Energy Accounting for Neurodivergent Adults

How to Budget Capacity Without Guesswork

Many neurodivergent adults can work intensely for short periods and then “hit a wall.” The difficulty is often not effort, but predicting cost and preventing cumulative overload.

Energy accounting is a practical way to:

📌 estimate the cost of activities
📌 prevent stacking that leads to crashes
📌 plan recovery with the same seriousness as tasks
📌 adjust based on patterns rather than willpower

This article gives a simple framework you can use immediately.

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🧠 What “energy” means here

In this context, “energy” is not only physical stamina. It is total daily capacity across multiple systems:

🧠 cognitive capacity (focus, working memory, planning)
🔊 sensory capacity (noise, light, movement, touch)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 social capacity (interaction, interpretation, masking load)
⚡ stress-response capacity (how quickly you escalate under uncertainty)
🧍 body-state capacity (sleep, hydration, meals, physical tension)

Energy accounting works because it separates:

📌 task difficulty from task cost
Some “easy” tasks have high cost (e.g., busy supermarket). Some “hard” tasks have lower cost if conditions are stable (e.g., focused writing in a quiet room).

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🧾 Step 1: Identify your main cost categories

Use categories that match real life. Here are five that cover most patterns:

🧠 Cognitive (deep thinking, planning, decisions)
🔊 Sensory (noise, light, crowds, travel, motion)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social (conversation, meetings, conflict, group settings)
🔁 Switching (interruptions, multitasking, transitions)
⚡ Stress/uncertainty (unknown outcomes, time pressure, ambiguity)

Many people have one dominant cost driver. Energy accounting becomes easier once you know yours.

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📊 Step 2: Create a simple cost scale

Use a small scale so it stays usable.

Example (0–3):

0️⃣ minimal cost
1️⃣ low cost
2️⃣ moderate cost
3️⃣ high cost

You can rate activities based on cost to your system, not on how “important” they are.

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🧭 Step 3: Rate common activities (examples)

These examples show the method. Your personal ratings may differ.

🧠 Cognitive cost examples

0️⃣ simple routine tasks
1️⃣ email batch with clear replies
2️⃣ planning a project with multiple steps
3️⃣ complex decision-making with uncertainty

🔊 Sensory cost examples

0️⃣ quiet home environment
1️⃣ short errand at low-traffic time
2️⃣ supermarket at normal time
3️⃣ busy mall/airport, bright LEDs, crowds

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social cost examples

0️⃣ brief predictable interaction
1️⃣ 1:1 conversation with familiar person
2️⃣ meeting with multiple people
3️⃣ group event with high masking demand

🔁 Switching cost examples

0️⃣ one task uninterrupted
1️⃣ a few planned switches
2️⃣ frequent pings and interruptions
3️⃣ continuous context switching all day

⚡ Stress/uncertainty cost examples

0️⃣ known tasks with clear outcomes
1️⃣ small unknowns, manageable timeline
2️⃣ ambiguous expectations or shifting priorities
3️⃣ conflict, evaluation pressure, or major unpredictability

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🧾 Step 4: Build a daily “budget” structure

Instead of guessing how much you can do, you can set a daily structure:

📌 1 high-cost item (3)
📌 2 moderate-cost items (2)
📌 several low-cost items (0–1)
📌 planned recovery blocks

Example day:

🧠 3: one deep work block (90 minutes)
🔊 2: short supermarket trip (off-peak)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 2: one meeting
0–1: routine tasks
⏸️ recovery: two short breaks + one longer recovery window

The point is limiting stacking of multiple “3” items.

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🧩 Step 5: Add “stacking rules”

Stacking rules prevent the most common crash pattern: consecutive high-cost exposures.

Useful rules:

📌 no more than one 3-cost item per day
📌 if you have a 3-cost day, the next day is capped at 1–2 cost items
📌 avoid combining high sensory + high social + high switching in one block
📌 add recovery spacing after predictable triggers (travel, meetings, shopping)

These rules are simple but often have high impact.

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🧠 Step 6: Include recovery as a scheduled item

Recovery is not “what happens if there is time.” In energy accounting, recovery is an item with a purpose.

Types of recovery that match different load drivers:

🔇 sensory recovery (quiet, low light, minimal input)
🧠 cognitive recovery (no decisions, predictable routine tasks only)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 social recovery (no interaction, reduced communication)
🧍 body recovery (food, hydration, movement that feels stabilising)

A practical approach is to schedule:

⏸️ micro-recovery (2–5 minutes)
🕰️ mid-recovery (15–30 minutes)
📆 macro-recovery (half-day or full-day low-demand)

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🧾 Step 7: Track cost accuracy (to improve your estimates)

For 7–14 days, track:

📌 planned cost rating
📌 actual after-effect (same day and next day)
📌 recovery time

You are looking for patterns like:

🛒 supermarkets are always a 3, even when short
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 meetings are a 2, but back-to-back meetings behave like a 3
📱 high screen days reduce next-day cognitive access
🚗 driving at night increases sensory cost

This turns “I don’t know why I crash” into “this combination predicts a crash.”

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🧭 Step 8: Adjust your plan using one variable at a time

When the budget doesn’t hold, change one factor:

⏱️ reduce duration
or
🔊 reduce sensory intensity
or
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 reduce social exposure
or
🔁 reduce switching
or
📆 increase recovery spacing

One change makes results interpretable.

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🧩 Common problems and fixes

🧠 “I can’t predict cost at all”

Start with only 5–8 recurring activities and rate them. Add more later.

🔊 “I do fine during the day and crash later”

Track delayed cost. Rate based on next-day access, not same-day performance.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 “Social plans derail my week”

Treat social load as a cost category with recovery blocks attached.

🔁 “Interruptions ruin everything”

Switching cost often multiplies other costs. Protect one block per day where switching is minimal.

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🪞 Reflection questions

🔋 What is your biggest cost driver: sensory, cognitive, social, switching, uncertainty?
📌 Which three activities are consistently high-cost for you?
📆 What stacking rule would reduce crashes most: one “3” per day, recovery day after, meeting cap, reduced errands on social days?
⏸️ What type of recovery restores you fastest: sensory low-input, cognitive low-decision, social quiet, body basics?