BE 376: In Limbo at Work? How to Get Through It
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 376, In Limbo at Work, How to Get Through It.

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Hello, Michelle. How's it going today? Everything is good, Lindsay. How are you? I'm feeling great today. But Michelle, I do have a question for you. Okay, what is it? So how do you feel when something is in limbo in your life?

How does it feel when I'm in limbo? I don't like that feeling. I don't like when too much is unsettled up in the air. It can feel a little bit. It makes me feel a little uneasy. What about you? A hundred percent. No matter how much I meditate, right? Definitely. You're just in this in-between phase where you're not sure what direction things are going to go in. Yeah. I will lose sleep sometimes. Yeah. A hundred percent. It's hard to be in limbo.

It's hard to be in limbo. It is. So guys, maybe you're wondering what in limbo means. Well, we are going to answer a listener question today about this expression. So this is going to be really good. Guys, remember to hit follow wherever you are listening to the Business English podcast so you never miss anything and let the episodes come to you.

exactly and today's episode is inspired by sophia our amazing listener sophia thank you sophia thank you yeah i'm gonna go ahead and read the question all right yes

All right. Hi, Lindsay and Michelle. I'm Sophia. I just want to say how much I love your podcast. I look forward to starting my day with a cup of coffee and listening to your episodes. Thank you for answering my questions. Oh, that is so wonderful. I love that. Thank you so much. Yep. And that's why we do this, right? We do this for our listeners. A hundred percent. So,

So I have a question about something I heard recently on the Business English podcast where Lindsay said, yeah, and I think a lot of companies right now are kind of in limbo with the new Trump administration. We don't know what's going to happen with the economy, right? That's a direct quote from me. Thank you. It's always kind of weird to see your own quote from an episode. Could you explain what in limbo means in this context?

Thanks again for everything you do. Your podcast has truly become a part of my daily routine. Best regards, Sophia. Oh, so good. So good. Thank you very much. I really love that question. I love how you put everything that made me, gave me the warm fuzzies. So thank you so much, Sophia, for listening, for letting us be a part of your routine. Yeah, it's an honor. All right. So let's get into answering this question right away for Sophia and all of our listeners. What does it mean, Michelle?

Yeah. So being in limbo, this is about uncertainty, right? So if you're in limbo, you aren't sure what's going to happen. Sometimes it's because you don't know what to do, but a lot of times it's because you're waiting for something to happen. And that's going to give you information about your next moves.

Yes. Right. I mean, so let's talk about the Trump context, Lindsay, your quote. Yeah. What what did you mean by that? Yeah. So what I meant is, well, right now. So by the time this comes out, we'll be past Inauguration Day. But right now we're recording this. So just like a few days before Inauguration Day. And one of the things Trump has said that he will do is tariffs, placing tariffs on a lot of imports.

imports from china imports from i think he said canada mexico lots of things we don't really know if he's going to do this but what we do know is that manufacturing companies anyone that creates their physical products overseas are definitely in limbo now yeah i think they don't know some of them have already built new factories in other countries that they don't think will have tariffs some are just waiting some are bulking up on their products and

storing them, people are really not sure what to expect.

so it's an extreme example um yeah that's what i mean yeah exactly no one knows what's going to happen they're kind of in this waiting period so it can just be uncomfortable it's just about uncertainty really i mean exactly so lindsay why is this a good expression for the business world well i think it sounds pretty professional but it's also human sounding right because we know what it feels like to be in limbo so if we apply that to the business world we get it

Um, it's used, you know, when we're in a waiting period of uncertainty, uncertainty, I think is the key word, Michelle. I think you've said it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's really describing this very specific scenario. You know, you're not always in limbo for things, but it's just when you are in limbo, you know, it, um, this is different from doing the limbo. I just want to say right after I planned this episode, I happened to be at a roller skating school fundraiser for my son and

And they were doing the limbo. Is that the one? Is it where they kind of bend backwards and go under the pole? Yeah, you have to bend. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the limbo. So that's a different kind of limbo. Well, I'm sure. But I have a feeling it came from that physical movement where if you think about it, you're kind of bending your body a little bit. You don't know if you're going to fall. Fall.

fall or you're going to make it. Right. You're like in limbo between not falling, trying not to fall and trying not to hit the bar as you go under it. Right. I remember doing that as a kid. It kind of makes sense actually. Right. It does. It does. I never thought about it before, but that is true. But yeah, it can be used also for explanations of why certain things haven't happened. Right. Maybe you haven't been able to complete a project to complete a task because you are in limbo because you're waiting on someone else.

Another good example of this would be if you're applying for a new job and you have a dream job that you've applied for, but then you have another job that you interviewed for. Job two is offering you the job, but then you haven't heard back from job one and you're kind of, oh, yeah. It is hard. It is hard. I'm sure a lot of our listeners have been in those kinds of situations. Those are the worst. Yes.

Let's give some examples, though, of other ways you might hear this in business. Okay. So the team was in limbo. They knew someone would be laid off, but they didn't know who or when. That's awkward. Yeah, that's very awkward. Or the project is in limbo because we have to finalize our budget. I think we should just wait another week and reach out again. Yeah. And the reality is this is incredibly common, right? So projects face

setbacks, budget cuts sometimes, or delays. If you're waiting for a physical product to complete your project, you might have to delay the completion of the project. It's so common. Nothing ever goes according to plan, right? Or what's one more example? Everything is in limbo until we get the grant. I just hope it works out and all the paperwork gets signed soon. Ooh, that's another good example. If you work in the nonprofit world...

which I know a lot of our listeners do, you're constantly working based on the cycles of fundraising and reliant on fundraising, which can be hard, right? Yeah. Oh my gosh. And you don't know when or if things are going to come through. That's pretty stressful. Yeah, that must be. I think it would be tough. The nonprofit world would be tough. I mean, they're doing great things that I'm not sure if I would have the stomach for it, right? In terms of, am I going to have a job? I don't know.

Very intense. Very intense. Very intense.

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All right, here we go, Michelle. We're back from break. Yeah. Yeah.

Lindsay, have you ever felt like something in your life was in limbo personally or professionally? Oh, for sure. There's been a lot of moments, especially in my 20s, when I moved back to New York and one of our students in our community was asking me about that moment in my life and I was sharing with him when I moved back to New York from South America, looking at what I was going to do professionally. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have my own business, if I wanted to get a corporate job, like a nine-to-five job.

There was a lot of soul searching at that time for me. Yeah. What about you, Shawn?

Uh, that's funny. When I was asking you the question, I was kind of thinking of a similar example with myself. I think when I'm, when I first moved to New York, I was kind of in limbo because I was living in this temporary summer situation and I didn't know if I was going to get a job where I could afford to, you know, make my move permanent or if I was going to have to go back to Maryland. Um, so I was in limo because I didn't, it's kind of like,

You ever hear this could be an it's neither here. You're neither here nor there. It's like you're you're kind of in this in between phase and you don't know which way you're going to get pulled hard. It's hard. Right. But sometimes you do look back on those moments with fondness because you are able to dig a little deeper into your inner resources. Right. So how do you stay calm?

when you're in limbo, Michelle? What did you do to stay sane? I don't know that I did stay sane. A lot of walking around New York, right? Yeah, a lot of walking around. There was a tricky time in my life. But now I think when I'm in limbo for something, I think I'm a little, I don't know, I guess as I'm getting older, I'm like a little bit more chilled out on that stuff. I don't know. You have a bit more of a foundation maybe, right? Right.

You know that no matter what happens, you have your foundation, you know who you are a little bit better. What is it about New York that puts people into limbo, Michelle? It's so crazy. It's so expensive. It's so competitive. So competitive. Getting a job. Yes. There's so many things that you're waiting on, but everything kind of moves

quickly. And yeah, I think that's what it is. In New York, you can't just, you know, be offered a job and say, Oh, I'll let you know in a few weeks or be offered an apartment. If you get offered an apartment, you have to run to the signing office and sign your contract. Yeah, right. Right. I mean, there's no waiting in New York, right? So right. This would be kind of cool for our listeners to reflect on their lives. What are the moments they've been in limbo?

Right. Exactly. So, I mean, this is really good for connecting with your coworkers. I mean, for explaining your situation, maybe you're showing empathy or just you're talking about progress on a project. So, yeah, we're going to teach some similar expressions. These ones, they don't exactly match, but because in limbo is to me a very specific kind of expression. But these are related.

Yeah, for sure. So here is the first one up in the air. Yeah, I think this is related. Everything is up in the air until we hear if the contract gets signed. Yeah. And that's an awkward, awkward moment. Awkward moment. Or here it all hinges on. Right. So this is kind of like it all depends on. But it all hinges on what happens in tomorrow's meeting. Yeah. Or unsettled. Everything is unsettled. So we can't make a decision yet. Right.

Yeah. And that can be frustrating, almost like you want to make one decision, but you have to make another one and you can't make that one yet. It's all these rabbit holes. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. It's true. OK, so should we do a role play? Yes. Here we go. So here we are at work. We work together and I am explaining why I can't have a project done by a certain time.

Okay. Okay. All right. Here we go. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with it. Oh, yeah. Thanks. The project is just in limbo right now because of the changes with the team. Right. It's all unsettled. Right. And because everything's up in the air, I can't move forward. It

It all hinges on the team. Yes. Nice. Yeah. That's, that's on all. You can end up in those positions, right? Where you can't go this way. You can't go that way. Something needs to resolve first. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Uncomfortable. That uncomfortable place.

Let's go through it. So you said the project is in limbo right now because of the changes with the team. Good. And then you said, right, it's all unsettled. And then you said, because everything is up in the air, I can't move forward. And then you said it all hinges on the team. Love it.

So realistic too, right? Yes. Lots of times where you're going to be in limbo at work and now you know how to talk about it. I love it. And another great episode where our listeners could go right now to keep listening to Business English is Business English 370. And that is what intimidates you at work. Some people might feel quite intimidated at this moment of being in limbo, but there might be other scenarios.

Yeah. How to talk about that. Good topic. Exactly. All right, Lindsay, what do we want to leave our listeners with today? Well,

Well, I feel like it would be a really cool conversation topic to open this up just on the personal level with a native speaker. When have you been in limbo? We've shared some great examples. New York seems to be the thing that throws everyone into limbo. But what are the moments in your life? What age were you? Where were you living? Add color to that to let people get to know you. And then there's the business piece, right? This very much applies to business. We get stuck. We feel like we can't go in either direction. There's a lot of

waiting. It's just a reality of business. Okay. That's absolutely right.

Right. All right. Well, thank you so much to our listener for this question. This was a good one. And guys, we hope you're not in limbo with anything. But if you are trying to take some deep breaths and just keep listening to the podcast. Yeah. I mean, relying on your foundation, again, of knowing who you are and knowing that you'll get out of limbo at some point, too. Right. We'll get through this. All right. All right. You have a good day. I'll talk to you soon. All right. Bye, Lindsay. Bye.

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