Everyone has experienced the challenge of trying to conserve enough energy to do the everyday things on our to-do list, and when you have arthritis it can make things very difficult by limiting the amount of energy you have and interfering with the ability to do them every day. activities, work and enjoying that precious time with your family and friends. But there are some pretty simple things you can do every day of your life to help you use your energy wisely. These energy-saving techniques are what are called the 4 “Ps”: pacing, planning, prioritization, and positioning.

• Rhythm: It’s the key to helping you maintain your energy levels throughout the day. It will take a look at your activities and break them down into small steps with alternating rest periods. Think about the steps you need to take to complete a task or activity, and then try to solve them in your own time and at your own pace. Do not rush! Rushing is stressful, although you’ll finish much faster and, in the end, you’ll have expended more energy than you really needed. Allow yourself plenty of time to get the task done, and don’t forget to take several rest periods in between. You may find that you actually have more energy for later. The right way to pace yourself is to learn to listen to your body so you can determine what level of activity works for you. Too much activity will leave you overly fatigued or in too much pain, however too little can cause you to lose muscle strength and undo any conditioning you already have. Learning how much you can do before getting tired and stopping to rest will help you avoid depleting your energy supply completely and ending up with some reserve. Learning to rest your mind and body is equally important, and if you’re worried about what to do next, you’re probably not getting the full benefit of your rest time. You should try to keep your activities and rest times consistent and automatic so that you always stay within your energy limits. Keeping a diary or diary, documenting your energy levels at different times of the day will help you see when you feel your best and when you feel your energy levels drop. You’ll want to write down the activity you were doing when you started to feel your energy starting to wane. This helps you learn what activities you can tolerate, and you’ll start to get ideas for some simple changes you can make to your daily routine to help maintain your energy levels. The first thing you’ll want to do is break the task or activity into small steps. For example: Let’s say today is laundry day, you can break it down like this; step 1- pick up all the clothes; step 2: separate it into different loads; step 3 – washing and drying; Step 4: Fold and hang the clothes and put them away. By doing laundry this way, you can rest after picking up, separating, and putting in the first load to wash and then dry. Then, while the second load is being washed and dried, you can double the first load, you see, sitting doesn’t require as much energy as standing. Also, simple changes, like delegating tasks to other members of your family, can leave you with more energy for other daily tasks.
• Schedule: You need effective planning for the right pace. You need to look ahead a day, a few days, or even a week in order to develop some kind of strategy for doing your activities. Make a to-do list of things you want to do or do, that can be accomplished in a day so you can plan the best time to do each activity. If mornings are your best time then you should probably plan your most strenuous activities by time or if you have more energy after a nap you may want to schedule that time to run errands or do work activities that require you to be more physical or so that you think a little more. However, you will need to plan your rest time at some point in the day so that you can replenish your energy levels. Using a calendar or planner can help you schedule your activities throughout the week so you’re not doing all your strenuous work on the same day. The first thing to do is look at all the things you want to do or need to accomplish in a week, and rank them according to the amount of energy it takes to do each, as low, medium, and high. The second thing is to spread out your high-energy activities throughout the week so that you don’t do too many in one day and end up so exhausted that it takes several days to get your energy levels back up. Remember that doing too many energy-consuming activities in one day can lead to a flare-up of arthritis or fibromyalgia that can take several days to several weeks to overcome. When you keep a list of the things you want to accomplish, you’ll be able to keep track of what you’ve already done and what you still have to do. This will give you a sense of accomplishment that is positive when you look back on what you were able to accomplish. Also, remember that you will need to be a bit flexible with your schedule because it will allow you to do activities that are enjoyable that you might otherwise have missed because you were too exhausted to do them.
• Prioritizing: Learning to decide what to do first—prioritize—can go a long way when you’re trying to conserve energy. It can also be one of the most challenging to master because it requires you to take a very close look at all of your work, home, leisure, and recreational activities and then decide which ones are most important, necessary, and even enjoyable for you. Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself when trying to decide which activities are most important to you.
  • What is the most important priority for me in my life? My work, home activities, or maybe my family and friends?
  • Where do I want to direct my energy? What is the most important thing to me?
  • How can I get the best work/play balance in my life?
  • How can I get more rest and relaxation moments into my day to help me replenish my energy supplies?
  • Can I simplify my daily tasks more so that I have more energy at the end of my day to do the things I enjoy?
  • Is there something I really have to do that I can’t delegate to someone else or someone else can help me with?

You will want to prioritize the most important activities and delegate those that are less important to someone else in your family. Delegating can be difficult if you’re the type of person who has always had the attitude that you have to do everything yourself, but if you approach it in a more positive way by realizing that you are helping yourself to conserve your energy levels, you will easier. Who knows, you may actually be helping others in your home or even at your workplace by teaching them to accept responsibility. When you engage family, friends, and neighbors to help you complete the tasks at hand, like taking your kids to carpool activities, then you could be helping them learn to conserve their energy, too.

• Positioning: When you look at how you position your body or the mechanics of your body, you can get other ideas about conserving your energy. When you look at how you position yourself throughout the day, you’ll be able to identify some ways to do your daily tasks with less energy that can help protect your joints from any undue stress. Here are some examples of techniques you can introduce into your daily routine to help conserve your energy:
  • Sit instead of standing because sitting takes less energy from your body and reduces stress on your leg joints. Using a shower stool while showering or sitting down to dress can help reduce the energy you would otherwise use to perform these activities.
  • If you must stand to perform a task and to relieve stress and fatigue on your back, try propping one foot up on a stool or inside a lower cabinet.
  • Good posture while sitting and standing will help relieve fatigue in your neck, back, and shoulders. This involves keeping your ears in line with your shoulders and your shoulders in line with your hips, and making sure your head doesn’t lean too far forward.
  • Arranging your work areas so that everything you need is within reach can help you avoid unnecessary reaching, bending, or stooping. Having duplicate items around the house can help eliminate unnecessary trips between rooms. A cart that you’ve organized with the items you’ll need or a lightweight organizing basket, or a storage bin that you can carry items in, are other ways that can help you avoid unnecessary reaching, bending, or stooping.
  • Having work surfaces at the right height for you can help promote good posture and reduce fatigue that comes from poor posture. You will want your work surface to be just below your elbow height and when seated it should be just below your elbow height.
  • To make your daily activities easier, try using devices that can help you do those activities. Items such as reachers, long-handled sponges, brushes and dusters, and jar openers are just a few that can help when you’re trying to conserve your energy.
  • Lastly, you will need to breathe during your activities. I know it sounds a bit weird, but there is a proper way to breathe so you can keep up your energy levels and help you relax. For starters, pay attention to how you are breathing and if your chest is moving up and down when you breathe then you are breathing badly, it shouldn’t move at all. Instead, you want your belly area to move. When you inhale, your belly area should expand, and as you exhale, your belly area should compress or contract. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth very slowly. For you women, think back to when you were in labor with your children and every time you had a contraction you were told to breathe in just before and breathe out during the contraction. It is the same concept. If you practice this breathing method and pay attention to how you breathe during your activities, it will soon become second nature and a habit.

Occupational therapists are professionals who are trained to help you make these and other changes in the way you do your daily tasks. If you have arthritis, an occupational therapist can recommend techniques and devices that can help protect your joints from any undue stress. They can also help you change your work and home to make it more manageable. Your doctor can recommend an occupational therapist if he decides you need this kind of help.

If you take the time to think about everything you want to do or need to do, it can be a bit overwhelming. But, if you can accept the fact that you will have some manageable difficulties ahead of you, then you will begin to make the changes in your daily life that can help you conserve your energy. Remember that the changes you make, in the long run, will improve your quality of life and you will feel that you are in control of your energy resources.