This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 441, How to Buy Time to Make Decisions at Work.
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Hey, Aubrey, how are you?
Hi, Michelle. I am great.
How are you? I'm good.
Thanks. So, Aubrey, I have a question.
Do you ever feel pressure to make a decision regarding work?
Absolutely. Yeah. Sometimes you have to make split -second decisions And the pressure is deciding quickly.
And then sometimes the pressure is more about how important a decision is.
Right. You feel pressure to make the right choice because there are a lot of consequences.
Yeah. Depending on what you choose.
Yeah, absolutely. Guys, and definitely listen towards the end of the episode because recently we did an episode about option and choice.
So I will give you that episode number just at the end of the episode, but it was just pretty recently.
So today we are going to talk about an expression you can use to give yourself some extra time to make a decision.
So this is really good.
It's think on it. What do you think of this, Aubrey?
Yes. Nice. I love these filler phrases, basically, right?
It's something that you can say when you need just a moment to decide if there's too much pressure.
It's really important.
You need a few seconds to decide.
We need those phrases to ask someone to give us a little time.
time. Exactly. And guys, before we get into it a little bit more, we want to remind you, Lindsay is coming back to the podcast. Aubrey and I are hanging out today, but Lindsay will be back soon.
So we'll be excited to have her back as well.
So yeah, it can just if you say think on it, it's first of all, it's really common and it's genuine.
And it might even kind of imply that you're not interested in an offer.
So, for example, I think of when with parents, right, Aubrey, do you ever say maybe to your kids or I'll think about it, even though you know the answer is no, right?
My kids will even say that to me if I say maybe or I'll think about it.
They'll say, I know that means no, mom.
Yeah. Calling me out because it's true.
That usually means no. Yeah, exactly.
So let's just give some examples here.
So we have have a little role play to start us off just this first three lines.
So Aubrey, can you read?
Can you start us off?
Sure, I'll start us off.
So are you interested in trying out our new printers?
I can get you a great deal.
Thanks so much for thinking of us.
I'm going to think on it and get back to you.
Nice, exactly. So it has the same meaning as think about it.
I'm going to think about it.
But we often will say it this way.
I'm going to think on it.
Yeah, exactly. Or here's another example.
I'm not really sure if we should move forward. Let's think on it and talk about it tomorrow.
So yeah, we could say think about it.
But I think, think on it.
It's very conversational.
Do you ever say think on it instead of think about it?
Yeah, yes. I think it's even more sort of native and natural.
Very conversational.
Think on it. Yeah, well, we both will say this, I'm going to think on it.
And then if we want someone else to think more, we'll say to them, well, think on it.
Let me know. Exactly.
Um, so it's just a really good way to buy time or say that you're probably not going to do something, but without actually saying it, um, Lynn's Aubrey.
Um, is it ever okay not to use this?
What do you think? Oh, um, you know, I, it's tricky at work, right i don't know that i would ever say this to my boss to leadership you know say like well i'll think on it and then i'll decide because not only is it very conversational it can be interpreted as a little dismissive of what they're asking you to consider of what they're asking you to do right a little flippant maybe yeah yeah that's a good point so you know if you if you are being genuine in it i think uh just say if your boss is saying um what do you think maybe maybe their boss is giving you two options.
Right. And then you might say, oh, I'll think on it.
And then, you know, I'll get some results and I'll look up some stats and get back to you.
That's okay. But if they're saying, can you do this?
Or would you do this task for me?
And you say, oh, I'll think on it.
I wouldn't do that.
Right. It depends on the context.
Right. It's totally fine to let someone know that you need a little time to consider something, time to think about something.
Unless, yeah, if you're being asked to perform a task that you should be saying yes to, that's when you probably wouldn't want to say this.
That's absolutely right.
Um, so yeah, Aubrey, I thought that we could also talk about some other ways that we can express this type of feeling, um, maybe by that time, or maybe show that you're really thinking about something.
So the first one is to mull something over.
You might say mull it over.
Um, maybe this is a tough decision.
You have to really think about something fully.
You can't just quickly think about it.
Yeah. Yeah. You like it?
Yeah. Mull it over.
It's a slightly more formal, same meaning, right?
You're just, it shows that you are putting in the thought and time to consider all of the aspects of something, right?
I'm going to mull it over.
It means the same as I'm going to think on it.
So for example, I'm going to mull all of this over tonight.
I have a lot to think about.
Yeah. I use this. I hear this.
I think it's perfect for work because it does get that impression that you are being thoughtful, that you're really considering everything everything that could be involved.
Right. You're thinking deeply about it.
And so I think that's good.
It shows that you're taking it seriously as well.
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Okay. Let's get into a couple more.
So we have sleep on it.
Now, does this mean we're actually sleeping on a decision?
No, right? It does.
Like often that does mean like, I'll let you know tomorrow.
Like I at least need a night.
I need a little more time to say, I'm going to sleep.
But you might say, I know this is a hard choice for you.
I say sleep on it. See how you feel tomorrow.
So you might actually decide that night before sleeping.
You don't have to sleep, but they're just saying, take a little more time.
Right, right, right.
Exactly. I love this one.
I also like this one, give it some thought.
So I don't want to make a rash decision.
I want to really give it some thought.
So again, devote the attention it needs.
A rash decision is just making a decision without thinking.
And then often it's kind of the most extreme decision and it's not good, right?
So it's good to give it some thought, especially at work.
Yes, especially at work.
If you're making these split -second decisions, it's often the wrong decision.
You haven't taken into account all of the possible consequences and ramifications.
So if you use one of these expressions, say, I'm just going to give this a little thought.
I'm going to mull it over.
You're going to take that time to really think about it.
And just like we had mull it over, we also can say think something over.
So that's also really useful.
You could say, I'm interested, but I have to think it over some more before I get back to you.
Nice. I love all of these.
I use all of these.
And I think it's good to have a variety, several different phrases to use because we express this so often that we need a little time to consider something more.
Yeah, absolutely. So should we do a role play?
Yeah, let's do it. You and I are co -workers here.
And I think that we should go to our boss about a problem.
Want to start us out?
Sure, here we go. I think we should just talk to her.
Okay, let's just think this over.
I really think we can work this out ourselves.
We've tried everything, Aubrey.
We can think on it for another day, but we really should make a move tomorrow.
I guess I'll have to sleep on it.
I mean, don't mull it over for too long.
I won't. I'll just give it a little more thought.
Okay. Oh, this is great.
You can see how we really need variety here, because this is a normal conversation.
We're talking about how much we'll need to think about it, and you would not want to use the same phrase over and over and over.
Right, exactly. So we have lots of different options here.
And you're kind of, you're killing me, Aubrey.
You're taking so long here, and I want you to make a decision.
Right. I first said, let's just think this over, because I'm not sure I want to go to our boss about this.
Yes, exactly. And then I said, we can think on it for another day, but we really should make a move tomorrow.
Right. You're saying I'll give you one day, and then you have to have I've decided to say, okay, I guess I'll have to sleep on it.
So I'm saying at least give me overnight and I'll try to know by tomorrow.
But to me, you sound so hesitant that I'm not sure that you're going to really know by tomorrow.
So I said, I mean, don't mull it over for too long.
So think so deeply and really, you know, we got to get going here.
Yeah. And this happens sometimes that we're, we start second guessing ourselves when we're like reconsidering mulling something over too long.
sometimes you just have to decide.
Exactly. True. And then you said, I'll just give it a little more thought.
So give it some thought.
I say this a lot. I need to give it some thought.
Give it some thought.
Yeah. Well, these are all really helpful.
This is a conversation that could actually happen when you're trying to decide on something.
And guys, as promised, just a few episodes ago, go, we did episode 438 was option versus choice in English.
So that was a really interesting one, a lot of nuance there.
So I remember recording that one.
That was a great question.
And yeah. All right, Aubrey, before we head out for today, what do you, anything you want to let our listeners know?
Yes, I think this really highlights the need for a variety of vocabulary.
There's a reason we have a lot of ways to say this in English.
We don't want to repeat the phrase over and over.
But when this comes up in a conversation, you might go back and forth about this, just like in this role play.
You need all of these different ways to say that either you need a little time to think about something or to give someone else a little time.
And that's really a great way to build connection at work.
That's right. And guys, we want to remind you to hit follow wherever you are listening to the Business English Podcast so you never miss anything.
All right, Aubrey. Well, it was so so much fun hanging out with you today and yeah um any decisions that you have to make i hope that you can uh think them over and then you know make them soon yes yeah same right and same for all of you guys out there thanks for joining us and we will see you next time all right bye aubrey bye thank you for listening to business english a podcast just for you the high achieving global professional.
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