Going My Own Pace: Spoonie worksheets

First, using your wearable fitness device, find your average Heart Rate Variability of the past year.

my current filled example

Decide what your zones will be. I suggest making your average HRV for the past year part of your Orange zone. Take a look at your top zone and make that your green.

Write up your early warning signs and the things that increase your capacity.

my current filled example

Transfer your HRV zones to the If This Then That side. Start with your Orange Zone. This is your MAINTAIN section - your daily average. What you write here will be highly dependent on what your day usually requires, how well you are and what your current goals are. As a mama of four, my maintain includes a gentle walk and one major cleaning task (so I can keep them broken up across the week).
Next fill in your non-negotiables only day - in other words, treat it like a flare day. This was the biggest change for me - consider 21 or under as a flare day. My non-negotiables include managing the children and doing the bare minimum in the house. I try to take a longer rest, take an early night and avoid exercise or deep cleaning (these jump my heart rate - and I’m usually experiencing spikes without these.)
Remind yourself in your green zone that you will still do your daily tasks to increase capacity. Give yourself one additional thing you will do so you don’t overdo it.

You may like to discuss it with your medical team - anyone who understands your context and ME/CFS (or whatever conditions you live with). You could also discuss it with AI.

You could say something like, “I live with ME/CFS and x, y, z conditions. My average HRV from the past year is x. I would like to create a daily fatigue management plan based upon HRV levels - red, orange and green levels. Could you suggest the range for each level of my traffic light? Orange will include my average HRV and be “maintenance” mode.”

You don’t have to accept the first answers. Challenge the AI with additional context or use it as a guide and make your own.

Context is vital

Context is very important for this. I have walked most days for many years, some days they are very gentle and short, other days they are a little longer. It is part of my “maintenance” mode. Cardio is not usually part of the recommendation for ME/CFS.

Let me know if you find this helpful.

If you loved this and want to share it with a friend, please feel free to share this page.

Paced Day Planner

Melissa — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:32:53 GMT

Pacing is one of the best tools in our arsenal to manage our symptoms. This Day Planning Sheet helps you design your day around your energy envelope.

This daily planner is designed to help you plan your day around your energy needs. Write out your tasks, assign an H "high" or L "low" energy category to them and spread them across your day in alignment. When you have completed your task, you can tick it off.

My Paced Day Planning Digital

250KB ∙ PDF file

Download it for free and start using it right away.
You get two pages of the planner, designed to make it easier to print double-sided to save paper. Instructions for use and printing. You can choose A4 or A5, or even two-to-a-page. If you prefer a printed journal, see below.

How to use this sheet

Assign a few tasks to each day. Taking care to assign limited numbers of high-energy tasks. When filling in your day plan, put the high-energy tasks at times when your energy is generally highest. Remember to break big tasks down into smaller micro tasks.

Affiliate notice: we are part of the Amazon affiliate programme. Some links may be affiliate links; I may make a small commission if you purchase using one of these links at no extra cost to you.

My Paced Planning Journal: Productivity for Chronic Illness Thrivers by Melissa Reynolds is a specialized daily planner designed for people with fatigue-related conditions (such as fibromyalgia or CFS) to manage energy,, reduce brain fog, and improve productivity.

Buy now

Further resources for you

My Mama's Day in Batteries

Melissa — Thu, 21 May 2026 01:46:11 GMT

When I wrote the My Mama Series, I created a discussion guide to help families take the conversation further.

When I was updating that, I realised I wanted to take the metaphor deeper.

So, I came up with My Mama’s Day in Batteries. A very simple story sharing mama’s battery over the day, and sharing the impact of that.

Best for ages 5-9 or read aloud for younger kids. For slightly older kids, this handout may be helpful.

My Mama’s Day in Batteries works for mild ME/CFS or other energy-limiting conditions, like fibromyalgia.

Battery Analogy of Moderate Chronic Fatigue is the same story, but for a mama with moderate ME/CFS - her day is significantly different.

My Mama's Day In Batteries

17.9MB ∙ PDF file

Download for free above, or grab the moderate ME/CFS version below.

Battery Analogy Of Moderate Chronic Fatigue

13.2MB ∙ PDF file

One way to explain energy-limiting conditions, like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, is that my mama has a tricky battery, like on an iPad or tablet. So we walk through the battery analogy, in simple terms.

Then there are worksheets, designed to continue conversations and help your family make practical plans.

If you have any feedback on the stories, or how to make it easier to understand for kids, please do let me know.

Did you download either? Did you find it helpful?

The My Mama Series is available now.

Please feel free to share this post.

You can grab paperback and eBook versions on Amazon.

They are also available in German!

I’m working on getting them available to libraries (it’s a tricky process for little indie authors, but I’m working on it).

Talking About Fatigue with Kids

Melissa — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:01:00 GMT

When I wrote the My Mama Series, I came up with a discussion guide to help families take the conversation further.

Now, I have edited it further.

And pleased to offer it to you, here, free.

Handout For The Battery Analogy For Kids

13.6MB ∙ PDF file

One way to explain energy-limiting conditions, like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia is that my mama has a tricky battery, like on an iPad or tablet. So we walk through the battery analogy, in simple terms.

Then there are worksheets, designed to continue conversations and help your family make practical plans.

Did you download it? Did you find it helpful?

The My Mama Series is available now.

Please feel free to share this post.

You can grab paperback and eBook versions on Amazon.

They are also available in German!

I’m working on getting them available to libraries (it’s a tricky process for little indie authors, but I’m working on it).

My Daily Symptom Log Tracker

Melissa — Sat, 09 May 2026 05:04:21 GMT

This tracker is the culmination of years of personal symptom tracking and experimentation. It’s evolved from a simple sheet I copied out each week in a blank notebook.

In my journey from moderate to mild symptoms, I come back to symptom tracking again and again to support me in managing symptoms as well as possible. I hope it helps you.

Download, free, here

2026 Daily Health Log Digital

507KB ∙ PDF file

Really for free? Yes! Please take this, use it and let me know if it helped you.

You get a two-page symptom log, which enables you to easily print double-sided. With instructions for use and printing.

You’re welcome to share this page with a friend who you think will like it too.

If you would prefer the beautiful paperback journal, you can purchase that here.

How to use this tracker

By taking a couple of minutes, a few times a day to mindfully consider your symptoms, I believe we can more proactively manage our symptoms. And hopefully reduce them.

Keeping an eye on our health through a daily symptom log and maximising the many choices we make each day can have a tremendous impact on our quality of life. I firmly believe that we have the power to impact our lives dramatically with each little choice.

What are the benefits of tracking?

Knowing the longer-term patterns
Ensuring the things we are trying are working
Knowing what doesn’t help
To help us communicate with our medical team
As a record (our memory can be foggy)

In short, to help us target our treatments (so we don’t waste money on the things that don’t work) to improve as much as possible.

But also because we can’t remember everything. It all blurs together, and it is helpful to tease out the strands and watch the patterns. By writing it down, we have the data to discuss important topics with our medical team.

If you would prefer the beautiful paperback journal, you can grab that here.

More on symptom tracking

Other resources that may support you

My Best Pain Management System

Melissa — Sat, 09 May 2026 03:58:10 GMT

I created this system when I realised that I wasn’t attempting to treat pain until it was very high on the pain scale, at which point nothing helped, and my nervous system was like a runaway train.

I made my own If This Then That plan several years ago and followed it without question. When I wrote “4/10” in my symptom tracking journal, I knew what to do next. This helped me reduce flare-ups and decrease my average pain levels.

Download, free, here

If This Then That Card

92.6KB ∙ PDF file

Yes, just like that. No email input - although you are warmly invited to subscribe to this Substack. But this worksheet is a gift for you to take and use.

You get:

A two page PDF that you can download, print and use immediately

On page one is a half-page If This...Then That worksheet and the instructions/guidance/example

On page two is two copies of the If This...Then That worksheet - incase you’d like to print just the template and have one for later (because our plans won’t stay static).

Use this worksheet to create a plan for when symptoms are doing certain things. Ask your doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional for assistance. It will help to make a list of things that help and be honest about when on the symptom scale they are most helpful.

For more on how to use it

I provide an example in the download, and you can watch this video for more details on the If This Then That idea.

Commenter’s feedback:

“You continue to amaze me. This is a great idea. I will create an if/then list for myself.
I agree with you. I try very hard to distract myself, right up to when I can no longer do that and at that point, I wish that I had realized a bit earlier that I should start taking something for my pain because I was zipping right up into moderate.”

My “If This, Then That” Rule

Here’s how it works:

If pain = 3/10 → stretch, heating pad, self-massage
If pain = 4/10 → take paracetamol
If pain = 5/10 → add ibuprofen (usually a headache arrives at this point)
If pain = 6/10 → take a muscle relaxant (and go to bed to do Yoga Nidra)

I wrote it down. No debating, no second-guessing. A couple of times a day, I jot down my pain level, and if it crosses the threshold, I follow the rule.

The result? Less daily pain, fewer flares, and less time spent managing symptoms.

Please remember we are all managing different types of pain and are given differing instructions regarding medications - please discuss your plan with your doctor.

What if you want more support and to create a full symptom management plan, including a flare plan?

You are welcome to purchase the full Symptom Management Micro Course. Available in my store here.

Tell us: did you download yours, have you used it, and has it helped?