How important is it to say no at work? I’ve observed that when you always say yes, everyone expects you to handle their tasks, and office life becomes stressful. But people who know how to say no seem more balanced and respected. Is saying no a key skill for a healthier, easier office life? Does it protect focus, boundaries, and long-term performance at work?

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It's important, but also something of a luxury? I feel like you need a certain amount of job security/seniority before you can start saying pushing back without being hit with the "not a team player" label. Hard to actually follow through on when you're worried about your next review.

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Totally agree with you

It depends who is asking, and how valuable the work is.

You can almost never say No to your manager, but you can say “ Yes, but…”

I can do it but it will take 3 days

Or I can do it now but these other things will be delayed…

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Thanks you for sharing valuable experience

uplifting

It’s a special skill, and not easy to do, especially early in one’s career and/or low on the org chart.

I mean there are risks involved when you say no, so you really have to think it through about what are the potential implications.

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So true

Critical but everything has to be for a reason.

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Yeah without reason you cant say no

Boundaries are super important. People respect people who respect their own boundaries. Pushovers are liked because they do all the work, but nobody ever respects them.

Totally agree with you

It's important to be able to say no, but what's really important is how you say it. There are innumerable ways to explain why or how something can't be done, or at least can't be done right away. If you handle it deftly, a "no" can almost sound positive. It's like Churchill's definition of tact, being able to tell someone to go to hell and have them looking forward to the trip.

Totally agree with you

It depends on the situation. At my last company, I always said yes. It wasn’t until a few years in, I realized I could even say I was at capacity. At my current company, I tried to be more aware of not saying yes to every little thing and it’s helped me from getting too overwhelmed and burnt out

Totally agree with you

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