Getting caught off guard by a tricky question in a meeting can be as excruciating as a charley horse that wakes you up at night. How do you respond when you don’t know the answer? What will everyone think of you? Quick, say something at least.

But here’s the truth: You don’t have to know all the answers on the spot. Sometimes you’re allowed to have time to think things through. So here are a few ways to say that you need to think about it, without using any umms or hmms to try and buy time.

When your boss asks you a pointed question during a 1x1: “I appreciate you bringing this up. I’m going to think through that possibility and then let’s talk it out on Slack or in our next 1x1.”

When a coworker pokes a hole in your argument during a team meeting: “I hadn’t thought about it that way. Let me chew on that for a bit and I’ll follow up this afternoon.”

When a direct report asks you a question about senior leadership and you don’t yet have the answer: “That’s an interesting point. In full transparency, I don’t have that information yet either, but when I do I’ll make sure to let you know ASAP.”

When you’re working on an assessment for a new job: “I don’t know the answer to this question right now, but I’m a fast learner and I’m confident that with further context and training I’ll be more than capable of solving this issue.”

Write down a few of these lines, tape them to the side of your computer or in your notebook, and read them like a cue card the next time you feel like you need to pull the rip cord on a conversation.—CS

Last week, hotshot AI chip company Nvidia proved the haters wrong and reported better-than-expected revenue for Q2—it’s now the sixth-most valuable public company and the newest conversation topic for condescending first dates around the world.

Earlier this summer, we wrote about how Nvidia (and you, dear reader) can sustain success. But what happens when all goes according to plan and you do reach those benchmarks? Here’s how to advocate for recognition and reward, so you can get what you want in your next performance convo.

Track your wins. You don’t need to get fancy here—a simple running doc of your successes will do the trick. You might already be doing this with a “Wins” or “Accomplishments” section in your weekly 1x1s with your manager, so copy and paste from that as needed.

• Bonus: A brag template makes updating your résumé a whole lot easier when you’re ready to jump into your next job.

Quantify the value you’ve created. Just because you succeed doesn’t mean HR is going to give you a 20% raise and the Hogwarts House Cup. You’ve got to show them the data, which means highlighting the metrics that make you shine.

• For example: “The live and downloadable content I’ve created for our bespoke programming has generated over $500k in recognized revenue this quarter.”

Go beyond the numbers. Closing a big-ticket deal is an easy win to discuss, but not everyone is out here cold-calling potential clients. Qualitative wins are wins, too—they just take a little extra work to sell the impact.

• For example: If you helped project-manage an important marketing campaign, you may not be able to claim revenue generated—but you can highlight how your work on this strengthened internal relationships and smoothed the transitions between teams.

By arming yourself with the details now, you’ll understand your own impact and be fully prepared to convey that clearly during performance reviews. Just make sure to phrase your success as wins for the team too—and maybe even wins for our future AI robot overlords.

You might be able to dodge a tough conversation by avoiding the office kitchen for a few days (hope you’ve got snacks in your backpack)—but at some point you’re going to have to:

• Tell a coworker they’re not pulling their weight
• Ask your boss for that raise they keep putting off
• Tell your direct report they have to stop wearing crop tops to work

You may hate them, but handling difficult convos actually helps improve difficult situations. It may feel daunting, but the Brew’s got the steps for you to tackle any dicey work convo before sh*t hits the fan.

Sign up for the Difficult Conversations at Work course here.

The best part about late summer used to be the trip to Target for three-ring binders and mechanical pencils. And while the days of precalc and lunch meats may be long gone, you can still enjoy the thrill of back-to-school shopping as a working adult.

We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite “back-to-school” work supplies, organized by splurge factor.

The Raise editors are ride-or-die for Muji pens, though we disagree on which size is the best for writing (s/o to Team 0.5mm).

Try this magnetic whiteboard to spruce up your workspace and/or write passive-aggressive to-do lists on the fridge for your roommate.

If you’re sick of loose papers being the focal point of your desk, this retro-style smart display is customizable and links to your apps. That way, everyone can see which Taylor Swift song you’re binging—or you can even pretend it’s an in-office fireplace.

This tablet replaces those 900-page planners you’ve been lugging back and forth between home and office. It’s a serious splurge—but also a game changer if you spend a lot of time both writing and getting distracted by all the internet has to offer.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were not able to make pocket protectors cool.

Have any other good back-to-school-but-for-work recs? Reply to this email and let us know.

Read: Take advice from the Moth’s creators and finally learn how to tell your own story at a company dinner without trailing off midway or making up a fake ending on the spot.

Listen: And here you were thinking you had the greatest “worst job interview” story.

Finally relax: How to stop thinking about work all the time.

Travel: This small Ozarks town is becoming the new capital of cool (it’s also home to Walmart HQ).

Shop: Wake up rested, crank through your workday, and still have the evening to exercise, go grocery shopping, call your parents binge Only Murders in the Building. Here’s the Brew’s definitive guide to taking back your time.

Work Hacks is where we ask industry experts about the best tools and frameworks for simplifying the inefficient or boring things we all end up doing at the office.

Bretton Hoekwater lives in Denver, where he’s Manager of Sales Operations at Prologis and a member of the Alumni of Learning Brew Advisory Board. Here’s his No. 1 work hack right now:

“Remember the days of family calendars and color-coding responsibilities? Well, I like to keep things old-school and use this with both my work schedule and personal life.

• I combine calendars and time-block everything I need to do in my day—from exercising and folding laundry to ensuring I have time to complete a crucial work project.
• Within my work blocks, I prioritize my weekly projects and organize them based on the handoff date.

This time-blocking and prioritizing framework allows me to efficiently visualize how my week looks and create balance for myself. Then as the inevitable ad hoc requests come in, I can quickly determine if I can take them on or if I have to say no.”

Dive deeper: Bretton recommends reading Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals for more deets.