As an AuDHD perfectionist I’ve never valued rest that much. I feel like I should be doing something interesting and being sedentary is bad for you. Recently I have realized the importance of resting as I have been exhausted by external demands and stimuli. I am at the point where even mostly lying around in my room all day, small demands and noises are too much. All I am able to really do is hyperfocus on my phone or maybe half attentively read. I know people can spend days in bed recovering from life, but I don’t have that time. I value this time not doing anything, but I’m afraid if I don’t get active or something I will have trouble falling asleep later. I know staying in your bed while awake disassociates it from getting ready to sleep so I have been lying elsewhere. Any tips? I have been eating. Are there comfy headphones that actually kill all the sound? Bc my ears do not want to process anything anymore.
Are there comfy headphones that actually kill all the sound?
Not everything but they definitely dampen down the sound a lot.
If you're super sensitive to sound then opt for ear defenders and double up with in-ear headphones or ear plugs.
Noise-cancelling headphones aren't ever going to be as good as decent ear defenders but they are a happy medium especially if you want to listen to music or white noise or podcasts etc. Often they have functions where you can switch to a mode where you can have a sort of audio pass through, so the sounds outside get picked up by the mics and then transmitted to your headphone speakers. This can be useful for quick switching for when you have to speak to someone.
You might consider a form of exercise that you can do in your own home so you can burn off that physical energy while not requiring a huge amount of effort and still being able to control your external environment (e.g. exposure to sounds, people, the ambient temperature etc.)
There are the more obvious options but you might consider a jump rope or a rebounder trampoline. Autistic people tend to find the stimuli from bouncing or jumping to be particularly enjoyable and both options are really good aerobic exercises that can be done from home. If you opt for a rebounder and you are limited on space, get one that folds down. Regardless of space constraints, definitely get one where the legs snap into place rather than requiring to be screwed in because that gets tedious af.
I’ve been using this, curious how it compares.
I will exercise more, but yesterday I could barely move besides to fulfill my morning and night routines, and even those were kind of annoying.
I’ve been using this, curious how it compares.
Honestly ear defenders are rated for job sites whereas NC headphones aren't and as far as I understand it they can give any sort of rating because it's not regulated, so NC headphones might claim to have equivalent noise cancelling but I'd trust that as much as I would their claims about how long the battery life is.
I will exercise more, but yesterday I could barely move besides to fulfill my morning and night routines, and even those were kind of annoying.
Hmm. If you're at that level of burnout then I wouldn't recommend pushing yourself to exercise unless you have the energy to do it because the benefits probably won't be worth the exertion. There's always Pilates or bed yoga if you feel like doing some physical activity but I'd prioritise rest.
