Your week, month, or maybe even quarter is already jam-packed with assignments and projects. Each time your manager approaches your desk, you cringe, wondering whatll be dropped into your lap next. Although you desperately want to scream “Enough already!”, you dont want to seem lazy or selfish. You have too much on your plate and simply need a more reasonable workload.
To be fair, many managers wont realize youre feeling overwhelmed and overworked until you voice your concerns. After all, theyre (hopefully) not hovering over your computer all day or keeping long lists of your every assignment. That means that if your plate is overflowing, you need to speak up to get things to change. Here are a few steps to take to tactfully tell your boss that you simply have too much work.
Being overwhelmed with work assignments is an unpleasant but common scenario. When your workload exceeds your capacity, it can quickly lead to burnout, errors, and missed deadlines. However, telling your boss you have too much on your plate requires finesse and care. Approach the conversation strategically to get support without conveying incompetence or a poor work ethic.
Schedule a Meeting to Discuss Workload
Don’t spring the conversation on your manager unexpectedly. Request a private meeting dedicated to discussing your workload. This shows respect for your boss’s time and allows them to prepare for the topic.
When requesting the meeting give a brief indication of the reason such as “I’d like to discuss my workload and make sure I’m balancing priorities effectively.” Offer several time options to accommodate their schedule.
Prepare What You Will Say
Plan what you want to communicate before the meeting. Make notes so your thoughts are organized. Prepare to:
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Describe specific challenges: What tasks are most overwhelming? What deadlines are unfeasible? Give concrete examples.
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Explain how workload affects your performance Is quality or timeliness suffering? Are you forced to cut corners? Give evidence work is impacted
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Share your commitment to doing excellent work: Express you want to produce your best work, not just check tasks off a list.
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Propose potential solutions: Come with suggestions for redistributing or prioritizing tasks that will set you up for success.
Provide Specific Examples
Back up your case by providing recent examples of unrealistic workloads. For instance, you might say:
“Last week, I was assigned three marketing briefs due on Friday. I ended up having to rush the reports, and the final documents had errors I normally wouldn’t make given adequate time.”
Quantifiable examples demonstrate you aren’t making vague, exaggerated claims about your workload. However, present examples objectively without placing blame or whining.
Focus on Your Work Experience
Shift the focus away from attacking your manager’s assignment strategy. Instead, describe how the excessive workload affects your ability to utilize your skills and produce quality work.
You might explain: “With so many short deadlines stacked up, I’m unable to do the kind of in-depth investigative work that I enjoy. I want to produce work you can be truly proud of.”
This constructive approach is more likely to motivate your boss to make changes.
Offer Thoughtful Solutions
Providing potential solutions demonstrates you are thinking critically about managing your workload, not just complaining. Propose:
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Ways to prioritize assignments so urgent work gets done first.
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Moving up timelines on projects when feasible so they don’t all collide at once.
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Divvying up tasks among colleagues with bandwidth to take them on.
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Removing redundant or low-value tasks from your plate.
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Instituting protected time for focused work.
Come with realistic solutions that show initiative.
Offer to Help in Smaller Ways
As part of the conversation, offer to take on responsibilities that aid your manager in indirect ways. For example:
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Volunteer to train new hires to lessen their workload.
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Suggest delegating some of your work to support staff.
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Recommend scalable systems like templates or shared files that reduce redundant work.
Even if you can’t take on more core projects, providing this type of help shows goodwill and a team-player attitude.
Consider Your Long-Term Goals
If an excessive workload persists despite your best efforts, reflect on your long-term career goals. Chronic overwork can stall professional development. Consider requesting:
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Taking on new types of projects to add diversity to your skills.
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Shadowing colleagues in roles you want to learn more about.
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Attending conferences or trainings to enrich your expertise.
If your job’s day-to-day prevents career growth, it may be time to move on.
Remain Calm and Professional
During the discussion, remain calm, polite, and solution-focused. Do not:
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Lose your temper or directly blame your boss.
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Appear insubordinate or unwilling to accomplish assigned work.
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Focus just on venting without offering solutions.
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Make exaggerated claims about workload rather than factual examples.
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Issue ultimatums about refusing work or immediately quitting.
With preparation and constructive solutions, you can have a productive conversation about managing your workload. Setting realistic expectations will help prevent job burnout and allow you to produce your highest quality work. Though an awkward conversation, being transparent about workload issues early prevents bigger problems down the road.
Step 1: Seek advice
Before having a conversation with your manager about the amount of work you have, find someone you trust. A second opinion can be extremely insightful, whether its from a co-worker, a family member, or a friend.
Be honest with them — and yourself. Ask questions like “Is this timeline realistic?” and “Am I managing my time correctly?” The goal is to challenge yourself and gain an outsiders perspective to determine if youre truly overworked. Sometimes, the unfortunate fact is that youre just going to have to work more than youd like. Its when work starts to disrupt your work life balance that this becomes an issue.
If at the end of this trusted conversation you find you really are overworked, chat through ways to remedy the issue yourself. If youve already tried every trick in the book (or on Google), youll want to continue to step two.
Step 2: Host an honest sit-down
If youve done everything you can to alleviate your excessive workload but are still drowning in assignments, its time to consult with your manager. Schedule a time for the two of you to catch up.
To prepare, outline your list of assignments. A quick word of warning when doing this: Dont be petty. You dont need to include the built-in responsibilities of your day like checking emails or responding to Slack messages — everyone has to do that. Simply list your assigned tasks.
During this meeting, be honest and seek guidance. Ask your manager to help you prioritize. Are there certain deadlines that are more important than others? Is a client expecting one project before another? This will help you map out a plan of attack and feel more confident moving forward with your workload.
How To Tell Your Boss You’re Stressed (Without Seeming Like a Whiner)
How do I Tell my Boss I have too much work?
When telling your boss that you feel like you have too much work, it’s helpful to remain calm. Remember to take deep breaths before your conversation and to speak slowly to increase your confidence. Referencing your prepared notes or outline when talking to your boss can help you stay on track and work toward your agenda for the meeting.
Should you ask your boss if you’re working too much?
Once your boss knows that you’ll most likely agree to every request, it can become a bit too convenient for them to ask you—and an easy way for them to handle the extra workload. Too much work can lead to your becoming overwhelmed or burned out, though, which is stressful and bad for your health.
Is your boss too busy?
Therefore, take a break from work overload and plan out an easy solution. Get down to basics and say it straightforward: you have too much work so that you can do only some of it. We understand that your boss might be too busy, and you might feel overwhelmed in ways more than one. But it is essential to tell them beforehand to know what to expect.
What should you do if your boss gives you too much work?
Throughout your conversation with your supervisor, avoid being negative. The idea is that you don’t want to complain but rather to inform your manager about the situation. Stay away from criticizing your boss for giving you too much work and also avoid the temptation to compare your workload with that of other people.
