Why saying “no” more often can save you time and money

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When should you say “no” at work? Many people struggle with saying no when it matters.  Maybe you want to make everyone happy, or you want to be seen as a team player. The problem is, if you say yes to the wrong tasks, you’re costing yourself AND your organization time and money.

Every time you say yes to one thing, you are automatically saying no to something else. After all, there’s only so much time in a day. That means the goal is to say yes to your Most Valuable Activities or MVAs—the type of work that is worth the most per hour.

Doing so will naturally leave less room for your LVAs—your Least Valuable Activities.

Step 1: Know your MVAs. Make a list of the work you do and highlight it.

Step 2: Schedule time each week to focus on those MVAs.

Step 3: Protect your time and focus by saying no to LVAs more often.

The video below is from my course, Improving Your Focus, which goes into more detail on this concept.

When you finally accept the truth of time, and know what activities make you more valuable, it’ll be easier to say no when it counts.

What’s one of your Most Valuable Activities at work?

 


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