I Have a Light Workload and I Simply Can’t Handle It

 

“Struggling With Not Drowning

 

Dear Work Friend,

 

I began a new job a little under a year ago, and I really don’t have enough to do. I’ve let my supervisor know that I have bandwidth to take on more projects, and he’s done his best to give me some, but on many days, I find myself at a loss. When I’m working remotely, I use my time to walk the dogs, do laundry, run errands, etc., while still meeting and exceeding expectations for my role, but I don’t feel good about it or fulfilled.

 

My previous job was the opposite. There was always more work than I could complete, a sense of constantly putting out fires, doing just an adequate job on things. The burnout was real.

 

My husband tells me I should be grateful and quiet and take advantage of the free time I have, given that my first performance review was strong, and that my colleagues all seem to have a similar light workload. But I’m struggling! Should I begin looking for another position within the organization that might be more challenging and fulfilling? Should I bring up my concerns more strongly with my supervisor? Or should I learn to accept and take advantage of a light workload, a great team and generous benefits?

 

— Anonymous

 

Your husband is right. If you’re really so bored at work, surely there are some websites you could browse, high school acquaintances you could lightly stalk, arguments you could start on social media, short-form videos you could consume? Wouldn’t that give you a nice sense of fulfillment and accomplishment?

 

I’m kidding (sort of), but I do think your spouse is onto something. You’re meeting your obligations, fitting in with workplace culture, have asked your supervisor for more responsibility — and have received direct feedback that you’re doing a good job. Why are you so eager to make your life harder?

 

Yeah, it’s good to be a go-getter, and to pursue meaningful work. But my guess is that the problem is not that you’re “underutilized” so much as that you’ve lost sight of what “the right amount utilized” looks like.

 

As you know, overwork is a direct route to burnout, and a strong organization and good manager will allocate tasks and determine workloads to avoid it.

 

Your experience being overutilized at your previous job seems to have primed you (and your nervous system) to expect a taxing workload and pervasive tension, to the extent that you maybe associate “career fulfillment” with “unceasing labor,” if not “constant anxiety.” In which case it must be kind of bewildering to not be totally stressed out all the time!

 

But imagine how much more fulfilling — and much longer — your career might be if you had the capacity to relax at work, recharge your battery and walk a dog or two. (I’d bet your husband, who was probably acutely aware of how strained and anxious your previous job made you, is basing his advice on the same instinct.)

 

None of this is mutually exclusive to pushing your supervisor to assign more work, or seeking out a new position that gives you a bit more of a challenge. As I said, it’s good to be a go-getter. But I’d think of those as secondary business to your main tasks: one, your actual job and, two, getting out of your own way to enjoy a less stressful life.” [1]

 

1. I Have a Light Workload and I Simply Can’t Handle It: work Friend. Read, Max.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Jul 5, 2026.