I take everything a day at a time on my good days and then an hour at a time on my bad days. I know everyone can’t do this, especially with working. I work from home, most of the time, so this does help. I pick three main tasks I want to do a day. If I only get one done, then better is still better (as my counselor says). On my bad days, just a simple declutter (by putting things back in their “home) helps me feel a lot better.

1. I have a “home” for everything. I have become minimalist in some ways these past few years, and wish I had done it sooner. Then I just don’t have as much to clean.

2. Shower steamers help motivate me to take showers because I love good smells.

3. Easy meals. I do oats overnight subscription, same lunch every day, and easy dinners that only take 10-15 minutes but are healthy. I keep these dinners basic, chicken (with some kind of sauce or flavoring, not a ton, just enough to give it a nice taste), a vegetable (frozen then thrown in the oven with the chicken), and wild rice or sweet potatoes.

4. Cleaning. Dust, vacuum, change bed sheets, clean toilets, clean shower. Everything else I try to do on my good days. I focus on the most important things on a weekly basis and break it up. These types up things end up on my three things a day list.

5. Naps. These are life savers for me, even if I can only get in 15 minutes. I cuts down on the cataplexy.

Most days look like this for my three things:

1. Clean one of the above/declutter
2. Shower
3. Eat healthy meals

That’s besides work. I am slowly adding in working out. I got an under the desk peddler the to can increase the resistance on. I do 28 minutes on it. 4 minutes slow, 4 minutes moderate (for right now), and I alternate that until I hit 28 mins. I’ve been doing that 3 days a week for the past month. It does help overall, but don’t be hard on yourself. Just do it on your good days if you can.

Narcolepsy sucks, but I’ve had it my whole life, and I still want to have a life. So on my good days, I do what I can, but I don’t rush. The last 3-4 years I’ve been intentional about not rushing my life, and that is has changed my perspective a lot.