The impact of journalling on chronic illness
“Two years ago, I would ever have expected how my life would change.
I loved being an occupational therapist (OT). I had trained for four years and had GCSEs, A levels and a degree. Three years into my career at age 37, I had a period of work stress alongside four diagnoses: Autism, ADHD, perimenopause and ME. I also caught COVID during this time; I never recovered.
How has this impacted your life?
ME has been the most debilitating medical condition for me because of its symptoms and the lack of understanding around it. I was lucky that my GP understood ME and referred me to a local clinic. After the waiting period, I was offered six weeks of remote appointments targeted at ME education to help me understand the disease.
ME has had a huge impact on my purpose and identity because, for me, my values were always my daughter, my family and my friends. Now I can’t show up for them in a way that I did before. That hurts me.
Living with ME and autism and ADHD is awful. In terms of autism, I like to be clean. I like to keep my environment clean but then, with ME, I have limited energy. I have to prioritise having a shower - cleaning myself - over cleaning my environment.
With ADHD, I find it really difficult because, when you need to rest, your mind is spinning. A lot of the time I listen to a meditation called “no rush” and it makes me stop. With ADHD, we’re always in a state or urgency and panic. When you need to lie down and have to rest, there’s nothing that can keep you lying down and resting. You have to find ways to stop yourself and slow yourself down. It’s very challenging.”
Taken from the article “The importance of the whole person” by Amy Harrison in InterAction September 2026 Edition
Amy’s baseline mapping at the start with no green days.
Amy’s testimonial on the aevum planners
On moving to the maintenance planner:
“I feel like I was a bit of a pro when I got to the 90-day maintenance planner… it’s great because I can just continue to keep tracking all my symptoms and keep tracking everything that continues to make me flare…actually I’ve had I;ve noticed that I’m having quite a few green mornings now and the rest is like yellow. And sometimes I still have a crash but I have a crash for about four days once a month. Yeah it’s just so brilliant.”
On increasing green days after using aevum for a few months:
“This is the first month I’ve started having full green days. After working out in the first two months others emotional stuff weighs on me I’ve tried not to take it on, I also have my own stuff to deal with.”
Amy’s baseline mapping in month three with more green days than red
The foundation
Most planners were built for people who just need to get organised. This one was built for people whose body doesn't follow a schedule.
If you're living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME), Fibromyalgia, POTS, or another energy-limiting condition, you already know that pushing through doesn't work. The Aevum Pacing Planner is built on a different principle entirely — Load Management. Not doing more. Doing the right amount, at the right time, in a way your body can actually sustain.
This 60-day planner is where that work begins. It helps you stop guessing and start understanding — mapping your personal baseline, identifying hidden patterns in your symptoms, and building a system that works around your real capacity, not an imaginary one.
What's inside:
The 50% Rule & 48-Hour Echo — Calculate your maintenance reserve and track the delayed crashes (Post-Exertional Malaise) that don't show up until the day after
Baseline Mapping — Define your Green (Steady), Yellow (Caution), and Red (Flare) states so you always know where you are and what that means for your day
The Analytics Lab — Correlate activity with nerve pain and identify environmental triggers like weather and stress before they become setbacks
Hard Reset Protocol — Pre-planned instructions for when your system fails, so you're not making decisions in the middle of a crash
Archive & Resources — Includes a Low Energy Menu of no-cook meals and low-effort activities for your hardest days
