An image of a row of wooden spoons on a wooden spoon holder against a grey, stone background.
I think I’ve spent almost my entire life managing cycles of burnout. Obviously, until I was diagnosed and started researching autism and ADHD properly, I didn’t even realise that this was what I was experiencing.
All I knew was that I would be fine for a bit, sometimes even going at a million miles an hour, before falling into what felt like a depression, then eventually feeling a bit better only to do the whole process again a few months later.
Rinse and repeat for a couple of decades!
Common signs of burnout
It might look different for each of us, but some of the common symptoms of burnout might include:
Feeling unbelievably tired and not rested even after sleep
Complete loss of joy for things you usually love doing
No chance of focusing on anything
Sleeping all day or not sleeping at all
Feeling like your entire body is really heavy and moving feels impossible
Entering full hobbit mode, no social life, no talking to anyone
Feeling like everything is too loud
Struggling to process information and conversations
Memory struggles and brain fog, struggling to remember simple words
Increased meltdowns or shutdowns
Being unable to recognise emotions, feeling quite numb
Skill regression where you're unable to complete tasks that used to come easily
Now that I’m more aware of what’s happening, I can often spot when burnout might be approaching and try to manage my energy a bit better.
A complete giveaway for me that I might need to take a break is when I can’t stop scrolling online! I no longer really use social media (other than LinkedIn for work) but that doesn’t stop me having a good old rabbit hole scroll when I’m feeling anxious.
I also find that I have an almost physical sensation of needing to be constantly on the go. I think there’s something around perfectionism and needing to ‘achieve’ things that sets this off and it feels impossible to stop working.
I’m then more anxious than usual, I feel more irritated with things, I’m likely not sleeping very well and I turn to even more comfort foods than usual which means I’m then not eating very well.
Put all of this together and it makes all of my AuDHD symptoms worse. And then you’re stuck in the cycle, heading to burnout city once again. Because the symptoms of burnout are very similar to those that you might see in depression, this is perhaps one of the reasons that so many of us are being diagnosed with ADHD and autism later in life because it’s so hard to differentiate if you don’t know that it could be something else.
Things that can help with managing your energy
Again, this will be different for each of us but something that has helped me has been to be able to recognise when I’m doing things that might lead to burnout, and take a pause before things get too difficult.
Here are some of the things that can help with managing energy levels day to day.
Understanding how many 'spoons' you're using
The notion of 'using up spoons' was coined by Christine Miserandino in 2003 as a way to illustrate the daily challenges of managing chronic illness and disability. It's often mentioned in relation to managing energy for ADHD and autistic people.
Understanding that we may have a limited number of spoons, or that we use more spoons on a task than someone who is neurotypical, can help with planning and prioritising activities so that we can balance the things we want to do without burning out.
Identifying the tasks that bring us joy and those that might drain us
Part of the process of understanding how many spoons we're using is to really identify the things that light us up and the things that really drain us. For example, I know that anything where I have to physically leave the house, even for things that I enjoy doing, uses up LOTS of my spoons and I will need a rest day afterwards.
Recognising when burnout is approaching for you
One of the things that can really help with managing our energy is to recognise when we might be heading towards burnout. For me, I know that burnout is approaching when I can't stop doing things, I start to take less care of myself and I can get quite irritable. However, with practice, I can now spot these signs earlier and adjust what I'm doing, make more time for self care, rest and just generally look after myself.
Sharing your boundaries and honouring your needs
It can be really hard but knowing what your boundaries are and asking for your needs to be met can go a huge way to help manage your energy levels. For example, I love seeing friends but I know that I have a limit of a couple of hours before I need to leave. If I stay longer than that, I risk using up so much energy that it will take days to recover and I might even end up in a meltdown. But by sharing that need and honouring that boundary, I'm able to recover more quickly which means I can do more of the things that I want to do.
Showing yourself compassion when things feel difficult
Sometimes burnout just creeps in even though you've done all the things you thought were right for you. Or you might have tried to push yourself too hard and found yourself having to take more time off. Showing yourself some compassion in those times is so important.
A mini workbook to help with managing energy
I’ve created a free mini guide and workbook to help with managing energy levels that’s available to download on my website now.
It’s just a short guide and is written to support anyone who might be struggling with managing changing energy levels or burnout.
I'd love to hear from you if the workbook is useful or if there are any ways that I've missed that help you to manage your energy!
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