Getting Things Done

The Shower Stand-off

For your guide

Choose your view

Explorer shows the broad version of the experience, without narrowing it to one neurotype.

Choose your view

Changing this updates how BirdStory explains experiences in your guide.

What do these views mean?

These views change the wording and examples BirdStory shows. They are not a diagnosis.

  • Explorer: A broad starting view for recognising patterns without choosing one neurotype.
  • ADHD: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Includes what some people still call ADD.
  • Autism: Autism spectrum. This view focuses on autistic patterns, sensory and social processing, predictability, and overwhelm.
  • AuDHD: A common shorthand for people who are both autistic and ADHD, or who strongly relate to both sets of patterns.
  • HSP: Highly Sensitive Person. Not a diagnosis, but a useful trait lens for sensitivity, depth of processing, and emotional or environmental intensity.

Pick the view that makes the experiences feel most recognisable.

Do you ever find yourself negotiating with your own brain for an hour just to get into the shower?

Help someone understand this

The hard part can be crossing from the current state into the first moment of the shower. Each piece of the change — stopping, undressing, water, drying and getting dressed again — queues up before you have even moved.

  • walking into the bathroom and leaving again without turning on the water
  • delaying bedtime because the shower still has to happen first
  • scrolling on your phone in a towel while the transition stalls

Looks vs reality

The same Experience can look very different from the outside than it feels on the inside.

How it gets read

Looks like you're procrastinating on purpose.

What’s actually happening

Feels like I'm standing before an invisible, insurmountable wall.

How it gets read

Looks like you just don't feel like it.

What’s actually happening

Feels like I don't have the specific type of energy required to start.

How it gets read

Looks like you're wasting time.

What’s actually happening

Feels like I'm mentally preparing for a difficult battle.

How it gets read

Looks like you don't care about being clean.

What’s actually happening

Feels like I desperately want the relief of being clean but can't get there.

Understand what’s happening—and help someone else understand.

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