Only these need any attention today:

• Prescribed medication, as prescribed — and whatever organises it so no thinking is needed
• Food and drink access — whatever needs no preparation and no sitting up, within reach
• A communication method that fits — messages, one word, or nothing until later
• Toilet and personal care needs — arranged or helped, not improvised
• Safety — nothing left on, unlocked or balancing that should not be
• A support person, if one is available and would genuinely help rather than cost

Not “should” stop — can. These are not being neglected; they are being put down, for now, on purpose:

• Non-urgent admin and paperwork
• Replies to messages — a holding reply (“not well, will be in touch”) is enough
• Household tasks
• Optional plans, errands and invitations
• Unnecessary decisions — today runs on defaults wherever it can

Some people keep two or three short messages saved in their phone, written on a better day, so a crash never has to cost words as well as everything else. If composing even a holding reply is too much, silence is also a complete answer; anyone who matters will still be there when the day is over.

Where someone is available — partner, family, friend, carer — these are the things worth asking for or accepting:

• Essentials moved closer — drinks, food that needs nothing, phone charger
• Fewer questions, and quieter communication
• Reduced light and noise, where that is preferred — curtains, low lamps, one conversation at most
• Simpler food choices, already made
• Help with children, pets and the household basics

Nothing here makes promises about how long a difficult period lasts or how the illness behaves — the point is only that a difficult period can be made less demanding to get through. Rest today means exactly what it says: a day in which nothing optional is owed, and nothing on this page is a prescription for how the day must be spent.

If someone else is reading this on behalf of the person who is ill — this section is the whole job description:

A crash does not always have a known trigger, and searching for one — “but what did you do yesterday?” — is rarely useful on a day like this. The My Support Plan page, if the person has one, says more about their specific preferences than any general page can.