Sunday 8 July 2012

Regime change. Or perhaps a coup.

Having been invaded, if only by the nicest and very well informed of occupational therapists, and with my permission to boot, I'm currently operating under a new set of orders.
Or call it an austerity energy budget.
Or  five-minute plan (no, not a five-year one, thank goodness.)

The objective: to balance my energy books and avoid borrowing from the future at punitive rates of interest (7%, nothing.  We are talking 400% and much, much more.)

OK.  It's quite simple and it goes like this...  for any hour, five minutes of activity should be followed by 55 minutes of inactivity.
Activity: anything that causes fatigue.
Inactivity: anything that doesn't.

But since getting dressed, getting washed, having breakfast, checking e-mails all fall into the first category (yes, each demanding a significant commitment of effort and energy, given what the total availability looks like), getting ready to face the day is looking like a three-hour process at least.
Unless five minutes and its entailed fifty-five is saved by ditching dressing, or washing...
One or both may be the best call on days I'm not expecting visitors.
But they will count as an activity too, and come under the five-minute rule, in principle.   That could be interesting.  It's a good job I don't get many.
My lady OT was here for over an hour on Friday, and the effects were clear through to Saturday at least.  I don't have much doubt I need to cut my activity down to about the level she's describing.
It's going to be interesting to see if I can prevent my brain imploding from sheer boredom.

But "inactive = does not cause fatigue" may allow a few odd things in apart from being asleep and listening to the radio.  I have a very old and very slow computer game that's going to help: it provides just the right distraction for my brain to stop it thinking about anything else  without stressing it.  Given that I can't get my brain to stop thinking that's going to be handy, thought it's not something to do for hours and hours.


And then, the trains.  I now have a little kitchen timer and I did couple of trials today.  Five minutes lets me clear weeds from between six inches and a yard of track, depending on the level of rain forest encroachment.


I have not as yet invested five minutes (that is, an hour) of calculation to work out how long it will take to clear the line at that rate.  Not given how fast the weeds are growing.


And I may have to work out (bang goes another 5+55) how to write shorter faster blog pieces.  
Or cheat a bit.  Or spin that as being "flexible".


It's going to be interesting.
And to think I thought I was living a cut-down life already.
"You ain't seen nothing, yet."

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