A time management lesson: say no

I've collected many nuggets of wisdom from the marketing communications profession. One of them is this: that if you want to be something, you have to not be other things. And if you want to be everything, you'll end up as nothing.

So it is with the rest of life. It's pretty obvious that we don't have time for everything; all we need is a game of Plants vs. Zombies and we'd see several hours disappear into thin air (which is why I don't touch this game at all—no offense to the PvZ fanatics out there). We need to choose what we do. If we want to live a meaningful life, it also means that we have to pursue the most meaningful aims. Our top priorities need to dominate life lest we waste it entirely.

Makes sense, doesn't it? But it's easier said than done. When you're in the midst of traffic, house chores, tasks delegated by your boss, reports to submit, friends calling up to say hi, etc., it's much easier to sink than to swim. That's why many time management gurus and executive coaches continue to thrive in this day and age.

I was listening to an episode of my favorite podcast, Manager Tools, entitled "Calendar Control #1 – Say No". It's a good one (as are their other episodes) so I hope you'd listen to the cast. Here are my notes from this show:

• No one ever gets everything done. You don't need to ask yourself to be perfect, because no one is. People who leave the office in peace are people who've accepted this fact.
• Doing more is not the answer. Choosing well is. That means we have to say no.
• Time management is, really, priority management. Time cannot be managed because we can't change it. But we can change our priorities.
• For each request of your time, think "no" first. And then, assess if you really should take it in. Your calendar isn't a list of things you just have to do; it's an offensive tool for you to achieve what you want to do, given your priorities.

Here's a link to the podcast:


Listen to this podcast in Manager Tools