Hey friends! I want to share the topic for this week’s Pulmonary Rehab education class. Here at Adventures of Seleana, we’ve talked about energy conservation a few times, but this post will be a little different. I have more clinical information for this one versus what I do and have experienced.
Energy Conservation “Bank Account”
You can think of your energy levels as a bank account (or spoons…whatever floats your boat). What you wake up with is what you have to spend. Each task you do deducts from the balance and when you’re at zero you’re done. Using the method below will help you manage everything that needs to be done.
The 4 P’s of Energy Conservation
Planning
Think about all of the tasks you need and/or want to do. If you have bigger tasks that will use a lot of energy, space them out during the week so the take less of a toll. Doing the tasks when you have the most energy is best. Make sure to add in rest breaks! I know I don’t have much energy until the afternoon/evening most days, so I keep the simple stuff earlier in the day.
Pacing
Make sure you break your tasks into smaller chunks across different days, if you can. Like if you have several loads of laundry/dishes, meals to cook, and cleaning the whole house, spread it out. This is a situation I am in often, so I will wash and dry laundry and put it away another day. Since I meal prep, I cook my ingredients throughout the day. When I have to clean the whole apartment, I’ll pick one room each day of the week.
Prioritizing
I’ve talked about this before…triage. Do the most important stuff first. Get rid of stuff that aren’t and delegate what you can. I’ve talked about asking your people for help when you need it. I struggle with this one. Since I don’t have live in help, I usually have to wait until someone can stop by. Me being me, I typically get it done before someone can get here.
Positioning
Keep items you use often in easy to reach places and do your work at a good working height. You can also do more than you think sitting down. For me, I never thought I could sit on a stool to do the dishes (when I didn’t have a dishwasher) until a friend of mine suggested it. I also realized that there is no rule to shucking peas while sitting on the couch. You can also use adaptive equipment to make this easier. Need to wash your pack? Long-handled sponge/brush. Drop something or need to reach something on the high shelf? Reacher/grabber. Stuff like that.
Measuring Activity Levels for Energy Conservation
The person leading the class gave us this rating scale to help us with energy conservation. You want to aim for 0-3 so you don’t exacerbate your disease. If you’re doing an activity and you’re looking like the two guys on the bottom, probably best to stop and leave that task for someone else.
This applies to cooking, cleaning, dressing, bathing, shoveling snow, etc. Pretty much anything you need to get done. I have lots of tricks for making tasks like these easier, so if you need some help, shout it out!
Want more tip and tricks? Have something you do that I need to know about? Comment below!
Remember to take care of yourselves and be safe out there! Seeyalaterbye <3
Also, if you feel called to help a sista out with her travels, check this out!
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