The 4 Ps: Strategies you can use to cope with fatigue

Apply the 4 Ps to conserve energy

The four Ps you can use to cope with fatigue are:

• problem solving
• planning
• prioritising and
• pacing.

The aim is to think of the four Ps at the beginning of each day or week to help you manage your energy levels. It can take a while to master this way of thinking, but it’s worth being patient with it because it can make a difference.

Problem solving

It’s easier to manage your energy if you can work out what problems might be adding to your fatigue and thinking of ways around them.

For example, if cleaning your house is becoming an overwhelming task and using up so much energy that you find it difficult to do anything else, how could you make it easier?

Would it help to get a cleaner? Sometimes we all have to pay someone to help get a job done. If it means you have more energy to do other things, such as paid work, the benefits should be greater than the cost.

If you find it tough doing a weekly shop at a supermarket, could you do online shopping?

Often small changes can alter the amount of energy you use and the way you feel about yourself.

Planning

Try to plan the things you want to achieve in your day or week. If you have a big job that will need a lot of energy, try breaking it into achievable tasks that can be spread through your day or week. Plan to do bigger tasks at a time of the day when you tend to have more energy. Plan lighter activities and rest breaks around them.

It’s also important to plan activities you enjoy into your day, it’s not just about getting tasks and chores done. Taking part in activities you enjoy can improve your mood and energy levels.

Try to stick to your daily plan, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do everything. Your healthcare team should be able to help you set and review realistic goals.

Prioritising

While you’re planning your day or week put your activities into an order of importance. Ask yourself:

• Does this need to be done today?
• Does it need to be done at all?
• Do I have to do it, or can I ask someone else?
• Can I get someone to help me with parts of the task?

Pacing

Pacing is about not using up all your energy in one go. We’ve already talked about breaking activities into smaller tasks, particularly ones that you’ll need a lot of energy for. You could then spread out these pieces of activity over the course of a day, a week or longer.

For example, instead of doing all your cleaning in one go and then feeling wiped out later that day and the next day, could you spread it out over a week or a fortnight, and do it room by room? This could make it more manageable and less overwhelming.

As you get better at using the four Ps to manage your time, you should see a noticeable difference in your energy levels and the amount you feel you’ve achieved.

Lists and charts

A good way to measure how you’re using your energy and the way it makes you feel is to use a list or fatigue chart (PDF, 24 KB).

Try listing the following:

• the time you wake up
• how you’ve slept
• the main activities you do throughout a day and the time you do them
• how you feel after each activity
• when you take time to rest and recover
• when you go to bed
• how you feel by bedtime.

This list or chart should help you spot trends and habits that affect the way you feel. For example, you may see a link between the way you’re feeling, the activity you’re doing and the time of day. You can then try to change the way you’re doing things to save energy.

Try using a fatigue chart (PDF, 24 KB) or list over a couple of weeks to see if you can change the way you feel by adjusting the way you do things.