It seems like managers and PMs assume you can clone yourself and multiprocess multiple tasks at once
Measure your average walk-in work. Consider it when giving estimates.
Start logging adhoc work so that it can be tracked, else after two weeks even you will forget what you did.
I've gotten better at opening up the conversation on how long an adhoc task would be accepted to take before excepting anything.
I think my next step would be to bargain with them how these adhoc tasks would delay my project timeline and require them to accept this delay before i accept the adhoc task. Also I start procrastinating on tasks which have low impact and I expect they will most likely forget in a week or two. Also started asking lots oc questions during meetings with PMs to put them on the defensive and use up anytime they have to ask me to work on new tasks. Confuse them
They expect you to manage your time. If you don’t have capacity for the work, then ask your manager to prioritize the work for you. You should do this before committing or providing deadlines.
Is it my manager's job to come up with roadmap deadlines or my job? I can't anticipate sudden urgent projects or adhoc work
Both. You shouldn’t commit to work you can’t complete. If you know requests will come in, then you should plan for that in your timelines. When the requests do come in, if they will impact other deadlines, then you should escalate and get prioritization guidance, before committing to the new work or blowing the already committed deadlines.
Don’t accept ad-hoc tasks, require formal submission and work tracking of every request. This don’t have such a system in place you better set one up quick.
Just triple the estimate
Then they will ask why it takes so long? Would make myself seem incompetent
i’d say this is too conservative make it quad 🤪 It’s better to be might-be-seen incompetent than actually missing the deadline you agreed. Better to give more room and finish early! Now youre double competent! Also if PM is not technical, they don’t know how long it takes.