Why does coordinating across departments wear me out?
You do your own job well. Then your work touches another team, and the weight arrives. Messages pile up. Meetings multiply. You end the day feeling behind, though you worked hard. Look closer at what actually drains you. It is not the coordinating itself. It is the chasing — waiting on replies, guessing at other people's priorities, wondering if your message even landed. You are spending your strength on things outside your control. Here is what is yours: the clarity of your request, the timing of your follow-up, and your judgment about what deserves your attention today. Everything past that belongs to other people. Stop carrying what is not yours to carry.
You are not overwhelmed by the work. You are overwhelmed by trying to control what other departments prioritize, how fast they move, and whether they understood you. None of that is yours to command. Yours is the request you make, the clarity you give, and the boundary you hold. Choose those, and let the rest go.
What changes unlock by starting
- You send fewer requests, but each one is clear enough to act on.
- Your pod can name, without hesitation, who owns each handoff.
- You check messages on a schedule, not out of anxiety.
- Meetings shrink, because the ask was clear before anyone sat down.