Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed by your commitments and obligations, pull out this business jargon favorite!

“Bandwidth” refers to the the physical and mental limitation of your working ability. Because the inference of “bandwidth” goes beyond just “time,” it’s a great way to say you can’t take on something without doing damage to your image as a can-do-make-it-happen-team-player.

So when your boss comes to you with yet another project with yet another unreasonable deadline, don’t respond with, “I just don’t have time to get that done by Friday,” which subtly implies that you’re not willing to put in the extra hours to make it happen. 

Instead, tell her, “I don’t think I have the bandwidth to take on another project for this week.” This approach lets her know you’re committed, but already pushing yourself to the max.

And while you may be hesitant to tell your boss that you can’t help her with something, she’ll actually respect the fact that you know your own limits and don’t want to put a critical project at risk.