Learnng to Pace Oneself

Those of us with chronic pain issues have to LEARN to pace ourselves, and for many of us, it's not a quick study. You feel good at the moment, so you get on a roll. In the back of your mind, you're thinking, "I really ought to quit now," but you get into the "just one more thing" mode, and finally, you KNOW you're going to be paying for it. Yesterday I decided to deal with the broadleaf weed thingies that produce cockle burrs. Ugly weeds they are, and I don't like the burrs either. They get caught in the dogs' coats, in my clothes, etc. Well, I just got going, and kept going, and I'd see one more thing that needed to be done. By bedtime, I knew I was in trouble. Slapped on a pain patch at lower neck/upper back when I went to bed, and took all my meds like a good girl. Woke at 1 a.m. in abject misery. Dosed again and zoned off and on until I had to get up at 6 a.m., but oh boy, am I paying for being so all fired productive yesterday! When will I learn to be happy with having accomplished a little? When will I learn to say, "That's enough for today. There's always tomorrow?" You'd think pain would be a very powerful negative reinforcer from a behavioral standpoint. What would old B. F. Skinner have to say about this? He'd probably accuse those of us who are slow to catch on of actually having masochistic tendencies, but he'd be wrong. We don't like pain, we just dislike being unproductive even more!