How to Say No at Work | Christine Against Work

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Oh, God, was I like... Was I okay? I was like blacked out the entire time. Saying no at work is hard. Like, you know, when your boss asks you to maybe stay late or over the weekend, or you're asked to be pulled into a project that really you shouldn't be working on, any other things that you're just like, "Uh, why are you asking me to do this?" I'm really good at saying no in my head, uh, but then actually saying it in an effective and productive way, mm, I don't think so. First, I wanna see how I say no for real. What we're gonna do is my co-producer, Andy, is gonna give me some scenarios, and my one job is to say no to them. Uh, this is definitely live. Uh, I don't know what these questions are. [laughs] I'm a little nervous. Um, so please be easy on me, Andy. But yeah, I'm gonna try my best to do the task at hand, which is say no. Okay, well, it sounds like, uh, there's a lot of work that needs to be done, um, between now and the Monday meeting. It seems a little unreasonable, and I wanna do the best job to do this presentation. Uh, if it's fixed and we have to do it at 9:00 AM on Monday, I totally understand. Um, maybe I can just stay late, or I... Honestly, I might... Mm. [laughs] Um, I have to be perfectly honest, I am just full up, uh, this week and the next. I'm not sure when you want me to start. But given everything static, uh, I, I don't think I can take this on. But, uh, it does sound interesting and new and exciting, so, uh, maybe we can work together to see how I could make this work. [laughs] Ugh, this is hard. Um... I had made preparations for this meeting and for the agenda, however, I wasn't anticipating that I would be taking notes. Uh, I'm, I, I'm willing to contribute. I just wasn't prepared. So unfortunately, I am not in a position to take notes, but maybe next time. Just give me a heads up first. So how did I think I did? Clearly, after that exercise, I know that I have room for improvement. So I'm just... Like, who out there is the expert on saying no? I really wanna talk to them, 'cause I have so many questions, and I just don't wanna feel as stressed out as I do at this moment.

I think the earlier career you are, the harder it is, obviously, and with more practice, you just get better. And I'm definitely better at saying no now than I used to be.

That's Ruchika Tulshyan. She wrote The Diversity