That that’s not what “I don’t have the time” means
It actually is what it means though. The straight saying “I don’t have the time” doesn’t imply that you do or do not have unscheduled time, just that you do not have the availability to do it. Especially because people have to understand that the time it takes to do something is not how long the task takes.
Plenty of tasks have tons of time that is not properly included, like resource gathering, transport/commute times, as well as more abstract needs like the time it takes to mentally task switch or the time it takes to mentally recover from a task. Just because I don’t have every second documented doesn’t mean the time is available.
I’d agree. Instead of saying, “I didn’t/don’t have time” just say, “no thanks.” or “I prioritized other things”
“I didn’t/don’t have time” bugs me because we all have time, it’s what you choose to prioritize. It’s also OK to prioritize something else and that’s why words are important.
Most often when I hear that phrase, it’s being said as an excuse to not better oneself. Not applying for the new job they keep talking about or asking for a promotion, applying for a new personal opportunity, scouting new hobbies in the area, etc.
“I don’t have the time” is a polite way of saying your task isn’t important enough to move the other scheduled work, and is usually said to people who think they’re more important than they are. I’ve had tons of people try to shift their responsibilities to me, and “I don’t have the time to do your job and mine” is frowned upon in the workplace, but “I don’t have the time” is a polite way of telling you to fuck off and find someone else to do your tasks.
Unless you’re my supervisor, I don’t owe you an explanation of why I can’t do your task. And if you were my supervisor, you’d already know because I’ve been bitching to you about all the people who keep trying to make me do shit that’s not my responsibility.
There’s a reason my boss has me redirect people to him, cuz he can say stuff like that directly to people vs me playing nice for HR and making them figure out they’re getting a politely worded ‘go away kid, you bother me’
That that’s not what “I don’t have the time” means, so the OP should not be surprised that explaining is often necessary.
(It’s a lot easier to say “I can’t” than “I choose not to” but then being self-righteous after people catch on is just going to make you look worse.)
It actually is what it means though. The straight saying “I don’t have the time” doesn’t imply that you do or do not have unscheduled time, just that you do not have the availability to do it. Especially because people have to understand that the time it takes to do something is not how long the task takes.
Plenty of tasks have tons of time that is not properly included, like resource gathering, transport/commute times, as well as more abstract needs like the time it takes to mentally task switch or the time it takes to mentally recover from a task. Just because I don’t have every second documented doesn’t mean the time is available.
I’d agree. Instead of saying, “I didn’t/don’t have time” just say, “no thanks.” or “I prioritized other things”
“I didn’t/don’t have time” bugs me because we all have time, it’s what you choose to prioritize. It’s also OK to prioritize something else and that’s why words are important.
Most often when I hear that phrase, it’s being said as an excuse to not better oneself. Not applying for the new job they keep talking about or asking for a promotion, applying for a new personal opportunity, scouting new hobbies in the area, etc.
“I don’t have the time” is a polite way of saying your task isn’t important enough to move the other scheduled work, and is usually said to people who think they’re more important than they are. I’ve had tons of people try to shift their responsibilities to me, and “I don’t have the time to do your job and mine” is frowned upon in the workplace, but “I don’t have the time” is a polite way of telling you to fuck off and find someone else to do your tasks.
Unless you’re my supervisor, I don’t owe you an explanation of why I can’t do your task. And if you were my supervisor, you’d already know because I’ve been bitching to you about all the people who keep trying to make me do shit that’s not my responsibility.
There’s a reason my boss has me redirect people to him, cuz he can say stuff like that directly to people vs me playing nice for HR and making them figure out they’re getting a politely worded ‘go away kid, you bother me’