10 Tips how to Pace over Christmas with a Chronic Condition

With Christmas Day just over one week away, have you got everything prepared? If you are panicking about how you are going to make sure everything is ready in time, STOP, take a deep breath and check this post for my 10 Tips on how to Pace over Christmas with a Chronic Condition, to hopefully help ease some of your anxieties.

What is Pacing?

You have probably heard this word mentioned so many times now, you may want to read this post for a detailed explanation on Pacing. Basically, it is about making sure you don't do too much on a "good day" when you have energy and then nothing on a "bad day", you need to make sure that you take short breaks in between activities in order to recover and avoid "Boom & Bust". When you have a chronic condition you want to try and get everything done when you are feeling well, as you never know when you will have another good day, only to find that you make yourself worse and then need days to recover. Does this sound familiar? I think we all fall into this trap at some point.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year but can be stressful as society puts a lot of pressures on us especially as there is so much to do, with presents to buy and wrap, cards to write, decorations to put up, arrangements to make. How can you do all this with a Chronic Condition? Check out my 10 Tips on how to Pace with a Chronic Condition.    

My 10 Tips on how to Pace over Christmas with a Chronic Condition:

1. Make a list of everything that needs doing before the big day, instead of thinking about it which can be overwhelming, write it down, doesn't have to be in any order at this stage just get it all on paper
   
2. Look at your list to see what are the most important things and mark these or highlight them however you want, so you know the order things need to be dealt with
3. Don't try to deal with everything at once this is not Pacing, you need to break the tasks into smaller ones that are manageable, e.g. buy a Christmas tree then have a rest before decorating it is a better way to Pace as you are likely to be tired from buying the tree and need to recover from this then decorating it will be tiring as well
4. If there are other people living with you, ask them to help with some of the tasks, this way you are not feeling pressured to get everything done yourself.
5. Don't be too hard on yourself, you want everything to be perfect for the Big Day, the Decorations to look fab, the Food to be fantastic, the Presents to be what everyone wants, this can take a toll on your health putting unrealistic expectations on yourself but I understand where you are coming from as it is that one time of the year when you want to impress.
6. Shop online, takes the stress out of going out buying presents and queuing up for ages but can also save you money.
7. Instead of cooking a meal, why not go out to a restaurant instead, this way you can relax while someone else does the hard work. Buy prepared meals that just need heating up in the oven or microwave, if going out isn't an option
8. Decide when you need to have everything completed by as you don't want to leave it to the last minute getting things ready.
9. Make sure on Christmas day that you have short breaks especially if you are Entertaining, it is very important that you don't try to keep going for your guests when you are needing to rest but are embarrassed to say anything.
10. HAVE FUN It is that one time of the year when you can let your hair down and enjoy the festivities. Remember to PACE whatever activity you are doing, take some time out for "YOU" even if it is only a few minutes regularly this will help to cope when you have a chronic condition

This is my 10 Tips how to Pace over Christmas with a Chronic Condition, please add to these if there are any I have missed.

Hope you have a lovely Christmas!