The Energy-Based Kanban Board: How I Plan Around Chronic Illness

Here's something I don't always talk about publicly: I'm an author with chronic illness, and I'm currently undergoing treatment.

Some days, I wake up and my brain is firing on all cylinders. I can draft thousands of words, tackle complex plot problems, and write blurbs without wanting to cry (mostly). Other days, getting out of bed is the achievement. Treatment days knock me sideways. Flare days are unpredictable. My energy isn't something I can schedule around—it schedules around me.

And yet, I still have books to write. Series to continue. A business to run. Readers waiting for stories.

So I had to build a system that actually works with my reality—not some idealised version of productivity that assumes I have consistent energy every single day.

Enter: the energy-based kanban board.

The Reality of Writing with Unpredictable Energy

If you're managing chronic illness, disability, treatment schedules, or just a body that doesn't cooperate with your ambitions, you already know: traditional productivity advice often isn't built for us.

"Wake up at 5am and write before the world wakes up!" Cool, except I was awake at 3am with pain and finally fell asleep at 4:30.

"Batch your tasks for maximum efficiency!" Love that idea. My body didn't get the memo about which day was supposed to be my "high output" day.

"Just be consistent!" Ah yes, let me just tell my immune system to be consistent too while I'm at it.

I'm not saying those systems don't work for anyone—they absolutely do for people with predictable energy. But that's not my life. Maybe it's not yours either.

What I needed was a system that let me be productive on good days and bad days, without the bad days feeling like failure.

How I Make It Work: Energy-Based Task Organisation

The core idea is simple: instead of organising my tasks by project (Book 1, Book 2, Marketing, etc.), I organise them by how much energy they require.

Every task gets a colour based on whether it's a high-energy or low-energy task. Then I add a label so I know which project it belongs to.

This means when I sit down to work, I don't have to think about what to do—I just have to honestly assess how I'm feeling, then grab a task that matches.

Good day? Grab a high-energy task. Treatment day? Low-energy tasks only. Somewhere in between? I've got options for that too.

No guilt. No forcing myself to draft when my brain is soup. No wasting good brain days on tasks I could do half-asleep.

Quick note: I use post-it notes on a physical board, but you can use this digitally anywhere you want, and you could sort by L,M,H lettering for energy if colour-coding don't work for you or if you're low vision, colour blind, or blind.

My Setup

The Columns (Task Stages)

I use five columns to track where each task lives in my workflow:

1. To Do — Everything waiting to be started
2. In Progress — Currently being worked on
3. Out for Input — Waiting on someone else (beta readers, editors, cover designers)
4. Finalising — Almost done, needs that last bit of attention or uploading/in preorder
5. Complete — Done! It's live, nothing else is required! (This is my serotonin column.)

The Colours (Energy Levels)

This is where the magic happens for managing variable energy.

High Attention/Creation Tasks (bright colours—I use pink/blue):

These are the tasks that need me at my best. The ones I can only tackle when my brain is actually online and functioning. For me, that includes first drafting, developmental editing, complex plotting, writing blurbs (truly the villain of author tasks), and creating marketing content that requires actual thought.

Low Energy Tasks (I use yellow and green and soft pink):

These are my "I can do this from the couch wrapped in a blanket" tasks. Formatting. Uploading files to retailers. Scheduling pre-written social media posts. Basic admin. Proofreading passes where I'm checking, not creating. Anything that requires presence but not peak performance.

On treatment days or flare days, I know I'm only looking at the yellow and green post-its. And that's okay. That's the point. Those tasks still need doing, and doing them on hard days means I'm saving my good days for the work that actually needs them.

The Labels (Project Codes)

Every post-it also gets a small label so I know which project it belongs to. I keep these short because I write them constantly:

• SM4 = Shadowmist Pack Book 4
• CC2 = Capricorn Cove Book 2
• NS = Nameless Souls MC
• GEN = General author stuff (i.e social posts, newsletters etc)

This way, I can see at a glance both the energy required AND which project moves forward when I complete it.

What This Looks Like for a Book

Publishing a book involves approximately one million tasks (rough estimate). Here's how I sort them:

High Energy (Pink/Blue):

• Draft the manuscript
• Work through developmental edits
• Write the blurb
• Create marketing graphics
• Plan newsletter campaigns
• Plan release strategy

Medium Energy (Orange)

• Edits
• Business Admin
• Emails / engaging on socials
• Design tasks

Low Energy (Yellow/Green/Soft Pink):

• Format ebook files
• Format print files
• Upload to retailers
• Schedule social media posts
• Update website
• Add book to Goodreads
• Send files to narrator

All these tasks get the same project label, but they're scattered across my board by energy level. On a good week, I might knock out a bunch of pink tasks. On a rough week, I clear yellow tasks and keep projects moving forward without burning myself out.

Why This Works (For Me, Anyway)

I've tried a lot of systems over the years. This one stuck because it actually accounts for my reality. 

It removes decision fatigue on hard days. When I'm already struggling, the last thing I need is to stare at a board trying to figure out what I'm capable of. The colours tell me immediately.

It makes every day productive. Even my worst days can be productive days—just with different tasks. That mindset shift alone has been huge for my mental health around work.

It keeps all my projects moving. Because I'm not organised by project, I naturally rotate through different books and tasks. Nothing sits neglected for months because I was too focused elsewhere.

It prevents the "wasted good day" problem. Before this system, I'd sometimes spend a rare high-energy day doing admin because it was at the top of my list. Now I save good brain days for good brain tasks.

It gives me permission to rest. If I've cleared some pink or yellow tasks and I'm done, I'm done. The system doesn't demand more than I can give.

Tips If You Want to Try This

If you're also managing chronic illness, treatment, or unpredictable energy, here are some things I've learned:

Be honest about your energy categories. I used to put editing in "low energy" because I wanted to believe I could do it anytime. I couldn't. It needs more from me than formatting does. Lying to yourself about this defeats the purpose.

Keep your project labels short. You'll write them constantly. Three letters max.

Don't over-complicate the columns. Five works for me. You might need four. You might need six. But start simple.

Build in buffer. I never schedule high-energy tasks for treatment days or the day after. I know those are yellow-task-only days, and I plan accordingly.

Celebrate the low energy tasks. They're not "lesser" work. They're essential work you're doing on hard days.

Using This for New Year Planning

If you're mapping out your author year, this system scales beautifully.

I list out every project I want to complete, break each into component tasks, assign energy levels and labels, then put them on the board. Suddenly I can see my whole year—not as a rigid schedule that'll make me feel like a failure when my body doesn't cooperate, but as a flexible pool of tasks I can draw from based on what any given day allows.

Some weeks I'll fly through high-energy tasks. Some weeks I'll be in survival mode, clearing low-energy tasks one by one. Both are progress. Both are valid. Both keep my business running.

That's the whole point, really. Building a system that lets you keep going—whatever "going" looks like that day.

The Bottom Line

I'm not going to pretend this system will work for everyone. Bodies are different. Illnesses are different. What drains me might energise you, and vice versa.

But if you've been struggling to make traditional productivity systems fit a life that doesn't follow traditional patterns, maybe try flipping the script. Organise by energy, not project. Match your tasks to your capacity. Give yourself permission to work with your body instead of constantly fighting against it.

You're still getting things done. You're still building something. You're just doing it in a way that doesn't require you to be okay every single day.

And honestly? That's pretty badass.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's a yellow post-it kind of day, and I've got some formatting to knock out from the couch. 💜

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