Have a feeling that some of your time does not belong to you? Read on.
“Bro, can you accompany me to a product presentation tomorrow?”
“What’s the presentation about?”
“An all-in-one cooking device.”
“But you don’t even cook. Do you have any intention to buy?”
“No, not at all. But this friend of mine has been inviting me to attend. I feel bad for turning her down repeatedly.”
“So, you don’t feel bad for wasting her time and yours, for saying yes?”
“What do you mean?”
”Let’s assume you have some time to waste, so you oblige.
But what about her? For all you know, you may be the only prospect she has, and all because you said yes, she would have to waste time and effort setting up the entire presentation, hoping you would buy from her. But after the presentation, you’re still going to turn her down. Will you not feel worse after that?”
My friend eventually turned down the invitation. I hope he realises that he’s doing it for the good of both parties because they can now put that time to better use.
One of the hardest things to do in life is to say “No” to invitations, requests, obligations, toxic people, and the stuff that everyone else is doing.
You may think it’s no big deal. “It’s just an hour or so,” you reckon. But if you’re not careful with your time, these impositions will eventually overwhelm and consume your life.
So, do you want to get some of your time back and feel less busy?
Start by learning to say “No” without feeling guilty or explaining.
It may hurt some feelings or turn people off. It will take some hard work. But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do.
Therefore, if you want your life back, be ruthless to the things that don’t matter.
