Pacing - It’s Not a Dirty Word

Pacing Has a Branding Issue

Let’s talk pacing—not as a restriction, but as a tool to reclaim your life from chronic pain and fatigue. Often, the idea of pacing sounds like “doing less” and has a negative connotation. But let’s flip that: pacing is how you take back what pain has taken from you - a strategy not for resignation but for building resilience and, ultimately, increasing your capacity over time.

Pacing Starts with Planning

That means getting clear about three things: timing, tasks, and tolerance. It’s not about rigid schedules, but about awareness and flexibility. Think of timing as assessing your usable hours in the day—these aren't the same as every waking hour. How you batch tasks matters: doing similar activities together reduces the energy cost of task switching, whether it's moving from client calls to creative work to back-end tasks or simply alternating between chores at home.

It's a bit like a gym schedule: grouping work so the recovery for one muscle group is the activation for another, allowing you to do more with less overall strain. Planning also helps you slot in activities that add joy or meaning, even in small doses—whether that's making time for music or a peaceful stroll outside.

How you manage both physical and cognitive energy is crucial for being able to do more work, movement, hobbies etc in a way that don’t deplete you so much you get pushed over your pain threshold.

Tolerance is the final cornerstone. Your capacity isn’t fixed, and neither should your expectations be. Some days, your pain or fatigue threshold will be lower, some days higher. Respecting these internal shifts is fundamental: if you try to push through every day at full tilt, you risk flares and setbacks. A little built-in flexibility is essential—so if something doesn’t get done today or your capacity is less, you can push it to another window and still get it done. That’s pacing in action, not failure, but methods for accomplishing more and it’s vital to managing chronic pain long term.

Managing Energy & Flares

The science of pacing comes down to measurable action. Popular techniques like the Pomodoro Method—working for 25minutes, breaking for 5—may suit some, while others benefit from quota-based approaches: setting a specific goal and sticking to it regardless of discomfort, which can help if fear avoidance is keeping you sidelined. Strategies like time blocking can also be helpful ways to structure your schedule and balance overall toll and spread of activities. There’s also graded exposure, a gradual build-up: walk to the next mailbox every other day, increasing your distance step by step. If you overshoot and flare up, scale back, but don’t abandon the process—this builds resilience and keeps progress on track.

Monitoring is another tool in your pacing toolkit. Devices like the Oura Ring, Whoop or other fitness monitors can help you keep an eye on heart rate, sleep, and recovery. The numbers aren’t gospel truth, but they do offer a consistent reference point you can use to decide whether to push or pull back. When recovery is low, more rest is the prescription; when the body says “go,” take the opportunity to stretch a little further.

Perhaps the most important lesson: pacing is not a dirty word, and flares are not personal failures. Progress comes as a shuffle, not a march—sometimes three steps forward, two steps back. Know what triggers your flares, learn to monitor your mood and stress, and put strategies in place so setbacks become less intense and less frequent. Give yourself permission to rest, to adjust your calendar, to advocate for yourself in work or social settings. If you need to get up and move mid-meeting, do it. The goal is not perfection but greater control, less frustration, and more of what matters returned to your life.

Our Takeaway for You

So, pacing isn’t about limiting yourself—it's about acknowledging the reality of your situation and then planning, strategically, to do more, not less. Build in flexibility, monitor progress, and celebrate every bit reclaimed from pain. Remember, the strategies that work for athletes also work for you. You are building performance, capacity, and resilience. Take it one step at a time—and know that the journey is progress in itself.

For more insight and practical advice, tune in to episode 21 of It’s Not in Your Head Podcast.