Coach Haritosh Srivastav shares three ways to say no to extra work. Tell them your plate is full and name someone else who could do it. Offer to revisit it in two weeks. Or ask your manager to pick your top three priorities for the next two weeks.
You already piled up with the work, but somebody gives you more work. How can you refuse? Here are 3 techniques that you can use to push back when your workload is already full. Technique number 1, you mention about your workload. So you can say, hey, thank you so much for considering me, but I can see my plate is already full, so I won't be able to take that. Maybe talk to Mr. X. Technique number 2, give them a future timeline. So you can say something like that, hey, thank you so much for considering me for this work, but right now my plate is full. Maybe we can reconnect after a fortnight, after a couple of weeks. And number 3, don't miss this one because if it comes from your manager, you might not be able to avoid. If your manager comes and gives you some work, thank you, Mr. Manager, for giving me this work. I would like to understand the priority because there's already so much in my plate. Which is the 3 items that you want me to focus for next 2 weeks? What happens in all the 3 scenarios? You are being honest. You are telling them that you have a lot of workload, but also giving them an alternative. Alternative in terms of another person, another time, or choosing whatever is the highest priority. For more communication tips, follow Coach Haritosh Srivastav.
