What most people refer to as time management, I call self-management. No one can really manage time since we all get the same amount of time in a day or week. We can only manage ourselves.
ONE CLEAR WAY TO DETERMINE THAT YOU ARE NOT PRACTICING EFFECTIVE SELF-MANAGEMENT IS IF YOU ARE FEELING OVERWHELMED.
We often say yes to things because we want to look good, please other people or we think we “should” say yes for some reason. The problem is, when we say yes to too many things, our productivity, income, and other aspects of our business and personal life sometimes suffer instead of improving.
If you are in a state of overwhelm, and feeling like your wheels (and your head) are spinning out of control, you are likely saying yes to too many things. This means your life and business could benefit greatly from saying no more often.
Give yourself, your business, your clients, and your loved ones the gift of learning when to say no. It’s an important way to establish healthy boundaries.
“BUT, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO SAY NO TO?” YOU MAY ASK.
The best way to gauge if it’s an appropriate time to say no is to ask yourself if you can give a complete yes. If you have reservations, anxiety, dread, start over-analyzing or have a gut feeling that saying yes to something is not ideal for you at this time, then it’s not a complete yes. If it’s not a complete yes, it’s a no.
Saying no with grace, style and kindness is a critical component of keeping yourself sane and productive. It is also a way to gain respect from the people you interact with.
You will find that people come to respect you and your time more when you are able to say no, if necessary. And those who respect and honor you make better clients, partners, colleagues, friends and associates.
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And if you know a friend or neighbor who could use hearing the advice in this article or needs The Job I Love Toolkit, please forward this to them.