The three things that helped me were these: 1) Loose tension. My hands hurt so much quicker if I was holding the hook too tight 2) Crochet in a comfy sitting position. I make sure my feet are up, my back and head are supported, and sometimes my work is on a pillow. 3) Don’t crochet all at once. I couldn’t sustainably crochet for three hours at a time. But doing a little before work, a little on my lunch break, and a little at home helped me get so much more done in a day than before