Meaning & use
work overload
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A situation in which someone has more work than they can reasonably do, leading to stress or poor performance.
Grammar: Uncountable: you experience work overload, not 'a work overload'.
Patterns
- suffer from work overload
- cause work overload
- reduce work overload
Many nurses report work overload during the winter months.
The manager introduced new software to reduce work overload in the team.
noununcountabletechnical
The feeling of stress and exhaustion that comes from having too much work to do.
Grammar: Refers to the psychological state, not just the amount of work.
Patterns
- experience work overload
- signs of work overload
- work overload and burnout
She took a week off because of work overload and burnout.
The survey measured work overload among teachers across the country.
Common combinations
- suffer from work overload
- He began to suffer from work overload after taking on two projects.
- reduce work overload
- The company hired more staff to reduce work overload.
- work overload and burnout
- The report linked work overload and burnout in young professionals.
- cause work overload
- Poor planning can cause work overload for everyone involved.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overwork
- Overwork often means working too many hours; work overload focuses on having too much work to handle, even if hours are normal.
- burnout
- Burnout is the long-term exhaustion that can result from work overload; work overload is the cause, burnout is the effect.
Opposites
Word family
- overload noun
- A general term for too much of anything, not just work.
- overloaded adjective
- Having too much work or too many things to deal with.
Commonly confused: work overload or workload?
work overload vs workload
Workload is the amount of work you have; work overload is when that amount is too much.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'work overload' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Work overload is an uncountable noun meaning too much work, so 'suffering from work overload' fits. Option A uses it as a countable noun with 'a'; option C treats it as a physical object; option D uses it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “work overload”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.