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Show your manager your workload and agree what comes off
You're drowning and your manager doesn't see it. Get everything on one page with real hours, and a conversation that ends with something taken off your plate.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Help me show my manager my workload and agree what comes off.
Everything I'm doing: [tasks, projects, regular jobs, with rough hours a week]
My contracted hours: [e.g. 37.5 a week]
Deadlines: [list]
What only I can do: [anything]
How it's affecting me: [e.g. late nights, mistakes]
Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.
Then:
1. A one-page table: task, hours a week, deadline, who it's for, and could it be stopped, delayed or passed on.
2. The total against my contracted hours, in one plain line.
3. A conversation plan: how to open, the ask ("which of these should I stop or delay?") and how to handle "just prioritise".
4. A follow-up email confirming what we agreed.
If it's affecting my health, remind me to talk to my GP and to read Acas's guidance (helpline 0300 123 1100, Mon–Fri 8am–6pm) on mental health at work. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English.
Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. tasks, projects, regular jobs, with rough hours a week: a short note you already have. e.g. 37.5 a week: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
The prompt · Copilot
Help me show my manager my workload and agree what comes off.
Everything I'm doing: [tasks, projects, regular jobs, with rough hours a week]
My contracted hours: [e.g. 37.5 a week]
Deadlines: [list]
What only I can do: [anything]
How it's affecting me: [e.g. late nights, mistakes]
Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers.
Then:
1. A one-page table: task, hours a week, deadline, who it's for, and could it be stopped, delayed or passed on.
2. The total against my contracted hours, in one plain line.
3. A conversation plan: how to open, the ask ("which of these should I stop or delay?") and how to handle "just prioritise".
4. A follow-up email confirming what we agreed.
If it's affecting my health, remind me to talk to my GP and to read Acas's guidance (helpline 0300 123 1100, Mon–Fri 8am–6pm) on mental health at work. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, dates or results. UK English.
Stay in this Copilot chat. Leave plugins off, and do not open a file from OneDrive.A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. tasks, projects, regular jobs, with rough hours a week: a short note you already have. e.g. 37.5 a week: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You brain-dump everything on your plate, with rough hours.
The assistant asks about deadlines, who it's for and what only you can do.
You get a one-page workload table, the conversation to have and a follow-up email.
What happens
Use Copilot to show your manager your workload and agree what comes off
You're drowning and your manager doesn't see it. Get everything on one page with real hours, and a conversation that ends with something taken off your plate.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Microsoft Copilot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
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