We’ve all been there. You wake up, and before you even open your eyes, you can feel it: the heaviness in your limbs, the fog in your brain, or that familiar flare of pain. On days like these, the "wellness" advice we usually see on social media, the 5 a.m. workouts, the elaborate meal prep, the "no excuses" attitude, doesn't just feel out of reach. It feels like a different language.
When you’re living with a chronic illness or navigating life as a disabled person, the pressure to "do wellness right" can actually make us feel worse. We end up spending our very limited energy feeling guilty for what we can’t do, rather than supporting ourselves in the ways we can.
I want to invite you to put down the weight of perfection for a moment. Wellness isn't a high-performance sport. It’s a tool that should serve you, not a standard you have to live up to. For those of us building businesses or careers while managing fluctuating health, our fellow Ablepreneurs, learning how to navigate these bad days with grace is a vital skill.
Here are five gentle, realistic, and accessible strategies I use to navigate those low-energy days without losing my sense of self.
1. Swap Your To-Do List for an Energy Budget
When my energy is low, a long to-do list feels like a mountain I’m being asked to climb in flip-flops. Instead of staring at a list of things I’m "supposed" to do, I switch to an energy budget.
Think of your energy like a limited currency. On a good day, you might have twenty "pennies" to spend. On a bad day, you might only have three. If you try to spend ten pennies when you only have three in your pocket, you’re going to end up in "energy debt," which usually means a bigger crash tomorrow.
How to do it:
- Identify your essentials: What actually has to happen? Taking your meds, eating something, and maybe one vital work task.
- Assign a cost: Be honest about how much energy things take. A shower might be two pennies. Answering three emails might be one.
- Spend less than your total: If you think you have three pennies today, try to only spend two. Leaving a little in the "bank" helps your body recover faster.
If you’re struggling with how to categorize your tasks, you might find my guide on Designing Your Low Energy Alternatives helpful. It’s all about creating a backup plan for when the "standard" way of doing things just isn't possible.
2. Create Your Own "Bad Day Menu"
On a bad day, making decisions is exhausting. "Brain fog" can make it impossible to remember what usually makes us feel better. This is where a pre-made "Bad Day Menu" comes in.
This is a list of tiny, low-effort activities that bring you a sliver of comfort or care. These aren't chores; they are gentle invitations.
Menu options might include:
- Level 1 (Horizontal): Listening to a specific "comfort" podcast, using a weighted blanket, or doing a 2-minute breathing exercise while lying down.
- Level 2 (Sitting up): Brushing your hair, using a nice-smelling hand cream, or watching a short video that makes you laugh.
- Level 3 (Minimal movement): Making a cup of tea, watering one plant, or stepping outside for two minutes of fresh air.
The key is that nothing on this menu is mandatory. It’s just there for you when you have a tiny bit of capacity and want to feel a little more like "you."
3. Practice Radical Acceptance (It’s Not Giving Up)
There’s a big difference between "giving up" and practicing radical acceptance. Radical acceptance is simply acknowledging the reality of your situation without adding the extra layer of "I shouldn't feel like this" or "I’m failing because I’m sick."
When I have a bad day, I try to tell myself: "This is where my body is today. I don’t like it, but I accept that it is happening."
This shift in mindset stops the internal tug-of-war. When we stop fighting the reality of our fatigue or pain, we stop wasting precious energy on frustration. It allows us to move directly to the question: "Since this is my reality today, how can I be kindest to myself right now?"
If you’re finding it hard to be kind to yourself during these shifts, you might want to read more about my approach to wellness. I’ve lived through the fluctuations, and I know how hard that internal battle can be.
4. Embrace the "Micro-Reset"
Mainstream wellness often tells us we need an hour of meditation or a full yoga flow to "count." On a bad day, that’s just not realistic. Instead, I focus on micro-resets.
A micro-reset is a 30-second to 2-minute moment of intentionality. It’s a way of signaling to your nervous system that you are safe and supported, even when you’re struggling.
Tiny micro-resets to try:
- The Senses Check: Name three things you can feel right now (the texture of your socks, the air on your face, the weight of your body in the chair).
- The Window Gaze: Look out the window and find one thing that is moving, a bird, a leaf, a cloud.
- The Soft Jaw: Notice if you are clenching your teeth or shoulders and just… let go, even 10%.
These moments are small, but they add up. They remind your body that you are paying attention and that you are on its side.
5. Redefine What "Success" Looks Like Today
Perfectionism is the enemy of sustainable wellness. If your definition of a "successful day" is only achievable when you are at 100% health, you are setting yourself up for a lot of perceived "failures."
As Ablepreneurs, we have to be the world's best bosses to ourselves. A good boss wouldn't demand a full day's output from an employee who is unwell. Why do we do it to ourselves?
On a bad day, success might look like:
- Asking for help with dinner.
- Canceled a meeting that was going to drain you.
- Remembering to hydrate.
- Simply existing and breathing through the hard parts.
If you did those things, you succeeded. You navigated a difficult day with self-awareness and compassion. That is a much higher level of "wellness" than forcing yourself to do a workout that leaves you bedbound for a week.
If you’re feeling like your current routine is a bit too rigid for your reality, I’d love for you to try The Gentle Habit Audit. It’s a kind way to look at what you’re doing and see if it actually serves you on your hardest days.
You Are Doing Enough
I know how lonely and frustrating bad days can feel. I know the voice that whispers you’re "falling behind." But please remember: your worth is not tied to your productivity, and your wellness is not tied to how closely you can mimic a "healthy" person's routine.
Wellness is about finding what works for every body and mind, exactly as they are in this moment. Whether you spent today running a business or just resting in the dark, you are enough.
Be gentle with yourselves today.
#Ablepreneurs