I’ve published 38 books since 2019, written another 14, and I work as a full-time romance author—all while living with chronic illness.

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

If you’re managing a chronic illness, disability, or a body that doesn’t cooperate with your ambitions, you already know that traditional productivity advice often isn’t built for us. I needed a system that allowed me to be productive on both good and bad days, without the bad days feeling like a failure.

Enter: The energy-based Kanban board.

How It Works: Organising by Capacity

Traditional Kanban is designed to manage workload and the flow of work. While this is a great system, I found I needed more flexibility to manage the fluctuations of my illness, than the project-based deadline-driven approach.

I took the fundamentals of Kanban and adjusted them slightly. The core idea is simple, instead of organising tasks by project and deadline, I organise them by how much energy they require, then by deadlines. Every task gets a colour (or a label like L, M, H) based on its energy cost.

When I sit down to work, I don’t have to wonder what to do; I assess my capacity and grab a matching task.

• Good day? Grab a high-energy “Blue” task (like drafting or Editing).
• Treatment day? Stick to lower-energy “Pink” tasks (like newsletters or business admin).
• In between? Choose a medium-energy tasks.

The tasks are pre-sorted into deadlines. This removes decision fatigue and prevents me from missing due dates, and from wasting a rare high-energy day on admin tasks I could do while in the midst of brain fog.

Why This Works For Me

I’ve tried a lot of systems over the years, but this one stuck because it accounts for my reality. The system removes decision fatigue on hard days, particularly when I’m already struggling. The last thing I need is to stare at a giant to-do list 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.

The system keeps all my projects moving by ensuring that nothing sits neglected for months because I was too focused elsewhere. It also prevents the “wasted good day” problem. Before, I’d spend a rare high-energy day doing admin because it was at the top of my list. Now I save good energy days for high focus tasks.

Finally, and probably most surprisingly, the system gives me permission to rest. If I look at it and can’t bring myself to do even the lowest of energy tasks, I know that’s the day that I need to all it. As a recovering perfectionist, people pleaser, and someone who prides myself on my work ethic, learning to live within my constraints can bring a hunk of guilt. When I look at the board and nope out, I no longer feel guilty. I know that’s my way of ensuring I don’t end up in a worse place. The system is built to ensure it doesn’t demand more than I can give.

Tips for Implementation

1. Be Honest: Don’t put editing in “low energy” just because you want it to be easy. Lying to yourself defeats the purpose.
2. Keep it Simple: Use short task prompts rather than long project proposals.
3. Build-in Buffers: Don’t schedule high-energy tasks for treatment days or the day after. Account for these days when you set your deadlines.
4. Celebrate Small Wins: Low-energy tasks are essential work, not “lesser” work.

The Bottom Line

If traditional productivity systems don’t fit a life that refuses to follow a schedule, try flipping the script. Organise by energy, work with your body instead of against it, and remember, rest is essential. Don’t be afraid to call it a day and do nothing at all.

The post The Energy-Based Kanban Board: How Author Evie Mitchell Plans Around Chronic Illness appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Love Flushed is the second installment of Evie Mitchell’s All Access series, which focuses on a group of differently abled girlfriends searching for love in a small town. It is not necessary to have read the first book in the series (Knot My Type) before you read Love Flushed, but I highly recommend it as we are introduced to Annie’s story in book 1 and Jay and Frankie’s love story (the main characters in book 1) continues in Love Flushed!

Love Flushed is a spicy and unique new adult romance novel featuring the second chance romance and enemies to lovers tropes. This book would be perfect for fans Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey, the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, and the Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert. The novel deals with themes and topics such as invisible illness and disability, love and heartbreak/sacrifice, war, family and parental abuse, body type, physical and emotional scars, quest for power, female roles and feminism, friendship, and appearance versus reality. Throughout this novel, the characters (and the readers) challenge their own misconceptions about invisible illnesses (like Crohn’s disease) and disabilities. Additionally, Love Flushed highlights the importance of found families and second chances.

On the positive side, I appreciated how this book was on the shorter side (a little over 200 pages); we get to dive right into Annie story right from the get-go and all the writing was to the point with little to no “fluff” that didn’t aid in driving the plot forward. It seemed as though it incorporated a realistic portrayal of Crohn’s disease in addition to debunking falsehoods about invisible illnesses like Crohn’s and colitis. Other than With You Forever by Chloe Liese, I haven’t come by a book that features a character with chronic IBD, so it’s great to see books spreading awareness! I also enjoyed Annie’s sassy, supportive, and differently abled girl squad—especially their “red and read nights” whereby they get together to read and drink wine—and I cannot wait to read the rest of the girls’ love stories in the next All Access books! Similarly, I loved Link’s heartwarming relationship with his veteran twin brother Theo and I hope that we get to see Theo finding his happily ever after in future books. Lastly, Annie and Link’s second chance love story was full of romantic moments and loads of spice! The book also included two epilogues whereby we get to see what’s in-store for Annie and Link post happily ever after and we can also expect their story to continue on in All Access book 3.

There wasn’t a lot about this book that I didn’t like. Some minor downfalls for me were the excessive talk of bathrooms and bodily fluids, but given the fact that the main character has Crohn’s disease and owns a toilet paper supply company, this was expected. It was also a bit frustrating that the events from the epilogue of book 1 (Knot My Type) were repeated in Love Flushed (albeit with additional information pertaining to Annie and Link’s story). Lastly, even though it was relevant to the story, I could have done without the parental emotional abuse that was present in Link’s backstory.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend Evie Mitchell’s All Access series to fellow new adult romance readers.

Love Flushed is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up Love Flushed? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Annie
I sell toilet paper for a living. It doesn’t seem glamorous but S#!T HAPPENS is going places. We’re the fastest growing eco-toilet paper subscription service around. We’re amazing—and I should know, I’m my own best customer.
After years of hard work, I have everything I need to take my business to the next level—well, everything except the paper.
When my competition swoops in and offers my supplier a better deal, I’m left up a certain creek without a paddle. I must have done something truly crappy in a previous life because the only person willing to help is my ex-boyfriend, Lincoln ‘Linc’ Garrett.
The man is arrogant, infuriating, and far too attractive for his own good. Thankfully, I flushed any lingering feelings for him the moment he dumped me all those years ago.
So… how did I end up in his bed?

Link
Annie and I were hot and heavy in high school. We were the golden couple, ready to ride off into the sunset for our life together.
Until my life went to poop and like the ass I am, I flushed everything good from it.
Now she’s back in town and stirring up all kinds of feelings I thought I’d purged. Feels like desire, happiness, and something that feels a whole lot like—NOPE! It’s not happening. No way. No how.
Or at least it wasn’t. But when Annie’s left with no choice but to accept my help, it seems as if my heart might have other ideas.
Looks like s#!t really does happen.

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