What Is Spoon Theory? I'll Show You How Autism Drains My Energy 3x Faster
I have limited energy for daily tasks. Cleaning, laundry, cooking—they all cost me spoons. Christine Miserandino created spoon theory to explain chronic illness, but as an autistic person, the decisions I make every day drain me far more than they drain neurotypicals.
But for autistic people, it's different.
The Autism Difference
Neurotypicals process conversations automatically. I'm thinking about every single detail and how it's supposed to play out.
They process sensations on their skin, temperature changes, and environmental shifts without effort. I have to process all of it manually—every sensation, every shift in my environment demands my attention.
This constant manual processing is why I experience autistic burnout so much faster. What looks like 'laziness' to neurotypicals is actually my nervous system hitting 0.
This means I burn through my spoons 2-3x faster than neurotypicals doing the exact same tasks. After a warehouse shift, I'm exhausted from the sensory overload and constant task switching.. I'm completely drained and just want to get home as soon as possible.
My Warehouse Reality
I come into work. They ask me to move to a new station—2 spoons gone. They move me again. And again. Now at 2 spoons. Break time arrives. Once I'm back, this cycle continues two more times before my shift ends. Now at 0 spoons.
I'm completely silent. Not a single word comes out of my mouth for the rest of the day.
At zero spoons: No talking. No special interests. No stimming. All desire to do anything is gone. Drawing and animation are my special interests, but I have no energy to spare. I abandoned them entirely.
Why does being moved around destroy me? Cognitive switching between one task to the next is extremely exhausting. Having to adjust to a new environment without warning, on top of management pressure, exhausts me far more than the physical work itself.
Why Existing Apps Failed Me
I tried other energy tracking apps. Too many ads, pop-ups, and clutter on the screen all at once—impossible to use at 0 spoons. Neurotypical BS we didn't ask for.
When I'm destroyed after my shift, I need fast, reliable tracking. No clutter. No annoying pop-ups for something I'll never use. Just the tracker. Nothing else.
What I Built
Spoons is an autism energy tracker. No ads, no upsells, no collected data. Just a slider and CSV export. Nothing else.
Nothing gets in the way. No navigation screens. No pop-ups. Just the tracker in one place, accessible at any point.
Why I Built This
To have spoons for the things I actually want to do. Drawing and animation are my special interests, but they require spoons I don't have because my warehouse environment drains me completely. Tracking my spoons and reducing sensory overload gives me more energy to engage in things that actually replenish me, rather than exhaust me.
I'm Omari, a 23-year-old autistic adult who's been managing chronic burnout for 5+ years while working warehouse shifts.
Launching Spoons in April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam.
— 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.