Pacing and Fibromyalgia

Living well with fibromyalgia, one step (and spoon) at a time

What is Pacing?

Pacing is a powerful self-management technique that helps people with fibromyalgia manage their energy, avoid flare-ups, and live life with more balance. Pacing is about listening to your body, planning your time, and finding a rhythm between activity and rest — rather than pushing through pain or fatigue.

With pacing, you can do more with less pain, feel more in control, and build towards a better quality of life.

Fibromyalgia affects everyone differently, but many of us experience:

• Chronic fatigue
• Widespread pain
• Brain fog
• Limited energy

Trying to push through these symptoms can often backfire, leaving us wiped out for days.  Pacing helps reduce this boom-and-bust cycle so you can live more steadily and sustainably.

1. Accepting Your Limits

Recognising your energy boundaries is not giving up, it is taking a brave step towards better health. Having realistic expectations = fewer crashes.

2. Planning & Prioritising

Ask yourself: What actually needs doing?

What do I want to do?

Plan rest breaks. Spread out more demanding tasks across the day and week.

3. Breaking Tasks into Chunks

Instead of cleaning the entire house in one go, vacuum one room, rest, and then continue.  A timer can help you stop before pain forces you to. You could even split your housework over multiple days. For example, the bathroom can be split into the following sections: clean the bath on Monday, the sink on Tuesday and the toilet on Wednesday.

4. Listening to Your Body

Tired? Rest. In pain? Pause. Notice early warning signs of overdoing it and respond with kindness.

5. Gradual Increase

As your stamina improves, you should gradually build up your activity. Start small and then gently increase what you do over time.

 

Pacing Techniques

Time-Based Pacing

Set time limits: 20 minutes of activity, then a 10-minute rest. Use a timer or reminders to stick to your plan.

Activity-Based Pacing

Alternate between different activities to avoid fatigue (e.g., sitting tasks vs standing ones).

 

The Spoon Theory, created by Christine Miserandino, is a popular way to describe what it can be like living with limited energy. Imagine you start the day with 12 spoons. Getting dressed might take 2. Making breakfast, 1. Shopping, 4. When your spoons run out, you have spent your energy for the day.

This simple metaphor helps explain fibromyalgia to friends and family – and reminds you to budget your energy like you would your money.

 

 

There are three unhelpful pacing patterns to watch for:

🚀 Overactive Pacing

Doing too much at once, especially on a “good day.”, can lead to payback and flare-ups.

🛏️ Underactive Pacing

When you are struggling, it is easy to fall into a pattern of doing too little for a long period of time. Doing this is unhelpful because it can add to your pain and increase symptoms.

🔁 Boom-and-Bust Pacing

Alternating between overdoing it and crashing requiring long rest periods. Very easily done!

*Establish your activity baseline — how long you can do something before symptoms worsen.

*Alternate between physical and mental tasks.

*Always stop way before pain forces you to stop.

*Needing rest is not being lazy it is a vital part of your routine. 

*Take preventative rests it can be thought as part of you treatment. 

*Prioritise joyful activities, not just chores!

*Remember to consider the demands of the activity and not just the time it takes you

 

Need Support?

Please always remember that you are not alone.  Join our monthly meet-ups or Facebook group to share your story, swap tips, and connect with others who understand what it is like to live spoon-to-spoon.

Join our Support Group!

 

Summary

Pacing is not about doing less – it is about doing things smartly, sustainably, and with self-compassion.  Whether you are newly diagnosed or have been navigating fibromyalgia for years, learning to pace can help you take back control and live more fully, one step at a time.

See below for more about Spoon Theory

 

 

What Is Spoon Theory?

Spoon Theory is a metaphor created by Christine Miserandino in 2003 to explain what it’s like living with a chronic illness like fibromyalgia, lupus, or ME/CFS. In her explanation, spoons represent units of energy.

Imagine you wake up with 12 spoons for the whole day.

• Getting dressed? That’s 2 spoons. 
• Making breakfast? Another 1. 
• Going to work, taking care of the kids, socialising? That all adds up fast. 

Once your spoons are gone, you’re out—you physically and mentally can’t do any more.

 “Spoons are a visual way to explain the invisible cost of living with chronic illness.”                                            – Christine Miserandino

 

Why Spoon Theory Matters

Spoon Theory is more than just a metaphor – it’s a powerful way to communicate the invisible struggles of chronic illness to friends, family, co-workers, and even doctors.

It helps others understand:

• Why you might cancel plans last minute 
• Why you need rest, even if you “look fine” 
• Why everyday tasks can feel exhausting 

For many in the fibromyalgia and chronic illness community, Spoon Theory gives language to an experience that’s often misunderstood – and that alone can be incredibly validating.

It helps to convey to others just where you are at on that particular day at that particular time.  Which can be very helpful with a fluctuating illness with symptoms that may be incredibly severe one day but not as much the next, for example.  

 

Pacing is a practical way of applying Spoon Theory to your life.

Instead of spending all your spoons at once and crashing later (what we call the “boom-and-bust cycle”), pacing helps you:

• Plan your activities in chunks 
• Include rest breaks 
• Balance physical, mental, and emotional energy 
• Spread tasks out over the week 
• Stop before you hit zero spoons 

Think of pacing as budgeting your spoons wisely. You wouldn’t blow your entire paycheck on Monday, right? Pacing helps you avoid doing the same with your energy.

 

Practical Ways to Use Spoon Theory

Here are a few ways spoonies (the affectionate nickname for us folk) use Spoon Theory in real life:

• Keep a Spoon Tracker – jot down how many spoons certain tasks cost you.  Everyone’s spoon count is different for different activities

   

• Plan your week in spoons – mark your most energy-demanding days and plan lighter ones around them

   

• Communicate with others – saying “I don’t have enough spoons” can be an easier way to explain why you need to rest or say no.

   

• Build in recovery days – some activities may use more spoons than expected. Allow time to recharge!

 

Spoon Theory is helpful, but here are a few traps to watch out for:

“Save spoons” for others and never yourself
Remember… You matter. Use some spoons for joy – not just jobs.

Overdoing it on a “good day”
We all do it, it’s so tempting.  But overspending leads to crashes. Use pacing to protect tomorrow’s spoons too.

Guilt when your spoons run out
Rest isn’t weakness. Rest is strategy. Rest is will keep you going in the short-term, but it will also help to prevent crashes.