I've been working in an office in Phuket for almost twelve years now.

Short version first — I just hit something that made me really confused with myself, kinda funny but also awkward. Honestly, I'm baffled. Like, my head's all fuzzy.

I'm 42, a coordination officer at a small travel company near the fresh market. Main job is handling documents, coordinating hotels with guides, making quotations, updating files on the server, helping HR when needed. Some days I have to go pay a cheque at 3pm. Sometimes I have to sit by the phone until 11pm if there's a late group. The work isn't super rigid routine, but it's manageable and fits my family life a bit — I have one black ballpoint pen I use to sign documents every morning. Signing takes about 7 seconds per sheet. Stuff like that.

The problem is our new boss has been here for almost two months. He likes the team to “do everything” with no boundaries. Like yesterday he said he wants the team to help make social content because competitors are posting well. He said nowadays everyone can do it — just make short clips, pitch the idea, then take calls, switch to check hotel rates, and then make a presentation slide for tomorrow morning. See what I mean?

I get it, but I’m not good at social trends. I can do it but it won't look nice or creative. I'm more comfortable doing invoices. The boss doesn't really like to hear that people have different strengths — he wants constant agility, answers to everything. It makes me feel outdated, even though I do the old stuff well; clients have praised me plenty of times. But when he emphasizes that twenty-something flexible style, I’m like, do I need to learn TikTok at 1am? Haha lol.

Some things change super fast. Like our daily 9am meeting used to be a quick update, now it’s an idea stage — you have to show three slides, a sample post, propose a campaign, and write lots of follow-ups. I just discovered people can speak smoothly on camera for real. So I go quiet. Sometimes I can’t speak well, sometimes I plan to say something and then forget the words. Silent.

Some days the boss asks me to do out-of-scope stuff, like go talk to a restaurant owner in another province (we're supposed to meet at 1:30pm), then he calls at 9am and changes everything and wants me to fix the plan by 1pm, and adds “write a three-minute script for a promo clip.” Why three minutes? I’m so confused.

I tried to adapt. I told him what I can do, and that if he really wants that style maybe I need time to practice or someone dedicated for content. He listened a bit and said “just try it.” But after that, work still piled up on me — both technical and creative — so I feel like the middle person between tech and creative teams, even though I’m just a regular office guy, not a creative pro.

Some nights I can’t sleep. Can I do it? Am I worrying too much? Should I tell him straight that I can’t do everything professionally? But I’m afraid of hearing “if you can’t do it, we’ll find someone new.” I’m older than the newer people, have family responsibilities, expenses — I don’t want to switch jobs often. But the pressure to sell impact and speed makes me more tired and less confident.

I sneaked away to post this thread, I’ll go back to work soon T_T

Some coworkers feel for me, some tease me straight up like “why aren’t you a TikTok alpha yet?” Funny but also a little hurt. I want to laugh but also cry. Maybe I need to develop some skills, like short video making. At first maybe a short 2–3 day course. But I’m worried about spending time and money and not getting results, because even if I learn, the boss might not let me do it for real, or will give me the chance but expect even more.

I want to ask others who’ve had bosses like this or people my age — should I talk plainly with the boss about my job boundaries and focus on developing one skill at a time? Or should I stay quiet and try to learn everything because I’m scared of being seen as unready? Any ways to divide the work more systematically without being too pressured? I don’t want to be lazy, but I don’t want to be pulled into doing everything until I choke.

P.S. If anyone can recommend a short in-person course in Phuket (not too much online), I’ll hug the commenter.