Pacing isn’t always easy. What we need to do to help us recharge (whether for mental or physical health, or both) is often not obvious, because it varies depending on what level we are functioning at. Curling up with a good book can be unmanageably exhausting at one level, but a lovely recharging break at another.
 
This A4 sheet is a way to note what helps when – both to help yourself remember and to help other people understand your choices. The physical copy is in full colour, and the downloadable version is in black and white.
 
How to use it:
 
To support your self management, complete the sheet by writing your personal functioning levels in the left hand column of spaces, and the activities that help you recharge when you are at that level in the corresponding gap between the ladder rungs.
 
Everyone’s functioning levels will be different. Your top rung should be something realistic for you personally – for example something you would be well enough to do on one of your better days, not something you might only manage a couple of times a year. Your bottom rung should also be a familiar level of functioning – a level you will routinely be at when you have done too much, or had a particularly busy (for you) few days.
 
It can take time and effort to work these out, so you might find it helpful to list your recharging activities on a separate piece of paper, then sort them into the appropriate levels – and only write them onto the actual recharging ladder once you have the outline planned.