Learn to Say No

Introduction Are you overscheduled and overstressed? With today’s busy schedules, you’re not alone. One way to pare down your schedule is to get good at saying NO to new commitments.

Important Learning to say no to more requests can be one of the biggest favors you can do yourself and those you love.

What’s so hard about saying no? Well, to start with, it can hurt, anger or disappoint the person you’re saying “no” to. It is not usually a fun task. It can jeopardize a relationship.

Main Benefits It helps to: –reduce stress levels and gives you time for what’s really important. –value your time, knowing your priorities and commitments, and how valuable your precious time is. –avoid doing what you can't afford.

Saying No – Main Tips Practice saying no: –Saying “no” as often as you can is a great way to get better at it and more comfortable with saying the word. Don’t apologize: –While politeness is important, apologizing just makes it sound weaker and you need to be firm.

Saying No – Main Tips Stop being nice: –it’s important to be polite, but being nice by saying yes all the time only hurts you. Say no to your boss: –Explain to your boss that by taking on too many commitments, you are weakening your productivity and jeopardizing your existing commitments.

Saying No – Main Tips Get back to you: –Instead of providing an answer then and there, it’s often better to tell the person you’ll give their request some thought and get back to them. Maybe later: –If this is an option that you’d like to keep open, instead of just shutting the door on the person, it’s often better to just say.

Ways to Say No I can't do this right now. NO, thanks. Not this time. Thank you for asking. Sorry, but NO. Please accept that I cannot come. I'd rather not.

Conclusion Most reasonable people will accept your “I’m sorry. I can't do this right now” as an answer. So if someone keeps pressuring you, they’re being rude, and it’s OK to just repeat, “I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t fit with my schedule," and change the subject, or even walk away if you have to.