This free one-page worksheet prepares a priorities talk with your manager when you can't delegate. List this week's tasks with deadlines and hours, compare them with your hours, mark the clash, and write the one decision you need. Type into it on screen, print it or save the PDF. There's no account, and the page keeps nothing you type.
Key takeaways
- Five parts on one page: your tasks, your hours, the clash, the decision you need, and what you agreed.
- It turns "I have too much on" into one specific question your manager can answer.
- Readers and offices can print and share it freely; there's no account to create, and nothing you type is stored or sent.
Written byAditi Bajpai, M.A. Clinical Psychology · Coach at Ventoutt·Published Nov 15, 2026 · Updated Nov 15, 2026·Editorial policy
Fits on one side of US Letter. Free, with no account needed.
On this page: The right tool? · The worksheet · A filled-in week · When to fill in each part · Sharing it · Read more · Questions
Is a worksheet the right tool for your situation?
It's built for a workload conversation that may feel awkward but not unsafe. If your manager threatens you, harasses you, or punishes people who raise problems, don't plan this conversation yet: start with work stress, or something unsafe?.
It covers one conversation about this week's work. If the problem is being reachable at all hours rather than the amount of work, boundaries at work is the better place to start.
What do you fill in on the workload worksheet?
Part 1 · This week's work. Up to eight rows: task · who asked for it · when it's due · hours it needs · what you're waiting on · what happens if it slips. Count the unofficial jobs too: covering a shift, training someone, the report you took over.
Part 2 · The hours. Hours these tasks need · hours you actually have this week, after meetings, shifts and breaks · the gap between the two.
Part 3 · The clash. The tasks that can't all be done on time · what happens if each one slips (copied from Part 1).
Part 4 · What you need your manager to decide. Tick any that apply: ☐ Which of these comes first? ☐ Can this deadline move, and to when? ☐ Can someone else take this one? ☐ Can this be done to a simpler standard this time? Then your ask, in one sentence.
Part 5 · What you agreed (fill in afterwards). What comes first · what moves, and to when · what comes off your list or goes to someone else · how you'll confirm it, and by when · the date you'll check in again.
What might one filled-in week look like?
An illustrative example, made up for this page: a junior IT support technician in their first year.
| Task | Who asked | Due | Hours | Waiting on | If it slips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laptops for three new hires | Team lead | Monday 9 a.m. | 6 | Accounts from HR | New hires can't log in on day one |
| Shared-drive migration | IT manager | Tuesday | 8 | A maintenance window | Two teams lose access mid-week |
| Ticket queue | Everyone | Daily | 10 | Nothing | Tickets pile up |
| Help-desk training slides | IT manager | Thursday | 4 | Nothing | Training moves a week |
The hours: 28 needed · 20 available after meetings · 8 short.
The clash: the laptops and the migration both need Monday and Tuesday.
To decide: which comes first, and whether the slides can move.
The ask: "The new-hire laptops and the drive migration both need Monday and Tuesday. Which should come first, and can the training slides move to next week?"
Agreed (filled in afterwards): laptops first · migration moves to Thursday night · slides to next Tuesday · confirmation sent by email the same day · check-in on Friday.
When do you fill in each part of the worksheet?
- Parts 1 to 3 before you ask your manager for time.
- Part 4 just before the conversation: tick what you need decided and write your one sentence.
- Take the sheet with you, printed or on screen.
- Part 5 during the conversation or straight after it, while it's fresh.
What to say, how to handle "it's all urgent", and what to do if the answer brushes you off are in overwhelmed at work.
Can a campus office or HR team print or link to it?
Yes. A career center, an internship program, a student-affairs office or an HR or employee-assistance page may link to this page or straight to the PDF, and hand out printed copies to the people it works with; no permission needed. Please keep the wording and the credit line as they are, and don't charge for it. The printed sheet has a blank line for your office's own contact details.
Linking straight to the PDF works best: its address stays fixed, and it always holds the latest version.
Offices whose rules call for a named license can use it under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0, or CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, which covers both the PDF and printed copies. In short: share it in any format, credit Ventoutt, don't use it commercially, and don't pass on changed versions. Adding your office's contact details on the blank line is allowed under both.
Where can you read more before the conversation?
- The conversation itself, step by step, and what to do if it goes badly: overwhelmed at work
- When the issue is hours and availability, not the amount of work: setting boundaries at work
- Other kinds of work stress, from a new job to a difficult manager: the guide to work stress
Questions about the workload worksheet?
Is the workload worksheet free?
Yes. There's no sign-up, no email to give and nothing to pay.
Is anything I type saved?
Not by this page. Whatever you enter lives only in the open tab, and nothing reaches Ventoutt or anyone else; close the tab and it's gone. On a work laptop or office network, your employer may still be able to see the visit, and any file you save or print.
Can I use it if I work shifts?
Yes. In Part 2, use the hours on your schedule, and where hours don't fit a task, count it per shift instead: opening checks, restocking, training a new starter.
Is this a clinical tool?
No. It's a planning page written by Aditi Bajpai, a coach at Ventoutt, to get one week onto one sheet. Nobody has studied it as an intervention, and it isn't therapy.
When is a worksheet not enough?
If dread about work is there most days, or sleep, eating or getting yourself to work is slipping, start with when you're anxious about work every day. If you think it might be burnout, read is it burnout, or a hard stretch?. If someone at work is threatening or harassing you, read work stress, or something unsafe?. If you're thinking about ending your life, or you're in danger now, use the crisis options below.
If you need help now
If you are in the US and having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or need crisis support, call or text 988 or use 988 online chat. For an immediate life-threatening emergency, call 911. Outside the US, contact your local emergency or crisis service. Coaching, venting and a therapy waitlist are not emergency services.
See suicide prevention helplines for your countryThis worksheet comes from Ventoutt, a mental wellness platform for US young adults. Here's who Ventoutt is for. Nothing on this page is for sale.
Aditi Bajpai
Mental wellness coach at Ventoutt
Qualification: M.A. Clinical Psychology, India
Dedicated to bringing you authentic and helpful mental health content.
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