This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 182.
I only have 20 minutes. How to set time boundaries at work.
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Hey, Lindsay, how is it going? It's going fantastic.
Michelle, how's everything going on your end of things?
Everything is good. Everything is good. How much time do you have to record today?
Oh, let's see. I have about another hour.
I have another hour here and then I have to hop off because I have a call at 1030.
So. Okay. Okay. Good to know. I always notice you always say hop off.
I like hop off. It's kind of casual, but also professional at the same time.
So yeah, we could do it. We could do a episode about that.
Um, so, all right. Um, today we are going to talk about setting boundaries and parameters around time.
Um, right. So like, I have to be respectful of your time and knowing how much time that we have to record, um, and vice versa.
And we always try to do that. Right. Um, so we are going to talk about setting these boundaries though.
So another day, we're going to do an episode about how to ask about these boundaries but today we're going to talk about how to share them yeah it makes me think of a language exchange partner i had back in boston he was from bolivia his name was rodrigo and we would practice english and spanish together in like starbucks every thursday for example and he every time i guess like somewhere along the line lines he picked this up and i thought it was interesting every time we met when we first got started chatting he would say lindsay what are your time constraints today very professional I thought that was kind of nice because it was a little mismatched for the situation right just because it was a friendly language exchange it wasn't a business meeting but it was also it felt respectful and it kind of became his trademark a little bit Interesting.
Interesting. What are your time constraints?
I like it. Um, so we're, that's what we're talking about today.
And guys, uh, before we get into it, we want to remind you, we have a whole other show that you got to listen to.
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All right, Michelle. That's right. Let's dig in.
All right, so what do I mean by these boundaries?
What do you think? I mean, let's say, okay, let's say, for example, that your coworker wants to meet with you, but you have a project deadline at the end of the day, okay?
Yeah. Lindsay, do you ever feel, is it ever hard for you to express these boundaries or that you can't do something because of time or-
Do you ever feel guilty or is that easy for you?
I would say I usually end up managing it okay.
But I know like it can be really hard. Like I know in the corporate world, people get pulled into meetings.
We were talking about this in one of our episodes.
Right. People may have their own deadlines.
And this is kind of the use case for this.
Right. They have their own deadlines, actual work they have to get done, but they get pulled into all these meetings where they might be just kind of second removed from that project.
But they someone wants them there for whatever reason, even if they're not speaking.
So this is where it might get hard. for people yes that's true because then you have to it's like you might have your priority of what needs to be done but then somebody else says no this is the priority now and you're still like well the other thing is still important right so what are you gonna do are you gonna work overtime you're gonna work at night to get that project done and even if you came to that meeting you didn't even say anything it feel like that's a whole thing Right.
So we need to know what to do. So that doesn't happen to me that much because I set my own schedule.
I don't get pulled into meetings. I just kind of decide what meetings when I want to have meetings.
Like it doesn't happen. I don't work for a huge company where that's happening, where people are just putting themselves on my calendar.
Right. Which is nice. Yeah. We set our own schedules here.
Right. Yeah. I mean, it could be I think it can be difficult for to tell someone that they don't have as much time as is needed.
Right. Like it can be feel uncomfortable.
So we're going to talk about things that we can do for this today.
And speaking of schedules, recently, just on episode 179, we did how to share that you're ahead of schedule in English.
Yeah, I love that one. Super related guys go back and listen to that one when you finish up today here.
Good stuff. All right. Yeah. So let's talk about this.
I mean, I think you shouldn't feel guilty.
I mean, it's fair to have other priorities, things you need to get done.
Yeah. Of course, it's different in certain situations.
And this is kind of what you're talking about, like maybe a team project or if you use this with your boss all the time.
Right. Right. But I think it is important to show where you stand as far as time goes, because it also helps the other person.
You don't like I don't think anybody wants you to be annoyed or feeling anxious.
Like you just have to make them aware. Yeah, for sure.
I mean, you know, pay attention to who is pulling you into these meetings.
Let's just use that context. Maybe that'll be easier.
A context of people are asking you to join this meeting, as you said, Michelle, right?
And maybe you don't feel that you're needed there because you're maybe you're not managing that particular project or product.
Yeah. But you're still pulled in. Who's asking you to join?
Is it your boss? Then maybe they have another reason you're not aware of.
You might want to just attend, right? Right, right.
You have to evaluate based on each situation.
I mean, recently I went to a meeting for something that's going on in my personal life.
And the person that we were meeting with said – like that.
He only, I heard him say to the other woman that he had to leave by a certain time.
And then we were talking and talking and then I kept on, I was aware, like I, I was aware that we couldn't, you kind of have to cut the chit chat a little bit and you have to really just get to the point.
Um, so, um, but, but he was very clear about that so that it was helpful actually.
Um, yeah it's helpful if people are more upfront about their the worst thing is to say nothing and then you're squirming in your chair and you're looking at your watch and you're not present anyways don't want to go in that direction do we because the other person can feel that right the other person can feel and it kind of makes everybody uncomfortable and they might be wondering why is this person yeah they don't want to be here right um so i think i think it's good to be direct so lindsay what's one thing that you can say if let's say let's yeah to say to set boundaries if somebody's asked you to do something Yeah, here we go.
So we can get started on this, but I do have to head out by X and by a time.
So we can get started on this project, but I do have to head out by 4.30 today. okay um or you can say i can help um or i can talk or i can whatever it is but i only have about blank amount of time so yeah i can talk now but i only have about 15 minutes does that work for you yeah so you're really being up front from the start before you get started Right.
Because it's almost like maybe that person is going to say, oh, no, this would take longer.
I think we should just wait and schedule a meeting.
Right. Rather than get started and then have to stop.
This is the clean way to do it. Totally.
Here's another. So let's talk about X. I have about X amount of time to work on this.
You'll see. How can we divide the work up? uh-huh right so let's talk about the project i have about four hours to work on this so how can we divide the work up yeah i mean these days people are just slammed with workload right and so there has to be prioritization there has to be a way to figure out what matters the most in any given moment Right, Michelle?
Yeah, I think that that's especially good for this idea.
I mean, that was kind of a long example, right?
But the concept is what's important. We'll talk about this project.
This sounds like a team project. So now you're making decisions.
So before you make those decisions, you're telling how much time you have.
Now, of course, this wouldn't be fair if you're just like, well, I only have this much time and you're all supposed to be contributing equally.
That's different. yeah sorry yeah be careful I can do 10 minutes on this and you guys are all going to do the rest no yes right no you don't want to do that so not no not a good idea oh I just had a good idea for another episode by the way Michelle we could do an episode on how to say you're super busy I don't know if we've done that before saying things like I'm slammed I'm slammed I think maybe on all ears English we can bring it into the business world yeah I love that idea yeah Guys, hit the follow button on this show so you don't miss that one.
Good stuff. All right. So, so far we've gotten three things we can say.
And in a little bit here, we're going to talk about a structure.
We're going to give you guys a grammatical structure to do this.
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So what is that structure, Michelle, that we need to use to set boundaries?
The idea is to use expressions like I have, or I'm available, or I only have X time.
So I have, or I whatever. x time so i have 20 minutes um available like i'm available for 20 minutes i only have 20 minutes i'm available for 20 minutes right i like that so there's two or three ways we can say it but we're being very clear very up front when should we avoid doing this michelle when should we not be setting boundaries and it's okay to not say this it's never not okay what do you think Yeah, well, I mean, I think we want to avoid it.
Like you said, if your boss is asking you something urgent, you have to make sure you have good reason for this.
Yeah. And you know what? I think one thing that you can do with your boss is... like let's say you have a project that you're working on and then they give you something else yeah i think it's okay to ask like where should i like what's the priority here like i'm working on this i think i've done this with you lindsay like i'm i'm working on this um so like what Like, where should I put my focus?
Like, did the priorities change? Maybe I should do this first.
Like, I think it's okay to ask. Oh my gosh, 100%.
And you should. It feels very clean, very crisp when you know the priorities.
So maybe you have like 10 things you need to get done in a week.
Maybe there's a mutual recognition. Those are not all going to get done.
They're going to carry over some of them, but the top five should get done.
And as long as we know that, we can work so much better.
Yeah. I think we might have done an episode about asking maybe Aubrey and I on Business English here on this show did that on how to ask what the priority is or how to maybe it was more how to push back and question the assignment.
Guys, go back into our archives. There's about 200 episodes behind us in Business English, so it's not that many. um for our standards at least right exactly yeah i know i was gonna say for somebody is another podcast that's a lot that's a lot for most most normal but we're in the thousands they're not normal english oh right exactly so go check it out there's some good stuff in our archives go backwards um so the point is not feeling guilty because we've actually been proactive ahead of time Right, Michelle?
Right, right, right. Exactly, exactly. But I mean, we do want to share our time boundaries so people don't take advantage of us.
So that's something different. If somebody is just thinking, oh, you'll just drop everything at any time.
But of course, it depends on the context.
But the thing is, if you say yes every time and you really don't have that amount of time, you're going to hurt yourself by overloading yourself or by being late to something and so that's why this is important because in the end the one who's going to get hurt is you yeah reminds me of that expression don't be a doormat yes don't be a doormat don't be the person that always says yes and people feel like they can walk all over you and maybe start giving you their work right that is we need to make sure we're standing up for ourselves at work Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. Yeah. I think the main idea is to not feel guilty if you really have those time constraints.
Um, if, if it's something with your boss, I think another solution is to just ask about the priorities.
That's another way to say, okay, what, so what should I, I'm working on this.
So what should I, which one should I do?
Would you like me to, you know, rearrange how I'm doing things?
Um, so that's a good way to do it with a boss.
Um, yeah, we can buy that topic. Exactly.
So, so lots, lots of ideas here. We got lots of ideas for more episodes, Michelle.
Yes. So here in this role play, we're coworkers and I'm coming to your office to talk about a project and it's four o'clock in the afternoon.
Let's imagine maybe it's Friday or something, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Hey, Michelle.
Hey, so let's talk about the upcoming presentation.
Oh, okay. We can get started on it, but I do have to head out by 4.20 to get to a doctor's appointment.
Gotcha. So let's talk about the presentation.
I have about three hours to work on it. So how can we divide it up?
Yeah, I think we should separate it 50-50.
It shouldn't take longer than three hours.
Well, that would be great. Ring, ring, ring.
Hey, I can talk now, but I only have five minutes.
Does that work for you? I'll stop by your office in a few.
Okay. Sorry, Michelle. Anyway. Oh, no problem.
Okay. I got a call. Lots of chaos. It's Friday.
You have a doctor's appointment. A lot going on here.
Oh my gosh. Lots of busy stuff. Yeah. All right.
Let's break it down. Okay, so I said, you're coming to me to talk about the presentation and you really want to talk about it.
So I said, okay, we can get started on it.
Okay, but I do have to head out by 4.20.
Yes. Okay. Yeah, so here you're setting that boundary, right?
This is the structure we talked about, right?
One of the structures, right? We can get started on it, but I do have to head out.
And I'm sure we've talked on All Ears English podcast about head.
Head out. as opposed to go or leave right i'm sure we've covered that before i'm sure we have yeah i think i remember it actually but yeah um and then you again said let's talk about the presentation i know i was a little tone deaf here in my response wasn't it i know i think that was just uh me with my role play planning this is that i said that twice okay well some people might be that way some people might be that way they don't actually listen to you and so they just say the same thing Yeah.
Yeah. Um, and then what did you say? You said about how much time you have?
I said, I have about three hours to work on it.
So how can we divide it up? Okay. So I'm, I'm also setting boundaries here then.
So that's good. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
And then I said, I think we should separate it 50, 50.
So I'm, you know, say, and then I'm accepting, you know, how much you said, I said, it shouldn't take longer than three hours, but then you say, so then you get your phone call.
I get my phone call. Ring, ring, ring. Hey.
And I said, Hey, I can talk now, but I only have five minutes.
Does that work for you? But you're still standing or a word in the same office together, but I'm on the phone.
Interesting. So this is how I'm imagining it.
This is how I'm imagining it. You get like, maybe it's on your cell phone.
Maybe it's not on your work phone and you're just somebody you're saying I can talk now.
Like I can meet with you now. Oh, I see.
I can go physically to you. Oh, right. I know that was a little, yeah, it could have meant anything.
It could have meant like, wait, it was like, I have to leave in 20 minutes and you're going to have a five minute conversation.
I don't think so. It doesn't work. No, it doesn't work.
So I'm going to go over to the person's office.
So I say, does that work for you? Right.
Another way of checking in. These are good phrases here.
And then I say, I'll stop by your office in a few.
And then I'm back to you. I said, okay, sorry, Michelle.
Anyway. And you say, no problem. We carry on to figure out our budget of time.
And at 4.20, I head out of there. You're gone for the weekend.
Nice. Goodbye. For your appointment. Yes.
All right. Where do we leave our listeners today?
Oh, such an important skill, right? This is important because you have to there's kind of an art to this.
We've talked about many different situations you can find yourself in with time.
I think it's important to be honest about time, your time is worth something.
And you you have to acknowledge that and accept that and you know, project that put that out into the world. um so um but there are some times when it might not be that appropriate and you know especially on certain projects with your boss but we gave you some other ideas on this episode today yeah i mean we want you guys to stand up for yourself at work and standing up for yourself starts with setting boundaries early so you know especially if you're at a new workplace just observe and see how things get done but as you start to get your bearings we're going to start to set boundaries And that is going to help us be respected by our colleagues and actually get the work done that we're assigned, right?
The important things done, the priorities.
Good stuff. Yep. Love it. Yeah. This was fun.
And Lindsay, it's been a good time. It's been a good time, Michelle.
All right. You have a good day. I'll talk to you soon.
You too. Bye, Lindsay. Bye, guys. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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