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HELLO,

It was hot and then cold last week and like the weather I am confused about what is going on!!!

I hope you had a restful weekend, I took my weekend up a notch and went to a lifting clinic with a friend who has been encouraging me to lift heavier. Yes, I’m a gym girly. I need somewhere to get out all my pent up frustrations about work. 😈 The power cleans crushed my lats so if you need me I will not be lifting my arms up for the foreseeable future. 

Things are are def in my future though: 

📺 THIS WEEK's HR Therapy is inspired by how sick we are of hearing about AI. So we’re pulling back the curtain on some research of how HR leaders REALLY feel, how they’re leveraging AI and other data you neeeeed to know about the impacts and use cases of AI. 

🎧 S12 of the pod is back!!! The incredibly funny and real Keisha Toussaint joins me on the pod this week and we talk about a major first in her career. You do not want to miss this episode because I guarantee you’ve been in the same situation Keisha and I discuss. 

Okay nowwww onto today, how do you actually have a convo about doing “too much” in an effective way?? I gotchu!

✨ Don't forget: You can always vent, celebrate a win, or find support in Safe Space

✨ Don't forget: You can always vent, celebrate a win, or find support in Safe Space

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HR'S ROLE

Last week I assigned you homework to map your job to prepare you for this week. 

Because this week is all about the FRAMING. 

You have too much on your plate, okay what are we going to do about it??

Here's the thing: you can't just walk into your next 1:1 with your CEO or manager and say "I have too much work." That's not the move and it will probably get you a shrug and a "yeah, we're all stretched thin" and absolutely nothing will change. 🙃

➡️ What WILL get you somewhere? Connecting your work to the business.

So before you say a single word to anyone, I want you to sit with two big questions:

More homework, I know!!!

1. What are the actual business goals right now? Not the vague "grow revenue, retain talent" stuff. The real ones. What is leadership obsessed with this quarter? What keeps your CEO up at night? What did the board just ask about? Get specific.

2. How does your HR work directly support, or move, those goals? Go back to your workload list from last week. For each thing you're spending time on, ask yourself: does this help us hit a business goal?

Some of it will. Some of it won't, and that's okay! There is work that has to happen regardless. Compliance. Benefits admin. Keeping the HR machine running. That's the "keep the lights on" category, and it's real and valid.

But it's different from the work that is actively building something.

The goal here is to walk into the conversation with a clear map: 

• Here's what I do
• Here's what it's for
• Here's what actually moves the needle.

That framing is everything and will set you up to have a successful convo where things CAN and WILL actually change.

Okay. You've done the prep. 

Now let's talk about framing the conversation itself. Buckle up because this is the hard stuff! 

📣 First: THIS IS NOT A VENTING SESSION.

I know!!! I know you're exhausted. Same. I know you've been doing the work of three people since that last reorg. Also same.

But walking in frustrated and unloading is not going to get you what you need. What you need is to walk in like a strategic partner, because that's what you are. 

The reframe here is HUGE. 

Instead of "I have too much on my plate" → try "I want to make sure we're investing my time in the right places."

Instead of "I can't do all of this" → try "Here's how I see my work mapping to our priorities and here's where I want to pressure-test that with you."

See the difference? One sounds like a problem. The other sounds like a strategic convo. 

This is the time to set expectations accordingly!! 

It’s your chance to be honest about: 

• What's in the "critical for the business" bucket 
• What's in the "keeping the lights on" bucket 
• What might not need to be on anyone's plate at all

Genuinely, some things just need to die. Let them go!!!! I’m not going to plan that random trivia night. 

This conversation is all about positioning.

📣 Positioning yourself as someone who thinks about the work strategically is going to change not only your workload but how others perceive you at work. 

Okay, let’s get technical for a sec. I want to actually script out what this convo could look like!

Here's a loose script to work from, not word for word but you can use this as your skeleton.

It’s 4 parts and easy to map out ahead of time to guide you live when you are talking. It’s okay to have a script, this is sometimes a VERY frustrating convo to have and you want to have a script to anchor you if/when things go sideways. 

1) Open with the business, not yourself. Don't lead with your workload. Lead with the goals. It signals immediately that this is a business conversation, not a HR-person-needs-something conversation. 

Ex: "I wanted to carve out some time to make sure the work I'm prioritizing is actually mapped to what matters most for us right now, can you help me pressure-test that?" 

✅ Simple, strategic, and you've already made them a collaborator instead of an audience.

2) Walk through your map. This is where last week's homework pays off!!! "When I look at where my time is going, I see a few buckets, some work is directly tied to our business goals, some is keeping the lights on, and honestly there's some stuff I want to talk through because I'm not sure it's the highest and best use of anyone's time." 

✅ Buckets are digestible and show you’re thinking critical about the work you’re doing. 

3) Ask the clarifying question. This is the part most people skip. After you've laid out your map, bring them in explicitly: "Given where we're headed this year, am I spending time in the right places? Is there anything you'd reprioritize?" 

✅ We are partners on this journey! Everyone wants to feel like they’re in it with you. 

4) Name the trade-offs. This is where you can be honest about capacity! Not "I'm drowning" but "here's what this means." 

Try: "If X is truly the priority, I want to protect time for it which probably means Y gets less attention or we find another solution. I'd rather flag that now than under-deliver later." 

✅ That last line is the move. You're not asking permission to do less. You're being a responsible partner who surfaces trade-offs before they become problems.

You had the convo. Amazing!! 

Now what???? 👀 👀

If you walk out of the convo without a real plan, nothing changes. You'll be back in the same spot in six months, doing the same homework, having the same conversation. 

And we are NOT doing that!!!!

Here's how to make it stick:

✍🏽 Get it in writing. Even just an email recap after the meeting. "Hey, wanted to document what we aligned on..." This protects you AND it keeps everyone accountable. Don't skip this step! Do it in email or Slack/Teams however your manager likes to communicate. 

⏰ Set a rhythm for check-ins. Bi-weekly or monthly is great depending on your check-in cadence. Quarterly at minimum. You want a standing moment to say "here's what I've been working on, here's the impact, here's what I need." Build the habit before you desperately need it.

🤖 Use AI to actually streamline your ops.  If you're still writing every status update, every recap email, every stakeholder summary from scratch, you can stop. Let AI help you draft it. Let AI help you template your comms so you're not starting from zero every time. The time you save goes back into the work that actually matters.

📋 Create a simple tracker for your work. It doesn't have to be fancy. A shared doc, a simple spreadsheet, a Notion page, whatever your people will actually look at. The point is visibility. When your CEO can see what HR is working on and why, it changes the dynamic. It’s no longer what are they working on and instead they are a team that clearly understands the business.

The bottom line: Things won’t change overnight but having these things in place will make sure things do eventually change.

I've talked about the scope, the workload, the convo, but there's a cost to this job that doesn't show up on any org chart or job description… 

 ❤️ Next week I’m tackling the emotional labor of working in HR and how to be mindful of that cost.

(HUMAN) RESOURCES

• Deloitte cuts down benefits 
• Tariff refunds have started 
• Disney World tickets are increasing in price
• This WFH take is dangerous for women
• This summer, QuickBooks Payroll is about to fix everything*

*This one is brought to you by one of my amazing brand partners

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

• 📚 What I’m reading: Into the Blue by Emma Brodie. I’m about to say something so serious… I think this is the best book I’ve read in YEARS. YES YEARS. I was so drawn into the world, the characters, the story. The writing is heartbreaking and beautiful and I was so so so sad when it finally ended. I DM’d the author and told her I would read anything she writes. I also immediately texted a friend who loves the same books I do and ordered it to her doorstep so I could talk to someone about how good this was. PLEASE READ THIS!! And if you do, DM me. I’m feeling so passionate about it I might wanna bookclub this one?? 
• 📺 What I’m watching: Temptation Island. Listen, I've been watching this show for years. I cannot believe how good the first few seasons were. What a study in relationships. 
• 📱What I’m hitting up the group text with: remedies for my sore muscles. It’s been a min since i’ve been this sore and I’m struggling. I did the hot bath and CBD oil route but if you have any secrets to how to feel LESS SORE after lifting, I’ll take them!!

SONG OF THE WEEK

If you’ve been reading this NL for a while you know my love for these two artists runs deep. 

In fact, I got to meet Saint Levant and he clocked me for Egyptian in about 3 seconds. What can I say, we’re easily identifiable?? It’s the humor and the G sound IYKYK.

I wish I could see Bayou in concert, maybe soon!

Anyways, in honor of Arab American Heritage Month I figured i’d share some of my fave Arabic music  

I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you. 

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