From the course: Time Management Fundamentals

Saying no to yourself

From the course: Time Management Fundamentals

Saying no to yourself

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- No is the most powerful word when it comes to focus. Some find it easy to say no to others, but struggle to say no to themselves. I often see this happen with my clients who are entrepreneurs or are in creative fields. When they try to pursue every opportunity at once, the lack of focus creates mediocre results. The easiest way to say no to yourself is to use a perhaps list. This is the home for every wonderful idea that you might do someday. It lets you capture every idea without tying up valuable, and previously committed resources. When a new idea comes into your head, put it in an approved gathering point. Then when you see that idea during processing, and you're not yet committed to it, move it to the perhaps list. Create a recurring appointment to review that perhaps list, maybe once every one to three months. During the review, briefly consider each idea, and either act on it, delete it or leave it on the list for future review. In most cases, you'll leave these great ideas on the list, and that's okay. That means you're staying focused on what's most valuable. When is also a powerful word for saying no to yourself. Meaning when is the best time to do this? When is the latest that I can complete this? Procrastination is often thought of as a negative but there's a positive version. When you reasonably delay working on great ideas to a more appropriate scheduled time, you can complete current projects faster. You'll have greater focus in all the work you do. Think longer term. Not what can be done in the next couple of weeks but the next couple of months or years. Positive procrastination is your friend. So is learning the skill of saying no to yourself.

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