energy accounting

Hahahaha that made me laugh out loud. You can have them back, honestly, I don't want them anymore! 

Now I know who stole all the spoons.

I fall for it every time, lol! 

This is great Cassandro, I'm going to read this, I really like the sound of it. I'm kind of the opposite way round, I have so much energy that I need some help to manage it. For me, it was the whole trying to fit in thing that exhausted me and now I no longer do that, my task is more about managing my high energy. It's ok at the moment because I'm still coming out of burnout, so I think I'm starting with a deficit of spoons but I can see that I'm building them up again so I need to learn how to balance my energy out for when it hits me full on, full time. I can see my shooting off to the moon or something! Lol! 

My immediate thought was Private Eye's 'Me and my spoon' column. But then my brain jumps over the important bit.

Seriously, spoon theory. It's about managing one's personal mental or bodily energy:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-22972767

if spoonies use up more energy than they really have, and get excessively exhausted as a result, it's known as getting into "spoon deficit"

I don't know much about it, but questions to answer to make it work might be:

• How do I know I'm running short of spoons?
• Is there anything I can I do to find more spoons in that situation? Or is that it for the day?
• What activities need a lot of spoons? How many?
• What can you do without using any spoons? Can you schedule those in?

And in my case, if I've had far too little sleep like today, do I have fewer spoons, or have I spilled cutlery all over the floor?

Absolutely the same here!

My immediate thought when I see it is that it’s a thread about gas and electricity suppliers and click on to find it’s not!

Me too! Even though I know what the discussion is about, my immediate thought when I see it is that it’s a thread about gas and elecricity suppliers and click on to find it’s not!  

When I see the title the first thought that comes into my mind all the time is the electricity and gas suppliers.

That sounds supercool  I'm gonna be trying out rifle shooting next week. I passed a rifle range a couple of days ago and it stirred something in me so I thought, right, I'm gonna try that! I'll let you know how I get on. 

I've  noticed that I can also get over stimulated very easily and have a job coming back down so I'm creating my life so I'm not getting over stimulated too much either, lol, it really is like a jigsaw, putting all the pieces together. 

I'm also going to google samba band as I'm not totally sure what it is! Lol! 

I also wish to add 'playing in a samba band' to my RE-ENERGISER list as I have discovered this, this evening much to my delight. 

Hi there - this is the link to the NAS e-befriending scheme: www.autism.org.uk/.../find.aspx

Yeah, same here, it’s a great help to me and I’m going to use the list as my starter as well. Thank you Yup, definitely Autistic!

thats a great help for me starting my own lists and calculating how much I have left over each day- thanks very much :)

I think the question of 'energy accounting' is really valuable and I've only recently read about it.

For years I thought that perhaps I wasn't trying hard enough in noisy or social situations as I tired quickly. It's reassuring to hear that the energetic cost of trying to fit into an NT world  is recognised within the community and (I hope) it will become more widely known and talked about within professional circles. 

For years I've retreated to my bedroom and cried following lots of social contact and/or being in a busy or noisy environment. I used to think this was depression, but noticed that after doing this for a while I would feel better so I now understand it as a pressure release valve that helps me to regulate.

My list of re-energisers and energy drainers are as follows. Hope they may help you to identify some of yours:

RE-ENERGISERS:

Alone time

1:1 time with close friends 

Listening to music (I love Spotify)

Pet cuddles (luckily I know a few dog owners)

Meditation 

Yoga

Cycling 

Being in nature / appreciating beautiful scenery

Reading (usually special interests)

Receiving nurturing touch (massage)

5 rhythms / ecstatic dance

DRAINERS:

noisy + busy environments

Social contact

Simultaneous loud conversations going on around me 

Too many simultaneous demands

Constant interruptions 

Great question. This is what I'm currently working on although I haven't actually started yet.

I very recently realised that I have no idea how to balance my energy or time. I traced my resistance to getting washed and dressed, back to the fact that I actually have no idea how to manage my time or energy. I don't think I had ever thought about my energy levels in this way before. So, I am now working with a one to one specialist support worker from Autism Plus and we're ready to start working out a plan to help me get a better understanding of it all and strategies to help.

I would love to hear of any other resources or personal experiences as well though as this is all new to me.

One thing I have started to do is create a work balance of three weeks working each month then have the rest of that month off, and working for three months then having a month or so off. I'm also thinking about bringing in a daily long shower as a form of therapy, as I love the feel of the water, if I don't feel rushed. Followed by what's called in Ayurveda as abbyhanger (spelling is probably wrong) which is basically a self giving loving full body oil massage. These are just ideas at the moment but I thought that surely I would feel more relaxed in the day if I have these two therapies each day. I'll also be building in a daily walk, yoga, meditation and some other exercise. I'm kind of building my diary from the ground up and in baby steps. Working out, as I go, what's important or non negotiable and then working out ways of making them part of my daily routine or rather, building my days around them. Food is a key issue in all of this for me. I'm making loads of progress but it's largely in the awareness and processing stage although other things are slowly changing.

I think for me, what makes it easier, although rarely easy, is that I'm not prepared to compromise on my happiness and how I chose to live in this world and learning to balance the energy is going to be a process. It depends on your current situation as well and what you are prepared to give up in the pursuit of avoiding burnouts. I got to a stage where another major burnout is not an option for me so I had to take drastic action. I'll be following this thread for any tips or advice etc that anyone might have. Thanks for asking.