Energy Management
Pacing is the key strategy for managing chronic symptoms in Long Covid.
Strategic rest and self-awareness are the tools to maximise your life while staying within your energy envelope.
It takes work, but it’s vital.
It’s not just about managing physical & cognitive exertion…
Heavy emotional conversations, loud environments, or social overstimulation can have also have significant impacts.
These may make your cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, or PEM worse.
These experiences are real and are caused by physical changes in the body linked to Long Covid. These symptoms can affect your mental health, and your mental health can, in turn, make the symptoms feel worse.
What do the cognitive symptoms feel like?
Recognising the symptoms helps you know when to act.
A. Brain Fog
Mental haziness, reduced clarity, trouble focusing. Described as “thinking through mud” or “not being mentally present.”
B. Mental Exhaustion
Worsening symptoms with prolonged cognitive activity. Tasks like reading, holding conversations, or planning cause rapid burnout. Mental stimulation can cause very legitimate physical and physiological changes.
C. Word-Finding & Memory Issues
Trouble retrieving words, losing train of thought, forgetting tasks mid-action.
D. Sensory-cognitive Overload
Difficulty processing multiple stimuli (e.g., sounds, visuals, crowds). May cause rapid cognitive shutdown or symptom flare.
Three techniques to help manage energy:
1. THE ENERGY ENVELOPE
Each person has a fluctuating “envelope” based on the energy they have available that day:
Staying within the envelope requires careful self-monitoring, rest periods, and activity adjustments.
Early warning signs of envelope breach (e.g., subtle cognitive slowing, dizziness).
Exceeding the envelope leads to symptom crashes—often delayed by hours or days.
2. SPOON THEORY
Imagine you start the day with a limited number of spoons—say, 12. This amount changes each day.
Every activity costs spoons, for example: shower = 2 spoons; making breakfast = 1 spoon; having a difficult conversation = 2 spoons.
When the spoons run out, you’re not just tired—you’re done. And borrowing spoons from tomorrow leads to crashes.
3. THE BATTERY & THE UNRELIABLE CHARGER
A healthy person’s body is like a new phone battery; it charges overnight and is good to go in the morning.
In contrast, a patient with chronic conditions has a battery that doesn’t charge fully— and may drain unpredictably, even with minimal use.
Worse, the charger itself is unreliable, some days it works better, and some days it doesn’t work at all.
Some people find this metaphor helping to reframe expectations around rest, productivity, and rehabilitation pacing.
