How do you manage NOT getting overwhelmed with multiple workstreams due in a short time period? I’m a first-year who’s being told to make edits to several ongoing docs TODAY in advance of next week’s signing (fine) and have communicated capacity to ALL deal teams… but literally they keep adding work, and telling me basically “Understood - need this asap, will only take five mins to do.” (HA) It’s getting to a point where I’m making sloppy mistakes because they want things like yesterday.

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If you’ve told everyone you’re at capacity and they don’t care, all you can do is your best and prioritize in the order YOU know is appropriate based on actual urgency and hard deadlines such as when closings are. Everyone wants you to do their stuff first and demanding that when you’ve communicated your availability is bad management. At this point I just say “got it - I have a closing tomorrow and several items to turn for that before I’ll have time for this” if they still want you to do it then at least you were up front

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To do lists. I find it helps keeping the deadline anxiety at bay, because it gives a visual cue that you are actually getting things done. And the eisenhower matrix (do immediately/schedule/ if it only takes 2 minutes, do it right away, once you move up the ladder you can add delegation as well). Set boundaries. If they need something immediately, or only 5 minutes, tell them (nicely), that you would love to, but that they (not you.) have to check with the other supervisor(s) giving you immediate urgent work, before you can start, as you do not want to underdeliver - this most frequently works to reduce the urgency immediately.

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What everyone else said, plus I like blocking out my day. Spend one hour (or appropriate amount of time) on each matter to push out everything for that matter, then move into the next one.

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