A runbook
A runbook is a real engineering tool.
Decisions made in advance, by the version of you who can make them, for the version of you who can’t.
Where we were
Week 6 gave you a ledger. Recovery hours are its planning unit; the research finding concerns time spent camouflaging.
This week: what happens when the books don’t balance for long enough.
Three time scales
| State | Scale | From inside |
|---|---|---|
| Overload | this afternoon | input arriving faster than it can be processed |
| Shutdown | this evening | output stops; words are hard to find |
| Burnout | this semester | overspent for weeks, and rest isn’t refilling it |
The distinctions are the course’s. Only the third has a research definition.
Where that table is wrong
The literature names four phenomena, not three. BIMS:
burnout · inertia · meltdown · shutdown
Two of those — inertia and meltdown — are not in the course’s table at all.
Phung, Penner, Pirlot & Welch (2021), Frontiers in Psychology 12, 741421What BIMS looks like from inside
Eight autistic children and youth, interviewed one-to-one with augmentative communication and visual supports allowed.
BIMS described as a multi-faceted experience — emotional, cognitive and physical components at once.
And often misunderstood by the people around them.
Phung et al. (2021)Two studies, one definition
Autistic adults discussed autistic burnout among themselves for years while the academic and clinical literature barely mentioned it.
Then two studies defined it with the people who experience it.
Defined by the people who have it
Autistic adults discussed autistic burnout among themselves while the academic and clinical literature barely mentioned it.
Chronic exhaustion, loss of skills, reduced tolerance to stimulus — from cumulative load and barriers to relief.
Raymaker et al. (2020), Autism in Adulthood 2(2)And agreed by consensus
23 autistic adults, three survey rounds: exhaustion, withdrawal, difficulties with executive function, generally reduced functioning, more pronounced autistic traits.
Higgins et al. (2021), Autism 25(8)Both studies: distinct from depression and from ordinary work burnout. Both name masking and an unaccommodating environment among the causes.
The way out is removing load.
Not adding rest on top of it.
Overload is measurable, not just describable
98 Swedish adults — 62 autistic, 36 non-autistic — on sensory experience and communication in health care settings.
Autistic participants reported greater discomfort with background sound levels, and felt more misunderstood by providers.
Strömberg, Liman, Bang & Igelström (2022), Autism in Adulthood 4(1)In the room: name your own early signs (6 min)
Two minutes, alone, no discussion: the first three things you notice when load is climbing.
Not what you feel — what you do, or stop doing. One emotional, one cognitive, one physical.
Four minutes in pairs: share one sign if you want to, or use the fictional example “Nico rereads a message three times and leaves the reply in drafts.” What could someone else notice?
Recovery, for everyone in the room
Four kinds of recovery experience, separated in occupational health research:
Detachment · Relaxation · Mastery · Control
Sonnentag & Fritz (2007), Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 12(3)Detachment
Not thinking about the work.
Not “thinking about it more calmly”. Not thinking about it.
Plan: silence course-chat notifications for a chosen hour. Check: is work still arriving through another channel?
Relaxation
Low activation, low effort.
The one people mean when they say rest — and only one of four.
Plan: sit somewhere quiet without a task to finish. Check: has “rest” acquired a target or a deadline?
Mastery
Something challenging that isn’t the work.
A skill, a craft, a game you get better at. Demanding, and nothing to do with the degree.
Plan: half an hour learning a guitar chord for your own interest. Check: can you stop, or has it become another obligation?
Control
Choosing what you do with the time.
Which is why a fortnight of obligations is not a break, however little work is in it.
Plan: leave Saturday morning unallocated. Check: is that time yours to choose, given work or care commitments?
A break with all four in it is a different break from a fortnight spent half-doing the readings.
Why a runbook and not a resolution
Trying to decide what to drop while you are struggling adds another decision to the load.
A runbook records those decisions in advance, when you have more capacity.
Six sections
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Early signs | what you notice first, in your own words |
| First three actions | things that need no decisions |
| Messages | pre-written, saved, ready to send |
| Who gets told | names, and what each needs to know |
| What gets dropped | load to remove, in order |
| Recovery | what refills, from past experience |
Six sections. Write it this week, while writing is cheap.
Early signs
What you notice first, in your own words.
“I stop replying to the group chat. Loud rooms get louder.”
Yours, not a checklist. The exercise you just did is this row.
First three actions
Things that need no decisions, because deciding is what runs out.
“Headphones. Eat something. Cancel the optional thing.”
Who gets told
Names, and what each person needs to know — which is different for each.
“Housemate: need quiet. Tutor: may miss lab.”
Recovery
What refills, from past experience rather than from what ought to work.
“A day with no plans. The long walk. The game.”
Break
14:55–15:05
Resume at 15:05.
Where is the stopping rule?
What gets dropped
Fill in what gets dropped before adding recovery activities.
- Social plans. 2. Non-assessed reading. 3. Replying within a day.
A runbook that only adds recovery activities to a full week hasn’t changed the load.
Remove load. Not “try harder at resting”.
Leave some space empty
A fictional runbook: Nico’s Thursday
Lab at 14:05. Optional meal at 18:00. Paid shift at 20:00 that cannot be dropped.
| Section | Entry |
|---|---|
| Early signs | rereading messages; replies left in drafts |
| First actions | silence chat; packed snack; study room booked for 17:00 |
| Message | “I’m skipping tonight. Nothing’s wrong between us. No need to rearrange.” |
| Who gets told | meal organiser: absent; housemate: quiet after shift |
| Dropped | meal, then tomorrow’s unassessed reading |
| Recovery | quiet half-hour that has helped before; check again |
In the room: run the runbook (12 min)
2 min, pairs: mark Nico’s fixed commitment and what can be dropped.
4 min: run the actions and message on paper. What facts are still missing?
3 min: the booked room closes. A quieter library space is available until 19:00; Nico’s phone is almost flat. Revise actions and message storage. The paid shift stays.
3 min: swap with another pair. They try the revised instructions and identify one remaining decision. Resolve it or record the limit.
Three messages, saved now
To a tutor. Subject: [NT101] Lab: absent Thursday. “I won’t be at Thursday’s lab. I’ll work from the lab page and email by Monday if I need anything. No reply needed.”
To a group chat. “I’m going quiet for a few days. Nothing’s wrong between us. I’ll message when I’m back.”
To someone you live with. “Rough day. I need the room quiet tonight. It’s not about you.”
In the room: draft one message (8 min)
1 min: pick a template for your own private situation, or for Nico. Nothing gets sent to another person.
4 min: draft under 40 words: what changes, what the recipient needs to do, and any known return time. Save it somewhere reliable.
2 min: read as the recipient. Cut a sentence only if no needed information is lost. “No change needed” is allowed.
1 min: try opening it again. What might prevent you using it on the day?
One honest word about the services
Strömberg et al. found autistic adults reporting more sensory discomfort, and feeling more misunderstood, in health care settings than non-autistic adults did.
That was Swedish health care, not this university.
It is not a reason to avoid asking for help. It is a reason to plan the ask while you can — which is what messages and who gets told are for.
When it’s more than a runbook
Both burnout studies report that it can bring thoughts of suicide.
A runbook is not care, and this part isn’t a protocol.
If you’re thinking about suicide, or you’re not safe, tell someone today.
- Lifeline: 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14, any time
- Emergency: 000
- The policies page lists the university’s support services
Your tutor and convenor will help you reach them.
What this week added to the vocabulary
- overload · shutdown · burnout — the course’s three time scales
- BIMS — the fourfold map, including the two this course omitted
- the runbook — decisions made in advance, in six sections
- recovery experiences — detachment, relaxation, mastery, control
Week 10 reuses the runbook’s messages section for disclosure.
Check yourself against this week
Is the runbook written, or have you used the reduced path: one sign, one message, one commitment to review, and a next section?
Are three messages saved and reachable, or one saved and test-read on that path?
Can you name the four recovery experiences and use them to review a real or fictional break plan?
If time remains
What should a university stop asking students to decide for themselves when they have the least capacity to make another decision?
Optional discussion. Finish by 15:55.