathy H, shared a tip in a comment on one of my other articles, and she has given me her permission to share it with you. Cathy began tracking her daily steps with the pedometer on her iPhone. She then began paying attention to when her body would crash and noted how many steps she was at. After a while, she knew if she neared a certain number, she was nearing her crashing point. Tracking her steps has helped her realize when she needs to use a mobility aid and when she needs to rest. Even better is that it has made explaining her current status to family, friends, and her doctors less difficult. I absolutely love this idea and am going to be putting it into practice myself!

Time out

One thing I do to keep myself from slamming into the wall is to schedule breaks. While packing for our move in the spring, I began by pushing myself past my limits to get the job done. This led to working one day and then needing a couple of days to recuperate. Tired of the yo-yo effect and losing days of productivity, I began forcing myself to take breaks. I would work for a bit, rest, and repeat. In the beginning, I had to set alarms on my phone to remind me to stop, because it is too easy to get caught up in what I am doing. However, after a few days I no longer had to set reminders because during my breaks I became more aware of how my body was feeling and reacting to the task at hand. Throughout each break, I would assess and address my physical status. What areas hurt? Is there a way to do what I am doing differently that will either decrease my pain or prevent it? It also allowed me to treat particular pain areas before they spiraled out of control.

Do you have a pacing tip? Share it in the comments; I would love to hear it!