Your Health's Journal

One of the most important things you can learn about staying organized is learning your limits and knowing when to say no. If you can start to view time as more valuable than money, you’ll be more likely to say no when needed.

It’s hard to say no. Everyone around you is asking for more. The PTA wants you to work a fundraiser. Your boss wants something that takes two weeks finished in 24 hours. Your children want every moment of your day. Your spouse isn’t much better. Never mind your best friend. The wanting can get out of control.

1- Say It

It will take some time, but start small and practice saying the word No. Say it out loud now. No. Feel how it rolls off your tongue and how you feel when you say the words. Right now, you likely have some anxiety saying it. But, after time, when you realize you’re going to be so much more valuable doing each thing you do well, and you’re going to feel better being more organized, it will get a lot easier.

2-Use a Calendar

One method for saying no is to use your calendar. Take out your Filofax  or your mobile device, open your calendar and look at what you have to do. This will give you a chance to think about whether or not you really want to do what you’ve been asked to do. In addition, it will give you an opportunity to see if you actually have time to do it. If you don’t have time, and there is no real way to reorganize things even if you want to do it, you will have to say no.

If you just don’t want to do it, you can still use the calendar as the excuse. Opening the calendar and then stating, “I’m so sorry, I cannot do that at this time” is usually enough. Alternatively, you can say, “Let me get back to you by 3 p.m. with an answer.” In the case where you really do want to do it but you simply do not have the time, you can say no to the actual request but offer to do something else.

For example, your boss wants you to get some work done in 24 hours that literally takes about 48 hours of straight work. Knowing you are just human and need sleep, it’s important to tell your boss the truth. “I cannot have this done by that date, but I will have it done by this date.” This is a perfectly good example of how to say no, but still deliver what needs to be done.

Refusing to do something or to give something is much more complicated than it seems. The art of saying no to a proposal or request is closely linked to the character and personality of each person, but you can also work to learn it. In life, it is easy to accept everything by saying yes, but, in certain circumstances, happiness lies in saying no.

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See you soon,

Ludmilla!