Hey Spoonies! I’m Kait, an occupational therapist and a chronic pain warrior. My career choice as an occupational therapist was fitting, in that essentially I help people to be able to participate in their everyday meaningful activities. When I was diagnosed with Miserable Malalignment Syndrome, ulnar impaction syndrome, and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, I realized that a lot of what I have learned as an occupational therapist applies to my own health journey. I would like to share with you some tips about energy conservation from the perspective of an occupational therapist as well as my personal experience, because energy conservation is applicable for all conditions, and even for people who don’t specifically have a diagnosis. We all can use energy conservation at some point in our lives, and some of us use it more than others!
What is Energy Conservation?
Energy conservation is when we utilize strategies and techniques to reduce the amount of energy (or spoons) we use to complete tasks and daily activities. Energy conservation is especially important for people with chronic conditions, because these techniques can help people to be more independent and less overwhelmed by their condition or participation in certain tasks. Essentially, energy conservation is all about finding the right balance of rest and our other daily occupations/activities.
Energy conservation is all about saving those spoons! Therefore, I would like to share with you the 4 P’s of energy conservation and how you can incorporate these techniques throughout your day.
The 4 P’s in Energy Conservation
The 4 P’s in energy conservation are: Prioritize, Plan, Pace, and Position. Below are descriptions and examples for each of the P’s.
Prioritize:
Decide what needs to be done today, and what you can do throughout the rest of the week. I personally like to spread my “difficult tasks” throughout the week. For example, I will choose not to clean the bathroom and go to the grocery store on the same day, because that uses too many spoons, and I will likely end up in severe pain later. Therefore, I will choose to go to the grocery store because we all have to eat, while the bathroom can wait for a day or two.
Other examples include:
- Making a list of to-do items in order of importance.
- Set goals for yourself. Ask yourself, what do I want to achieve today (this week, this month, this year, etc.)
Plan:
Plan ahead to avoid having to take extra steps or measures during your daily activities. For example, I have mobility limitations that make outings challenging. I also have stairs to get into my house. Therefore, I plan to do my activities outside of my home at once, so I do not have to do the stairs more than once, because those stairs take away more spoons than anything!
Other examples include:
- Identify the time of day in which you have the most energy, and then plan to do your most challenging or most important tasks during that time.
- Making sure you have seating available for wherever you are going or in areas of your environment where you require breaks.
- Keep a chair or a stool in the kitchen so you can take breaks as needed.
- Write out your grocery list beforehand so you know exactly what to get and not have to wander around the store.
- Plan to have people support you in tasks that are extra difficult.
- Before beginning any tasks, gather all of the items you need before beginning. This will eliminate extra trips to gather materials.
Pace:
Pacing is a very important consideration for energy conservation. It is important to take it slow when completing tasks. Firstly, working slower may reduce fatigue, which will in turn reduce the likelihood of falls or accidents happening. If you are rushing through tasks and become exhausted, it may affect your safety and your ability to perform the task…in other words, you may run out of spoons.
Examples of pacing include:
- Breaking down tasks into manageable units or stages.
- Take breaks as needed.
- Use deep breathing strategies during your breaks.
- Alternating hard tasks and easy tasks.
Position:
The positioning of our bodies as well as items around us can help save energy. For example, the way we position our bodies when we go to lift a grocery bag off the ground is important as to protect and reduces strain on the joints and muscles required during that task. If we don’t position our bodies correctly, this could lead to soreness, fatigue, or injury. Positioning is also about how we position things in our environment, such as where we place our most used items or our adaptive equipment.
Other examples include:
- Keeping items that are needed frequently within reach. For example, keep most used items on the counter rather than higher shelves.
- Using adaptive equipment such as a reacher, sock-aid, dressing stick, long sponge, shoehorn, adaptive jar openers, etc.
- Sit in comfortable positions during breaks.
- Position our bodies to be sitting up straight so we can engage in deeper breathing.
Save Those Spoons!
I hope you have found these techniques helpful, and that this will help you to complete the tasks you need and want to do in a day or the week. These techniques won’t necessarily take away the pain and will not heal you. However, these are suggestions to manage the pain and frustrations that people with chronic conditions may face. This is simply meant to help you save a spoon, and to take your daily activities one spoon at a time.
Remember to take it easy, and know you are absolutely doing your best every single day. You’ve got this!
Take care, everyone.
Kait Williams, MSOTR/L
From Marathons to Medical Miracles with Kait (buzzsprout.com)
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