Time Management - Marc Mancini

Learning to Say No 83
What to Say No to
Robert Moskowitz, author of How to Organize Your Work and
Your Life (New York: Doubleday, 1993, 2nd edition), identified
two vital questions to ask yourself before saying yes to something
you might feel reluctant about:
1. What will this commitment mean? Let’s say you’ve been
asked to serve on a committee. Before saying yes, you
need answers to all the following questions:
• When does it meet?
• How often does it meet?
• How long are the meetings?
• What does it do?
• What would my responsibilities be?
• Are there any allied duties outside the meeting time?
• How long would I be expected to serve on this committee?
So, before you agree to do anything, try to anticipate
any unvoiced or unexpected responsibilities that may
emerge later on.
2. If you had to take on this commitment tomorrow, would
it—considering what you’ve planned—be a good use of
your time? Moskowitz considers this the litmus test of
responsibility. When compared with your normal duties,
does the project obligation seem worthy? If yes, then it
merits your time. If not (and assuming tomorrow
A Different Way
Of course, you don’t have to do everything everyone wants
you to do. But you also don’t have to do everything the way
everyone wants you to do it, either.
If you know there’s a better, less time-consuming way to produce
the same results, you should learn to say no to the approach others
typically use. Be confident in the way you work best. After all, once
you find a method of producing satisfactory results in your own way,
you might be able to say yes to a request you might otherwise have
turned down.
Saying no to the how may make it possible to say yes to the what.