10 Neurodiversity Affirming New Year’s Resolutions, for Adults and Teens with ADHD, Autism, and/or Anxiety
New Year’s Advice from a Neurodiversity Affirming Therapist in bethesda, MD
The start of a new year often comes with pressure to reinvent yourself. If you are content with how things are, it’s OK to not make a change. Give yourself permission to simply keep doing what feels right to you. If you’d like to try something new but traditional resolutions feel overwhelming, here are 10 neurodiversity affirming options you might try instead. Not sure how to choose? Spin a spinner or roll some dice.
Whether you identify as autistic, are an ADHDer, a spoonie, or your very own kind of neurospicy, these resolutions are for you.
They are designed to be manageable, flexible, and neurodiversity-affirming.
They focus on support, sustainability, and self-compassion rather than willpower or perfection. Progress is defined by what improves your quality of life—not by how well you conform to external norms.
10 Neurodiversity Affirming Resolutions
Prioritize rest without guilt
Build one supportive routine (not a full schedule)
Use accommodations openly and consistently
Ask for what you need or want in one important relationship
Try something that you want to do but have been nervous about
Identify one person who seems to understand you, and unmask with them this week
Set boundaries around energy, not time
Redefine “productivity” as doing things that work for you.
Do one regulating or joyful activity every day
Check in with yourself regularly—and adjust
How to Make These Resolutions Stick with Your Neurospicy Mind
1. Prioritize Rest Without Guilt
Rest is not a reward for productivity—it is a biological need. Neurodivergent adults often experience higher cognitive and sensory load, making rest especially essential.
Tips for sustainability:
Redefine rest to include low-demand activities (quiet stimming, lying down, familiar media).
Schedule rest proactively rather than waiting for burnout.
Notice and challenge internalized beliefs that equate rest with laziness.
2. Build One Supportive Routine (Not a Full Schedule)
Rigid schedules can collapse under real-life variability. Instead of overhauling your day, focus on one small anchor routine.
Tips for sustainability:
Choose something already close to happening (e.g., a morning or evening transition).
Keep it short and flexible.
Allow the routine to evolve as your needs change.
3. Use Accommodations Openly and Consistently
Accommodations are tools, not shortcuts. Using them regularly reduces cognitive load and preserves energy.
Tips for sustainability:
Identify what genuinely helps (noise reduction, reminders, visual supports).
Practice using accommodations even on “good days.”
Release the idea that you must earn support.
4. Ask for What You Want or Need in One Important Relationship
Partners, friends, and family members aren’t good at reading your mind. They try, but the only way to really make them understand what you need is to tell them directly. That can be hard, especially if you feel like you don’t understand yourself.
If you’re not sure what you need, working with a neurodiversity affirming therapist can help you figure it out. Request an appointment with someone on our team here. If you’re working on connecting with a partner, our communication group for neurodiverse couples is starting in January.
Self-advocacy doesn’t have to be constant or confrontational. Start with one relationship where change would make a meaningful difference.
Tips for sustainability:
When you notice you need something, speak up in the moment rather than saving it for later.
If it isn’t the right time, write it down so you’ll remember what you need.
Set a daily or weekly check-in time to talk about the relationship so you don’t forget.
5. Try Something you Have Wanted to do but Have Been Nervous About.
Identify the fears that are stopping you. List strategies to cope with the anxiety. Practice using these strategies before trying the new activity.
Tips for sustainability:
Prepare scripts or written requests ahead of time.
Choose low-risk environments to practice.
Celebrate effort, not outcome.
6. Identify Someone who Seems to Understand You and Unmask with Them This Week.
The first part of this one might feel overwhelming. If you don’t yet know where to find people who understand you, you’ll have to search for that. It may mean looking for a group or message board focused on your interests or passions. And if that’s a lot, just searching is enough. You’ve taken a huge step!
If you already have someone in your life who understands you, spend a little more time showing that person your true self. It can feel great to unmask more often!
Tips for sustainability:
This one is set up as a one time task on purpose. Resolutions don’t have to be something you do every day.
If you like it, repeat it.
7. Set Boundaries Around Energy, Not Time
Energy is often more limited and variable than time. Planning based on energy can prevent overload and burnout.
Tips for sustainability:
Track which activities drain or restore you.
Communicate capacity using energy-based language.
Leave buffer space in plans whenever possible.
8. Redefine “Productivity” as Doing Things That Work for YOU
Neurodivergent productivity may look different—and that’s not a flaw. Value impact (on you), sustainability, and your well-being over output.
Tips for sustainability:
Acknowledge invisible labor (thinking, recovering, regulating).
Define success using your own values.
Let rest and maintenance count as meaningful work.
9. Do One Regulating or Joyful Activity Every Day
Regulation and joy are not extras—they are stabilizing forces. One reliable source of comfort or pleasure can significantly improve resilience.
Tips for sustainability:
Choose something accessible and low-pressure.
Engage without needing to “optimize” it.
Protect it from becoming another obligation.
10. Check In With Yourself Regularly—and Adjust
Your needs can change. A resolution that once helped may later stop working—and that’s information, not failure.
Tips for sustainability:
Schedule gentle self-check-ins (monthly or quarterly).
Ask: “What’s supporting me right now?” and “What’s costing too much?”
Give yourself permission to revise goals without guilt.
Next Steps
Sustainable change is built on compassion, flexibility, and respect for how your brain works. These resolutions are not about becoming someone new—they’re about creating conditions where you can function, rest, and thrive more fully as yourself.
You are allowed to move slowly. You are allowed to change your mind. And you are allowed to build a life that fits you. We look forward to helping you do it!
