Since once in a blue moon I actually discover a decent rule for adulting, and since I know I have followers a few years younger than me who are just entering the workforce, I want to tell you about a very important phrase.Ā
āI wonāt be available.ā
Imagine youāre at work and your boss asks you to come in on Saturday. Saturday is usually your day offācoming in Saturdays is not an obligation to keep your job. Maybe you were going to watch a movie with a friend, or maybe you were just going to lie in bed and eat ice cream for eight hours, but either way you really, really donāt want to give up your day off.
If you consider yourself a millennial youāve probably been raised to believe you need to justify not being constantly at work. And if youāre a gen-Z kid youāre likely getting the same toxic messages that we did. So in a situation like that, you might be inclined to do one of three things:
Tell your boss youād rather not give up your day off. Cave when they pressure you to come in anyway, since youāre not doing anything important.
Tell your boss youād rather not give up your day off. Over-apologize and worry that you looked bad/unprofessional.
Lie and say youāve got a doctorās appointment or some other activity that feels like an adequate justification for not working.
The fact is, it doesnāt matter to your boss whether youāre having open heart surgery or watching anime in your underwear on Saturday. The only thing that affects them is the fact that you wonāt be at work. So telling themĀ whyĀ you wonāt be at work only gives them reason to try and pressure you to come in anyway.
If you sayĀ āI wonāt be available,ā giving no further information, youād be surprised how often thatās enough. Be polite and sympathetic in your tone, maybe even sayĀ āsorry, but I wonāt be available.ā But donāt make an excuse. If your boss is a professional individual, theyāll accept that as aĀ ānoā and try to find someone else.Ā
But bosses arenāt always professional. Sometimes theyāre whiny little tyrants. So, what if they pressure you further? The answer isāpolitely and sympathetically give them no further information.
āAre you sure youāre not available?āĀ āSorry, but yes.ā
āWhy wonāt you be available?āĀ āI have a prior commitment.ā (Which you do, even if itās only to yourself.)
āWhatās your prior commitment?āĀ āSorry, but thatās kind of personal.ā
āCan you reschedule it?āĀ āIām afraid not. Maybe someone else can come in?ā
If you donāt give them anything to work with, they canāt pressure you into going beyond your obligations as an employee. And when they realize that, theyāll also realize they have to find someone else to come in and move on.
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