The feeling that you are disturbing another person can be quite disappointing. It does not feel good and it can be even worse if you don’t seem to be able to change the situation. It’s not the case here, however.
When someone tells you he or she is just working, you should know you have called at the wrong time. You can simply end the conversation and respond wittily.
That depends on how the person received your call. If you can sense that you are disturbing the person, you should get off the phone quickly.
Below is a list of statements you can respond with when you hear [Just Working].
19 Responses to “Just Working”
- I hope I am not disturbing you
- I should leave you to it then
- Can I help?
- Now you make me feel bad
- Sorry for disturbing you.
- What work do you do?
- I am busy too.
- I will chat you up later.
- I should get to work too.
- I can help you out if you want
- Aren’t you distracted?
- Aren’t you done yet?
- Good luck with that.
- Good job.
- Call me when you are free.
- When will you be done?
- Should I come help you out?
- Sounds like a lot of fun.
- I’ve been lazy lately
I hope I am not disturbing you
You can ask whether you are disturbing or not if the person does not seem to be feeling disturbed by your work.
It is possible to give your friend a call and hope to have a phone conversation for about thirty minutes, then ask about what he was doing after ten minutes of starting the call. The person can claim to be working.
You can ask this question since the person did not make it obvious that you were disturbing. It is very possible that the call is not disturbing the person’s work so you should ask.
The person may just be staying calm and hoping you stop talking soon. However, that is not very likely. It would be unwise to let a person disturb you and waste your time just because you think it will soon be over.
I should leave you to it then
This is what you should do. You don’t want a person persistently disturbing you even after you told the person about it. That would be pretty annoying to anyone.
This can be used over a phone. It could also be at a person’s house. When you call and ask what a person is doing at the moment, you may be expecting the person to say nothing.
However, if he claims to be doing something important, you won’t want to be his or her only delay so you have to get off the phone fast so he or she can return to work ASAP.
You don’t have to ask if you are disturbing him or her or not. If you don’t seem to be disturbing, the person will say so and your conversation may continue.
Can I help?
This sounds okay if you are at the person’s house but you may want to know what work you are offering to assist with before getting yourself in a dilemma.
When you know what work the person is doing, you will know whether if is possible to offer some assistance or not. You will know if you can do anything to help.
You will also know if your conversation with the person can impede on the development of the work.
You can also choose to use it over a phone. This question will not be taken seriously unless you know the work the person is doing and it is possible to offer assistance from where you are.
Otherwise, it would be a silly jokes and you should not go on and on about it before you end the call.
Now, you make me feel bad.
Say this if you are lazy. That is the point. You should always feel bad when a person claims to be working and you cannot remember the last time you thought of doing any work.
It does not have to be an actual story. You don’t think there is anyone who does not do one work or the other.
You can say this on phone or at the person’s place. It has nothing to do with the distance or where you are. The person may not get the joke immediately so he or she would ask what might be making you feel bad.
You can explain that the person is oppressing you with his or her work because it is obvious that you are a lazy bone.
You should use this joke if it is just a joke so you don’t get insulted about your laziness.
Oh. Sorry for disturbing you
Instead of asking if you are disturbing, you can assume that you are already disturbing and end the call immediately.
Some people have the unique ability to hide their true feelings and staying calm even when they are anxious, angry, or in a hurry to get out of a place.
The person may be very eager to get out of the conversation with you even if his or her voice does not seem like it.
When you say this, you can end the call and leave the person to work. If you are not disturbing the person’s work, he or she would let you know and tell you why his work can continue even with the conversation.
If he or she seems to be trying to manage the situation by continuing work after your conversation, you can refuse and offer to call back when he or she is done working.
What work do you do?
It’s not your business but it wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it? If there person is not willing to talk about it, then he or she would not.
It is a simple question but you should not keep asking questions if you think you are already disturbing the person. It would be a waste of time and you would seem extremely annoying.
When the person tells you about his or her work, you can get to know if your conversation may be a disturbance to the work or not.
Even if it doesn’t sound like one that could be disturbed by your conversation, you can offer to call back after the work is finished.
I am busy too
You can say this if you only hoped to have a short conversation. In this case, you may not even have to say anything at all since you are obviously going to be ending the call in thirty seconds or one minute.
When the person says he’s just working, you can mention that you are busy too. You can state how you are busy or not if you don’t want to.
It could also be a lie to just end the call and call back when you think the person should be less busy.
By saying this, the person does not have to endure till the conversation is over since you also have to get back to whatever work you are doing.
I will call back later
This is always the final decision when the person says you might be disturbing. The person may have said that he or she would go back to work after the call ends.
That implies that you are disturbing with your conversation but he or she is respecting you.
You should offer to call the person later instead of bothering with questions about his or her work. Don’t bother asking If you are disturbing.
You can state what time you will call back or ask when the person will be free so you don’t disturb him or her again.
I should get to work too
When you say this, it suggests that you also have something to do. It also suggests that the conversation may not have lasted long if the work you are going to do is important. This response may also not be true.
The person may not ask what work you are speaking of so it can function as a perfect lie if you are lazy.
This implies that you have work to do but you may have been postponing the time to focus on it. Your friend’s work can be a motivation for you to work. You can tell the person you will call back, then get to your work.
I can help you out if you want
This is a nice offer but you may be unable to lend a hand through a phone unless you can actually lend a hand through a phone. There are different kinds of work.
Some people work remotely and can be assisted from all corners of the world. In that case, you may be able to help the person while you are not in the same place as the person.
However, this sounds much better if you are at the person’s place. If the work is physical, you can assist much better.
The person may ask you not to worry but you have to insist so you don’t appear useless.
Aren’t you distracted?
This sounds more like [I seem to be distracting you, don’t I?]. Sometimes, this is asked when you see that you are distracting the other person.
You can ask this question and offer to leave the person to finish up with his or her work. The person may also say no. You can ask this question if you have already had a long conversation.
Then you can say he or she should have told you earlier so you would stop disturbing.
Aren’t you done yet?
This question does not make sense unless you knew when the person started working. You may also use this if the person told you that he or she was working earlier.
You can tell the person that you did not know he or she wasn’t done when you called. You can add a short apology and offer to call back or ask the person to call back when he or she is done working.
Good luck with that
This sounds like you are not guilty of anything so you better make sure you are not guilty of anything.
If you were able to ask about the person at the start of the conversation and he or she talks about [Just Working], you can say Good luck and leave the person to work.
You haven’t delayed the person so you don’t have to be overly apologetic.
Good job
This sounds like you can see the job that is being done. Say this if you can. You may also say it if you know the job the person does and you think this comment works.
After saying this, you can make sure you are not disturbing the person in any way or you may just end the call and let the person be.
Call me when you are free
Immediately after you hear that he or she is working, it is only right for you to stop disturbing. Instead of asking, you can tell the person to call you back when he or she is done working.
This stops the disturbance you are causing at the moment. It also prevents you from causing more disturbance by calling back when the person is busy again.
When will you be done?
You can ask when the person will be through with work so you can call back without disturbing again.
Should I come help you out?
This may be a joke and it may not be. If it is a joke, the person should know immediately. If you happen to live close to the person, you should not day this joke so you don’t get his or her hopes up.
You may use the joke if you are far away. That way, the person will know that it is impossible for you to come and help.
Sounds like a lot of fun
Nothing stops you from adding a bit of sarcasm to your response. Just make sure you are not talking on and on about a joke and wasting the person’s time continuously.
After laughing, offer to leave the person to his or her work.
I’ve been lazy lately
If you’ve been lazy, it may just be the right time to make your confession. Just don’t take hours or minutes out of the person’s time because you are making a confession that he or she does not care about.
You can say this, joke about it for a second, then end the call.