Being Moved Around With The Expectations To Just "Do It" Is Exhausting (Autism Task-Switching Costs)
Most of us have to deal with transitions on a daily basis, often times forced by society to be "productive" and to "do more".
We obviously pay a much higher tax for each one he have to deal with than neurotypicals typically do.
From constantly being moved around at work with the expectation that I'd simply do it and not push back, from sudden phone calls from my family on my days off while I'm working at home, it's a constant struggle since I'm using that period to stim and recover and constantly switching from one task to the next pushes me away from that.
Why Transitions Exhausts Me
Transitions are exhausting for everyone, not just for us. But, we pay a much higher costs for having to transition from one task to the next, often times it is sudden, without warning, and the expectation that we'd just do it.
I experience this basically everyday while I'm at home. I'm either doing some research, watching some animated videos on YouTube, or doing some development work on Spoons, then my mom or sister suddenly comes into my room (Sometimes after knocking, sometimes no knocking at all) and asks for me to tend to something, such as taking out the trash I may have forgetten, or to ask for a favor. I basically have to figure out where the trash can is where if she was vague on which specfic trash can it was I need to empty out, or to look for something I have no clue where it is, adding on to the significant tax of unexpected demands, which is one of the reasons why I've been in burnout for so long.
Work most of the time is even worse. There was a period a few months ago ( Around Jan 2026) where managers who have noticed my face, and even gone as far as to remember my name due to my consistency in regards to showing up and being responsible, often move me around to one station to the next. It's often abrupt either face-to face (Which involves masking, which is another drain I often have to manage) or on my station which comes up right away. If I have to go to another station to layers up, or a station on the same floor, but is on the other side of the station that's more physical extertion and if it's another task entirely that I have to mentally organize in order to keep a good enough pace to not get written up, that's another drain. Basically Masking, Unpredictability, Transitions without a clear grace period, 3 drains compounding and firing one at once. Which is very exhausting for me, and the many times I referred to HR in regards to this issue and even disclosing me being autistic as the reason why this is significant and not marginal, they play it off basically as it just being a "coaching" which means, "Not that big of a deal, I hope things get better for you".
I only show up to work 3 days a week to sorta counter this but it didn't seem to do anything since it still happened anyways.
All transitions are exhausting for the most part for me but not all of them are extremely bad. Ones that I can anticpate and have a grace period (Ideally for at least 5 minutes or more before I do it) cuts the drain cost of it down significantly. Though at work since labor tracking starts exactly after the 5 minute mark, this doesn't give me much leverage to do this, and my family doesn't understand my neurological differences well enough to consider it seriously.
The Compound Cost
Given that I'm in burnout, I don't fully remember how many transition I deal with on a daily basis, but often at least 8-15 if I were to guess. But if even a few, such as 3 or more are unpredictable and have high expectations (Such as at work, meaning it doesn't matter how many times I get move, if I rack up 30 minutes of TOT or too low of performance, that risks write up's = 4 in a row = Fired) it's way more exhausting by far. And in terms of energy cost (Using my app energy slider 1-10 in mind) I'm operating at around a 2 or 3 most of the time.
Sometimes at a 4, but usually takes only a couple of unexpected transitions to reduce that down to 2, which barely leaves me any energy to engage in anything else. Anything non-negotiable such as checking an appointment email, or drawing or watching videos for a bit. The latter, drawing, is my special interest, and that helps regulate me a lot so it makes recovering the next day even harder.
I created Spoons to help be aware of how many transitions was impacting my energy cost (Not the count each individual one, that would be exhausting) but the impact of how much they stack up at the time of each individual period or day, so I can be aware of it in advance and make strict efforts to reduce them whenever possible.
And for the transitions I simply can't avoid, setting a 5-10 minute timer on my watch before enganging on it, makes it less exhuasting for me which essentially gives my brain time to clear it out of head and so I can focus on doing the new task without having to think about anything else. Still exhausting, but very less so, especially if the transition quantity is lower overall.
I'm Omari, a 23-year-old autistic adult who's been managing chronic burnout for 5+ years while working warehouse shifts.
I Launch Spoons on April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam. If your interested you're more than welcome to join the waitlist if you want to.
— Omari
Note: I'm sharing my personal experience as an autistic adult, not medical advice. If you're experiencing severe burnout or crisis, please consult a healthcare provider familiar with autism.