*Practical ways to start getting relief from this frantic energy from the information disregulation today* (12:20) 1. Identify that you're dysregulated (12:27) Awareness is the first key to change so whether it's out loud or in writing or texting your best friend admitting "hey I'm super dysregulated." 2. Slow down (12:39) Reduce the things on your calendar. Say "no" to as many things as possible. Reschedule. Set more realistic expectations; lower your expectations (that's okay that's not a failure). And build more _rest_ time into your day. 3. Limit the amount of input that we're allowing into our lives (13:15) How can you reduce the amount of information coming in? Do that. 4. Talk about this frantic energy inside of you with someone (13:40) Don't isolate don't suffer in silence actually put a voice to the feelings. If you don't have anybody to talk to, write about it or find a trusted therapist that you can start processing this experience with. [...] Often times when we bring what we're struggling with into the light it, helps us realize that we're not alone; we're not the only people struggling with this 5. Create something (14:15) Anything. 5 minutes of writing, a 30 second haiku, dancing in a silly way in my kitchen or just sitting down and trying to pick out a melody on the piano. Whatever that looks like for you. You don't have to be an artist. [...] If you're up for a challenge, set a timer for 5 minutes. Spend that whole time creating something, anything; you don't have to show it to anyone and it doesn't have to be something you're proud of. Just do it.
@MomontheSpectrum Thank *you* for sharing those insights, in your video, in the first place. 🙏🏼 I've been following your channel for a while now. And I feel the videos help me to better deal with my own struggles. On top of the realization that I'm not the only one _(like you also mentioned in point 4 of this "practical ways..." list)._
The frantic energy you mentioned reminds me of a concept I had been describing differently to myself: in order to get myself to perform daily at work and meet social obligations, I get very wound up internally. It's like I am a spinning top, and as long as I keep spinning with that frantic energy, I can do what I need to in life. If the energy depletes and the top falls over, it is going to take me way more energy to get it going again. Once I'm started, it's easier to keep going than rest and restart.
Wow, YES. I also tend to react really negatively to the phrase "wind down" (such as when suggested as a routine for sleep issues) even though it is clearly needed because I'm thinking some version of (to use your great analogy) "I have to spin again tomorrow and it will take forever to wind back up if I let it down now, are you kidding me"
This! It’s like if I’m not on high alter at all times when trying to get something done then I literally won’t get it done. It’s like a weird toxic superpower! I can accomplish anything in this state! BUT it comes at the cost of me almost always burning out and not being able to do even the stuff I like or want to do. At that point it becomes me just doing bare minimum to survive and maintain and still struggle with it.
AuDHDer here. Yes! I have such a voracious appetite for knowledge that I'm constantly learning about so many different things, plus keeping updated about things I've already learned! 🧠 The good, the bad, the ugly, and of course, the beautiful. Interest overload anyone? 😅 My brain is constantly whirling - even while sleeping! 😵💫 I'm in constant burnout! 😢 😮💨 And dang it, I'm just tired! 😣
Yes! Trying to keep my adhd part of my brain stimulated and not exploding but also limiting the stimulation so my autistic side of my brain doesn’t burnout. It’s like running a pump without water and there is no off switch! I almost constantly have an earbud in listening to something. This allows the toddler (adhd) to be distracted and pacified enough so the parent (autism) can focus on work or semi resting for a while.
My brain is obsessed with knowledge, especially knowledge of injustice. The world is such a difficult place lately as i see injustice everywhere while being unable to talk about it because people are unable for the information required to understand. I feel like I have all this knowledge and yet again I have to mask that because as live in a world where people survive by building up a cognitive dissonance to tragedy. All this knowledge and I'm crippled with it because I don't have the spoons or confidence to act on it alone.
Music is my relief. Whether I am listening to my playlists of favourite songs or dancing around in the house, music soothes my soul. When I am dysregulated and I cannot deal with anything, it is music that helps. I put on my big comfy sound cancelling headphones , sit and just listen. yes its input but it's my chosen soothing input and I will always close my eyes and let it wash over me. It is everything to me for sure. I am a creative person but I cannot always get in that mind set so music is the first step for me. Thanks for this video Taylor, really helps. Have a good day everyone.👍🙏😊
There is a middle path, which is to turn off some of the input - I'm from a generation before phones were an option and computers were only on Star Trek - turns out the "off" button is a powerful tool. Your idea of engaging our Task Positive Network (creating) has been really the most powerful anxiety reducer I've found for myself...in conjunction with not looking at or listening to anything that doesn't educate or enlighten me, or allow me a different perspective for self-reflection - no more news, essentially. Sensitive me just can't deal with the collective lack of compassion, empathy and general absence of humanity in most of it - but making: things, art, photos, music, words on a page - those are the antidote to anxiety, grounding me in the present and the process.
Ya they talk a lot about mindfulness lately. When I ways a kid, we spent half our time being forced into mindfulness, whether we liked it or not. There was f all else to do. Go on a long road trip and stare out the window - mindfulness. Every time you took a dump - mindfulness. Every time you had to wait anywhere for any reason - Mindfulness.
@@tomh5094Yeah, I'm with you. I live in a rural area, and almost every morning I will stare out the front window, or sit outside in the summer, and watch the birds . And in the spring and summer I can hear so many different bird songs. Sometimes I can focus in on one bird song and and another. If you know how to listen, there is a pattern to the chaotic noise. Insects and frogs also have there own auditory patterns. Where others hear noise, I hear music.
This is reminding me of a piece (from Medium I think?) I read a few years ago that discussed the importance of balancing three Cs in our life: Creation, Consumption, & Connection. I think about that sometimes when my life feels imbalanced; if I have too much of one C (usually consumption), I’ll put some energy into a different C (usually connection). I’ve noticed in adulthood, creation is the C I tend to nourish the least, which is sad to think about sometimes bc I created so much artistic output as a kid. I often feel like I want to get back to that part of myself but I don’t know how, & then the days keep rolling by with all the tasks & stresses of adulting.
Whenever I take a walk without a podcast or music in my ear, I find myself overwhelmed by anxiety over my life's obligations. Being a single mom with all the various demands gives me so much anxiety that I find the distraction of information actually helps me. I have less pain from fibromyalgia, fewer stomach ulcers and panic attacks, and I can be more relaxed around my child. I think the key is to pick stuff to listen to that you actually don't care about. When I'm working, I listen to people mowing their lawns on UA-cam. When I'm cooking, I listen to lawyers talk about legal fillings in the news. It's almost like body doubling. It helps tremendously with executive functioning.
story of my life. Woke up today utterly overwhelmed from all I was doing yesterday. Took me hours to be able to do anything - and longer than usual to do them.
I watched the video of a seminar with Wyatt Woodsmall where he said: 'Learning is behavior change. If your behavior does not change, you didn't learn anything.' Whatever information and insight we receive, there is always an implication to apply it. Learning more and more and not doing much with it is like a never ending to do list. Filter which information is actionable and pertinent. Take action. The alternative is to keep consuming information but that isn't more than a distraction and thus procrastination in disguise.
"Learning more and more and not doing much with it is like a never ending to do list." WOW - now you're calling me out. This is 100% accurate for me and helps me understand this concept even more deeply. Thank you.
Information dysregulation is something that happens to me A LOT at work when I'm learning to do something new and there's so much input going in before I've learned how to create the output. But I totally agree that I feel much better when there's a balance and it really helps to give yourself time to process!
This aligns very well with the work I've been doing in therapy lately. Creative ventures and reflection times are so important for processing everything, and I am definitely one of those people learning about literally anything for fun lol.
I spend some time on social media in the morning as a way to "ease into my day". UA-cam in particular is great because I love to learn, but often times I find myself not wanting to continue with it, but not really motivated to do anything else. I'll bet that is information dysregulation. I tend to take naps. But that makes me feel like I'm lazy. I'm trying to give myself space to learn about being AuDHD and ways I can keep on a more even keel and treat people around me better (rather than getting crabby/overwhelmed when they speak to me, haha), but it's tough when I compare myself to neurotypical standards.
Yesterday I just decided to start doodling for no apparent reason. It feels therapeutic. Weird that I’m sitting here “pointlessly” creating a mediocre art project while listening to you - and your topic is that we should try being more creative. Sweet!
Love the idea of putting out something into the world (that you don't necessarily have to show the world) that you've created instead of this constant absorption of "stuff." That "stuff" is always something that someone else has created, and it can be negative or positive, but it's still taking up our time and our head space. It's the fact that we're constantly absorbing instead of using our minds and our bodies to create... or even just to experience passive nothingness... that's the problem, and it leads to terrible overwhelm. I just caught the last few minutes of this, but thank you for the really great ideas to bring that creativeness back into our lives.
You're very welcome. And yes, constantly absorbing when there are so many beautiful things to create! And I know there are so many amazing things that come (and are yet to come!) from people in our own community!
I'm both frantic and lethargic at the same time, or in rapid cycles. I went through several cycles while watching this video. The spinning top image sounds useful. It's hard to stop the spinning without crashing, but the spinning is dizzying and nauseating, leading to a crash anyway. Thanks for this one.
I have spent an hour or two in bed each day in the afternoon. My heating pad or shakti mat is necessary to help the overload begin to wear off. The only issue is that it can also re-energize me and get me going again into the night. I'm trying to find a balance- but when I feel "buzzed out" from the screen/work/news-- I just get in bed.
Yes to all of this! I definitely see this connected to my own experiences. Over the past year, I have finally begun prioritizing movement - not "exercise", but movement -- into my daily life. Thinking in terms of "exercise" feels like a punishment or chore to me, but thinking of what I'm doing simply as "movement" feels nourishing, and that has been a big shift for my brain. "Movement" can be slow, it can be unplanned, it can be wild, it can be short term, it can be all day, it can be small, it can be big -- it can be whatever I need in the moment. And I see how much it helps my brain escape the constant input of my day and begin to focus on the present, processing and outputting energy. It's so powerful for self-regulation, and it doesn't have to be at all related to body image or physical ability.
So, information overwhelm + autistic inertia = infomertia. 😊 Personally I find my autism is like being a Formula One racer driving an old farm tractor: My senses are optimized for high performance but I'm stuck in a situation where the only machinery at my disposal is crude and antiquated, it either overheats from the effort or it just won't start at all. As for information dysregulation (I do quite like "infomertia"), I think a big part of the problem is that the internet content providers and site hosters are packaging data as readily consumable junk info rather than the sort of high quality "deep dive" that we most appreciate; so, rather than switch to a book on the subject, we just keep scrolling through the same low-quality results looking for whatever useful scraps might be hiding in their midst. As a result, I've quit visiting most sites (and essentially the internet altogether), because all that junk-sifting is just a waste of my time and effort. It takes longer to read a book, granted, but it's still the most rewarding (and high-quality!) information technology out there. 😊
@SylviRay13 No, thanks! Just because the content is long doesn't mean it's high-quality; rather, the creators are dragging things out for their own benefit.
@@Hermitthecog It’s still possible they could be both long AND high quality. Unless you’ve already checked them out & deemed them below the standards you’re looking for. Automatically assuming the quality of content based on the length & format of its delivery could do you a disservice in some cases. 🤷🏻♀️
@llama0057 By contrast, giving any long-form content on UA-cam the benefit of the doubt is a disservice to the individual user, whose viewing time is not compensated. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Back years ago I experienced this with political events and the barrage of fake news - or when not fake, angry news. My response was... Write a PhD proposal. I came forward to my (University) employer with ideas about processing data, engaging the public, and software. The downside is... I then became committed to a PhD! 8-9 years later, past covid, the end of my marriage, several serious family events, I don't regret the "produce output" approach to information overload, but I wish I'd found my calm place and not had to respond to the pressure by climbing Himalaya.
YESSS -- I love the term you have for it, "information dysregulation!" I've been noticing this and developing strategies to cope before the level hits critical and my nervous system tries to shut my body down. My strategies involve pausing to process, creating output, and getting my body into it through dance. Removal from the input temporarily, or turning the volume down on it, and doing something else, like reading. Thank you for this video!
This came at the perfect time. I was just reaching that awareness today of the frantic, anxious energy in my day-to-day life & remembering I can set app time limits/off hours on my phone to reduce the input. That way I’m less likely to consume super dysregulating news at the start & end of my day, when I need to be gearing/focusing up or slowing down, respectively. I’ve also been thinking about how to reactivate creative joy into my life, so I love your 5min creativity break suggestion! Like snack-sized creative moments. ☺️ I think doodling as soon as I wake up instead of scrolling would be an accessible place to start. 😊
All good tips, I’ve been implementing them for the past few years - mostly unconsciously, but also as a part of healing from my creative trauma, - and they’ve been helpful beyond description in terms of self-regulation and stress relief. Thank you for sharing them with the audience! I have also recently discovered shading books (and fell in love with them): they are like monochromatic colouring books, and they only require a graphite pencil and an eraser. The amazing thing about them is that they offer all perks of a colouring book without the sensory load of multiple colours - because sometimes observing multiple colours and having to combine them properly is just too much… And they offer a convenient excuse to release tension by scratching paper for an hour or two without looking weird 😂😂
Shading books sounds amazing! I loved using only a pencil to draw and shade. Lost my drawingspark years ago, maybe a book like you described can help me. Do you have a specific recommendation?
I have noticed this! Writing (journaling) helps me so much, combined with meditation and not doing multitasking all the time! Thanks a lot for the video, very good noticing.
I get these often, and actually have been to the ER for them many times a year, sometimes it feels like it's crushing pressure like my heart. Every time I get checked out, crickets. They are panic attacks, and they take everything I can muster to relax. Right now with our political challenges I feel like my Adrenals are burning out. I cannot even practice breathing exercises or mindfulness anymore let alone even try to mediate. Laying down actually makes it worse for me. My scented mini lavendar pillow and light weighted blanket I have with some headphones and Nothing much Happens soother stories, ASMR, classical music or Binural beats helps. Flapping helps. Sometimes my light hand weights and doing some sets also helps. Sometimes playing my flute, singing or drumming helps. Exercise, get up and move or go for a walk. Dance, whatever it takes for you. It helps to have multiple tools for when others don't work. You are right about removing ourselves from the situation and getting a Therapist too.
I needed to hear this today. Thank you. I heard a great one the other day…when you are disregulated, instead of thinking what can I do, think what can I make/create so you can switch over to the softer creative side of our brain.
I relate to this so much! After spending a whole year on my series, I've felt the intense urge to create (not videos) and I've found a new craft that I've never done before. Yes, I had to research it, but the doing of it is brilliant. It even stops me from scrolling. I'm just trying to resist the ADHDness of buying all the things at once and not using up what I already have! 🤦🏻♀️
This is a really great video! I never realised just how closely the consumption ties in with burnout. I thought it was more about doing to much, taking on too many tasks and that's what brings us to the point of burnout. Something I've started doing is meditating. Starting with counting backwards from 100 to zero without falling asleep.
Speaking of information overload - I too LOVE to satisfy my curiosity and I need MORE stimulation lately bc I've been very lonely and burnt out and kinda stuck - BUT I have to be careful because there's SO MUCH conflicting info out there, and if you're like me and interested in philosophy and spirituality , I get very confused by how contradictory many ideas are - and social media can make me feel very "left out" and that can trigger my abandonment wounds and dysregulate me MORE, as it has lately... I find myself gravitating more towards innocent, sorta childlike and funny stuff sometimes - simple entertainment to kinda reset and not "think so much".
Ugh I’ve been feeling exactly like this lately just a mixture of hopeless apathy and nonstop heart pounding anxiety. I can’t even enjoy all my hobbies anymore I just feel so numb lately. I think a lot of us that are sensitive and emotionally aware are really feeling this way.
Great video Taylor! I have discovered Lego building! When I am doing it my mind is clear. First time ever! It resets me from what ever I am feeling, overwhelm, depression, anxiety! Also I like to draw or knit. Two creative things that resets me as it were. Great advice!
I wouldn't say I have a frantic energy, but a plodding must-keep-going non energy. I was trained to get done what needs to be done no matter what, and that's probably the only reason I still get out of bed. Because if I didn't, I'd lose my job and wouldn't be able to pay my bills. So I just keep forcing myself through each day.
I just discovered Iron Beads! I just take a few minutes here and there during the day where I sit down and meticulously place a Pearl after the other choosing colors and making patterns I just feel like in the moment. It doesn’t need immense concentration but just enough focus to give me a break from all other thoughts. ❤ Then I iron them and put them up somewhere and I both enjoy looking at the colors and the tactile feeling of an ironed bead plate.
so true!! we live in a time of constant overwhelm and bombardment, and never are we encouraged to proactively allow ourselves processing time. wise words!!!
Perhaps it’s because i’ve got auADHD but usually if I don’t intake information or create/use information/think, it’s then when I feel anxious or uneasy. I literally need to think and analyse something to calm down when I’m stressed about events in life.
"The key is it is self-expression for you not for a purpose" It restores a sense of autonomy. (If it is for a purpose, it won't restore a sense of autonomy.)
I can't do this. I don't have time or energy to create. I have almost no control over my schedule. I'm a high school teacher, so I have to spend all day working and then when I get home I have to do chores to keep myself and my animals fed and surviving. I'm stuck in survival mode, and I don't have time or energy to do anything else until summer. The only reason I can even get through some of my UA-cam to-watch list is because I listen to it while I'm doing my chores.
I wonder if incorporating things into your existing tasks may help, for example driving to and from work if you do, humming or singing in the car, making up your own melody, or even something like getting different color napkins to set the table with and choosing each time based on mood or otherwise (which is not creativity in the sense of creating art but is creativity in the sense of creating something interesting for your brain to latch on to that (possibly) doesn't just feel like a rote chore.
My health is not awesome. I find that having poor awareness of my physical state exacerbates the disregulation because I get to going busy busy busy when there is lots going on and get myself so over exhausted that I then get overtired and go deep into that sloth lethargy state and it can take me days to recover from overworking myself, and then it becomes even harder to move out of that lethargy state, especially if there is no external motivator. I sometimes will even avoid my hobbies and things I want to do because I just feel so tired.
Coincidentally, I figured out that sitting with crochet for a few minutes helps me get my mind into a more balanced state. It could be the reconnecting of Left Brain and Right Brain, or the therapeutic effect of repetitive movement that doesn't burden my mental processing capacity, or the reward of simply creating something out of raw materials and imagination. 🤗 Thank you, Taylor, for your contributions to a better understanding of my own AuDHD Operating System.
I love this ❤ my favorite thing is to info dumping to my husband as we go on a walk, it’s so helpful Also I love taking time to create something, like drawing ✍️ or making something. It helps me a lot ❤ these were great tips
Thank you. I have found centering on my immediate surroundings and my presence and affect 'with' that environment, for a time, useful. ALSO DANCING. Tim.
through my journey I keep coming across the importance of creating and how it's healing and empowering. Regardless of the ethos, the end message is the same: create for yourself, it matters not if you destroy it after, simply that you did. That includes colouring, deconstruction, walking and taking 'mental snapshots' or singing or dancing to yourself.
Damn, even picking up a new, challenging video game (not the one i idly play on the phone out of habit) makes my juices flowing and preps me to start being productive again...
I believe I am coming out of years-long burnout. So, I guess that I'm going into a rajas state, the restless state...but in my head. I've been trying to get out of a situation that would allow me to do something. I'm still in the situation. But, I am starting to get creative. It's been a long time, but right when I began to create I immediately got pushback. But, I'm starting to create again. And, I need to re-learn what that feels like in my body, again. Get to know it, internalize it, so I can tap into it more readily. Maybe, then, I will know sattva and get to internalize that.
Have the same atm and I figured out 3 reasons: 1. The woman I got approached, invited and she paid for lunch and dinner...We have arranged a second meeting/date but since more than 1 week she isn´t even reading my messages. 2. Social Media is only a small part and easy to reduce,that don´t take much space 3. I feel like I am already too long on this planet and January is still not over.....this month is soooo long in my opinion. I am motivated to do stuff, but I somehow can´t find much energy to do it, because I am constantly unrested atm.
The timing of this is so wild. Since discovering I am likely Autistic with ADHD, I have been taking in SOOO much information and have been slowly finding myself able to do less and less. I'm almost paralyzed by the influx of information because it is so overwhelming and so much yet my brain keeps telling me I WANT MORE. I never thought of this as something that could actually be part of the cause of my dysregulation. I am going to make a conscious effort to only take in extra information if I am going to use it in some way. Hopefully, this helps break me out of this horrible sticky place I've been stuck in. Thank you again, the timing of your videos always seems to hit the nail on the head with my current struggle. It gives me this instant relief like ok I know what I can do now and also, we're not alone in this! I appreciate you.
Indeed, well said. My brain is also constantly high performing and even if I feel the need and try to clear my brain's 'RAM Module' with some Meditation my brain is constantly interrupting with "thats boring", "Lets do some this and that.". It's quite and simpel - positively said - challenging
🎉🎉🎉 OMG! You've just explained something that happens almost EVERY week, due to work. I am so excited to ponder and reflect how I can shift and ask for what I need!!!
Thank you for articulating all of this so well! It's like you are speaking directly to me and validating some recent insights into myself i have had. There is so much that you said i want to touch on and how i see it in my life, but it would be too long of a comment. So, I'll put a few points that really spoke to me I have learned recently that if i just turn everything off and sit in silence, letting my mind stop for a bit, i can reorient myself to my priorities and emotionally regulate. I never had that emotional space around my parents and my ex. They were always all over me, talking at me, never letting me have my own headspace. I recently started trying to remember to pace while I'm reflecting because i tend to get stuck in the freeze state if i sit too long. I also found that just doodling stick people opened up the creative part of me, and i would think of little poems and would produce interesting drawings that seemed to portray my shadow self. I am starting to think i am on the autistic spectrum. So much of what was described here sounds eerily familiar.
I find that doing kundalini yoga has helped me the most at releasing my energy. I feel like yoga creates space for me. Ideas come to me after doing yoga! OK, here’s another one that might blow your mind. I love exercising while listening to audio books. Combining learning + exercise = AMAZING. I should clarify. I enjoy running while listening to audio books.
Oh yes for me I said this before on one of your community post but I'm constantly learning or researching sometimes into the next morning. Which mean no sleep and my sleep schedule is messed up because of it. I intake alot of information that is informative but also very depressing/sad and angry to put it lightly. Sort of my ways of I guess I output/get my mind off it is you did mention it, is I do pace around my house with music on, I do talk to a therapist about what I'm learning and why it makes me sad and angry, but like I said I'm constantly learning so there is like you said this "traffic jam" of information so I do forget alot of things because of said traffic jam if that makes sense. So recently I did write down stuff in my journal the things I learned that I want to talk to my therapist about and why it makes me angry, sad, etc. That's cool you have that little pillow thing I usually have my beanie bouncer by TY with me, just to sort of help me. I don't know if any of this makes sense but this what it sort of looks like for me.
@MomontheSpectrum not enough yet 😕 - didn't allow myself enough and was then wondering about the traffic jam in my head 🙈 makes sooooooo much sense. I really need to get back to creating more again - the brain and heart NEED an outlet to not overcook
I try to apply the things I learn, my input, to my video games, which gives me an output. Games are also an input themselves, but it can balance out. Sometimes if I’m playing a game that requires I be in a high energy state, like certain levels in Halo, that can ease my transition into my responsibilities like chores or hygiene upkeep…
Building Lego is also something I love, and losing myself in the instructions as I just build is extremely relaxing, and better than therapy (for me) I also sometimes try to build my own designs too (though I don’t often have the parts or colors necessary to build what I really want… and I have a limited budget for those parts)
This sounds like it relates back to the Ayurvedic doshas of vatta pitta and kapha. We all have a naturally predominant dosha energy and can manage dysregulation by balancing dosha energies using things like food, yoga, meditation, self care practices, etc. Basically lifestyle. That is a very over simplified description, of course, but the ayurvedic medicine tradition is powerful.
Really, really fascinating topic! I had to pause at 2 minutes in to write this: I have been discovering and reading alot in to autistic flow states. And the 3 terms that you just introduced are literally paralleles to what I found in an article/powerpoint by Dr. Damian Milton titled: "Going with the flow: autism and ‘flow states’" on the website of the university of kent. Another article/Paper I found very valuable was "Towards autistic flow theory: A non‐pathologising conceptual approach." published by Wiley. I can not really word all the paralleles rn and it would be too long for a comment too but I can only encourage you to look into it! (who ever reads this :D) It felt soo right and fitting and also life changing because it started to give me hope for a future and a sustainable way out of the year long burnout I am currently still in.
This concept resonated with me so fiercely, I ended up pausing the video 3/4 of the way in to quietly sit and process the "spinning top" analogy. I ended up writing 7 haikus before resuming the video, only to later hear the suggestion of writing a haiku to release some creativity...!!! 💜 Sharing the first one I wrote, inspired by this analogy and the idea of angular momentum, in case it speaks to anyone else and may provide reassurance that eventually, despite the fervent momentum, the top WILL slow down and pause: ~Autistic Momentum~ The top spins around. Seemingly, it will not stop. Alas, rest arrives.
Hey! I'm going to jump in on this one from the *opposite* angle! I'm a novelist (medieval fantasy) and have been an avid reader and writer almost all my 62-year life. My issue with my autism and my writing is that I really dive deep when I write, and I can actually get too tangled up internally when I write, sometimes causing horribly realistic nightmares, persistent bad thoughts, miserable insomnia, and worst of all, writer's block. It was only this year that I miraculously found a wonderful solution, and it definitely fits into what you're talking about in this video! I have found that I need to take breaks from constant, deep-inside writing and give myself an "inhale" of video gaming (specifically open-world, creative character play stuff like Skyrim and Fallout 4) which is still creative, but far more "active" and more input, rather than a continuous stream of output. I now allow myself an hour of gaming every time I start feeling "tangled" or frustrated or uninspired, and bizarrely the increased impetus of gaming lets me drop right back into happy, productive writing. Obviously, I also exercise, walk my dogs, etc., but I know break up concentrated writing sessions with gaming "free play," and my temperament AND my writing have both improved tremendously. You are so right, it's all about balancing perspectives and energy!
when i have meltdown (or is it overwhelm? i don't know whats the difference between them) , I just want to watch anything like "Bare bears" or anything that allows you not to think.
According to Taoism, silence and the void is the mother of all arising, the womb of creation Settling one’s mud is term they use John Minfords translation of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) is … my gift to you lol ❤
Damn I did not expect to be called out at 9:00 AM on a Thursday. 🤣🤣 I’m going to send this to my brother. He knows I’m autistic he actually knew it before me!
I journal everyday and create, but I am still having this problem of being very overwhelmed by all of my inputs via the internet. I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I absolutely agree with your assessment that we may be just letting too many voices into our lives. I've come to the conclusion for myself just recently that is is being online too much that is causing a lot of this internal build up of anxious energy, although trying to break an addiction to devices is tough 😅 especially when, yes, we're consuming educational content. Which is really easy to justify. Lately, I have had success in returning to paper books 🙏🏻
In addition to my last comment, i really identify with the information dysregulation. I saw myself as an information hoarder. Thanks for bringing up the idea of narrowing down the information and focusing my energy on the information that speaks most to me. I need to find a way to express all of my bottled up Rajas.
I really enjoyed the video, and it sparked several thoughts. First, I heard you talking about sattva, and thought of the Bodhisattva in some schools of Buddhism. They are enlightened beings, of perfect balance and knowledge. And this is where I tell everyone that I'm not any sort of expert on Buddhism or the East. Likely I have just enough knowledge to be enthusiastically wrong. So, your own research is recommended. That said, the rest of the video looked like you were sort of reverse engineering your way into much Buddhist thought and practice. It was really cool to see. That might be a path of knowledge that proves useful on your journey. All the best!
Ha! I can totally relate to reverse-engineering my way into Buddhist thought. I overcomplicate things, then find the long path to a simple answer that Buddhists have been sharing for years.
Thanks for this video. I definitely resonate with this. A way I have just found to process is morning pages. From The Artists Way. It has been pivotal for me to process various things, information overload. I do 3 A4 pages a day. And yes I agree that creating makes me feel a lot better. And Just going for a walk in nature. Writing as I’m listening to you and you’ve just said cutting back and not scrolling whilst walking! I do need to pull myself off it regularly. ❤ I have just found Chat GPT and I am always asking questions and creating things with that now too. I think having a project to work on to release some output has been helpful for me as well.
Curiosity def ☠️ this cat. I crave learning! Fellow e2+PDA anywhere? To me learning is always a little bit poisoned by my many school traumas. Even if I keep an emerging interest secret, I still feel that vibe "You're a genious. Why aren't you doing this perfectly? Why aren't you that famous author/artist/whatever yet? Are you lazy or did you fake your percieved intelligence? Why aren't you a success? You are such a lying failure." This is enhanced with the many memories of people showing contempt at me being passionate about anything new. "Oh, here we go again. What's today's passion? Everyone knows you'll quit this latest fad of yours." So... With this bollocks added, to 24/7 drink info laced with the poison above... You are so very correct! This is why I feel so tired, yet so spinning. It really makes my ptsd a lot worse. So I try to get relief from anxiety by learning new things, and thus only make things worse. Thank you so much for this vid! It was exactly what I needed today. Much ❤❤❤
Me too. The exact same thing. My anti-anxiety medicines are not helping as much as they usually do. But here's something I think: I think that the state of the world as it is right now is wounding thinking, feeling, people with empathy. Another Hindu thing, said by an Indian: "It's no sign of mental health to be well adjusted to a sick society," J. Krishnamurti (attrib.)
Taylor, I love your videos and I have a request. Would you consider turning off captions on your videos. If people want captions, they can turn them on. But as an avid reader, it is very difficult for me to watch the video and not focus on the words. I want to just watch the video but I can’t. I’m compelled to read. I can’t be the only one.
Thank you for this suggestion! I've actually been considering this as well. But you're still able to toggle them off yourself, yes? I'll look into this and consider making a change here. You're not the only one who has brought this up.
I think I intuitively developed different ways of dealing with this excessive input. I recognized at some point that a lot of it is unnecessary input, and since it's mostly digital for me, there are ways I've found to cut it off. I use AdBlockers, and a browser that allows the use of them. I download all my music and play it through a locally-stored media player. I turn on Reduced Motion mode for Discord, so animations don't autoplay. On my laptop, I use an operating system that doesn't automatically display any real-world information except the date and time. Now instead of being bombarded with information I never asked for, I seek information exclusively on my own accord, and it makes for a much more relaxing existence in a world framed around electronics. I think many neurodivergent people could benefit from making changes like these to their digital spaces. Side note -- this reminds me of a quote from the English dub of one of the Evangelion Rebuild anime movies (I don't remember which one), "There were two things I liked as a child. One was knowledge. I could satiate my starving heart by gorging on information on my own terms. No need to think about others. I could serve upon myself as much knowledge as time would allow me." The character was Gendou Ikari, the main character's father, but more importantly, the Evangelion series was developed by Hideaki Anno, who I believe, judging especially by the documentary showcasing the production of the final Evangelion film, The Final Challenge of Evangelion, is likely neurodivergent. As a brilliant filmmaker, I wonder if Anno struggled especially severely with information dysregulation, and if he could've benefited from awareness of and advice for it. Weeb tangent adjourned. Thank you for sharing, Taylor ^w^
I am not on social-media and am avoiding the news because it's so emotionally triggering!. Bud I am a big consumer of history podcasts and fantasy autidiobboks and find it werry comforting and it give me so much joy!. Can that be an information overload too?. I started doing step 1,2,3 on Sunday and reducing activates, and giving my self a whole week witch tombing to do. That has helped a lot. It is so hard to recognize how I am feeling and with I ned when you are in a periode of cronic dis-regulating over a longer time. For me my, mindfulness skills vanishes and it gets even harder to noticing hov I am feeling and remembering to do the things and routines I need to get back on a more regulated baseline again.
*Practical ways to start getting relief from this frantic energy from the information disregulation today* (12:20)
1. Identify that you're dysregulated (12:27)
Awareness is the first key to change so whether it's out loud or in writing or texting your best friend admitting "hey I'm super dysregulated."
2. Slow down (12:39)
Reduce the things on your calendar. Say "no" to as many things as possible. Reschedule. Set more realistic expectations; lower your expectations (that's okay that's not a failure). And build more _rest_ time into your day.
3. Limit the amount of input that we're allowing into our lives (13:15)
How can you reduce the amount of information coming in? Do that.
4. Talk about this frantic energy inside of you with someone (13:40)
Don't isolate don't suffer in silence actually put a voice to the feelings. If you don't have anybody to talk to, write about it or find a trusted therapist that you can start processing this experience with. [...] Often times when we bring what we're struggling with into the light it, helps us realize that we're not alone; we're not the only people struggling with this
5. Create something (14:15)
Anything. 5 minutes of writing, a 30 second haiku, dancing in a silly way in my kitchen or just sitting down and trying to pick out a melody on the piano. Whatever that looks like for you. You don't have to be an artist. [...] If you're up for a challenge, set a timer for 5 minutes. Spend that whole time creating something, anything; you don't have to show it to anyone and it doesn't have to be something you're proud of. Just do it.
Thank you for sharing this! I'll pin it to the top for everyone.
@MomontheSpectrum Thank *you* for sharing those insights, in your video, in the first place. 🙏🏼
I've been following your channel for a while now. And I feel the videos help me to better deal with my own struggles. On top of the realization that I'm not the only one _(like you also mentioned in point 4 of this "practical ways..." list)._
The frantic energy you mentioned reminds me of a concept I had been describing differently to myself: in order to get myself to perform daily at work and meet social obligations, I get very wound up internally. It's like I am a spinning top, and as long as I keep spinning with that frantic energy, I can do what I need to in life. If the energy depletes and the top falls over, it is going to take me way more energy to get it going again. Once I'm started, it's easier to keep going than rest and restart.
I can totally relate to this!
Wow, YES. I also tend to react really negatively to the phrase "wind down" (such as when suggested as a routine for sleep issues) even though it is clearly needed because I'm thinking some version of (to use your great analogy) "I have to spin again tomorrow and it will take forever to wind back up if I let it down now, are you kidding me"
I hate that "sense of urgency" employers talk about needing. Sir, this is a Wendy's.
This! It’s like if I’m not on high alter at all times when trying to get something done then I literally won’t get it done. It’s like a weird toxic superpower! I can accomplish anything in this state! BUT it comes at the cost of me almost always burning out and not being able to do even the stuff I like or want to do. At that point it becomes me just doing bare minimum to survive and maintain and still struggle with it.
@@airshipswashbuckler6420I feel you. It’s like…am I thriving or just surviving?
AuDHDer here. Yes! I have such a voracious appetite for knowledge that I'm constantly learning about so many different things, plus keeping updated about things I've already learned! 🧠
The good, the bad, the ugly, and of course, the beautiful.
Interest overload anyone? 😅
My brain is constantly whirling - even while sleeping! 😵💫
I'm in constant burnout! 😢
😮💨
And dang it, I'm just tired! 😣
Yes! Trying to keep my adhd part of my brain stimulated and not exploding but also limiting the stimulation so my autistic side of my brain doesn’t burnout. It’s like running a pump without water and there is no off switch!
I almost constantly have an earbud in listening to something. This allows the toddler (adhd) to be distracted and pacified enough so the parent (autism) can focus on work or semi resting for a while.
My brain is obsessed with knowledge, especially knowledge of injustice. The world is such a difficult place lately as i see injustice everywhere while being unable to talk about it because people are unable for the information required to understand. I feel like I have all this knowledge and yet again I have to mask that because as live in a world where people survive by building up a cognitive dissonance to tragedy. All this knowledge and I'm crippled with it because I don't have the spoons or confidence to act on it alone.
Music is my relief. Whether I am listening to my playlists of favourite songs or dancing around in the house, music soothes my soul. When I am dysregulated and I cannot deal with anything, it is music that helps. I put on my big comfy sound cancelling headphones , sit and just listen. yes its input but it's my chosen soothing input and I will always close my eyes and let it wash over me. It is everything to me for sure. I am a creative person but I cannot always get in that mind set so music is the first step for me. Thanks for this video Taylor, really helps. Have a good day everyone.👍🙏😊
There is a middle path, which is to turn off some of the input - I'm from a generation before phones were an option and computers were only on Star Trek - turns out the "off" button is a powerful tool. Your idea of engaging our Task Positive Network (creating) has been really the most powerful anxiety reducer I've found for myself...in conjunction with not looking at or listening to anything that doesn't educate or enlighten me, or allow me a different perspective for self-reflection - no more news, essentially. Sensitive me just can't deal with the collective lack of compassion, empathy and general absence of humanity in most of it - but making: things, art, photos, music, words on a page - those are the antidote to anxiety, grounding me in the present and the process.
Ya they talk a lot about mindfulness lately. When I ways a kid, we spent half our time being forced into mindfulness, whether we liked it or not. There was f all else to do. Go on a long road trip and stare out the window - mindfulness. Every time you took a dump - mindfulness. Every time you had to wait anywhere for any reason - Mindfulness.
@@tomh5094when you say it like that, it is like they're training us not to be and not to do.
@@tomh5094Yeah, I'm with you. I live in a rural area, and almost every morning I will stare out the front window, or sit outside in the summer, and watch the birds . And in the spring and summer I can hear so many different bird songs. Sometimes I can focus in on one bird song and and another. If you know how to listen, there is a pattern to the chaotic noise. Insects and frogs also have there own auditory patterns. Where others hear noise, I hear music.
I also love Star Trek. 😊
This is reminding me of a piece (from Medium I think?) I read a few years ago that discussed the importance of balancing three Cs in our life: Creation, Consumption, & Connection.
I think about that sometimes when my life feels imbalanced; if I have too much of one C (usually consumption), I’ll put some energy into a different C (usually connection). I’ve noticed in adulthood, creation is the C I tend to nourish the least, which is sad to think about sometimes bc I created so much artistic output as a kid. I often feel like I want to get back to that part of myself but I don’t know how, & then the days keep rolling by with all the tasks & stresses of adulting.
Love this!! Creation, Consumption, Connection. That's beautiful, thanks for sharing.
Whenever I take a walk without a podcast or music in my ear, I find myself overwhelmed by anxiety over my life's obligations. Being a single mom with all the various demands gives me so much anxiety that I find the distraction of information actually helps me. I have less pain from fibromyalgia, fewer stomach ulcers and panic attacks, and I can be more relaxed around my child. I think the key is to pick stuff to listen to that you actually don't care about. When I'm working, I listen to people mowing their lawns on UA-cam. When I'm cooking, I listen to lawyers talk about legal fillings in the news. It's almost like body doubling. It helps tremendously with executive functioning.
@@JennyEliz_IstheShiz i also use UA-cam and podcasts and courses as a way to body double!
story of my life. Woke up today utterly overwhelmed from all I was doing yesterday. Took me hours to be able to do anything - and longer than usual to do them.
I watched the video of a seminar with Wyatt Woodsmall where he said: 'Learning is behavior change. If your behavior does not change, you didn't learn anything.'
Whatever information and insight we receive, there is always an implication to apply it. Learning more and more and not doing much with it is like a never ending to do list.
Filter which information is actionable and pertinent. Take action. The alternative is to keep consuming information but that isn't more than a distraction and thus procrastination in disguise.
"Learning more and more and not doing much with it is like a never ending to do list." WOW - now you're calling me out. This is 100% accurate for me and helps me understand this concept even more deeply. Thank you.
Information dysregulation is something that happens to me A LOT at work when I'm learning to do something new and there's so much input going in before I've learned how to create the output. But I totally agree that I feel much better when there's a balance and it really helps to give yourself time to process!
This aligns very well with the work I've been doing in therapy lately. Creative ventures and reflection times are so important for processing everything, and I am definitely one of those people learning about literally anything for fun lol.
I spend some time on social media in the morning as a way to "ease into my day". UA-cam in particular is great because I love to learn, but often times I find myself not wanting to continue with it, but not really motivated to do anything else. I'll bet that is information dysregulation. I tend to take naps. But that makes me feel like I'm lazy. I'm trying to give myself space to learn about being AuDHD and ways I can keep on a more even keel and treat people around me better (rather than getting crabby/overwhelmed when they speak to me, haha), but it's tough when I compare myself to neurotypical standards.
Yes, comparison is the thief of joy in so many ways. But it's hard to avoid it sometimes!
It never creases to amaze me how the algorithm just knows what I need! I NEEDED this video TODAY. This has been my week!!!
I'm so glad it was helpful to you!!
Yesterday I just decided to start doodling for no apparent reason. It feels therapeutic. Weird that I’m sitting here “pointlessly” creating a mediocre art project while listening to you - and your topic is that we should try being more creative. Sweet!
Love it!! The stars have aligned 💫 Thanks for your comment. :)
Ah! That explains why I am ALWAYS creating.
Just started watching this one . . .
Love the idea of putting out something into the world (that you don't necessarily have to show the world) that you've created instead of this constant absorption of "stuff." That "stuff" is always something that someone else has created, and it can be negative or positive, but it's still taking up our time and our head space. It's the fact that we're constantly absorbing instead of using our minds and our bodies to create... or even just to experience passive nothingness... that's the problem, and it leads to terrible overwhelm.
I just caught the last few minutes of this, but thank you for the really great ideas to bring that creativeness back into our lives.
You're very welcome. And yes, constantly absorbing when there are so many beautiful things to create! And I know there are so many amazing things that come (and are yet to come!) from people in our own community!
I'm both frantic and lethargic at the same time, or in rapid cycles. I went through several cycles while watching this video. The spinning top image sounds useful. It's hard to stop the spinning without crashing, but the spinning is dizzying and nauseating, leading to a crash anyway. Thanks for this one.
I have spent an hour or two in bed each day in the afternoon. My heating pad or shakti mat is necessary to help the overload begin to wear off. The only issue is that it can also re-energize me and get me going again into the night. I'm trying to find a balance- but when I feel "buzzed out" from the screen/work/news-- I just get in bed.
I use my heating to calm down too! I thought I was weird that I use that thing so much!
@ oh i love it too!! Really helps me calm down!!!
I tend to get into bed whenever I’m overwhelmed too and cover as much as possible of me with the duvet so I’m in a little cocoon.
Yes to all of this! I definitely see this connected to my own experiences. Over the past year, I have finally begun prioritizing movement - not "exercise", but movement -- into my daily life. Thinking in terms of "exercise" feels like a punishment or chore to me, but thinking of what I'm doing simply as "movement" feels nourishing, and that has been a big shift for my brain.
"Movement" can be slow, it can be unplanned, it can be wild, it can be short term, it can be all day, it can be small, it can be big -- it can be whatever I need in the moment. And I see how much it helps my brain escape the constant input of my day and begin to focus on the present, processing and outputting energy. It's so powerful for self-regulation, and it doesn't have to be at all related to body image or physical ability.
So, information overwhelm + autistic inertia = infomertia. 😊
Personally I find my autism is like being a Formula One racer driving an old farm tractor: My senses are optimized for high performance but I'm stuck in a situation where the only machinery at my disposal is crude and antiquated, it either overheats from the effort or it just won't start at all.
As for information dysregulation (I do quite like "infomertia"), I think a big part of the problem is that the internet content providers and site hosters are packaging data as readily consumable junk info rather than the sort of high quality "deep dive" that we most appreciate; so, rather than switch to a book on the subject, we just keep scrolling through the same low-quality results looking for whatever useful scraps might be hiding in their midst.
As a result, I've quit visiting most sites (and essentially the internet altogether), because all that junk-sifting is just a waste of my time and effort.
It takes longer to read a book, granted, but it's still the most rewarding (and high-quality!) information technology out there. 😊
Might I recommend the channels Rotten Mango and Stephanie Soo for great deep dives into all sorts of topics
@SylviRay13 No, thanks! Just because the content is long doesn't mean it's high-quality; rather, the creators are dragging things out for their own benefit.
Really appreciate this insight! And yes, love the infomertia term :)
@@Hermitthecog It’s still possible they could be both long AND high quality. Unless you’ve already checked them out & deemed them below the standards you’re looking for. Automatically assuming the quality of content based on the length & format of its delivery could do you a disservice in some cases. 🤷🏻♀️
@llama0057 By contrast, giving any long-form content on UA-cam the benefit of the doubt is a disservice to the individual user, whose viewing time is not compensated. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
Back years ago I experienced this with political events and the barrage of fake news - or when not fake, angry news. My response was... Write a PhD proposal. I came forward to my (University) employer with ideas about processing data, engaging the public, and software. The downside is... I then became committed to a PhD! 8-9 years later, past covid, the end of my marriage, several serious family events, I don't regret the "produce output" approach to information overload, but I wish I'd found my calm place and not had to respond to the pressure by climbing Himalaya.
YESSS -- I love the term you have for it, "information dysregulation!" I've been noticing this and developing strategies to cope before the level hits critical and my nervous system tries to shut my body down. My strategies involve pausing to process, creating output, and getting my body into it through dance. Removal from the input temporarily, or turning the volume down on it, and doing something else, like reading. Thank you for this video!
You’re very welcome! Thanks for your comment
This came at the perfect time. I was just reaching that awareness today of the frantic, anxious energy in my day-to-day life & remembering I can set app time limits/off hours on my phone to reduce the input. That way I’m less likely to consume super dysregulating news at the start & end of my day, when I need to be gearing/focusing up or slowing down, respectively.
I’ve also been thinking about how to reactivate creative joy into my life, so I love your 5min creativity break suggestion! Like snack-sized creative moments. ☺️ I think doodling as soon as I wake up instead of scrolling would be an accessible place to start. 😊
All good tips, I’ve been implementing them for the past few years - mostly unconsciously, but also as a part of healing from my creative trauma, - and they’ve been helpful beyond description in terms of self-regulation and stress relief. Thank you for sharing them with the audience!
I have also recently discovered shading books (and fell in love with them): they are like monochromatic colouring books, and they only require a graphite pencil and an eraser. The amazing thing about them is that they offer all perks of a colouring book without the sensory load of multiple colours - because sometimes observing multiple colours and having to combine them properly is just too much… And they offer a convenient excuse to release tension by scratching paper for an hour or two without looking weird 😂😂
Shading books sounds amazing! I loved using only a pencil to draw and shade. Lost my drawingspark years ago, maybe a book like you described can help me. Do you have a specific recommendation?
I have noticed this! Writing (journaling) helps me so much, combined with meditation and not doing multitasking all the time! Thanks a lot for the video, very good noticing.
I get these often, and actually have been to the ER for them many times a year, sometimes it feels like it's crushing pressure like my heart. Every time I get checked out, crickets. They are panic attacks, and they take everything I can muster to relax. Right now with our political challenges I feel like my Adrenals are burning out. I cannot even practice breathing exercises or mindfulness anymore let alone even try to mediate. Laying down actually makes it worse for me. My scented mini lavendar pillow and light weighted blanket I have with some headphones and Nothing much Happens soother stories, ASMR, classical music or Binural beats helps. Flapping helps. Sometimes my light hand weights and doing some sets also helps. Sometimes playing my flute, singing or drumming helps. Exercise, get up and move or go for a walk. Dance, whatever it takes for you. It helps to have multiple tools for when others don't work. You are right about removing ourselves from the situation and getting a Therapist too.
i have cultivated my reels algo to be 95% funny/cute animal videos so i use that to calm down a bit, its very good
I needed to hear this today. Thank you. I heard a great one the other day…when you are disregulated, instead of thinking what can I do, think what can I make/create so you can switch over to the softer creative side of our brain.
Oops sorry, I wrote that before you said the same thing.
Wonderful!
I relate to this so much! After spending a whole year on my series, I've felt the intense urge to create (not videos) and I've found a new craft that I've never done before. Yes, I had to research it, but the doing of it is brilliant. It even stops me from scrolling. I'm just trying to resist the ADHDness of buying all the things at once and not using up what I already have! 🤦🏻♀️
I love this, balancing the input and the output. Thank you.
This is a really great video! I never realised just how closely the consumption ties in with burnout. I thought it was more about doing to much, taking on too many tasks and that's what brings us to the point of burnout.
Something I've started doing is meditating.
Starting with counting backwards from 100 to zero without falling asleep.
Speaking of information overload - I too LOVE to satisfy my curiosity and I need MORE stimulation lately bc I've been very lonely and burnt out and kinda stuck - BUT I have to be careful because there's SO MUCH conflicting info out there, and if you're like me and interested in philosophy and spirituality , I get very confused by how contradictory many ideas are - and social media can make me feel very "left out" and that can trigger my abandonment wounds and dysregulate me MORE, as it has lately... I find myself gravitating more towards innocent, sorta childlike and funny stuff sometimes - simple entertainment to kinda reset and not "think so much".
Totally get this! Oftentimes I fall back on sources of humor when I'm dysregulated.
Ugh I’ve been feeling exactly like this lately just a mixture of hopeless apathy and nonstop heart pounding anxiety. I can’t even enjoy all my hobbies anymore I just feel so numb lately. I think a lot of us that are sensitive and emotionally aware are really feeling this way.
Great video Taylor! I have discovered Lego building! When I am doing it my mind is clear. First time ever! It resets me from what ever I am feeling, overwhelm, depression, anxiety! Also I like to draw or knit. Two creative things that resets me as it were. Great advice!
Hey Bryan! It's great to hear from you. Legos are awesome!! I LOVE watching Lego Masters, the TV show, with my kids. So much creativity and joy.
This is gold Taylor! Thank you for connecting the dots and sharing 😊🙏💗
You're so welcome! Glad it was helpful to you.
I wouldn't say I have a frantic energy, but a plodding must-keep-going non energy. I was trained to get done what needs to be done no matter what, and that's probably the only reason I still get out of bed. Because if I didn't, I'd lose my job and wouldn't be able to pay my bills. So I just keep forcing myself through each day.
I just discovered Iron Beads! I just take a few minutes here and there during the day where I sit down and meticulously place a Pearl after the other choosing colors and making patterns I just feel like in the moment. It doesn’t need immense concentration but just enough focus to give me a break from all other thoughts. ❤
Then I iron them and put them up somewhere and I both enjoy looking at the colors and the tactile feeling of an ironed bead plate.
so true!! we live in a time of constant overwhelm and bombardment, and never are we encouraged to proactively allow ourselves processing time. wise words!!!
Perhaps it’s because i’ve got auADHD but usually if I don’t intake information or create/use information/think, it’s then when I feel anxious or uneasy. I literally need to think and analyse something to calm down when I’m stressed about events in life.
I'm off to dance right now as this is also the exact practices I have. The key is it is self-expression for you not for a purpose
Art for the sake of art! Creativity for the sake of creativity!
"The key is it is self-expression for you not for a purpose"
It restores a sense of autonomy. (If it is for a purpose, it won't restore a sense of autonomy.)
thank you for connecting these particular dots. its helpful to consider.
I can't do this. I don't have time or energy to create. I have almost no control over my schedule. I'm a high school teacher, so I have to spend all day working and then when I get home I have to do chores to keep myself and my animals fed and surviving. I'm stuck in survival mode, and I don't have time or energy to do anything else until summer. The only reason I can even get through some of my UA-cam to-watch list is because I listen to it while I'm doing my chores.
I wonder if incorporating things into your existing tasks may help, for example driving to and from work if you do, humming or singing in the car, making up your own melody, or even something like getting different color napkins to set the table with and choosing each time based on mood or otherwise (which is not creativity in the sense of creating art but is creativity in the sense of creating something interesting for your brain to latch on to that (possibly) doesn't just feel like a rote chore.
Thank you so much! Your amazing video, just made me feel I'm not alone. I am so grateful. x
AuDHD/CPTSD here with a crazy sensitized nervoussystem; i love this video so much, saved in my favorites, thank you! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Oh this makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for sharing this with me.
My health is not awesome. I find that having poor awareness of my physical state exacerbates the disregulation because I get to going busy busy busy when there is lots going on and get myself so over exhausted that I then get overtired and go deep into that sloth lethargy state and it can take me days to recover from overworking myself, and then it becomes even harder to move out of that lethargy state, especially if there is no external motivator. I sometimes will even avoid my hobbies and things I want to do because I just feel so tired.
Coincidentally, I figured out that sitting with crochet for a few minutes helps me get my mind into a more balanced state. It could be the reconnecting of Left Brain and Right Brain, or the therapeutic effect of repetitive movement that doesn't burden my mental processing capacity, or the reward of simply creating something out of raw materials and imagination. 🤗 Thank you, Taylor, for your contributions to a better understanding of my own AuDHD Operating System.
I love this ❤ my favorite thing is to info dumping to my husband as we go on a walk, it’s so helpful
Also I love taking time to create something, like drawing ✍️ or making something. It helps me a lot ❤ these were great tips
Dance! Morning kitchen dance party followed by journaling has helped a lot with my "frantic" energy.
I'm always up for a dance party!! If music is on, I'm dancing. It always helps me feel better.
I love dancing and singing in the morning
Thank you. I have found centering on my immediate surroundings and my presence and affect 'with' that environment, for a time, useful. ALSO DANCING.
Tim.
You're explaining what I've been dealing with. I just didn't know how to word it. Thank you for sharing. 😊
This makes me so happy! I was here just last week and driving myself wild. I was like... there HAS to be an explanation for this feeling.
through my journey I keep coming across the importance of creating and how it's healing and empowering. Regardless of the ethos, the end message is the same: create for yourself, it matters not if you destroy it after, simply that you did. That includes colouring, deconstruction, walking and taking 'mental snapshots' or singing or dancing to yourself.
Thanks for the reminder. This was helpful
Learning for the sake of learning, yep that's me
Damn, even picking up a new, challenging video game (not the one i idly play on the phone out of habit) makes my juices flowing and preps me to start being productive again...
I believe I am coming out of years-long burnout. So, I guess that I'm going into a rajas state, the restless state...but in my head. I've been trying to get out of a situation that would allow me to do something. I'm still in the situation. But, I am starting to get creative. It's been a long time, but right when I began to create I immediately got pushback. But, I'm starting to create again. And, I need to re-learn what that feels like in my body, again. Get to know it, internalize it, so I can tap into it more readily. Maybe, then, I will know sattva and get to internalize that.
This is worded so beautifully. Thanks for sharing this and yes KEEP CREATING!! 🌈
This is such a helpful video! Finding the time for stillness is so difficult. Small pieces of creativity is such a good idea - 100% going to try that.
Have the same atm and I figured out 3 reasons:
1. The woman I got approached, invited and she paid for lunch and dinner...We have arranged a second meeting/date but since more than 1 week she isn´t even reading my messages.
2. Social Media is only a small part and easy to reduce,that don´t take much space
3. I feel like I am already too long on this planet and January is still not over.....this month is soooo long in my opinion.
I am motivated to do stuff, but I somehow can´t find much energy to do it, because I am constantly unrested atm.
I love to color too. It is very calming. Thanks for all your content. ❤
The timing of this is so wild. Since discovering I am likely Autistic with ADHD, I have been taking in SOOO much information and have been slowly finding myself able to do less and less. I'm almost paralyzed by the influx of information because it is so overwhelming and so much yet my brain keeps telling me I WANT MORE. I never thought of this as something that could actually be part of the cause of my dysregulation. I am going to make a conscious effort to only take in extra information if I am going to use it in some way. Hopefully, this helps break me out of this horrible sticky place I've been stuck in. Thank you again, the timing of your videos always seems to hit the nail on the head with my current struggle. It gives me this instant relief like ok I know what I can do now and also, we're not alone in this! I appreciate you.
I can listen to "It can be scary I know" on repeat, such a calming moment.
Indeed, well said.
My brain is also constantly high performing and even if I feel the need and try to clear my brain's 'RAM Module' with some Meditation my brain is constantly interrupting with "thats boring", "Lets do some this and that.". It's quite and simpel - positively said - challenging
It's so incredibly helpful to have a phrase for this feeling - thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m truly so glad it’s helpful.
🎉🎉🎉 OMG! You've just explained something that happens almost EVERY week, due to work. I am so excited to ponder and reflect how I can shift and ask for what I need!!!
Thank you for articulating all of this so well! It's like you are speaking directly to me and validating some recent insights into myself i have had. There is so much that you said i want to touch on and how i see it in my life, but it would be too long of a comment. So, I'll put a few points that really spoke to me
I have learned recently that if i just turn everything off and sit in silence, letting my mind stop for a bit, i can reorient myself to my priorities and emotionally regulate. I never had that emotional space around my parents and my ex. They were always all over me, talking at me, never letting me have my own headspace.
I recently started trying to remember to pace while I'm reflecting because i tend to get stuck in the freeze state if i sit too long.
I also found that just doodling stick people opened up the creative part of me, and i would think of little poems and would produce interesting drawings that seemed to portray my shadow self.
I am starting to think i am on the autistic spectrum. So much of what was described here sounds eerily familiar.
Yes...and stop and smell the roses.
I find that doing kundalini yoga has helped me the most at releasing my energy. I feel like yoga creates space for me. Ideas come to me after doing yoga! OK, here’s another one that might blow your mind. I love exercising while listening to audio books. Combining learning + exercise = AMAZING. I should clarify. I enjoy running while listening to audio books.
Kundalini yoga is so healing! I love it.
Oh yes for me I said this before on one of your community post but I'm constantly learning or researching sometimes into the next morning. Which mean no sleep and my sleep schedule is messed up because of it. I intake alot of information that is informative but also very depressing/sad and angry to put it lightly. Sort of my ways of I guess I output/get my mind off it is you did mention it, is I do pace around my house with music on, I do talk to a therapist about what I'm learning and why it makes me sad and angry, but like I said I'm constantly learning so there is like you said this "traffic jam" of information so I do forget alot of things because of said traffic jam if that makes sense. So recently I did write down stuff in my journal the things I learned that I want to talk to my therapist about and why it makes me angry, sad, etc. That's cool you have that little pillow thing I usually have my beanie bouncer by TY with me, just to sort of help me. I don't know if any of this makes sense but this what it sort of looks like for me.
This is so helpful, thank you. ❤
you're welcome!
Traffic jam 🤣💯 For me it's not about reflecting - I actually do that. It really is about creating.... You are so right - helps so much to hear it ❤
yay! I hope you have fun creating
@MomontheSpectrum not enough yet 😕 - didn't allow myself enough and was then wondering about the traffic jam in my head 🙈 makes sooooooo much sense. I really need to get back to creating more again - the brain and heart NEED an outlet to not overcook
So on the same brain wave as you this is awesome. Thank you for putting this out here!
I try to apply the things I learn, my input, to my video games, which gives me an output.
Games are also an input themselves, but it can balance out.
Sometimes if I’m playing a game that requires I be in a high energy state, like certain levels in Halo, that can ease my transition into my responsibilities like chores or hygiene upkeep…
Building Lego is also something I love, and losing myself in the instructions as I just build is extremely relaxing, and better than therapy (for me)
I also sometimes try to build my own designs too (though I don’t often have the parts or colors necessary to build what I really want… and I have a limited budget for those parts)
This sounds like it relates back to the Ayurvedic doshas of vatta pitta and kapha. We all have a naturally predominant dosha energy and can manage dysregulation by balancing dosha energies using things like food, yoga, meditation, self care practices, etc. Basically lifestyle. That is a very over simplified description, of course, but the ayurvedic medicine tradition is powerful.
You're literally describing my entire life. And I never suspected I was anywhere on the spectrum. WHOA. Yes, lightbulb 🙂
No offense (Language alert) but my Dad used to say I was 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag. Overload!!!
@@tigerlily222😂
Really, really fascinating topic! I had to pause at 2 minutes in to write this: I have been discovering and reading alot in to autistic flow states. And the 3 terms that you just introduced are literally paralleles to what I found in an article/powerpoint by Dr. Damian Milton titled: "Going with the flow: autism and ‘flow states’" on the website of the university of kent. Another article/Paper I found very valuable was "Towards autistic flow theory: A non‐pathologising conceptual approach." published by Wiley. I can not really word all the paralleles rn and it would be too long for a comment too but I can only encourage you to look into it! (who ever reads this :D) It felt soo right and fitting and also life changing because it started to give me hope for a future and a sustainable way out of the year long burnout I am currently still in.
Thanks for sharing!
This concept resonated with me so fiercely, I ended up pausing the video 3/4 of the way in to quietly sit and process the "spinning top" analogy. I ended up writing 7 haikus before resuming the video, only to later hear the suggestion of writing a haiku to release some creativity...!!! 💜
Sharing the first one I wrote, inspired by this analogy and the idea of angular momentum, in case it speaks to anyone else and may provide reassurance that eventually, despite the fervent momentum, the top WILL slow down and pause:
~Autistic Momentum~
The top spins around.
Seemingly, it will not stop.
Alas, rest arrives.
I got chills when I read this! Thanks so much for sharing.
@MomontheSpectrum Thank YOU for sharing! This video/concept couldn't have arrived at a better time.
The top idea is great!
Thank you for sharing!!!😊🎉❤
You are so welcome!
Thank you. That just hit right, at the right time.
Oh my gosh! The way you described it is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this info!
Hey! I'm going to jump in on this one from the *opposite* angle! I'm a novelist (medieval fantasy) and have been an avid reader and writer almost all my 62-year life. My issue with my autism and my writing is that I really dive deep when I write, and I can actually get too tangled up internally when I write, sometimes causing horribly realistic nightmares, persistent bad thoughts, miserable insomnia, and worst of all, writer's block. It was only this year that I miraculously found a wonderful solution, and it definitely fits into what you're talking about in this video! I have found that I need to take breaks from constant, deep-inside writing and give myself an "inhale" of video gaming (specifically open-world, creative character play stuff like Skyrim and Fallout 4) which is still creative, but far more "active" and more input, rather than a continuous stream of output. I now allow myself an hour of gaming every time I start feeling "tangled" or frustrated or uninspired, and bizarrely the increased impetus of gaming lets me drop right back into happy, productive writing. Obviously, I also exercise, walk my dogs, etc., but I know break up concentrated writing sessions with gaming "free play," and my temperament AND my writing have both improved tremendously. You are so right, it's all about balancing perspectives and energy!
+1 for Severance lol 😆 slowing down is a real good advice, I'll take it any day 💪
Severance is sooo gooooood
when i have meltdown (or is it overwhelm? i don't know whats the difference between them) , I just want to watch anything like "Bare bears" or anything that allows you not to think.
Loved this video. It is totally relatable.🎉
so glad it's helpful! Thanks for your comment
According to Taoism, silence and the void is the mother of all arising, the womb of creation
Settling one’s mud is term they use
John Minfords translation of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) is … my gift to you lol ❤
Damn I did not expect to be called out at 9:00 AM on a Thursday. 🤣🤣 I’m going to send this to my brother. He knows I’m autistic he actually knew it before me!
Sorry not sorry! haha
Great and helpful insights ❤
I journal everyday and create, but I am still having this problem of being very overwhelmed by all of my inputs via the internet. I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I absolutely agree with your assessment that we may be just letting too many voices into our lives.
I've come to the conclusion for myself just recently that is is being online too much that is causing a lot of this internal build up of anxious energy, although trying to break an addiction to devices is tough 😅 especially when, yes, we're consuming educational content. Which is really easy to justify. Lately, I have had success in returning to paper books 🙏🏻
In addition to my last comment, i really identify with the information dysregulation. I saw myself as an information hoarder. Thanks for bringing up the idea of narrowing down the information and focusing my energy on the information that speaks most to me. I need to find a way to express all of my bottled up Rajas.
I really enjoyed the video, and it sparked several thoughts. First, I heard you talking about sattva, and thought of the Bodhisattva in some schools of Buddhism. They are enlightened beings, of perfect balance and knowledge. And this is where I tell everyone that I'm not any sort of expert on Buddhism or the East. Likely I have just enough knowledge to be enthusiastically wrong. So, your own research is recommended. That said, the rest of the video looked like you were sort of reverse engineering your way into much Buddhist thought and practice. It was really cool to see. That might be a path of knowledge that proves useful on your journey. All the best!
Ha! I can totally relate to reverse-engineering my way into Buddhist thought. I overcomplicate things, then find the long path to a simple answer that Buddhists have been sharing for years.
i’d love a video about how to deal with the news and current events. it’s always so overwhelming and emotionally exhausting
This is excellent! Very helpful thank you
So glad it was helpful! You're welcome.
Thanks for this video. I definitely resonate with this. A way I have just found to process is morning pages. From The Artists Way. It has been pivotal for me to process various things, information overload. I do 3 A4 pages a day. And yes I agree that creating makes me feel a lot better. And Just going for a walk in nature. Writing as I’m listening to you and you’ve just said cutting back and not scrolling whilst walking! I do need to pull myself off it regularly. ❤ I have just found Chat GPT and I am always asking questions and creating things with that now too. I think having a project to work on to release some output has been helpful for me as well.
All good recommendations. Too much info consumption and very little integration. Almost adhd
Curiosity def ☠️ this cat. I crave learning! Fellow e2+PDA anywhere? To me learning is always a little bit poisoned by my many school traumas. Even if I keep an emerging interest secret, I still feel that vibe "You're a genious. Why aren't you doing this perfectly? Why aren't you that famous author/artist/whatever yet? Are you lazy or did you fake your percieved intelligence? Why aren't you a success? You are such a lying failure."
This is enhanced with the many memories of people showing contempt at me being passionate about anything new. "Oh, here we go again. What's today's passion? Everyone knows you'll quit this latest fad of yours."
So... With this bollocks added, to 24/7 drink info laced with the poison above... You are so very correct! This is why I feel so tired, yet so spinning. It really makes my ptsd a lot worse. So I try to get relief from anxiety by learning new things, and thus only make things worse.
Thank you so much for this vid! It was exactly what I needed today.
Much ❤❤❤
Me too. The exact same thing. My anti-anxiety medicines are not helping as much as they usually do. But here's something I think: I think that the state of the world as it is right now is wounding thinking, feeling, people with empathy. Another Hindu thing, said by an Indian: "It's no sign of mental health to be well adjusted to a sick society,"
J. Krishnamurti (attrib.)
Thanks for sharing this quote! Hadn’t heard this one before
As a Hindu, I did not know about this so thanks for sharing 😊
oh wow!! cool!! haha :) how was my pronunciation? 😬
Yes yes yes! ❤
This is a great video!
Taylor, I love your videos and I have a request. Would you consider turning off captions on your videos. If people want captions, they can turn them on. But as an avid reader, it is very difficult for me to watch the video and not focus on the words. I want to just watch the video but I can’t. I’m compelled to read. I can’t be the only one.
Thank you for this suggestion! I've actually been considering this as well. But you're still able to toggle them off yourself, yes? I'll look into this and consider making a change here. You're not the only one who has brought this up.
I think I intuitively developed different ways of dealing with this excessive input. I recognized at some point that a lot of it is unnecessary input, and since it's mostly digital for me, there are ways I've found to cut it off. I use AdBlockers, and a browser that allows the use of them. I download all my music and play it through a locally-stored media player. I turn on Reduced Motion mode for Discord, so animations don't autoplay. On my laptop, I use an operating system that doesn't automatically display any real-world information except the date and time. Now instead of being bombarded with information I never asked for, I seek information exclusively on my own accord, and it makes for a much more relaxing existence in a world framed around electronics. I think many neurodivergent people could benefit from making changes like these to their digital spaces.
Side note -- this reminds me of a quote from the English dub of one of the Evangelion Rebuild anime movies (I don't remember which one), "There were two things I liked as a child. One was knowledge. I could satiate my starving heart by gorging on information on my own terms. No need to think about others. I could serve upon myself as much knowledge as time would allow me." The character was Gendou Ikari, the main character's father, but more importantly, the Evangelion series was developed by Hideaki Anno, who I believe, judging especially by the documentary showcasing the production of the final Evangelion film, The Final Challenge of Evangelion, is likely neurodivergent. As a brilliant filmmaker, I wonder if Anno struggled especially severely with information dysregulation, and if he could've benefited from awareness of and advice for it.
Weeb tangent adjourned. Thank you for sharing, Taylor ^w^
I am not on social-media and am avoiding the news because it's so emotionally triggering!. Bud I am a big consumer of history podcasts and fantasy autidiobboks and find it werry comforting and it give me so much joy!. Can that be an information overload too?. I started doing step 1,2,3 on Sunday and reducing activates, and giving my self a whole week witch tombing to do. That has helped a lot. It is so hard to recognize how I am feeling and with I ned when you are in a periode of cronic dis-regulating over a longer time. For me my, mindfulness skills vanishes and it gets even harder to noticing hov I am feeling and remembering to do the things and routines I need to get back on a more regulated baseline again.