Is 'take your time' always sincere, or can it be passive-aggressive?

Usually it's sincere and meant to reduce pressure. However, if someone says 'take your time' when there's clearly a tight deadline, it can sound sarcastic or passive-aggressive. Pay attention to context and tone.

Can I use 'take your time' with my manager?

Yes, but be careful. Saying 'take your time' to your manager is fine when they asked for your input. Saying it about their work might sound inappropriate, like you're telling them they're slow.

What's the difference between 'take your time' and 'no rush'?

'Take your time' and 'no rush' mean the same thing. 'No rush' is slightly more casual. They're often used together: 'No rush, take your time.'

Should I use 'take your time' in writing or speaking?

'Take your time' works in both, but it's more common in speaking and casual written messages like Slack. For formal emails, prefer phrases like 'at your convenience' or 'when time permits.'

How do I respond when someone tells me to 'take my time'?

Common responses include: 'Thanks, I appreciate that,' 'Will do!' or just 'Thanks!' You can also give an estimate: 'Thanks—I'll have it done by Thursday.'

What Does "Take Your Time" Mean at Work?

Commonness	4/5
Versatility	4/5
Formality	CasualFormalCasual
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenSpoken
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticDiplomatic
Region	US and UK

Say it like this

✓Take your time with that PR review—no rush.

✓Take your time, we're not shipping until next week anyway.

✓Hey, take your time on the investigation, I just want it done right.

✓Take your time getting back to me, I know you're swamped.

Real examples

Standup

"Take your time on the bug fix—the release isn't until Friday."

Slack message

"Take your time reviewing my PR, no rush at all 🙂"

GitHub PR

"Take your time with this one—it's a big change and I want to make sure we get it right."

Jira ticket

"No hard deadline here. Take your time and let me know if you have questions."

Retrospective

"We should tell newcomers to take their time during onboarding—rushing causes mistakes."

Sprint planning

"Take your time estimating this story; we need accurate numbers."

Pair programming

"Take your time thinking through the logic—I'll wait."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Can sound passive-aggressive if used when there's actually a tight deadline—make sure you really mean "no rush."

✕Take your times with the review.

✓Take your time with the review.— 'Time' is always singular in this phrase—never 'times'.

✕Take time with the code.

✓Take your time with the code.— You need 'your' to make this phrase sound natural.

✕Please take your time, the deadline is tomorrow.

✓Please try to finish by tomorrow, but let me know if you need more time.— 'Take your time' doesn't work when there's actually a tight deadline—it sounds contradictory or passive-aggressive.

Other forms

imperative

take your time

"Take your time with the deployment."

third person

takes their time

"She always takes her time reviewing code."

past

took their time

"The team took their time on the architecture decision."

Often used with

take your time withMost common preposition—used before the task

take your time onAlso common, especially before specific work items

take your time reviewingOften used for code review or document review

no rush, take your timeOften paired together to emphasize no pressure

feel free to take your timeAdds politeness and permission

Similar words

no rushMore casual; often used together with 'take your time'

whenever you're readyFocuses on the person's readiness rather than time

no hurrySame meaning, slightly more British

take as long as you needMore explicit about having unlimited time

Opposites

ASAPurgenttime-sensitivehigh priorityrush

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural response

1. A colleague asks you to review their PR but you're busy. They say: 'Take your time—no rush.' What does this mean?

They want the review done immediatelyThey're giving you permission to do it when you canThey don't want you to review itThey're angry you haven't done it yet

Find the error

2. Which sentence has a mistake?

Take your time on the refactoring.Take your times with the documentation.Feel free to take your time.No rush—take your time.

Complete the sentence

3. Take your time _____ the code review—we don't need it until next week.

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this to sound less rushed: 'Please complete the review quickly, but also make sure it's thorough.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "take your time" in a standup this week?

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