My First Capacity Map

Description

Most of us have never been asked what actually drains us, and what actually helps. We’re taught to push through, not to notice. Then a hard day arrives, your brain isn’t cooperating, and you can’t remember a single strategy that has ever worked, even though you know some have.

That’s what this tool is for. My First Capacity Map is a simple one-page reference you build once, on a good day, so a hard one doesn’t mean starting from zero. It isn’t homework or a rulebook, and there are no right answers. It’s somewhere to look instead of inventing a plan from scratch while you’re already overwhelmed.

It takes about five quiet minutes to fill in, and you can come back and change it whenever life shifts.

What’s inside
Six short boxes to fill in:

• My top two leak points: the moments or tasks that drain your energy fastest
• Trigger and regulator: what tips you into overload, and what calms you down
• My go-to strategy when stuck: what helps you start when a task feels boring, vague or frozen
• My minimum version system: the bare minimum set of habits to keep you grounded and functioning
• My phrase for asking for help: name the need, and name what would help
• One thing to remember about myself: something to return to the next time the self-critical voice starts up

This is for you if

• You’re ADHD, autistic or both, or you suspect you might be, with or without a diagnosis
• You’re in a season that’s already full, such as pregnancy, postpartum or perimenopause, and your usual coping strategies have stopped working
• You’re tired of productivity advice that assumes you just need more discipline

Good to know

• One-page PDF, set up so you can type straight into the boxes
• Save your own copy after you’ve filled it in. Typing and saving work best in a desktop PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat or Preview, and some phone and browser viewers don’t allow them.
• It prints perfectly if you’d rather write by hand, or keep a copy on the fridge
• A free tool from the Kind Brain Method™
• General information and self-reflection, not medical advice