Why do I say yes to everything at work?

You say yes to everything until there is nothing left of you, and then the resentment sets in. You are not weak or foolish for this. Somewhere you learned that your worth depended on being useful, on never disappointing, on absorbing whatever was asked. That lesson is running the show, and it is running you into the ground. The resentment is worth listening to, because it is telling you the truth your yes will not. Every automatic yes to others is a quiet no to yourself, and the cost adds up in silence until it comes out sideways as bitterness. You are not actually generous when you cannot say no. You are just afraid, and paying for it later. Start small. The next time a request comes and you feel the automatic yes rising, buy yourself time: I will check and get back to you. That pause breaks the reflex and gives your own needs a moment to speak. A yes only means something when you were free to say no. Practice the pause, and the no becomes possible.