In 2003, Christine Miserandio created “spoon theory” as a way to describe how she, and others living with chronic illnesses, needed to plan their days and futures with limited and unpredictable energy levels. Spoon theory has since become a well-established and popular metaphorical description of the ways in which energy levels can be unpredictable and management-intensive for those who live with chronic illness. It also is the foundation for the popular identity label of ‘spoonie’. While its prominence has at times been noted in academic literature, there is little (if any) discussion of what, conceptually, has made spoon theory resonate with so many people. This chapter is based on my digital enthnography of online chronic illness and disability communities and content, which was particularly focused on the social media platform Instagram. Inspired by this online content, I use spoon theory to think through the temporal dimensions of chronic illness as both an everyday reality and an existentially destabilising event. Further, I ask how the description of energy as existing in discrete allotments, which can be both taken away and replenished, destabilises normative conceptions of chronological time.