Life Organization

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I've finally started having a social life and going out more and i'm finding it really overwhelming figuring how to fit that into the other aspects of my life. HELP! I've actually been having severe anxiety attacks because this is so exciting, but yet so new!

Alex Plank, the autistic guy who set up this website, says in his "Autism Reality" mini-documentary that his NT friends have no idea how much it takes out of him to interact with them and 'act normal'.

This is something you'll have to deal with from now on. You're doing something your brain isn't ideally wired for.

There's going to be a price to pay.

YOU are going to have to figure out how much energy you can spare for such things without letting important things go unattended.

If you gave us more details, maybe we could go into more detail in a reply, but as things stand, this is the best answer I can personaly give you.

I use a daily planner.

Oh man, I'm in the same boat with you. I purposely push friends away for fear that they'll soon want to spend more time together, which I simply can't fathom having the energy for. I have a serious problem coming to terms with 'plans' like, I obsess over a pre-planned date to hangout and it becomes all consuming, even if it's an incredibly low-stress event, with someone I'm completely comfortable around, doing something I'm comfortable with.

Honestly, the only way I've learned to cope with it, is by pushing everyone away from me, which I'd wholeheartedly not recommend. I'll tag along in this topic because I need the same help you do.

I was reading this and I looked at your signature.
I very much like Portishead, so I shall check out your channel .

I have put way too much thought into this myself.

But, I have a customized daily planner (binder with spreadsheets I designed for myself) with a LOT of life organization inside, including an energy management tool. I have taken data of my energy cycles over the course of a day, the week, a month, and a year. It's still ongoing, and it shifts as I learn more. I only plan life events according to when I predict that I will have energy for them. I have also learned that I can only handle 2 or 3 "special events"/schedule changes a week without getting completely drained or shutting down. If it is a highly social event, only once per week.

On maintaining friendships, I have another spreadsheet within the "community" section of my binder. Down the left side it lists all of my friends/family I need to maintain some level of contact with. Along the top, it lists the months and I simply check off when I've made contact. For most, once a year is sufficient and is an improvement. All of these friendships are over 10 years. I haven't made any new friends in a significant time and feel kind of full as it is.