Use These Scripts to Talk to Your Boss When You Are Overwhelmed With Work.
Being productive and hardworking doesn’t mean you have to settle for an unreasonable workload. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here’s what to tell your boss to help you prioritize and prevent burnout.
It can be difficult to know exactly what to tell your boss in order to get his help. Alison Greene, writing for Ask the Manager , offers some specific scenarios that you can use.
Say, “I can do A and B, but not C. Or, if C is really important, I would like to take A off my plate to make room for it. On the other hand, I can act as Jane’s C advisor, but I cannot do the C job myself if I also do A and B. “
If your manager refuses to make these choices and compromise, you need to keep pushing the issue. Say, “I heard you want this to be done, but since I can never get to all of this, I want to make strategic choices about how I should structure my time and make sure we I agree with you with this choice. ” If he still doesn’t help (which may be the case; some people are not good at this kind of thing), then come up with your own suggestion of what you are going to do and what not to do, and give it to him.
This straightforward style works best if you have a good relationship with your boss, so if you don’t, try turning statements into questions. For example: “I have the letters A, B and C on my plate. Which two do you think are the best to prioritize? “
From there, you can talk to your manager about a reasonable time frame for each project. When someone tries to add something new to you while you are still working on A and B, let them know that your priority is A and B and that you can fulfill their request by a certain date. If your boss offers you something new, ask him to change priorities again: “Last week we agreed that A and B were priority. How to compare D (new project)? “
You know best which approach will suit your boss. The goal is to enlist their help so that you can complete everything in the proper order without crashing into the ground.
Help! My workload is too high and I’m burning out | Ask the manager