Hi Jessica. Wow I resonate so much with this post. I had CFS and Autistic burnout for 4 years and this is exactly the kind of life which helped me to recover. Gentle walks in nature and ignoring housework and other demands. At first it wasn't a choice because I didn't have the energy to do any of them. Now I live very much a low-demand lifestyle - love your coining of this. Thank you so much for sharing your experience 😊
Hi Hannah, I'm so glad this resonated with you 💕 And fyi I didn't coin this, I found the term 'low-demand' through looking into PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), which I wrote about here: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/am-i-demand-avoidant
Two years ago, I was no longer motivated to do what I should do. I realized how important it is to make time to do what I want to. This has helped with the tackling necessities of life.
Great article - and I experience this joy and gratitude around weekday nature walks too. I related a lot to: "I realized that I also schedule the demands I do have so that they are batched together at certain times of day; this way I know that the time in-between tasks/demands is ‘free time’". I have a list (when I remember, cos, well, ADHD) of crucial tasks propped up on my bedside table (I pretty much live on my bed when I'm at home, which is most of the time) and this focuses my attention so I can do The Things with the motivation to have more free time without the niggling sense that I should be doing something else.
I've actually not heard (or at least it hasn't consciously registered) of the term "low-demand lifestyle." I like how this sounds because this is exactly what I strive for. I appreciate having terms to describe some aspect of autism so I can understand it better. I don't even know if that made sense. But this entire article was so good, especially your list - eliminate, delegate, consolidate, automate, regulate. How helpful! Thank you 😊
With your low-demand lifestyle, how do you manage the structure of your day? When I worked, there were deadlines and that helped with my structure of my day. Now I'm creating my own structure in my low-demand lifestyles and it's been an interesting journey with ADHD.
Hi Mika, I'm planning on doing a post about how I use gentle structure to guide my days. Hopefully that will be helpful to you and others, but please do let me know any other low-demand lifestyle queries, and I'll try to address them in future posts :)
Thank you! I've read some of your posts & really enjoyed them :) I don't have a chronic illness as such, just niggling health issues which definitely play into wanting/needing to live a low-demand life. Stay tuned for more on demand avoidance later this week ✨
So much of this resonates! I look forward to following your journey. The PDA lens has been very helpful to my family—I expect I will get around to writing about that before too long. Can’t wait to hear your take and how it is helping you explore!
Hi Jessica. Wow I resonate so much with this post. I had CFS and Autistic burnout for 4 years and this is exactly the kind of life which helped me to recover. Gentle walks in nature and ignoring housework and other demands. At first it wasn't a choice because I didn't have the energy to do any of them. Now I live very much a low-demand lifestyle - love your coining of this. Thank you so much for sharing your experience 😊
Hi Hannah, I'm so glad this resonated with you 💕 And fyi I didn't coin this, I found the term 'low-demand' through looking into PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), which I wrote about here: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/am-i-demand-avoidant
Two years ago, I was no longer motivated to do what I should do. I realized how important it is to make time to do what I want to. This has helped with the tackling necessities of life.
Absolutely! I agree with you 😄 You might also enjoy this post: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/am-i-demand-avoidant
Great article - and I experience this joy and gratitude around weekday nature walks too. I related a lot to: "I realized that I also schedule the demands I do have so that they are batched together at certain times of day; this way I know that the time in-between tasks/demands is ‘free time’". I have a list (when I remember, cos, well, ADHD) of crucial tasks propped up on my bedside table (I pretty much live on my bed when I'm at home, which is most of the time) and this focuses my attention so I can do The Things with the motivation to have more free time without the niggling sense that I should be doing something else.
So glad you enjoyed this Morgana! ✨ And thank you for sharing your insights.
I've actually not heard (or at least it hasn't consciously registered) of the term "low-demand lifestyle." I like how this sounds because this is exactly what I strive for. I appreciate having terms to describe some aspect of autism so I can understand it better. I don't even know if that made sense. But this entire article was so good, especially your list - eliminate, delegate, consolidate, automate, regulate. How helpful! Thank you 😊
Thank you Ang, I'm glad it resonated with you :) Low-demand living is generally used in regard to PDA - you can read more about that here: https://neurodivergentnotes.substack.com/p/am-i-demand-avoidant
Thank you!
I love that you read your post :)
Thank you! It's something I'm experimenting with.
With your low-demand lifestyle, how do you manage the structure of your day? When I worked, there were deadlines and that helped with my structure of my day. Now I'm creating my own structure in my low-demand lifestyles and it's been an interesting journey with ADHD.
Hi Mika, I'm planning on doing a post about how I use gentle structure to guide my days. Hopefully that will be helpful to you and others, but please do let me know any other low-demand lifestyle queries, and I'll try to address them in future posts :)
I've also had to create a low demand lifestyle through a mix of chronic illness and neurodivergence, interesting to read your experiences.
Thank you! I've read some of your posts & really enjoyed them :) I don't have a chronic illness as such, just niggling health issues which definitely play into wanting/needing to live a low-demand life. Stay tuned for more on demand avoidance later this week ✨
So much of this resonates! I look forward to following your journey. The PDA lens has been very helpful to my family—I expect I will get around to writing about that before too long. Can’t wait to hear your take and how it is helping you explore!
Thank you! More on demand avoidance coming soon :)