shutdowns -unable to stick to schedule

I wish I knew.

It sounds a bit like the problem I've been having and complaining about here, which I describe as executive function problem rather than shutdown. I commit to things knowing that it's within my capacity assuming I'm OK, as I want to do because I want to assume I'm a competent adult. Then something happens and I can't do anything much at all, like at the moment.

I'm not sure I'm in one state or the other, though, shut down or not. It's more like there are times when I feel on top of things and more-or-less able to do something, and then various levels of functioning below that depending partly on mood or sleep or self-concept.

So you don't get any advance warning of the shutdown, right? What are the triggers? How long does it take to 'come on', and how long does it last?

Someone kindly pointed me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertia_(anxiety)

Also I suppose adult demand-avoidance. As a first stab at it (conceptual rather than practical for me at the moment), if the inertia analogy is correct, then one needs to build up momentum slowly from stationary, and guide what kind of things you might be doing - start with one simple bit of paperwork if what you're needing to do is something administrative. I heard one useful psychological maxim 'challenging but not impossible'.

It's difficult to face giving reasons for failure to other people when you don't know yourself, so I think a reasonable approximation to the truth is to mention tiredness or fatigue - if it's a medical problem, it's not one that's fully described, other than as a type of catatonia. It distresses me because I feel like I'm fighting myself sometimes to get something done. I can accept it to avoid the distress, but that doesn't help with the immediate tasks of course, at least in the short term.

I hope that vague ramble was in some way faintly connected with what you were asking about.

I wish I knew.

It sounds a bit like the problem I've been having and complaining about here, which I describe as executive function problem rather than shutdown. I commit to things knowing that it's within my capacity assuming I'm OK, as I want to do because I want to assume I'm a competent adult. Then something happens and I can't do anything much at all, like at the moment.

I'm not sure I'm in one state or the other, though, shut down or not. It's more like there are times when I feel on top of things and more-or-less able to do something, and then various levels of functioning below that depending partly on mood or sleep or self-concept.

So you don't get any advance warning of the shutdown, right? What are the triggers? How long does it take to 'come on', and how long does it last?

Someone kindly pointed me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertia_(anxiety)

Also I suppose adult demand-avoidance. As a first stab at it (conceptual rather than practical for me at the moment), if the inertia analogy is correct, then one needs to build up momentum slowly from stationary, and guide what kind of things you might be doing - start with one simple bit of paperwork if what you're needing to do is something administrative. I heard one useful psychological maxim 'challenging but not impossible'.

It's difficult to face giving reasons for failure to other people when you don't know yourself, so I think a reasonable approximation to the truth is to mention tiredness or fatigue - if it's a medical problem, it's not one that's fully described, other than as a type of catatonia. It distresses me because I feel like I'm fighting myself sometimes to get something done. I can accept it to avoid the distress, but that doesn't help with the immediate tasks of course, at least in the short term.

I hope that vague ramble was in some way faintly connected with what you were asking about.