Any number of things can come along to mess up the order we create and topple our well-built boundaries. Such is life. The trick is to have an early warning system that sets off alarms long before we hit overwhelm. In the early 1900s, miners used to keep caged canaries with them to warn them if dangerous gases, such as carbon monoxide, reached lethal levels. If the canary keeled over, it was time to evacuate. What is the canary in your coal mine?   Learn more about Kristen Manieri and coaching: Kristen@kristenmanieri.com KristenManieri.com   Host Bio Kristen Manieri is a coach who works with teams to increase both productivity and wellbeing. She also helps individuals navigate transition with clarity and confidence. Her areas of focus are: stress reduction, energy management, mindset, resilience, habit formation, rest rituals, and self-care. As the host of the weekly 60 Mindful Minutes podcast, an Apple top 100 social science podcast, Kristen has interviewed over 200 authors about what it means to live a more conscious, connected, intentional and joyful life. Learn more at kristenmanieri.com/work-with-me.    Coaching If you’ve ever considered coaching, or if you’re feelings stuck or you’re about to make a big transition, reach out to me and we can talk about how I can help you navigate what’s ahead with more confidence and clarity. You can reach me at Kristen@kristenmanieri.com.   Full Transcript   Have an Alert System   Welcome to 60 Mindful Minutes. I’m Kristen Manieri, the host of this podcast as well as a professional coach. And you’re listening to part four of my end overwhelm series. So far I’ve covered understanding capacity, how to do less and how to say no more often. Today I’m going to be talking about having an alert system so we know when we’re getting close to overwhelm.   Once I know what matters and what doesn’t, and I’m chugging along nicely at 70 percent capacity, it’s only a matter of time before I slip up and start filling in the blank spaces and inching toward 100 percent capacity or beyond.   In my state of ease, I can fall prey to the inevitable tide of overcommitment that can easily roll in when I’m not paying attention.   The holidays arrive and I forget to leave room for all the doingness that goes along with special meals, events, gifts and traditions. A fun project comes my way and I giddily say yes to it before I fully calculate the cost/benefit. I start a course. I make a new friend. I embark on a new hobby. I read a book that inspires me to change the way I eat. We go on a trip. We get a dog. We start a renovation.   Any number of things can come along to mess up the order I’ve created and dislodge my perfect schedule and well-built boundaries. Such is life. The trick is to have an early warning system that sets off alarms long before I hit overwhelm.   In the early 1900s, miners used to keep caged canaries with them to warn them if dangerous gases, such as carbon monoxide, reached lethal levels. If the canary keeled over, it was time to evacuate.   What is the canary in your coal mine?   For me it’s when I drop my morning exercise, start skipping meals or wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts. Any of these three things warns me that I’ve got too much on my plate. I know that sleep, food and exercise are such essential aspects of my life that when they suffer, it’s a sign that I’ve let too many other things creep in.    Maybe for you it’s noticing when your anxiety starts to climb. Maybe you start pouring a little more wine into your glass than you normally do. Or you start yelling at the kids. Or you stop wanting to have sex. Or you start eating fast food or scarfing down chocolate bars or skipping your daily walk.   When we’re over capacity, the care we know we need often is the first to go. Ironically, it’s when we have a lot on our plates that we most need to be the fully resourced, yet it’s our fundamental needs—sleep, good food, breaks, movement—that often get set aside.