How to Stop Saying “I didn’t have time”
Coming out of an ERP implementation project that ended abruptly, I was advised that I had three options -
take a supply chain position that was offered to me locally (despite me not having ANY supply chain experience and it being the FIRST supply chain position at the plant)
return to the bench as a research associate, or
leave the company because my role as ERP implementation specialist was being dissolved.
I had close ties in the office and I wanted to stay but it made no sense going back to being a research associate when I had traveled globally, made so many connections within the company working on the ERP project, and developed my remote communication and project management skills. Supply chain seemed the best option to continue developing professionally, so I took door #1.
Starting in the New Role
My new manager was in the UK (7-8 hours apart) and I had worked with him on the ERP project. He came to visit and we made some plans, but I soon learned he had accepted another position and was leaving the company two months in. He had hired a new manager already, who would be closer to me in Boston (3 hours apart).
Do to the unclear start in the role and my lack of understanding and training on what supply chain was supposed to be, in the 2-3 months before my new manager started and put us full-speed-ahead into a supply chain implementation, a lot of my coworkers would ask me for help with random tasks. They saw me as an available resource (as did I - I didn’t want to just sit around so I did tasks for other teams onsite the first 3 months I was in the role), and this ambiguousness at the start led to BIG problems later when my role became more defined.
To add fuel to the fire, I am someone who always tries to answer questions, small or large. At the time, I’d even make spreadsheets and SQL queries for people who wandered over to my desk. Helping took up a lot of my time. While it was great for building local influence, it quickly tanked my performance as a supply chain planner once the new manager filled my plate.
A Time for Change
Deep in the supply chain implementation, I was working constantly but often missing deadlines. There was friction between my manager and I and I knew something was wrong. Then one day in a turning point, my manager then shared a gem with me.
To set the stage, my manager and I were having a 1:1 meeting over teams. I was trying to defend why I hadn’t gotten all the supply chain tasks done that week. I had recorded a list all of the “helpful tasks” I had been asked to do by other team managers and scientists. I even had the moxie to graph the task breakdown… I wanted it to be clear where my time was going. For me, this sent the message that I was being useful, even though there were a few things I hadn’t gotten done.
I was surprised when I didn’t get any praise from my manager for any of this. They were even more disapproving seeing the full scope of what I had been doing in defense of why I wasn’t completing all my tasks.
At the time I had a hard time accepting their response:
They had clearly given me a task list with their top priorities. As my manager, they were doing this to help me as I was obviously over capacity.
They told me that I needed to stop saying, “I didn’t have time” because when they heard me say that it told them that I was not prioritizing correctly.
To be basically told I sucked at prioritization?
Cold water. I left the meeting pretty deflated.
But it stuck in the back of my mind for years in every role I’ve worked since.
“I didn’t have time to get that done.”
I internally cringed.
It wasn’t long before I committed to stop saying it, which took more than just not saying the phrase.
I had to change my mindset and realize that there were things that were more important for the organization than ANYTHING ELSE. No matter how badly someone needed to learn how to use the coffee pot in the break room and I wanted to help them, completing priority work first would help the business more.
The path out required both of us. I needed to run tasks from other teams by my manager if I wanted to do them. Knowing I was going to have to ask her for permission for things was a litmus test. Suddenly helping someone with their scientific data analysis for 30 minutes out of the blue was not my highest priority. She supported me, telling me it was ok to blame it on her until I learned to say no on my own.
“Tell them I said you are not allowed to work on other tasks if it helps you say no.”
I did for a while. It was especially hard for me to learn the skill of saying “no.” If you’ve read any of my other content you’ll know that “Don’t be a Shrugger” is one of my values. What I didn’t see until I learned to say no is that being a “Shrugger” is different from being a brutal, calculating manager of your own capacity. And high-performance work-life balance requires brutal, calculating capacity management and a strong desire to achieve it.
I learned that what your job is or isn’t is more nuanced than it seems at first. But before you get to nuance-level understanding, you need to have the basic structure of what your job was meant to be under control. This means having a candid discussion with your manager, sometimes even asking to review your job description to make sure you are on the same page.
Saying “no” more often (sometimes 10-15 times a DAY at first!) cleared up my capacity. Over the remaining months in my role I started to pull out of the nosedive. My manager also recognized there was a TON of work to be done and we were able to get a helper from another team for me which eased the burden as well.
What to Say Instead of “I didn’t have time”
I also learned that no matter how organized you become, at some point there is going to be something you and your team can’t get to.
The important thing is making sure it isn’t the top priority for your manager or the organization. And when you communicate a miss – STOP SAYING “I didn’t have time.”
Replace it with either:
“I didn’t prioritize that task.” For whatever reason – you didn’t think it mattered, you forgot, it wasn’t on your list, or other tasks took longer than expected. You’re directly owning the miss. If anyone cares, they will ask you why.
Or:
“I couldn’t prioritize that task [time frame]” [this month, this week]. This sends a clear message: I understand this is important, but I am full. It lets people know they need to get you more resource or take things off your plate for this task that was missed to rise to the top.
To level up from these is to communicate BEFORE you miss a task. If you are regularly balancing priorities and aligning with your manager, this is an easy conversation starter –
“I am not going to be able to prioritize X this week.”
One unexpected benefit of eradicating “I didn’t have time” from my communication was an increase in work-life balance. The phrase speaks to how well you are prioritizing.
Have you used something similar at work? Gone through a similar journey?
I’d love to hear in the comments.
Thanks for joining me,
