Bring your manager a clear view of your tasks and the time the change will take, then ask what can move or what support is available.
If a change has added more work than your schedule can hold, gather your recurring tasks, deadlines, and a realistic estimate for the new work before you meet with your manager. You can approach that conversation through Make Their Day by noticing what your manager needs to understand and taking the sincere action of making the workload visible, so you can work toward a solution that leaves everyone better off.
How can I make the conversation useful?
In FISH!, Make Their Day can shape the discussion by helping you consider everyone affected by the workload, not just the request itself. Explain which commitments you want to protect, ask which priority can shift, and agree on support or a revised deadline; that makes the plan more workable for you, your manager, and the people who depend on your work. For example, if a new report takes three hours each week, ask whether a lower-priority report can pause, a deadline can move, or a teammate can help. A specific thank-you afterward, especially for help removing a barrier, keeps the exchange human without pretending the extra work is easy.
What should I do next?
Write down the agreed plan and check it after a week. If the work still cannot fit, bring the actual hours and missed priorities back to your manager rather than absorbing the strain silently.
Questions like this one, and many more about burnout and workload, are explored in the FISH! Philosophy upgraded trial, which gives your team 30 days of access to the FISH! film and its digital guides.
