I Tried That And It's A Waste of Time
Examples:
I tried that and it doesn't work.
I tried what you suggested and it was a total failure.
Explanation:
While this phrase isn't as terrible as some of the others in this book, it's still problematic because it's so negative, and suggests that the other person's suggestion is a complete waste of time.
With this phrase much is in the tone of the de-livery. If said in an angry or frustrated tone, it's likely to start an argument. If said in a factual tone, it's probably OK. Watch out, though, for the “waste of time” part of the phrase. Those are fighting words.
Make It Better:
Replace “waste of time” with other words that don‟t have the negative emotional impact. Notice also that the better phrases open the door for on-going discussion, as opposed to shutting down the conversation
I tried your suggestion and I couldn't get it to work. Maybe I didn't follow what you were saying?
I tried that, and while it might work for you I found it doesn't work as well for me.