See where the water stops.
Think of the brain's cognitive abilities as barrels and buckets: two barrels and seven buckets, all plumbed together into one system where everything flows. This page is meant to let you see how a brain can reach overload: what we call a bottleneck. When several areas run low at once, especially a barrel, since the barrels feed the buckets, the demands of a day can pile up faster than the system keeps pace, and that strain can show up as behavior. Think of this as a picture to reason with, not a formula: no fixed number of low areas predicts a meltdown, and overload is only ever one of several possible explanations for what you are seeing.
Check the vessels where you, or your child, run low, and watch the system respond. Know the levels already? Use the Bucket and Barrel Individual Profile or evaluation report. Don't have either yet? Start with what you see at the kitchen table. Then take The Fill Finder Questionnaire. It organizes what you see and points you to the guides that fit.
From the Bucket and Barrel Individual Profile, an evaluation report, or what you see at the kitchen table.
The system is flowing. Check a vessel to see what changes.