TED Talks Daily Sunday Pick: Protecting your time with Linda Babcock | WorkLife with Adam Grant
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Aug 10, 2025 This conversation explores the importance of setting boundaries in our personal and professional lives. Linda discusses the societal pressures that make saying no particularly challenging for women. Strategies from 'The No Club' are shared, showing how to manage non-promotable tasks and avoid burnout. They highlight the concept of the 'diva moment'—recognizing when to decline tasks out of obligation. The discussion also emphasizes the need for equitable task distribution and the significance of mastering time management for meaningful productivity.
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Why She Started The No Club
- Linda Babcock formed a peer group after finding her calendar full of non-research meetings.
- The No Club met monthly to help members refuse tasks that stole research time.
Women Volunteer More In Group Tasks
- Linda Babcock's lab game showed women pressed the button 50% more than men across rounds.
- Social expectations, not ability, drove women to volunteer for unwanted group tasks.
Managers Default To Asking Women
- Linda Babcock found managers tend to ask women more often to take on those tasks.
- That expectation leads women to accept more non-promotable work even when they don't want it.
