The concept of “spoons” is a popular one for people who are dealing with fatigue, pain, and weakness from any condition.
It references the idea of pacing activities to prevent reaching a point of no return. Counting your spoons, using your spoons, saving your spoons; there are tons of SnapChat and Instagram posts on how to apply this concept. Often, it is giving yourself permission not to engage in a task because you have too few spoons. Sometimes, it is spending all of your spoons on something essential or something very special. Spoon theory isn’t a bad idea. It is certainly an improvement on pushing yourself until you drop! And it is better than wishing and hoping you find the energy to continue, somehow. But it isn’t the answer.
People who depend on the “spoon” strategy to work all make the same (and totally understandable) error:
Their complex life rarely improves significantly by managing spoons.
It can’t.
By the time you need to count your spoons, you need more than spoon theory to thrive.
Occupational therapists offer people with POTS, EDS, ME/CFS strategies that embrace their complex conditions far more completely than spoons. We know that they deserve a different approach. A more layered approach, in which accepting or rejecting an activity only happens after exhausting all of the tools in our basket. We have a bunch!
What, exactly, are those tools?
- Ergonomics. Bodies expend less energy and produce more force with less effort when good ergonomics are used. You get to do more with less, but at least you get to do more.
- Joint Protection. As with ergonomics, placing less force on a joint to accomplish a task often means less pain and more performance. Pain saps energy from all of us. Preventing or reducing pain is a powerful tool.
- Timing. Identifying the best time of day, day of the week, or the optimal amount of time to spend on a task is also a powerful tool. But to get things done, you need to know how to design a task so that it fits into your capacity.
- Selecting the right equipment. Pacing a task but using the most challenging equipment can be a non-starter. Evaluating your equipment for computer work, cooking, showering, and even sex can make all the difference. And yes; the right mattress and sex toys can be game changers!
- Adapting the environment. Occupational therapists are specialists in assessment and adaptation. Something as simple as changing the lighting in a room or on a task can reduce fatiguing eye strain or support alertness. Don’t get me started on visual and auditory clutter and their effects on fatigue. We can identify a range of adaptations and the relative impact for your specific needs.
- Prioritizing. Hardly anyone can do it all, have it all, and be it all. Assessing actions that will make the greatest impact through a day or a week, not just during the day, can transform your ability to thrive, not just survive. This requires assessment of your needs and your values as well as your capacities.
- Positioning. Pick the right position for the task. Great equipment and good task pacing, done in the wrong position, will drain your spoon account.
Want more information about how to make life with a complex condition easier?
Would you like to learn what experienced occupational therapists know?
I wrote a handout pack that goes deep into the life issues that teens and young adults struggle with: school, personal care, having people over and going out, even “getting busy”! You will understand our thought processes and how we motivate people to have hope while taking good care of themselves. It is available as a digital download at the best site for therapy tools and information: Your Therapy Source !!
