Using acting beats to separate my day’s tasks into workable units

As someone with Cushing’s disease, one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made is trying to have the same type of day that healthy people have, following the same schedules as my friends. Quotes along those lines, such as “We all have the same 24 hours in our day,” left me feeling inadequate about my accomplishments. I tried to work, clean, write, have a social life, take my medicine, keep up with my doctor appointments, exercise, and rest all within those 24 hours. I felt exhausted all the time and had to give up some activities.

I’ve come to realize that living my life as if I’m healthy is never going to work. Instead, I’ve started to break down my day into ways that work for me and my body. And this year, I’ve started to separate my day into what I call “beats,” based on what I need to do.

I start by making a to-do list of everything I need to do that day. I separate the tasks into ones that will take more than an hour versus those that need to happen quickly. I used to separate these by categories titled “must dos” and “do if you have time,” but this new way works best for me.

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The evolution of my to-do lists

I used to tackle my lists by taking on each item based on priority. But once I was done with work and one other item on the list, I was too tired to do the rest. If I cleaned for an hour straight, my legs started to hurt. And if I stared at a computer for two hours at work, my eyesight started to go. I needed to find a daily routine that worked with my Cushing’s disease.

Here’s an example of a list of things I have to do. I start by simply listing my tasks for the day.

1. Work
2. Clean the living room
3. Write one chapter of my book
4. Prep for a doctor’s appointment
5. Finish an article
6. Do yoga

Then I break that to-do list into beats, which is a term I learned about back in a college acting class. A beat in acting is a unit of action; actors switch up their character’s objective when it hits a conflict or is otherwise ready to change. So whenever my body needs something (an objective), I play out a beat (an activity) until I need to switch things up.

As I apply the core of this method to my to-do lists, I break my plans down even further and take on parts of tasks instead of tackling the whole item. I complete one, smaller unit of action — a beat — to break down each task in a way that won’t hurt my body, feed into my brain fog, or exhaust me. My broken-down list ends up looking something like this:

1. Specific work task
2. Clean 10 things
3. Write one page of book
4. Specific work task
5. Work on article

Then I have my nonrepeatable tasks that are health-oriented. Whenever I need a break from working, I can tackle one of these:

1. Eat and take medicine
2. Yoga
3. Plan for a doctor’s appointment

I’ll first take on parts of tasks from that first group and work on those until I hit a stopping point, or when I need a beat change. For instance, I’ll take on a specific work task until I need a break. Then I’ll go to the second list and eat and take medicine. Once that’s complete — another beat change — I’ll go back to the first list activities. And so on.

This process helps me so much because I’m taking breaks from the screen, getting cleaning done without wearing myself out, and still working on things that are important to me, such as writing books and doing yoga.

I realize I’m lucky, of course. I work two part-time jobs, so I’m able to split my hours however I want and still take the breaks that I need. But even if you can’t do that, taking 10 minutes out of every hour to rest your eyes and stretch your legs is so important.

You don’t have to follow the method of my to-do lists exactly, but remember that your body doesn’t work the same as others. Acknowledging that can be so freeing. Don’t try to fit into someone else’s standards; instead, focus on the best way you can go about your day. Maybe that means taking a bath in the middle of the day, or maybe it means you take Fridays easy. Whatever works best for you.

You can also follow my journey on TikTok and YouTube.

Note: Cushing’s Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cushing’s Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Cushing’s.