STEP 7

COUNT YOUR MENTAL & PHYSICAL “SPOONS”

WEEK 5

TIME REQUIRED: 60 to 150 minutes

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED: 3 to 4 per hour

With the help of Spoon Theory 2.0, this week, you will count your mental & physical “spoons” to determine how much mental & physical energy you expend daily. Then, to determine your daily maximums for mental and physical work, you will explore the links between your daily:

  • “Spoon” expenditures (total number of “spoons” spent per day),

  • Number of hours spent on choice activities,

  • Amount of time spent on high “spoon” activities (3 & 4 “spoon” activities),

  • Functional capacity scores (mental & physical functioning), and

  • Quantity of sleep (sleep scores).

And finally, you will assess your physical activity levels to determine if you’re at least meeting the minimum recommendation for physical activity.

STEP 1: To get started, you will first gather all of your worksheets from WEEK 2:

  • Your seven (7) filled out Daily ACTIVITIES Journals from STEP 3 of The LEFTOVER SPOONS CHALLENGE, and

  • Your filled out Weekly SLEEP Journal from STEP 2 of The LEFTOVER SPOONS CHALLENGE.

STEP 2: Next, you will answer the following questions to determine if counting your mental “spoons” would be of benefit to you:

  • Throughout WEEK 2, were there any days where you were mentally diminished (mental capacity score of 2) or mentally dysfunctional (mental capacity score of 1)?

  • If so, do you think mental overwork had anything to do with it? If yes, counting your mental “spoons”, with the help of the instructions below (see section entitled COUNTING YOUR MENTAL “SPOONS”), will probably be of great benefit to you…

STEP 3: Finally, you will answer the following questions to determine if counting your physical “spoons” would be of benefit to you:

  • Throughout WEEK 2, were there any days where you were physically diminished (physical capacity score of 2) or physically dysfunctional (physical capacity score of 1)?

  • If so, do you think physical overwork had anything to do with it? If yes, counting your physical “spoons”, with the help of the instructions below (see section entitled COUNTING YOUR PHYSICAL “SPOONS”), will probably be of great benefit to you…

COUNTING YOUR MENTAL “SPOONS”

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED FOR THIS PART: 3 per hour

STEP 1: To start, you will need to print one (1) copy of each of the following worksheets:

STEP 2: You will also need your previously gathered:

  • seven (7) filled out Daily ACTIVITIES Journals from STEP 3, WEEK 2, plus

  • your one (1) filled out Weekly SLEEP Journal from STEP 2, WEEK 2.

STEP 3: You will need to find a spot to work with enough space to spread out:

  • all of your worksheets,

  • your device (laptop, phone, or other) which contains this list of instructions,

  • a calculator, and

  • a pen or pencil.

STEP 4: You will make sure that all of your seven (7) Daily ACTIVITIES Journals only contain choice activities. You will make sure that they do not contain any of the following essential activities: sleep, breaks, hygiene & grooming, preparing food & drinks, eating & drinking, cleaning up the kitchen, or any other essential activity.

Each time you notice an essential activity has slipped onto one of your Daily ACTIVITIES Journals, you will simply scratch it out to make sure that you don’t include any essential activities in your “spoon” counting that follows…

STEP 5: You will take out your Weekly SLEEP Journal to assist you in scoring all of your sleeps on a scale from 1 to 4:

  • score of 1 for a bad night’s sleep (less than 6 hours),

  • score of 2 for an okay night’s sleep (between 6 and 7 hours),

  • score of 3 for a good night’s sleep (between 7 and 8 hours),

  • score of 4 for an excellent night’s sleep (8 hours or more).

You will then transcribe all of your sleep scores onto your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet in its last row entitled “Last night’s sleep was”.

STEP 6: You will transcribe all of your functional capacity scores (how well you functioned mentally each day) from your Weekly SLEEP Journal onto your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet in its second to last row entitled “Today, mentally I was”.

STEP 7: For this step, you will need the following worksheets:

  • your seven (7) Daily ACTIVITIES Journals,

  • your MENTAL SPOONS Equivalents Chart, and

  • your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet (see an example of a filled out MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet HERE).

First, you will take out your Daily ACTIVITIES Journal that is dated “Monday”. Then, you will look at the first activity that is listed in that journal, and with the help of your MENTAL SPOONS Equivalents Chart, you will determine the number of mental “spoons” per hour required to perform that type of activity.

After which, you will write the number of minutes that activity took you to perform in the correct box on your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet. If you multitasked (pursued two (2) activities at the same time, therefore wrote down two (2) activities on the same line in your journal), you will then write the number of minutes those activities took you to perform in the 3 “spoon” per hour row on your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet. Since multitasking, mentally, is known to require 3 mental “spoons” per hour to perform (as per your MENTAL SPOONS Equivalents Chart).

You will repeat that same procedure, the one in the above two (2) paragraphs, one activity at a time, until you have transcribed all of your activity minutes for the week onto your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet.

Finally, you will calculate the totals for each box on your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet, and then write your results at the bottom of each corresponding box (see an example of a filled out MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet HERE)

STEP 8: For this step, you will need the following worksheets:

  • your filled out MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet from above, and

  • your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet (see an example of a filled out Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet HERE).

You will use your filled out MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet to fill out your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet. Know that all the boxes on your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet correspond to one box on your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet.

To fill out all of the boxes in the first 4 rows of your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet, you will use the following formula: # of SPOONS = (total # of minutes ÷ 60) x # of SPOONS/hour.

Once you have filled out all the boxes in the first 4 rows of your worksheet, you will then add up all of your mental “spoons” for each day to give you your daily totals.

After which, with the help of your MENTAL SPOONS Counting Sheet, you will calculate the total amount of time (in hours) you spent on choice activities each day. You will write your answers on your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet in its row entitled “TOTAL # Hours on Choice Activities”.

Finally, you will calculate the total amount of time (in hours) you spent on high mental “spoon” activities (3 & 4 mental “spoon” activities) each day. You will write your answers on your Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet in its row entitled “# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities” (see an example of a filled out Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet HERE).

You’re now done counting your mental “spoons”!!! You did it!!!

I suggest that you take a break before moving on to the next part… You deserve it!!!

DETERMINING YOUR DAILY MAXIMUM FOR MENTAL WORK

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED FOR THIS PART: 4 per hour

PREREQUISITE: Previous Section Completed (Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet completely filled out)

To determine the maximum number of mental “spoons” YOU should be expending daily, or the maximum number of hours YOU should be spending per day on high mental “spoon” activities, you will need to take a closer look at your filled out Weekly MENTAL SPOONS Audit worksheet to see if there are any links between:

  • your daily total mental “spoons” expenditures (TOTAL # of MENTAL SPOONS),

  • your daily total number of hours spent on choice activities (TOTAL # Hours on Choice Activities),

  • your daily total number of hours spent on high mental “spoon” activities (# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities),

  • your daily mental functional capacity scores (Today, mentally I was), and

  • your nightly sleep scores (Last night’s sleep was).

It’s important to note, here, that your mental capacity sometimes only starts showing signs of decline on the day following a day of mental overwork, and not on the day of...

To help you determine your daily maximum for mental work, you will answer each of the following questions:

QUESTION 1: Do you see any links between your daily mental functional capacity scores (Today, mentally I was), and your daily total mental “spoons” expenditures (TOTAL # of MENTAL SPOONS)?

If you take closer look at our filled out example from previously, you will see that on days that follow high mental “spoon” expenditure days (TOTAL # of MENTAL SPOONS= 22.12 & 22.33), daily mental functional capacity scores go way down to one (1) (signifying complete mental dysfunction)… Food for thought!!!

QUESTION 2: Do you see any links between your daily mental functional capacity scores (Today, mentally I was), and your daily total number of hours spent on high mental “spoon” activities (# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities)?

QUESTION 3: Do you see any links between your daily mental functional capacity scores (Today, mentally I was), and your daily total number of hours spent on choice activities (TOTAL # Hours on Choice Activities)?

QUESTION 4: Do you see any links between your daily mental functional capacity scores (Today, mentally I was), and your nightly sleep scores (Last night’s sleep was)?

QUESTION 5: Do you see any links between your daily total number of hours spent on high mental “spoon” activities (# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities), and your daily total mental “spoons” expenditures (TOTAL # of MENTAL SPOONS)?

QUESTION 6: Do you see any links between your daily total number of hours spent on high mental “spoon” activities (# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities), and your daily total number of hours spent on choice activities (TOTAL # Hours on Choice Activities)?

QUESTION 7: Do you see any links between your daily total number of hours spent on high mental “spoon” activities (# Hours on 3 & 4 SPOON Activities), and your nightly sleep scores (Last night’s sleep was)?

QUESTION 8: Do you see any links between your daily total number of hours spent on choice activities (TOTAL # Hours on Choice Activities), and your nightly sleep scores (Last night’s sleep was)?

QUESTION 9: Do you see any links between your nightly sleep scores (Last night’s sleep was), and your daily total mental “spoons” expenditures (TOTAL # of MENTAL SPOONS)?

COUNTING YOUR PHYSICAL “SPOONS”

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED FOR THIS PART: 3 per hour

To count your physical “spoons”, you will go through the same eight (8) steps you went through above when counting your mental “spoons” in the section entitled COUNTING YOUR MENTAL “SPOONS”, only with a few exceptions:

EXCEPTION #1 (with regards to the words “mental” & “mentally”): Every time you come across the word “mental”, you will simply replace it with the word “physical”. And every time you come across the word “mentally”, you will simply replace it with the word “physically”… Piece of cake!!!

EXCEPTION #2 (with regards to multitasking): If you multitasked (pursued two (2) activities at the same time, therefore wrote down two (2) activities on the same line in your journal), you will consult with your MENTAL SPOONS Equivalents Chart to determine which of the two (2) activities requires the most amount of physical “spoons” per hour to perform. You will then use the number of “spoons” associated with the more “spoon” intense activity of the two (2) to calculate how much energy it took you to perform the two (2) activities concurrently.

Like, for example, if you drove (2 physical “spoons” per hour required) all the while listening to music (1 physical “spoon” per hour required) for a total of 40 minutes, then you will write 40 minutes in the correct daily column in the 2 “spoon” per hour row on your PHYSICAL SPOONS Counting Sheet.

EXCEPTION #3 (with regards to the unit of measure for time spent on physical activity): Instead of calculating the total amount of time spent in hours as you did for high mental “spoon” activities, you will calculate the total amount of time spent daily on physical activity in minutes. Then, you will write your answers in the row entitled “# Minutes of Physical Activity”.

DETERMINING YOUR DAILY MAXIMUM FOR PHYSICAL WORK

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED FOR THIS PART: 4 per hour

PREREQUISITE: Previous Section Completed (Weekly PHYSICAL SPOONS Audit worksheet completely filled out)

If you’re the type to sometimes overdo it when it comes to physical activity (sometimes maybe even to the point of dizziness, nausea, injury, or needing a few days to recover), then determining your daily maximum for physical work would probably be of great benefit to you…

To determine your daily maximum for physical work, you will go through the same series of questions as found in the above section entitled DETERMINING YOUR DAILY MAXIMUM FOR MENTAL WORK. Without forgetting, of course, throughout, to replace the word “mental” with “physical” every time it pops up…

ASSESSING IF YOU MEET THE MINIMUM RECOMMENDATION FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

MENTAL “SPOONS” REQUIRED FOR THIS PART: 2 per hour

While so many of us tend to overdo it mentally, day after day, way too many of us, on the other hand, tend to not challenge ourselves enough when it comes to physical activity. Way too many of us, unfortunately, are not physically active enough. Way too many of us do not meet the minimum recommendation for physical activity which is that adults aged 18 to 64 should be exercising at moderate-intensity (3 to 6 physical “spoons” per hour) for at least 150 minutes per week (or minimum 22 minutes per day).

How physically active are YOU?

To complete this part, to determine if you’re physical activity enough, you will consult with either your Daily ACTIVITIES Journals or your filled out Weekly PHYSICAL SPOONS Audit worksheet to see if you’re meeting the above minimum recommendation…

If you are… Keep up the good work!!!

If you’re not… And you don’t have a health condition that’s preventing you from exercising at a level which is at least equivalent to 3 physical “spoons” per hour… Time to step it up!!!

If you’re not exercising enough, increasing your level of physical activity will not only improve your energy levels, but also… Your health depends on it!!! So… What are you waiting for???!!!