It’s easy to lose track of the time you spend on remote work, especially if you don’t have the typical 9 to 5 shift. Before you know it, you’re punching in 60 hours a week! Be careful, because the fatigue will eventually catch up to you and your body will reach its limits.

But sometimes, your employer won’t realize you’re overworked unless you voice your concerns. Understandably, expressing yourself openly is nerve-wracking. An honest comment about your workload could be taken as a complaint thereby earning you a label as a whiner.

And you don’t want that.

This doesn’t change the fact that you have to let your client know that you’re feeling strained. If you’re worried about how to get your point across without sounding like you’re just being lazy, allow us to share some tips.

Ask for advice

Consult someone you trust, be it a fellow remote assistant, a close friend, or a family member. The goal of this conversation is to find out if you’re managing your time correctly if timelines are reasonable enough and more. Make sure you’re not turning this into a bigger deal than it actually is.

Sometimes, you may have to work more than what you’re comfortable with. It becomes an issue when your workload starts affecting your personal life or health. An outsider’s perspective helps you determine if you’re really overworked (or not) and if there are ways to fix the issue on your own.

Loosen up

It’s possible you’re being too hard on yourself which is why you’re feeling overwhelmed. Asking for some reprieve doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. Turning down a request will not reflect badly on you. In fact, these raise your credibility as it shows you’re aware of your capabilities and limits.

Admitting that you can’t handle everything that’s been assigned to you may feel uncomfortable but it’s the right thing to do for your employer. When you’re unable to meet expectations because you’re suffocating from the workload, you affect the whole team or business.

Set an appropriate time

Once you’ve determined that you really have too much going on, you’re ready to schedule an honest sit-down with your client. Staff meetings or weekly reports are not the right time or place to blurt out your problems. These should be addressed in a one-on-one meeting when your employer is available.

Examine how the business is doing before asking for a one-on-one. You’ll likely receive a negative response during a period of crisis, or when the company is busy with a huge project. You’ll want to have the talk when you’re sure they can give you their undivided attention and a proper solution.

State the specifics

Offer a detailed explanation as to why you feel overburdened. Coming to your employer with a vague comment about your lack of sleep or experiencing a chaotic home situation isn’t going to work in your favour. They may take it as small talk or ignore it altogether.

Cite instances when you felt overwhelmed with the workload. For example, you could mention how certain tasks require a lot of time-consuming research. You could talk about how managing a team means you’ll need to spend hours training new workers and won’t be able to focus on other duties.

Know your priorities

Organise your assignments according to their deadlines. Ensure this list is easily accessible and keep it updated weekly or daily. Share your schedule with your client so they’ll see what’s currently on your plate. Doing so will help them determine if you can handle more or not.

If they give you another task, ask where it should fit into your ongoing projects and if it takes precedence over your current one. They may still assign it to you but may set a later deadline so you have breathing room. This is also a subtler way to tell your client you’re starting to feel overloaded.

Offer solutions

Don’t expect your client to make your work magically disappear; it’s not gonna happen. Instead, prepare a solution before presenting your problem. When consulting someone (see tip #1), you should’ve thought of at least one possible solution for lightening your load. This is the time to discuss it with your employer.

By doing this, you’re showing that you’ve thought things through and attempted to fix it yourself. You’ll come off as proactive and someone who’s thinking what’s best for the business. Your client will be more likely to take your concern seriously this way.

Let them decide

Never demand for fewer tasks, more people to help you, or long holidays. Forcing your client to do something won’t necessarily ease your burden. Consider the following possibilities:

• Having new hires could mean the additional work of training them.
• Fewer tasks could lead to your position becoming redundant.
• Long holidays will equate to less pay.

Present your concern about your workload in a polite manner so they’ll take it as a request than a demand. Allow your client to think over the solutions you’ve offered and respected their decision. The option they ultimately choose maybe even better than what you originally thought up.

Parting Thoughts

Don’t jump straight to talking to your client when feeling overworked. Introspection is key, along with strategic thinking. When you carefully plan what you say and how to say it, you increase the odds of getting the best outcome for reducing the workload – or at least managing your stress.