---
url: https://www.adoptionlab.ai/change-cup/
title: "Change Cup check-in: a free change-load card | AdoptionLab.AI"
description: "Six questions to check your own change load before one more change spills over. Free to print and share."
generated: 2026-11-07T16:21:35.134Z
---Free tool
# Is my cup full?
A 5-minute Change Cup check-in
You can't pour more water into a cup that's already full. Change works the same way: when your cup is full, one more change spills over into stress, mistakes, and lost focus. Use this check-in when a new change lands, or once a week during a busy stretch.
Print the card [Ask for printed cards](mailto:mhumer@adoptionlab.ai?subject=Card%20request%3A%20Change%20Cup%20check-in&body=Organization%3A%0AHow%20many%20cards%3A%0AMailing%20address%3A%0AHow%20did%20you%20hear%20about%20the%20card%3F%0A) [Email it to a colleague](mailto:?subject=Change%20Cup%20check-in&body=Worth%20a%20look%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adoptionlab.ai%2Fchange-cup)
For you, during any change
## Is my cup full?
A 5-minute Change Cup check-in
- 1 What's in my cup right now? My work, my life, and every change. Count the change as real work.
- 2 How much room is the worry taking? Sort what I know from what I assume.
- 3 Do I see any early signs? Less done on long days, snapping at people, skipping paperwork, pulling back, feeling worn out.
- 4 What's my trade? One thing to stop, pause, shrink, or hand off. Bring it to my manager.
- 5 What is my one off-hours boundary? One I can keep, that the people around me know about.
- 6 What question would swap a guess for a fact? Ask it this week.
AdoptionLab.AI
The people side of quality improvement
adoptionlab.ai/change-cup
## How to use it
### Name the dip early
Give your team simple words for it, like "My capacity is strained this week." A small dip flagged early beats a crisis later.
### Bring a trade, not just a problem
Managers can say yes to "pause the monthly report for six weeks" much more easily than to "I have too much going on."
### Keep the boundary for two weeks
Say it out loud, then hold it. Rest is part of the work, not a reward for finishing it.
## Why it matters
Cups rarely overflow all at once. The level creeps up, and the early signs are easy to miss when everyone around you is busy too. A worn-out worker is a warning about the work setting, not a verdict on the person.
## Go deeper, free
Managing Your Own Change Journey is a free, self-paced course, roughly 35 minutes, no sign-in. See what fills your Change Cup, spot the early signs, offer your manager a trade, protect your time off, and build your own one-page Change Cup plan.
[Start the free course](https://campus.adoptionlab.ai/free/managing-your-own-change-journey)
## More free tools
- [End of Every Meeting Five questions for the last five minutes of any meeting.](/meetings)
- [Who's on this change? A one-page role check so nobody assumes someone else has it.](/roles)
- [Where is each person? A quick read on where each person is in a change, and what helps.](/stages)
- [People-side starter Five questions to start the people side of any QI project.](/starter)
- [Leading Through AI Five things leaders need to know about AI, and a first step for each.](/leading-through-ai)
## Running a quality improvement project?
We help QI teams with the people side of change. [See how it works](/quality-improvement), or [set up a 30-minute call](/contact).