From an anonymous contributor

The concept of "manageability" from the 12 Steps has been really helpful for me. My adult life always felt unmanageable, but before knowing how my brain works, I never really saw it as a thing that could be changed – I was just in reactive survival mode.

In the reconstruction of my "new life" post burnout / identification of my autism, manageability has felt like some sort of guiding force around which many things started coalescing – a bit like the chaos after the big bang slowly turned into planets by coalescing around centers of gravity. There are other guiding forces, too. But I have made a myriad of micro and macrochanges in my life to make it more manageable, creating systems to make things work for me – me specifically, not some abstract "universal" person. This has changed everything, from my life priorities, down to how I (don't) pair my socks (anymore).

Making myself comfortable was sort of an alien concept to me before. Manageability allows me to feel more in control of my life and aware of my patterns, and like I am a bit more able to make decisions rather than just dealing with whatever comes up. Manageability saves me a lot of energy and self-blame, and it encourages idealistic me to have a more pragmatic approach to things. It also reduces the stress of uncertainty about the future, by making things more sustainable. 20-year-old me would have thought it's boring, and I can't fully regret that – but now I actually find it more relaxing and honestly less harmful towards my own self. Manageability for me is a practical way to develop acceptance as well as sense of self and self-esteem.

Share questions:

• How do you compare manageability of your life pre and post identification (or questioning) of your autism?
• Is manageability a useful goal for you?
• Which aspects of your life are currently manageable, which aren't?
• What helps making things more manageable? Anything you thought would help, but didn't, or vice versa? Any perspectives, strategies, relationships?
• What is the relationship of manageability with self-esteem, self-acceptance, and satisfaction with your life, for you?
• Do things need to be predictable in order to be manageable, for you?
• Any tools, strategies, or resources that helped you?
• Anything else to add?