Project 2012: Day 21
You know these people. Your favourite person. When you ask them something, they immediately going into problem solving mode. The “can do-ers!” Always busy, never say “no”…
…to you!
Maybe, you are one of them. You’ll find they typically congregate with IT Consultants and Support folk.
Do you find that you spend increasing hours at the office? Or working at home after hours, before hours, heck on the train? Is the first thing you read when you wake up your email?
You’re so busy with important, even urgent work, that there’s not much time between work and bed. The bedtime story has become an annoying distraction. Not enough time for exercise. But at work you’re the “can do” gal! The person who get’s things done no matter how busy you are.
To be honest, even work commitments slip. Continually slip. But you just can’t say “No.” It’s not in your nature. It’s not right.
Yep, I recognise you. In me.
The problem with saying “Yes” is that time is not elastic. (We’ve mentioned that before) Time always passes, and we will always be doing something then. So when you say “yes,” you are saying “no” to another activity.
The problem is two-fold:
- We underestimate how long a task will take.
- We don’t use the same tools to track our personal commitments as our work ones.
So the bedtime story, and the school concert isn’t in your calendar, but the proposal deadline and the executive visit is.
The answer is also two-fold:
- Block out your calendar for everything you commit to and:
- Refuse to have double-bookings (force a reschedule conversation)
- Refuse to book activities after hours (force a personal commitment to yourself, family, friends and faith)
- Write down, or put in your calendar, all the time you need for personal activities. Do this weekly, before scheduling work commitments.
How do you say “No"?”