How can I push back if my workload is too much?

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.Q: How can I push back if my workload is too much?A: Count yourself as extremely lucky if you’ve never felt overburdened at work. This feels like a near-universal problem. There can be a lot of reasons why employees can end up with too big of a workload. Your company might be tightening finances and either cutting or not hiring enough staff. Maybe a colleague left and their workload has been redistributed. Maybe your manager just doesn’t have a realistic view of how long tasks take to complete or doesn’t know the full scope of what’s on your plate.Regardless of the reason, there are ways to push back if your workload is too much. Here’s some quick advice:1. Don’t feel guilty or lazy for saying no. Burning out is not only terrible for you and your health and well-being, it also makes you a less effective employee. If you take on too much work you are more likely to make mistakes or leave your job altogether. It’s better for everyone to set realistic expectations.

2. Make a detailed list. Yes, this seems like another time-consuming task but it’s worthwhile for both you and your manager. Make a list of all of your responsibilities along with the approximate time each takes. Don’t forget to account for how many hours of meetings you attend each week and the work grey area—how much time you spend answering emails and Slack messages or get pulled into solve issues or answer questions. It might help to track your time for a day or a week to get an accurate picture of where the hours go.

3. Suggest what can be cut and show the impact of what’s added. It’s always best to go to your boss with solutions and suggestions rather than just problems. Once you’ve made your list, look for places where things can be cut to make space for what’s being asked of you. If your boss wants you to create a new weekly report, show that it will actually take three more hours of your time and make suggestions on what you would have to cut out to allow for it. They will either view the new work as more valuable or have to come up with another solution.4. No is a complete sentence. This is the hardest part of setting boundaries, especially if you are a people pleaser. But you are saying no to burn out, to doing less than your best. You are saying no to letting work encroach on your actual life. You are saying no to the work—not the job and not your manager. It’s not personal.

Need more advice on how to push back on too much work? Here you go:

• How to push back against a boss who gives you too much work
• The right (and wrong) way to push back against an unreasonable boss
• How to say no and set better boundaries at work
• 5 secrets to dealing with too much work