How often do some of us feel guilty about saying “no”. It is important to say “no” at work without making enemies.
It is a simple word but too many of us have trouble saying it. Perhaps it is because we have become successful by saying yes to everything, every business opportunity, every request that has come our way.
However, as we progress through our careers, more people and more projects will vie for our time. Everything can simply not be done, and this is when it will be necessary to start saying no.
More than ever we are working harder than ever and this when we can take on too much work. Sometimes saying “yes” to another project, when you are already at full capacity means that the older projects gets overlooked or delivery slows down.
Steve Jobs famously said that “focusing is about saying no”. Focusing on what matters and not what is in front of you, is the key to driving the success of any business.
When it comes to managing your time, your career and your business, over-committing yourself is not a sign of success. If you are struggling to say no, think back to all the times when agreeing to take on something new distracted you from your own priorities. How much time, energy and stress might have been saved if you had just been able to say no.
So next time if you don’t have time to take on more work, simply say, “no I can’t commit due to other prioritites”