My colleague, Ellen Hankes, wrote a great post about how to say NO and feel OK about it. She gives some great ideas in her posting the Art of Saying No. Keep reading for more ideas on how to manage your time by saying "no."
Did you know that saying "No" can actually be doing a favor for the person you are talking to? No really! It can!!
Consider this Situation
You are swamped. You are having difficulty getting things done that are already on your plate, when a good colleague contacts you about an organization that means a lot to you. They are planning a fund-raising event and would like you to participate. You know that you really cannot take on any more.
You Have Choices
- Yes
- No
Which one would you choose? This is a really important organization to you. It will really disappoint your colleague if you say that you cannot participate.
Just Say NO!
Now, I'm not a heartless person. I have a number of community organizations that I work with, but I do say "No" too. Here is why.
If you say "yes," you are compromising your time and priorities. Here are a few scenarios of what could occur:
- You end up being so bogged down that you do a mediocre job on the fund raising project - ultimately the organization that means a lot to you is not as successful because you cannot really spend time on it.
- You feel bitter about having to participate and end up backing out a few months into the project. The colleague that asked you to help now has to take over your portion because it is too late to find someone else. Ultimately, you hurt a relationship and the organization that means a lot to you has lost.
- You neglect other important projects and disappoint those colleagues because you spend time on this fund-raising event.
- You loose sleep trying to do more than you really can afford and ultimately get sick and can do even less.
- Your family gets frustrated with you because you decide to putt off activities with them in order to work the fund-raising event.
Wow! Those are not good outcomes are they? Now let's look at it this way:
- You talk with your colleague and tell him/her that you really appreciate the opportunity to participate, but you cannot take on anything further at this time. You have an idea of someone that might be a great alternative so you mention this as well.
- You tell your colleague that you cannot help in the way requested, but you would be happy to do X.
End result? Your colleague is disappointed, but he/she appreciates your position and staffs the project differently. You are able to feel good about where you spend your time. The organization that means a lot to you benefits from the event and you even participate in the actual event and have a good time even though you did not help in the planning.
Which end result do you like better? How do you feel about saying "No?" Have you ever had good things come out of saying "No?" Share your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of this posting on my blog!
To your success!
