What Pacing Really Means

The practice of pacing: choosing presence, patience, and self-respect in every decision.

If you’re living with Long COVID, ME/CFS, POTS, or any other energy-limiting condition, you’ve probably been told you need to pace more times than you can count. Doctors, therapists, online forums: all of them tell you to pace. But what does that actually mean?

Pacing isn’t just resting. It’s not about stopping only when you’re completely exhausted, and it’s definitely not about pushing through “good days” and paying for it later. It’s about living within your energy envelope, making proactive choices instead of reactive ones, and structuring your life around what your body can sustainably manage.

In short, pacing is about cultivating energy wisdom: understanding your limits, planning your days, and creating a life that feels possible and meaningful even when energy is scarce.

Think of your energy as a budget. Everyone has one, but chronic conditions shrink that budget drastically. Every activity (physical, mental, emotional, or sensory) spends a portion of it. If you overspend, your body sends a bill later: this is post-exertional symptom exacerbation, or PESE, the hallmark crash that can set recovery back for days or even weeks.

Pacing is the art of spending wisely. It’s a way of respecting that budget by noticing patterns, planning accordingly, and protecting your reserves. It isn’t about stopping entirely or punishing yourself, it’s about learning your limits before you hit them, and respecting them consistently. That means making choices proactively, not reactively.

For many people, it begins with tracking. Not forever, but for a while, keeping a record helps you notice patterns you can’t feel in the moment. You might keep a symptom journal to log how activities affect you, use a heart rate monitor to track exertion, or note your energy levels throughout the day. This helps you map your energy envelope and make decisions that prevent flares before they happen. Seeing patterns clearly can help you stay one step ahead of your body’s warning signs.

The hardest lesson is that pacing isn’t linear. A good day doesn’t mean you suddenly have a new baseline, it means your body is giving you a little extra room to breathe. That energy isn’t a bonus to spend, it’s a cushion to protect. Learning to rest even when you feel well is one of the deepest disciplines of pacing. Pacing is about treating good days cautiously and preserving energy for tomorrow rather than spending it all today.

Rest is part of pacing, but not all of it. Pacing is really about structuring activity in ways that work with your body. It means breaking up tasks instead of pushing through, weaving pauses into the middle of the day, and saying no when your body asks you to. It means learning to use supports (whether that’s a mobility aid, a meal delivery service, or a friend helping with errands) before you absolutely need them. Essentially, pacing is designing a life that fits your body, rather than forcing your body to fit a life designed for someone else.

Support also makes pacing more effective. When I work with clients at One Life Lived Well, pacing isn’t just about activity logs or schedules. It’s about reimagining what sustainable living looks like. Together we map energy flows, understand flare cycles, and design routines that are flexible enough to hold both high and low days. The goal isn’t to wring productivity out of a struggling body; it’s to reduce the frequency and intensity of crashes, and to create a rhythm that allows someone to feel more like themselves again. You don’t have to navigate this alone. Having guidance can make all the difference. In fact, this week we’re launching a self-paced course about discovering your energy baseline designed to guide you through these strategies step by step, with tools and practical exercises to help you implement pacing in your everyday life. You’ll be able to explore it at your own pace, learning how to structure your days in a way that respects your limits while helping you live meaningfully.

Ultimately, pacing is about learning your body, loving yourself, and creating space to recover and stabilize. It’s about energy wisdom: noticing, adjusting, and shaping your days to preserve stamina, protect health, and live meaningfully within your limits. When people practice pacing consistently, they often find not just fewer crashes, but more confidence, more predictability, and a deeper sense of control. That’s energy wisdom.

Pacing isn’t limiting (in fact, it can be liberating). It brings predictability, control, and a path to recovery without the constant crash-and-burn cycle while maintaining meaningful engagement in daily life.

If you’re struggling with pacing, start small and experiment with one adjustment, whether that’s adding an extra pause into your morning routine or protecting your energy on days you feel strong.

You also don’t have to figure this out alone. At One Life Lived Well, we help people map their energy, build sustainable routines, and find ways to live fully without falling into crash-and-burn cycles. And don’t forget: this week we’re launching our self-paced pacing course, with tools, guidance, and exercises to help you integrate these practices into your life. You can work through it on your own schedule and start building a sustainable, energy-conscious routine that fits your reality.

Pacing is about cultivating safety, stability, and meaning inside the reality of your body. That is the beginning of healing.