The Spoon Room On Zoom
You sleep a full night and still wake up tired, and work that used to be easy now takes twice as long. Burnout: Recover Your Spoons is a monthly session in the Spoon Room, Jason Hottel’s Zoom room for leaders, business owners and professionals who are burned out or getting close to it. The Spoon Room meets on the second Monday of every month at 9 AM, Pacific Time. Registration required,
Jason Hottel teaches one burnout skill each month. Spoon budgeting uses the energy envelope method developed by Dr. Leonard Jason at DePaul University. People rate today’s energy from 0 to 100 and then rate what their workday and plans will cost on the same scale. In a 2013 study of 47 healthy college students, breathing at 5.5 breaths per minute produced the highest heart rate variability of the four patterns tested. Jason also leads EFT tapping on thoughts about work that keep repeating. People learn how to use their intuition to figure out what is needed on a given day.
Jason opens with a spoon count. People type a number in the chat without explaining it. He teaches the month’s skill, and the group practices it together. People can send questions ahead of time to [email protected] or ask them live. One volunteer can bring a question for Jason to answer with his intuition. Nobody is required to speak. Jason closes by offering Reiki to everyone who wants to receive it. Cameras are optional.
Jason will open up the room 10 minutes BEFORE the event starts. Jason Hottel is a psychic and intuitive healer in Santa Cruz with roughly six years of paid experience as an intuitive reader and energy healer.
Jason’s spoon flyer is a free download at withthefluff.com/spoons, made to equip those who wish to know more about spoons. Jason Hottel can be found at [email protected], (831) 201-2380 (text only) or withthefluff.com/spoons.
The Spoon Room opens the second Monday of every month, at 9 AM PST, Registration is Required. https://luma.com/eu2lna7s
What Is Spoon Theory?
Spoon Theory is a way of describing the limited energy a person has for daily life, where each spoon represents one portion of that energy. Christine Miserandino introduced Spoon Theory in a 2003 essay describing a conversation in a restaurant with a friend who asked what living with lupus was like. Miserandino gathered spoons from nearby tables and handed them to her friend. She then took one spoon away for each task in an ordinary day, such as washing her hair or standing on a train, to demonstrate that her energy was limited and that every day required careful planning. Her original essay, “The Spoon Theory,” is available through Lymphoma Action, reproduced with permission.
Spoon Theory is most closely associated with people living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, particularly invisible disabilities. Many identify as “spoonies,” a label that has helped build support communities. Others have adopted the metaphor to describe anxiety, depression, and the exhaustion of caring for a newborn.
Some people in the disability community see the wider use of spoons as appropriation. Writer Naomi Chainey addressed this concern in her 2016 article, “Stop appropriating the language that explains my condition.” Her criticism focuses on people without disabilities using the term to describe ordinary fatigue or temporary mental exhaustion, potentially trivializing the experiences of people living with chronic limitations. However, conditions such as anxiety and depression can themselves be chronic and disabling. The concern is not simply who uses the metaphor, but whether its original meaning is being overlooked.
I learned about Spoon Theory while working with people on the spectrum. I created the spoon flyer because I am a below-the-knee amputee, have other chronic pain issues, and identify as being on the spectrum.
The Spoon Room is open to a wider range of people, including leaders, business owners, and caregivers who are burned out or getting close to it. In a 2026 survey of 1,000 current and former small business owners and managers by Patriot Software, 53.5 percent said they lose sleep over their business at least a few times a week, and 42.2 percent described themselves as exhausted but still believing in entrepreneurship.
People in that state may plan each day around energy they no longer have, even without a chronic illness. Although burnout and chronic illness are not the same experience, the spoon metaphor can help people recognize when their available energy is being exceeded. I use spoons to help them plan around that energy, and Christine Miserandino’s original essay stays linked on this page so everyone who learns about spoons here also learns that she created Spoon Theory to describe living with lupus.
People who want help with their own spoons can book A Practical Reboot, a 60-minute session by phone or video for getting unstuck. I work with the body and the nervous system to find what’s actually driving the problem, then we build 2-3 changes for the coming week, sized to real life. Within a day I send a short plain-language guide covering whatever we used, so the work continues without me. A Practical Reboot is $150 on Ko-fi at Practical Reboot (1:1). Anyone can email me at [email protected] or text (831) 201-2380 with questions first. If money is a mitigating factor, message me first. The free spoon flyer on this page is there for anyone who wants to share spoon theory with the people around them.