Pace activities
Many people who have had pain for a long time talk about having good days and bad days. They are talking about how much their pain gets in the way of daily activities. You may have tried to take advantage of a good day by using it as a catch-up day, doing all the things you couldn't do on days when pain was overwhelming. As a result of over doing on a catch-up day, you may have found that you've needed several days of rest to recover. 
Effective pacing means that you, rather than pain, are in charge of how you plan, start, stop and change what you are doing. When you pace effectively, you can accomplish some activities every day.
Here are some examples of ways to pace your activities:
- Break up tasks into smaller parts – take rest breaks in between tasks.
- Work at a slower, less intense pace.
- Gradually increase the amount of time spent doing a specific task.
- Change tasks often and use different parts of the body throughout the day.
Create an action plan for this strategy.
