[croshan]

This sounds depressing. I’m sorry that you had that experience.

It’s a frustrating position to be in, and you can feel quite helpless.

In my experience, it’s less about “do only what’s asked”, and rather “say no”.

I.e. explain “I can do X, but if I do that then Y will suffer, and Y is a priority”. (Y being another company priority, or even your own mental health). Stated in these terms, it’s easier to negotiate your time with your coworkers.

[pjerem]

Thing is that may not depend on you.

I did this but I was surrounded by coworkers who were stupidly running straight into burnout themselves and said yes to anything.

Well, upper management felt I wasn’t doing enough in comparison and pressured/harassed me. Ultimately, I were the first to burn out.

Of course, in hindsight, I should have left way before it happened, but when you are in, you have no hindsight. Sometimes you can’t grab the surrounding toxicity before being hurt.