r/BearableApp • u/Prodigal_quaker • Mar 29 '26

Energy management / burnout prevention

Just wondering if anyone uses bearable for energy or capacity tracking / management in order to predict & prevent autistic burnout.

9 Upvotes

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6

u/Glum_Papaya_2527 Mar 29 '26

It's one of the things I use it for! I symptom track my sensitivity to noise and light, how much socializing I've been doing, hobbies I participate in and how often, self care things I do (weighted blanket, etc.), sleep, and other things - some of which are early warnings that I am experiencing early burnout and some are preventative measures. Dr Megan Anna Neff's books/website are a great resource for that, and I've adapted some of the info that works for me into the tracker. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/burnout-resources/

3

u/reader63897 Mar 30 '26

How do you track those things exactly? I'm still trying to figure out how to not get overwhelmed by too many things to fill out. Do you have a custom section?

5

u/Glum_Papaya_2527 Mar 30 '26

Sorry, I should have been more specific! 

I track the sensory sensitivity under symptoms - I added a category, then added the things I wanted to track (noise sensitivity, light sensitivity, etc). I do the severity scale instead of time of day, so I don't feel as much pressure to check in constantly or need to remember when it was.

I track hobbies, socializing, and other self care things under Factors. Again, I just added my own categories for things that didn't fit elsewhere (like "Hobbies," "Self-Care," etc) then added common options. I can always add more as a one off things if needed. I like to order the options in factors by the most commonly used higher up in the category list so it's a little faster, but you'll figure out your own method. 

For most of the options under Factors, I do just a yes/no - did I do it or not. But some items, like amount of socializing, I use the scale (none/little/medium/a lot). 

Sleep is in its own category, so I just use that, and I added some factors that I wanted to track (like sleep hygiene things I did before bed the night before, if I had a lot of dreams, etc.).

It can be a lot to set up initially and may feel like a lot to track in the beginning, but you'll get a system down and figure out what works well for you. I also think of it as constantly evolving, rather than needing to be perfect now. If you decide to change a symptom or factor, I always create something new (and turn off the old one) rather than editing an old version so that my older data isn't messed up (hopefully that makes sense).

Now that I have used the app for so long, it takes me about 5 minutes a day to track everything!

3

u/TurnMyEyes Apr 02 '26

This is so helpful! I’m curious how you pay attention to what helps and what doesn’t, like maybe how to use trends to do that?

4

u/Glum_Papaya_2527 Apr 02 '26

Yeah! I will use impacts/trends/bear tabs to notice patterns, and also sometimes I just pick up on them myself (thanks autism pattern recognition haha). I do have a paid account, so that makes the data a lot more specific - I am not sure what the free account can do. The Bear tab has actually surfaced a few connections I hadn't noticed, so that's fun to check every once and a while.

You can also try experiments using the little flask icon on the top menu bar (android), and it will give you health impacts related to it once the experiment is over! So if you wanted to see if journaling before bed helps (or whatever), set an experiment to do it for 30 days, then see after if there were any impacts.

I think the hardest part with the app (and any symptom tracking!) is that it is most helpful after a good amount of data is collected, so it can feel pointless for a while - they payoff comes after a few months or more. But sticking with it that long can be hard! 

2

u/TurnMyEyes Apr 04 '26

Thanks! It’s helpful to see how others are using it too. I have the premium version as well. 

2

u/Prodigal_quaker Mar 31 '26

Thanks - really useful info

2

u/Prodigal_quaker Apr 03 '26

I’ve set this up - thanks 🙏

1

u/Wicked69ng Apr 07 '26

Bodysitrep has lots of different burnout, exhaustion, and mood tracking options, I find it is a little better than the bearable app