2 Simple Steps to Manage Multiple Requests at Work Without Overcommitting

If you’ve ever juggled multiple managers, partners or clients you know the chaos that comes with it. 

It’s hard enough managing one person’s expectations, let alone multiple. You want to be reliable and helpful, but you also want to protect your workload (and your sanity). 

When you are the conduit to making work… well, work, every request can feel urgent. Everyone assumes their work should come first. And because you’re trying to be helpful, reliable, and professional, it can be hard to say no. 

High performers like you are often the ones juggling the most competing priorities. Not because you are bad at managing time, but because you’ve built a reputation for being dependable. You respond quickly. You deliver. You don’t complain. And over time, that reliability becomes a double-edged sword.

Managing one person’s expectations is hard enough in the workplace. Managing several? With different goals, timelines, and definitions of “urgent”? Makes your job impossible. 

What’s funny is that as hard working professionals (especially hard working female professionals), believe their only two options are either saying yes to everything or flat-out saying no. Neither feels right. One leads to burnout. The other can feel risky, especially in environments where gendered norms are… expectations. 

However, there’s a third option. It starts with being clear, transparent, and professional. 

First - are you clear on your priorities, workload AND bandwidth? 

Are you at your max capacity or can you take on work? Do you accurately know the scope of what you are being asked to do? Are timelines clear? 

Be sure you understand what is being asked of you and how you will manage each request/task/project/priority. 

Once you are clear on what is being asked of you, be transparent about what you are working on and what is already on your plate. It can look like this, 

“Hey xx, confirming receipt. I am currently working on xyz. When do you need this done by?”

Lastly, instead of taking boiler plate advice “just say no!”, here’s language I often recommend because it strikes that balance beautifully:

“Hey boss/client, I am happy to help with this project. I am currently working on [insert current task]. Do you want me to shift my focus to this other project instead? If so, let’s chat about updated timelines and expectations for everything I’m working on”

This simple template will allow you to do four strategic things.

a) It will acknowledge more work is being asked of you,

b) it will communicate what is already on your plate,

c) it will clarify which tasks need your attention first and

d) it will open up the conversation to reset expectations 

See how there’s no defensiveness? No apology? No justification spiral? You’re simply stating facts and timelines. That’s leadership communication, even if you’re not in a formal leadership role.

You are juggling a lot at work and as work becomes busier (because it inevitably will), it’ll bode well to understand your capacity and then communicate what is on your plate.