Saying No

There’s a productivity tip that you hear a log – to say “no”. This is mainly said in the context of work – to be able to say no to things your co-workers ask you to do, or your customers, or even your manager – that way you can work on the few things that you feel are the most important and won’t be distracted by the little things. Sometimes this is referenced in a personal context, you have to say no to hanging out with your friends in order to go to a conference or be home with your family.

I think Merlin Mann said it best on one of the Back To Work episodes. I couldn’t find the exact quote even after listen to hours and hours of past shows, but he said something to the effect of…

“In order to do great things, I have to say no to everything else.”
- Merlin Mann

I’m assuming some people have a hard time saying no to other people when they ask them to do things, because they want t o please people. However, what about saying no to yourself? I’ve recently had to tell myself no.

I took up tae kwon do recently and really liked it. I liked going, I liked the teacher, I liked the other guys that were in the class. It was really a lot of fun. However, when I took all things into perspective there were several things that counted against it…

• Tae Kwon Do was during prime time evening hours where I either need to be home with my kids or running them to their own activities.
• I recently decided to start contest prep for a natural bodybuilding contest in November, I need to focus on that.
• I could probably squeeze the money into the budget, but it would probably be better going to other outstanding bills.

At the end of the day, I had to tell myself no. Even though it was a fun thing that I really enjoyed, I need to say no to it in order to focus and do better at the other things that are more important to me – being a dad, bodybuilding, and a balanced budget.