Hey so lots of people are working from home now who maybe have never done this before and

I just wanna affirm for those struggling with self-management that yes, WFH is SO MUCH HARDER

Especially if you have unrecognised ADHD/ executive function/ trauma issues.

Like there is a definite Strategy for invisibly coping with executive dysfunction that involves keeping yourself so busy with external demands that you are constantly in Deadline Mode and therefore Chaotically But Mostly Productive

To borrow a term from scifi, this is the Hard Burn method. Can't provide your own internal propulsion? Slingshotting around Jupiter is fine! RIP your capillaries!

The fact that this requires EXHAUSTING CONSTANT INVISIBLE MATH which so often leads to burnout is... horrendous.

But people that rely on the Hard Burn may not even understand what they are doing or why it works for them.

It's just normal to be an internal mess and barely coping, right? Other people make this job/ hobby/ life look so easy because they work even harder, right?

For years.

All of this adds up to a real big problem when suddenly your external world and all the careful architecture you have built into your day collapses overnight.

Imagine, every morning, you arrive exactly right in your perfectly calculated orbit of Jupiter, but.... it's gone.

For most neurotypical people, that's a shock, but usually they can engage their own engines to carry on.

For the rest of us, what happens next?

You drift, alone with yourself, not understanding why you fail.

You burn yourself up in self loathing trying to Get Going Again.

Anyone a swimmer?

Ever finished a lap and turned to do another, but when you kick out at the wall to push off, it's just... not there.

The lurch. The INCORRECTNESS.

Without Jupiter, it's that, constantly, every day.

(Bonus: getting chased by sharks of shame! In space? OK!)

If you're suddenly working from/ stuck at home and this description here resonates, please understand. There aren't any easy answers here. You can't lifehack neurodivergence/ trauma away.

It's not your fault. I hope you can be gentle with yourself, whoever that turns out to be.

But these lockdowns aren't holidays in disguise. Setting aside the reality that people are fucking dying out there, being forced to stay home is not a "gift" you can deserve if you just think happy enough.

Slowing down can hurt. Stillness can hurt. Rest can hurt.

I'm just your friendly sad hermit here to say that the pain is real, the struggle is VICIOUS and it's ok to find these times difficult to bear gracefully.

Here's an actual beart

This thread was brought to you at the expense of me getting dressed or finishing half my breakfast