How do I tell my manager I can't take on more work?
You came in with something specific to raise. Before you get a word out, there's already another task on the table — that's often how it goes with a manager who reads hesitation as bandwidth.
Saying "I can't take a third project" out loud for the first time in the actual meeting is a hard way to find your footing. Rehearsing it first — including the part where they push back — means you're not improvising the boundary in real time.
You're running three projects in parallel and the quality is slipping. You booked a 1:1 to lay it out. But the first thing she says when you walk in is to hand you another task — that's her usual opener.
Eudaimon is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This isn’t therapy and it isn’t a script to memorize — it’s a private space to try out what you might say before you say it for real.