Why Saying No Is The Ultimate Productivity Strategy
James Clear highlights the importance of saying no to unlock focus and clarity.
Time is our most valuable resource.
Yet we spend it on activities that don’t bring us joy or get us closer to our goals because we are too quick to say yes and too slow to say no.
But why do we say yes so often in the first place?
- We like helping and supporting others. We don’t want to come off rude or arrogant.
- Saying yes is more straightforward than saying no. We don’t need to worry about an uncomfortable conversation from saying no.
- We think “yes” and “no” carry equal weight (but it doesn’t).
“When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.” — James Clear
Saying no is critical for a productive life.
When we say yes without intention, we allow more distractions to enter our lives that push us further away from pursuing our goals.
Every time we say yes, we are saying no to everything else we could be doing at that time.
“If you don’t guard your time, people will steal it from you.” — Pedro Sorrentino
Saying yes costs us time in the future. Saying no saves us time in the future.
Here are 3 tips to help you with saying no:
- Ask yourself, “Would I agree to do this today?”
- If it’s not a “Hell Yeah!” say no
- Default to “No” first
Let’s talk about each tip to unlock more productivity and focus.
1) Ask yourself, “Would I agree to do this today?”
We say yes to future activities we don’t want to do because we won’t face the consequences now.
Imagine the event is happening today. Would you still say yes?
If the activity is exciting enough to drop your plans to do, you should say yes. If not, think twice before committing.
2) If it’s not a “Hell Yeah!” say no.
This method is a well-known technique from Derek Sivers.
If your first reaction to a request is “Hell Yeah!” say yes.
If it’s not, consider saying no.
It’s much easier to avoid commitments upfront than to get out of them in the future.
3) Default to “No” first
Imagine you have a limited number of “Yes” responses in a given week.
Choose your commitments carefully while you use “No” as your default answer.
As Steve Jobs said,
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”
We often forget (myself included) that we only have a limited amount of time in this world.
The less effort we spend doing things that don’t matter to us, the more time we can focus on meaningful opportunities, gain better clarity, and live a productive life.
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