Sunday night after my second 10-hour warehouse shift: 0 spoons. Can't speak. Can't make decisions. Can barely feed myself.
Monday is my recovery day—and it's not optional.
Without a structured recovery blueprint, I'd burn out completely within weeks. This is the exact system I use to rebuild from 0 spoons back to 8+ by Tuesday. It's built for autistic nervous systems, not neurotypical "self-care" advice that you'd typically hear online.
To start things off, I think it's important to relate just how recovery for us is much different than it is for neurotypicals and how it's often worded the same way, leading to the advice in regard to recovery for both topics often being used together, which doesn't really work well for us in terms of feeling better, especially from autistic burnout.
If you're typically low on energy (or spoons), a friend or family member might give you advice in terms of recovery, such as:
More optimal needs in terms of recovery for us specifically are:
In a nutshell, those around us who typically aren't autistic and don't understand the specific needs we personally need to make at least a dent in terms of feeling better would often say:
Neurotypical advice: "Go out with friends to recharge and improve your mood!"
Autistic reality: That's exactly what depleted my spoons in the first place.
Rather than what actually works:
As you can see above:
"Now that we've established why autistic recovery needs are different, here's the exact hour-by-hour blueprint I use to rebuild from 0 spoons after my warehouse shifts. This is the system that gets me from complete shutdown Sunday night to functional by Tuesday morning."
My Sunday post-shift routine:
Monday 10-3PM (My day off):
Monday 10AM-8:15PM
Neurotypical advice: "Use downtime to catch up on chores!"
Why it fails: Decision fatigue + physical demand = slower recovery
What actually works: Zero obligations. Rest IS productive.
"If you hear this advice, this can be an easy trap to fall into. The point of autistic recovery to reduce the cognitive load that has been builidng up to push to where you desperately need recovery in the first place, so adding more load on top of that could potentially extend it!"
Neurotypical advice: "Call a friend, go to coffee with someone!"
Why it fails: Masking + social processing = spoon drain, not restoration
What actually works: Complete solitude until you actively WANT social contact!
"Making an effort to social with those online is an easy way to prolong your recovery, since for us, the cognitive load for masking, and eye contact especially can be extremely high, further extending the time it takes for us to start feeling better."
Neurotypical advice: "Shake things up! Novel experiences recharge you!"
Why it fails: Novelty = cognitive load = opposite of recovery
What actually works: Familiar, predictable, repetitive comfort
"This is another common one. Those around you that are possibly not neurodivergent may give this advice, possibly assuming that you are depressed and likely need something new to do in order to cheer you up. This is NOT what we want or prefer in the moment when most, if not all of our mental energy is completely drained."
Neurotypical advice: "Push yourself, it builds resilience!"
Why it fails: Ignoring recovery needs → extended burnout (weeks vs days)
What actually works: Honor the 0-spoon state, recover fully.
"If you're like me and many others and feel that you have completely no energy to do practically anything, DO NOT be ashamed of it! Our personal needs are quite different and we absolutely need time to recover our energy in ways that you know how, without increasing the cognitive load on our state of mind that originally got us to this point."
Why track your recovery? Well, it's useful precisely. to:
Simple tracking method:
- Daily: Rate energy 0-10 (Morning & inthe evening time.)
- Note: What caused depletion? (work, social, sensory)
- Note: What helped recovery? (solitude, special interest, sleep)
- Pattern recognition: After 30 days, you'll see YOUR specific timeline on what impacted you the most! Both good and bad!
Tracking manually works, but it adds cognitive load during low-spoon states—exactly when you need simplicity most. I'm building Spoons to solve this: one slider to log energy (usable even at 0 spoons), automatic CSV export for pattern analysis, and local-only storage. No accounts, no complexity, no cognitive overhead.
If you want to be notified when it launches, join the waitlist at getspoons.app
"Once you've tracked your patterns for a few weeks, you'll need to customize this blueprint to fit YOUR specific recovery needs. Here's how:"
Obviously, not every autistic persons recovery is the same. It could be a smooth-sailing process for some, while for most it can be extremely long. For some, recovery takes hours. For others, severe burnout can require weeks or months to fully recover from.
Some variables that affect the timeline to recovery:
A fairly easy way to do this is to test and track it:
Week 1: Try the blueprint as written
Week 2-4: Adjust timing based on YOUR data
Week 5+: You'll know your personal recovery formula
My customizations after 12 weeks of tracking:
Your customizations will be different—and that's exactly right. The blueprint is a starting point. Your tracking data tells you what works specifically for YOUR nervous system.
Recovery days aren't optional for us, they are absolutely required. Given our enviornments and the current tools around us don't make much of an impact towards how we feel and what we're currently dealing with, they often have to go out of our way to protect and build our spoons back up.
Being aware of what drains you and what helps you recover is critically important—and tracking this data empowers you to refine your recovery blueprint over time."
If you want to track your recovery patterns without added cognitive load, I'm building Spoons—the first energy tracker designed for use during meltdown/shutdown states. One slider. Local storage. No complexity.
