I used to think you had to say yes to every extra task at work

About six months ago, I was in a team meeting in our main conference room, and my manager asked if I could take the lead on a new client report. I already had three other projects due that week. I said yes right away, like I always did. Two days later, I was still at the office at 9 PM, my work on the original projects was slipping, and I missed a key detail in the new report. My manager pulled me aside the next morning and said, 'You're burning out, and the quality is dropping. We need to talk about your workload.' That was the moment I realized always saying yes was hurting my career, not helping it. I started being honest about my capacity in our weekly check-ins. Has anyone else had to learn to push back on extra work to actually do their main job well?

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3 Comments

henrym147mo ago

That "burning out" comment from your manager is a HUGE red flag. I started saying "I can look at that next week" or "which of my current tasks should I move to make room" and it changed everything.

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rileyw725mo ago

Yeah, it's like the whole "just say no to extra work" thing is sweeping through offices like a trend now. Same thing with people suddenly refusing to answer emails after 5 PM like it's a personal brand.

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elliot_craig337mo ago

Managers sometimes need to push teams to meet real deadlines. That "burning out" talk could just be poor word choice during a stressful crunch time. Pushing back on every new ask can make you look like you're not a team player when things get tough. There's a balance between setting limits and just doing the job you were hired for.

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