5 Prickly Autistic Traits Hurting My Business Getting Started
Here are the difficulties faced by people with autism spectrum disorders in a business project and how we deal with them
It’s been months since I had the strength to dive into my big projects: here I am, opening my notebook again, writing, sorting, moving forward and launching yet another project!
You’re launching a business, that’s great news!
I remember when I first started out, I had to deal with a lot of difficulties linked to my Autism. At the time, I hadn’t yet been diagnosed with Autistic Asperger’s, but with hindsight I realize that these obstacles are related to the autistic spectrum.
How do I know? The literature gives me some good answers, but above all the discussions I have with other autistic women.
I’ve included these exchanges in the article, because they know how to transcribe their emotions.
Ready to go?
Here are five difficulties I encountered when I launched my business.
1. Anxiety in the face of mounting workloads
I was literally stuck in front of my todo list. The brain bugs when faced with action.
It turns out that 80% of people with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty performing tasks.
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re affected too!
But once I started, there was no stopping me.
There’s a very simple way around this. Instead of listing the tasks you’ve accomplished, you read the tasks you’ve completed in your week or day.
Don’t use a todo list, but a got done list.
In effect, you set yourself a goal and reap the benefits.
I find it quite gratifying to take stock of what’s been done, and it gives you a clear view of what’s still to come.
This method is really cool, it allows you to make peace with yourself.
Basically, you end your week with the things you’ve done:
This week:
- I discovered two business ideas I’d like to explore.
- I answered all the e-mails that had been pending for more than two days.
- I took time for my son
- I went to the movies with a friend
And you start your week with your new to-do list:
Next week, I must :
- I must contact at least four people to request an interview
- prepare an introductory text to explain my approach
- I need to plan time to analyze my interviews
- I need to make an appointment with the dentist
I really love this method, based on gratitude and kindness towards oneself.
2. Change anxiety
Anxiety about change can really wreck more than one project.
For example, when I have to go to bed… I find it hard… I’m out but I stay on my sofa or I can’t sleep for the night. And other times, I get anxious because the task seems bigger than I am, so I put it off to the extreme, I avoid it, I make excuses that I know are bogus…
We have to accept that we’re in the process of bringing about a change, even if we’re not the ones to bring it about, an operative change, one moment or another.
Personally, I prefer to be the one to make things happen, rather than to suffer them.
My solution in these latter cases is to hold on to the pleasure I feel once the task has been accomplished… so I try to feel it by imagining the task accomplished… that’s what works for me as I’m very visual and capable of feeling very strong emotions.
These are two testimonials from my focus group. My friends are really anxious about change, and I find that the solution is truly very positive.
That’s exactly what I’m doing but in a different circumstance. I gave up smoking over five years ago, but I still have the urge to smoke… But I don’t give up because I hold on to the pleasure of being free from tobacco.
I’ve also given up alcohol, which was totally undermining my productivity. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol in 60 days! Likewise, I visualize the positive, and that’s enough for me not to crack.
3. I’ve got attention deficit disorder; I can’t stand still
So I didn’t wait to be diagnosed with Asperger’s Autism to know that I have attention deficit disorder.
I can’t sit still, and I do a multitude of little things one after the other.
I’m hyperactive, so my gauge is pretty high. When my attention slackens, it’s probably due to an excess of information coupled with fatigue or anxiety. It feels weird, but it’s actually just natural. My brain bugs, like words getting mixed up or momentary memory loss.
It’s exactly like that: I start to answer an e-mail, get up to pour myself a coffee, see that there are dishes to wash, and it goes on and on. In the end, I don’t know what I was doing before.
A neurologist explained to me that there’s a difference between ASD hyperactivity and ADHD. Because people with ASD don’t have an attention deficit, but the cause of the problem lies in the amount of information the brain processes. (..) But I imagine you can imagine that two different ways of functioning can have the same effect on attention.
To stay as focused as possible, I plan ahead and work on small, manageable tasks.
This prevents me from being overwhelmed by a huge amount of work.
Also, when I need to stay focused, I limit all possible distractions, turn off my computer, and put on noise-cancelling headphones.
To each his own, this technique works best for me.
4. I spread myself too thin and don’t get ahead
To launch a business, you don’t need to be a pro at organization.
You need three things: a well-thought-out project + an action plan + time.
The rest is just a bonus that will come with time.
I’ve recently come to accept that I need tools to help me!
You have different methods and tools you can use depending on when and what you need to do.
I’ve written several articles on the subject, including one on the PARA method for managing resources without having to ask myself any questions.
Since I’ve been using it, I feel genuinely cooler and less anxious because I know where everything is stored.
The PARA method is like my assistant, everything in its place.
I also use the tools you’ll find in this article:
It’s important not to put pressure on yourself about your organization. It’s in action that you’ll experiment, and eventually find your own way of doing things.
5. I avoid energy-consuming things like phone calls
Answering a call exhausts me. It takes a real effort to participate in a telephone conversation, especially if I wasn’t expecting it.
At the start of your project, when you’re in the brainstorming phase, you don’t particularly need to be on the phone. But as you need to validate your business idea to get to know your persona, I’m sorry to say that you’re going to have to talk.
These are exchanges you’ll have with people you’ve chosen, on a one-to-one basis, for the length of time that suits you, on the subject that interests you.
Yes, the good news is that these discussions will take place in the configuration you like.
In a future article, I’ll explain step by step how to prepare and conduct an interview.
When I started my own business, I experienced the difficulties I’ve just shared with you.
Naturally, or with a little effort, I found ways around them.
If I’m sharing them with you today, it’s because you’re going to find yourself in this situation, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re in trouble.
As an Autistic Asperger’s person, we have our own particularities, but they don’t prevent us from launching our business — quite the contrary.
The advantage that we neuro-atypicals have is that we know our weak points.
We know exactly what we need to work on.
