From ‘Pushing Through’ to ‘Pacing Well’

Question: I’m in my early 70s and starting to notice that some of the habits that helped me get through life aren’t serving me so well anymore. I tend to push through fatigue, downplay pain, and tell people that I am ‘fine.’ I could get away with that when I was younger, but now it just leaves me feeling wiped out.

I guess I should just do less or pace myself. I get it. But the problem is I don’t even realize I’m doing it until after the fact. I don’t want to upend my daily routine, but I do acknowledge that I should make some changes. Do you have any advice on how I can start to break these habits?

Response from Rhoda Olkin, PhD: I really like this question as it pertains to so many of us polio survivors. At age 72 (Oh my, how did that happen?) I find I struggle with similar issues of knowing where the line is between doing and overdoing, when to push and when to let go. These are questions I’ve talked about with many polio survivors, so I do have a few tips.

Step one is to take stock of all you do. Write out a weekly schedule, and first include the ‘musts,’ like any jobs, appointments, eating (anything else?). Now put in everything else, and I do mean everything: laundry, grocery shopping, showering, driving, socializing, gardening, repairs, phone calls, bill paying, hobbies, etc.

Take a look at your week and see if you can find those times and days where you tend to feel wiped out. Is it towards the end of the week, and you use the weekends to recoup? If so, you will need to find time around Wednesday to do less (more on that later). Is it after a day where there is more on the schedule? Can you spread those tasks out or cut one out altogether?

Look at your week again and cut 10% out. What did you cut? I’m guessing you kept everything except hobbies, TV, and socializing as the only things that were expendable. That will not do! Those are the things that replenish you, even if they take energy.

So now you have to re-examine your schedule and look for those things you thought were necessary and cut something there. This is harder. Can you work from home one day a week; order groceries online; hire a high school student to do laundry, clean the kitchen, and shovel the snow; have a gardener put in a low-maintenance garden; change the sheets every other week instead of every week; subscribe to a home-delivery meal plan (I use Tovala every other week)?

Break up hobbies into steps (e.g., buy paints one day, take out paints and set up painting area on day two, do the actual painting on day three).

After you cut 10%, it’s time to reassess your energy throughout the week. You may have to cut more. I know this is getting more difficult. Here is where you have to adopt a new mindset: “I can’t do what I used to do, and that’s OK; everyone changes as they get older. How do I want to live my best life for the next umpteen years?” Certainly not wiped out.

Small changes can make a difference, and you don’t have to make all the changes at once. Follow the steps above each time you think you are still overdoing it. Do it for you, so you age with grace.

Post-Polio Health (Vol. 42, No. 1, Winter 2026)