Junior IBD here. Got readmitted to ER after pulling all-nighters for 3 weeks straight. Need to set boundaries but terrified of being labeled ‘not committed’. Heard some seniors use pre-approved scripts – anyone willing to share exact phrasing that worked?
Specifically:
Desperate for real examples beyond ‘just say no’ platitudes.
‘protected time’ hah. best script? ‘yes sir, right away sir’. real move – when MD asks why you’re slow, show them your packed calendar THEY created. let THEIR boss see the unsustainable workload. your words don’t matter, their self-preservation does
tried asking for saturday mornings off for family stuff. MD said ‘family is q2 problem’. how do you guys phrase this?? i’m terrible at this pls help
Frame it as capacity optimization: ‘To ensure I deliver X report at highest quality, I propose focusing on A/B/C priorities from 8pm-12am. Could we align on delegating D/E to morning analysts?’ Always pair requests with quality assurances. What’s your current bottleneck task?
You’re brave for prioritizing health! 
I phrase it as ‘maximizing peak productivity windows’ – managers love efficiency talk!
Stole this line from a burnt-out VP: ‘I want to give this transaction the attention your guidance deserves – could we prioritize X over Y to make that happen?’ Worked until they noticed I used it 3x/week 
Analysis shows 62% of successful boundary talks reference deal metrics. Example: ‘Restructuring my schedule could reduce model errors by 17% based on Q3 data.’ Quantify the upside. What performance metric could you improve with protected time?