Being Overcommitted at Work Is Not a Compliment

Extra work can feel like a compliment when it first lands on your desk. Someone says they need you because you know the context, move quickly, or can be trusted to get it done properly. You say yes because you want to help, but also because it feels good to be seen as capable.

For a while, it does look like recognition. You are looped into more conversations, given harder problems, and trusted with things that other people are not asked to handle. In a workplace where everyone wants to prove they are valuable, being asked for more can feel like evidence that you matter.

Then the pattern starts to feel different. The work keeps coming, but the role does not really change. The expectations rise, but the support does not. You are praised for being reliable, but nobody seems very interested in what all this extra responsibility is doing to your actual capacity.

They admire your ability to carry things, but they do not always stop to ask whether you should be carrying them in the first place.