Deadlines can feel unrealistic if we’re also juggling lots of other demands on our time.
If you’re at capacity and your manager sets an unrealistic deadline, here’s a very helpful framing exercise you can do in response.
Make it a problem-solving exercise with your manager.
You can do this by asking the question:
“What would you like me to stop doing to prioritise this task?”
This will help your manager understand how capacity constrained you are, and it will force them to reflect on the most valuable use of your time (rather than expecting that you will go ahead and get everything done to an adequate standard).
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