For many autistic adults, it’s not the tasks themselves that drain energy—it’s the transitions between them. Even small changes such as being forced to move from one room to another, or in my personal case, being moved from one task to the next while having to be accountable for all of them, performance-wise, are absolutely draining for anyone who is also on the spectrum that often thrives on predictability and routine.
From my perspective (and possibly relatable to many others who are also autistic and reading this post), the primary reason as to why transitions drain so much energy for autistic adults overall is often how our brains perceive things differently than someone who is neurotypical would typically be fine or even okay with.
Executive function load is often present due to being suddenly yanked from one task that demands your attention immediately onto the next, and we naturally prefer a sense of expecting to do things a certain way, at a certain time, and with a certain structure overall, so when this is suddenly taken away from us, it makes things both physically and mentally uncomfortable as you have to personally accommodate yourself to get used to a similar or brand-new environment rather than simply being able to focus intensively on what you're currently working on at the moment.
I can relate to having a very strong preference for waking up at the same time of day, eating foods at the exact time, and doing chores at the exact time too. It's easier to plan around and less chaotic as a result. When this does not happen, especially intentionally to those who don't consider your best interests at heart, it can make things very chaotic, frustrating, and downright unpleasant.
Leading right on to my previous topic, a few examples of this would
As you can see from most of these, these are often sudden, without any warning or structure in advance. Obviously life is unpredictable, and things like this can happen sometimes, but often due to our environments and those around us that intentionally or not do not understand how these simple issues can make life for us incredibly stressful and spoon-draining, it is often ignored or not taken with serious intent, which causes the problems to linger and, in most cases, get even worse.
When sudden transitions out of nowhere like this happen, it can feel very overwhelming and draining and can lead to shutdowns or burnout. Despite these often inevitable outcomes, there are some steps that we can take to make the transitional experience less draining or even possibly have the issue fixed entirely with verbal communication. Such as:
You are likely struggling with this to some degree too if you happen to be autistic. Regardless of what anyone may say or believe, it is NOT your fault. Your brain is simply dealing with a scenario (several times, possibly even daily) that is very untypical for it. While many neurotypicals may find it frustrating, they often can deal with it in a matter of minutes without much fuss, while it can be very difficult for us on the other hand.
They are very costly to our mental energy, and the most we can do, at least as of right now, is to make our life more comfortable and predictable for us in any way we can, even in little efforts, and to slowly improve our happiness due to such in this unpredictable world we live in.
Thank you! :)
