If you really don’t like taking to people that much, try for remote work. Once I almost went a full week without hearing another coworkers voice.(I’m not counting Teams chats bc I actually have work discussions there and I can ignore them as needed.)
If that’s not possible, learn to lean into extroversion a little. If someone wants to chat, let them talk a bit. You could let them talk about themselves the whole time, extroverts love that shit.
Give it ten minutes and then tell them you’re on a deadline or something and need to get back to work. If you really can’t handle it at the moment, do that second part immediately when they start talking.
The key is to be polite and respectful, but still assertive. It takes practice to get that mix right, so try it with some friends if you’re not sure how it comes across.
And just throwing it out there - I know you said you’re not looking to make friends, but this is what 80% of “networking” really is; just making friends enough that they’ll be a good reference.
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