- Most people have the same few early signs every time burnout starts. They are personal and they repeat.
- Tap the ones that are true for you. Add your own.
- Then write one rule: "When two of these are true, I will ___." The default is a good one.
- The card saves here and in My kit. You can also give a copy to one person who sees you often.
Your signs
Tap what happens to you in the weeks before a crash. Not sure? Think about the last time.
Your rule
One sentence. Keep the default or write your own.
Your card
To share it: copy the text and send it to one person who sees you often, with a line like "If you notice two of these, please tell me. You don't have to fix it."
Why this works
Catching burnout early means a week of lower demands instead of months of recovery. People who describe recovery in research point to self-awareness of their own physical and emotional states as one of the things that protects them (Mantzalas et al., 2022).
Deciding the response in advance matters because by the time the signs show, deciding is already hard. The rule does the deciding.
Giving the card to one person is optional. For many autistic adults, someone else notices the signs first.
- Mantzalas, J. et al. (2022). What is autistic burnout? A thematic analysis of posts on two online platforms. Autism in Adulthood.
Autistic burnout
What it is, and the stop, rest, return plan.
My calm menu
Your own list of what calms you.
My kit
Everything you've saved.