“I’ve been really busy” is a genuine feeling, but it isn’t enough to help collaboration. Break “busy” apart when you talk: things already committed to, requests not yet confirmed, non-compressible recovery time, and the options that must be dropped. Judging whether commitments are overloaded isn’t only about hours and intensity — it’s also about whether they’re sustainable over the long term.

Prepare Your Own Feelings

First, each person makes “busy” concrete. You don’t need to write an essay — just list four things: the two or three most important items this cycle, the next step for each, existing commitments, and ad-hoc requests that might compete for attention.

  • Lately, is your schedule loose or tight? Have you been working overtime in a row?
  • Besides business work, do you still have time for the things you want to do? (entertainment, exercise, leisure, tech)
  • With your current hours and intensity, do you feel comfortable, or already strained?
  • Besides the tasks themselves, what else is taking your energy? (information overload, ad-hoc interruptions, waiting on collaboration)
  • How do you see the team’s overall (everyone’s) investment of time and energy? Is it sustainable?

Points to Discuss

When you talk, start from a real commitment rather than “Are you tired?” — it’s more useful. The questions below follow the order “break busy apart → discuss trade-offs → discuss direction.”

  • What are you currently committed to? Which one needs uninterrupted focus this week to move forward?
  • If a new request came in today, which existing commitment would have to make way?
  • Lately, have there been any time-management problems raised by others or noticed by yourself?
  • Is your planning too one-directional or thin? After working on one direction for a while, what new directions would you like to try?
  • What’s your view of the team’s current investment of time and energy? What problems do you see in the team?
  • Looking at the team from another angle, what problems would you still like to raise?
  • Given the company’s current pace, what’s your thinking on work-life balance — eat properly when you eat, sleep properly when you sleep?

A concrete conversation template:

I’m currently committed to A and B; A needs uninterrupted focus before Wednesday. Now C has come up; if C must start this week, we need to decide whether to push B back, narrow C, or ask someone else for help.

This isn’t refusing work — it’s honestly asking for a trade-off. The person responding doesn’t have to agree right away either: first ask when it needs to be decided by at the latest, what happens if it isn’t handled, and whether it just needs a fifteen-minute judgment call. Commitments need a deliverable and a deadline, not a vague “I’ll take a look.”

Venting and Feedback

  • I feel like I’ve been pushed too hard lately; I can’t keep up.
  • I’ve taken on too many things; I can’t finish them all, I’m about to explode.
  • Some things really don’t need to be that urgent — they’re just being rushed along by the pace.
  • I hope you can give clearer priorities, rather than everything being important.
  • And ______ (blank space — fill in what you want to say)

Saying no, renegotiating, and asking for clarification are normal collaborative moves — don’t treat response speed as the only evidence of engagement, and don’t dress up chronic overload as a sense of responsibility.