The Spoons & Sparks Matrix

The Spoons & Sparks Matrix: A New Way to Understand AuDHD Energy

Spoon Theory changed how so many of us talk about energy and capacity. It gave language to something chronic illness and disability communities always felt but rarely had words for - that energy is finite, and every task costs something, even the ones that look small from the outside.

But living in my own AuDHD skin since my diagnosis, I realised spoon theory alone wasn't capturing my full experience. There's a second currency running alongside energy for those of us who are both autistic and ADHD - dopamine. And these two currencies don't always move together.

So I developed the Spoons & Sparks Matrix - a tool that maps energy (spoons) and dopamine (sparks) at the same time, rather than treating energy as the only variable.

What it identifies:

The matrix maps four states:

Flow - high spoons, high sparks. Energy and interest are aligned. This is when things feel sustainable and good.

Stalled - high spoons, low sparks. The energy is there, but nothing sparks it into action. This isn't laziness - it's executive function struggling to initiate without a dopamine hook.

Overdraft - low spoons, high sparks. This is the state I see most often in AuDHD clients, and the one that matters most. Interest is so strong it completely overrides the body's depletion signals. You don't feel the crash coming because the dopamine is masking the exhaustion, right up until it isn't.

Shutdown - low spoons, low sparks. Both currencies are empty. This is the body and brain both asking to stop.

What it helps with:

Once you can name which state you're in, you can respond to it differently. Someone in Stalled doesn't need to force willpower - they need a dopamine hook, novelty, or body doubling. Someone in Overdraft needs to recognise the pattern before it becomes Shutdown, because by the time exhaustion is finally felt, the damage is often already done.

This is why "just rest when you're tired" rarely works for AuDHD brains. When we're deep in hyperfocus, we may not feel tired even when our spoons are critically low. The crash feels sudden. It rarely is.

The Spoons & Sparks Matrix is now part of The Facets Programme, used in session to build genuine self-awareness around this pattern - not to eliminate it, but to help you make informed choices instead of unconscious ones.

If this resonates with how your own brain works, I'd love to explore it with you.