The Power of “No”
Life can consist of a never-ending task list. You have a lot of work to do, and every time you complete a task, a new one pops up. While you’re completing your work, it’s also common to get distracted easily, not by social media, but by your own email inbox. While you’re working, do you ever get distracted by other work? Every time a new task pops up, do you feel the need to do it right away? Does this ever happen to you? How can we make this stop?
Image by Christian Erfurt
Let’s think about what’s happening here. You’re constantly busy, but it feels like nothing is actually getting done. Let’s take a step back and think about your goals. You will need to reassess if what you’re working on will support your goals. After you reassess, start eliminating the tasks that don’t support your goals. You might realize that you have too much on your plate, and you will need to pause on some of the projects you’re currently working on. There might be some projects that will be tough to say goodbye to. For instance, you might need to pause on some of your volunteer work. It doesn’t mean that you’re not interested anymore, but you only have a limited amount of time in the day to dedicate to complete all of your work. As you start to eliminate tasks that don’t contribute towards your goals, it is recommended that you honour your commitments before you step away. Notify anyone who is involved with your projects you will step back with enough time in advance, and help them prepare for your absence. You want to be known for being reliable and honouring your commitments.
As much as we want to believe it, there is no such thing as true multitasking. What we’re actually doing is task-switching, we can only work on one thing at a time. Switching quickly between two tasks may work for low-risk type tasks like chores. A lot of us dream of being able to do it all, but if we overcrowd our schedule and try to do too many things at once, we won’t succeed. We need to decide on what to eliminate so that we can successfully accomplish one goal, then move onto the next goal.
Image by Markus Spiske
Which situation do you think is better: training for a soccer championship and a spelling bee tournament at the same time? Or winning the spelling bee tournament in 2025 and deciding to train for the 2026 soccer championship? One situation will burn you out, the other will set you up for multiple successes.
Saying "no" doesn’t mean "never." In most cases, it simply means "not now." You can say this politely to anyone, most people appreciate honestly and transparency. “No” is a complete sentence. Saying “no,” as needed helps you stay focused on what matters most. It’s a powerful way to get your schedule under control, and once it is, you can introduce more tasks.
Contact us today and we can help you redefine your goals and determine what to eliminate.