Planning with Low Energy: Tips for Tough Mental Health Days

I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind, those days when you just can’t. When everything feels heavy, your brain is foggy, and planning, productivity, or even brushing your teeth feels like climbing a mountain. I want to talk about planning with low energy.

It’s easy to beat ourselves up for not getting things done during a low point especially when we swing back into a high-energy mode. That “why can’t I just feel this way all the time” voice can be brutal. But here’s what I keep reminding myself, and maybe you need the reminder too:

It’s okay. You’re okay. It happens.

I used to shy away from using words like “depression” because it’s complicated and comes with a lot of baggage; I don’t have a formal diagnosis anyway. But anxiety? That one I feel pretty comfortable claiming.

When I’m in a low energy slump, I try to keep the tasks to a minimal and not be to hard on myself. It’s hard, you are so mean to yourself when you are alone, truly. You would NEVER say those things to other people. It’s hard, but remember to be kind to yourself.

Similar to being selective with your morning routines, remember to be selective with you day to day tasks here. This is where those list of routines can really come in handy.

What “Planning” Looks Like on Low Days

Not every day is a color-coded calendar day. Sometimes planning means scribbling three things on a sticky note. Sometimes it’s a nap.

Let Go of Perfectionism

You don’t need the perfect plan. You need a plan that honors your energy. Lets go back to routines again and think about creating some low energy ones. I know what thing I have seen others mention is keeping routines low and high energy – and sticking to them so they don’t crash.

For me, I track my cycle because I can down to the days, tell you when I will feel miserable for a few days, feel much better and like FIRE, and days I may need a nap. It helps me plan my week and month and I highly recommend tracking your energy cycles. Yours may not be so convenient to track, as mine follows my menstruation, but you may notice a pattern or triggers to keep an eye out for.

Sometimes brushing your teeth is the to-do list. And that is okay.

Plan with Compassion, Not Control

Productivity is meant to give you more time in your day for the important things. If you are too exhausted for the important things because of the productivity, you might have done it wrong.

Planning with low energy means acknowledging you may need help on some days. If you have a community around you this could be asking for help where you need it. Maybe it means buying more easy cook meals – something I do to ensure when I don’t feel like cooking I have something to eat that I actually like.

Finding little ways to have alternates for some of your tasks for low energy days can be the difference in eating or just going to bed.

Some other ideas – if you have the means, you can hire out laundry. I wish I could afford this. You can batch work – for example if you are creating content prep multiple things in advance so you have buffer days. Robot vacuums are getting better, some even mop.

Work sucks, there were definitely days all I could handle was going into work.

Routines That Flex

If you know you are low energy on specific days, its a good idea to have a plan in place. Making routines and list helps me keep on top of the things that need to be done, for example I am building out batch work for days right now – one of them is going to be an admin day. In that day I am trying to think of all the things I need to do that are admin related and create a list.

The point of the list is so each time I get to that process – I can look at the list, and go down it without having to use mental energy to recompile the list in my head. It’s already there. I just need to look at it and see if I need to do any of those things.

Planning with low energy means making things available that you don’t have to think hard about. I am convinced the reason it zaps our energy is the decision making and fatigue. I know I get grumpy if I am asked to make too many choices in a role.

So plan it out in advanced. On days we have soccer practice, here is a checklist of items for the car and reminders. Laminate that if you need it.

Remember, Soft goals, strong snacks,

Happy Planning