Don't Say Yes to Everything

By Paige Cohen, Senior Editor

When I first entered the workforce, a common piece of advice I got from my mentors, parents, and more experienced friends was: Say “yes” to everything. From mundane daily tasks (that weren’t necessarily a part of my job) to stretch assignments (that I sometimes got credit for), I did just that.

As a content editor at a social media company, my role was to review videos submitted by users and curate them into mobile stories that would often be published in different time zones. My hours were long and unusual, but that never stopped me. Even after an overnight shift, if my boss asked me to do just one more task, I would.

Eventually, I did move up the career ladder, but not as quickly as some of my peers who had not taken on the burden of extra work. In the end, it was the more visible work — the stories I published as a part of my core responsibilities — that made my boss believe in my skillset and trust me with increasingly challenging assignments.

That’s why saying “yes” to everything is not advice I would give to someone starting their career today. Despite all the times I drove back to the office to complete an additional task or do someone a favor, none of those things were mentioned, or likely considered, when I moved up to the next job level. If I had known that work wasn’t ultimately benefiting my growth, I could have put more time and energy into the parts of the job that were — and been a lot less burned out and stressed out along the way.

So, the advice I’d give instead is: Learn when to gracefully say “no,” so you can say “yes” to assignments that will contribute to your development. That could be by teaching you a skill you need to advance, giving you a chance to collaborate with people who have decision-making power, or helping you feel a greater sense of purpose. In my experience, this is a more strategic and realistic ask to make of yourself. If you can be smart about what projects you take on — and which ones you don’t — you can save yourself from a lot of time wasted on thankless work. It’s something I wish someone had told me sooner. Here’s some advice from our authors to teach you how to do this.

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