I enjoy a silent chuckle each time I ask how someone is doing, and they answer “busy“. Let’s face it: If we want to engage fully in our careers and our personal lives, our days are bound to be packed. Since time is finite, it’s imperative to schedule those days smartly. This means being mindful and strategic when choosing where to devote our precious 1,440 minutes each day (which includes nearly 500 minutes of sleep). Part of that battle is learning how to say ”No” when someone’s request doesn’t rank at the top of our priority list.
Often we get taken off-guard when someone unexpectedly asks us to do something, to join something, or to chair something. Reliable professionals like ourselves are not only sought after, we love being involved. It’s in our nature to please others, and we sometimes attempt to think of ourselves as superheroes. Our knee-jerk reaction is “I can certainly just squeeze in one more thing”. The result: “Yes” leaves our lips before the reality of the promise registers in our brains!
