Say No
It's such a small word but people find it very hard to say no. Are you one of those people who drops everything just to do a task for someone else because you don't want to let them down? You'll do it even if you're inundated with your own work and the task puts you behind schedule.
Being unable to say no leads to over-commitment. There are many reasons why you may find it hard to say no, you may feel that you are losing personal power. Some of us need to feel like a superhero, someone who is always there to be relied on to do any tasks. Others can't bear the guilt of saying no to colleagues, they don't want to let them down. Some people have a need to please others and therefore saying no is not an option for them.
Tips to help you say no when you need to:
- Focus on your goals.
- Block time for important, but often unscheduled, priorities. Once you have sorted your priorities and you know how important they are, saying "no" to the unimportant in life gets easier.
- Be understanding to the person requesting the work and state you know it is important but stay firm and explain that you have prearranged tasks and priorities which have to come first and ask if anyone else can help with the task or try and schedule another time in the week when you can look at it.
- You can't be expected to do everything for everyone so there is no need to be defensive, try instead to set realistic limits about what is possible.
- If you are unsure whether you have the time to take on a task don't commit yourself to saying yes or no until you have learnt more about what is involved and how long it will take and then let the person know an answer, as soon as you can, taking into account your current commitments and deadlines. This way you can check what priorities you have and whether by doing this task your own tasks will fall behind schedule.
