My old manager told me to stop taking on extra projects and she was right

Back in 2021 at my last job in Phoenix, my manager sat me down and said I was burning out by saying yes to every side task that came my way. I ignored her for about 4 months, took on three extra reports and a team training gig on top of my regular workload. Ended up missing a big deadline on my core project and got a written warning. After that I cut back to just my main duties and my performance actually went up. Has anyone else had a boss give advice you shrugged off at first but later realized they were spot on?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_mitchell2625d ago

I read somewhere that saying no is basically a superpower at work.

henryp4025d ago

Learned that lesson the hard way. Saying no saves you so much grief.

the_wesley25d ago

Yeah but saying no is way harder than people think. It's not just about the word itself, it's about knowing when to use it without burning bridges or looking like you don't care. A lot of people overcorrect and start saying no to everything, and that backfires too.