Own Less, Do Less, and Say No (Part 3 of 3)
When attempting to get control of your time and your life, where do you start? Based on my book “7 Maxims of Time Management,” Maxim #1 calls for Simplification and that begins with owning less, continues with doing less, and that involves saying “No.” In this last installment of this maxim, we'll look at Saying “No.”
Part 1: Own Less
Part 2: Do Less
Why are we so often overwhelmed by our inability to choose wisely how we should invest and spend our time? We’ll learn later how to make better proactive choices based on priorities, needs, and values. However, we shouldn’t discount the potentially adverse impact of reactive decisions based on our inclination to meet the needs of others at the expense of our own.
“Time is the coin of your life. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” – Carl Sandburg
I used to serve on a university committee that took up about 5% of my entire work time monthly. I thought I was being asked because of special knowledge and skills I had, but learned that it was more about my connections and perceived ability to raise money for an annual golf tournament. I wasted three years mainly because I couldn’t say, “No, thank you.”
On another occasion, I was asked to speak for free for 50 minutes at a conference that would be a six hour drive each way and an overnight stay. The only real beneficiary was the guy who wanted a free speaker. By then, I had learned to say “No.” He wasn’t happy, but I was.
“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.” – Warren Buffet
Sometimes your important work may be interrupted by someone who has something urgent that needs to be done. All too often, urgent things arise from the little things someone failed to do when they should have done them. Unless you have no control over the decision, don’t yield to the tyranny of the urgent. We will revisit the issue of Importance vs. Urgency in Maxim 6.
When faced with a conflict between your priorities and those of someone else, ask yourself:
“What are the consequences for me if I don’t do this?”
There is an opportunity cost associated with the expenditure of unproductive time in the form of what you could have accomplished by focusing on more productive uses of your time.
And what if you really can’t say no? In a one-year period back in the ‘80s, I made a career change, my wife and I bought a new house and moved, she became pregnant, I was elected president of the local chapter of a professional society, and became the “Most Loyal Gander” of a fraternal order. How was I able to deal with all of this? By employing all of the principles and practices outlined in this book. So, if you really can’t say “No” under the circumstances, use the Maxims in this book to deal with the situation.
As I explained in the Preface about my college experience, if you have a plan in place, structure, priorities, goals, and motivation, you can accomplish what the unorganized person would consider impossible. And, I promise, you’ll feel like you have more free time than you did when the demands on your time were far less. Stress-free free time, I might add.
Start your quest by simplifying and organizing.
“Our life is frittered away by detail…simplify, simplify.” – Henry David Thoreau
The “7 Maxims of Time Management” is available on Amazon. As an added bonus, the ebook includes a link to download a free PDF copy of "QuoteNotes: The Ultimate Quotational Reference System and Authoring Tool for Professional Speakers and Writers."
To read all three parts of this article:
Part 1: Own Less
Part 2: Do Less
Part 3: Say “No”