Questions to ask when you have too much work, and more comes in.

Question 1: When do you need it by?

All too often, the timeline: ASAP is assumed rather than clarified.

If we do ask this question, we also tend to take the answer as non-negotiable. And sometimes it isn’t negotiable. But often it is negotiable in some way, even if it doesn’t seem negotiable.

That’s when question 2 comes in particularly handy.

Question 2: What’s most important about this?

There’s a need that’s trying to be met and it might not be the one you think.

(This is where a shared strategic framework could be useful, to help you evaluate when new work should be treated as a higher priority than existing work.)

Understanding what matters a