One of the best things I ever figured out about myself was what activities tend to push me into hypomania (and eventually lead to a crash into mixed or depressed). My therapist and I really did a lot of investigative/introspective work on figuring that out and then set up a plan to moderate those activities in the future. I honestly think figuring that out helped prevent future episodes.

For me, one of my trigger activities was marathon grading of papers. I'm an English teacher, and there was a time when I would sit and grade on a weekend for 10-20 hours, not getting needed sleep, ultra-focused on that task. It would set of hypomania in me and start a pattern of episodes ever stinking time. I didn't recognize it until we really started putting together a timeline of activities just prior to rolling into an episode, and when I finally saw it on paper, it was a revelation. I no longer do that. I forbid myself to do that. I grade for no more than a couple hours at a time now, and I take frequent breaks. It really makes a difference.

The other thing that sets me off is cleaning and organizing around the house. It starts of innocuously enough, but just like the grading, if I do too much for too long in a day, it rolls into hypomania. I stop sleeping. I start organizing and moving furniture even in the middle of the night. I've learned to limit the amount of time and the number of tasks I try to accomplish in a day because if not, I'll just roll right on into hypomania and into a pattern of episodes that ends in a really bad place.

It isn't the same as writing a novel, but in a way it is. Those are activities that were very goal-oriented and made me feel like I was accomplishing something useful. I've learned I can still do those things but I must do them in smaller time-frames so that I don't become hyperfocused and set myself off.

Moderation in everything has become my motto.