Here’s a quick little productivity trick to take you smoothly into 2009: Learn how to say no.
Why? Because, contrary to popular belief, agreeing to every request/assignment/opportunity that comes your way and piling your plate to overflowing doesn’t make you more productive. If anything, it sends you in the opposite direction.
Consider this equation:
always saying yes = too much to do in too little time = chronic stress
And chronic stress, my friends, is a huge factor in reduced productivity. Consider these comments from John J. Medina, director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University, in discussing why stress is bad:
“Stress hurts the brain, and that inevitably hurts productivity in the workplace. … Our bodies aren’t built for that. The brain wasn’t built to endure chronic stress. … Stress causes the body to produce a really nasty set of hormones going [by] the tongue-twisting name of glucocorticoids … Stressed people don’t do math very well. They don’t process language very efficiently, and they have poorer memories, both short and long term. One study even showed that adults with chronically high stress levels performed 50% worse on certain cognitive tests than adults with low stress.”
Convinced yet? Good. Then your next step to reduce your stress is to just say no. Don’t say it arbitrarily; rather, say it when you realistically don’t have the bandwidth to take something on.
Better to explain to your friend that you can’t help plan her party than to screw up the guest list. Better to tell your boss you need until Monday to finish the report — because your other projects are stacked up like Thanksgiving planes on a runway — than to make him look bad in front of the board. And better to ensure that you always have the time to do your best work and give your best efforts, rather than overpromise and underdeliver.
I’m not saying it’ll be easy. I’m a chronic yes-er myself, so I get how tough this will be. But learning to say no to some things will allow me to say yes to the things that really matter — including a more balanced and productive life.
