“More effort is wasted doing things that don’t matter than is wasted doing things inefficiently. And if that is the case, elimination is a more useful skill than optimization,” says best selling author James Clear.
Find yourself overwhelmed by all of your commitments? James Clear argues that “The ultimate productivity hack is saying no.” After all, not doing something will always be faster than doing it. The same philosophy applies in other areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.
Saying no saves you time in the future. Saying yes costs you time in the future. No is a form of time credit. You retain the ability to spend your future time however you want. Yes is a form of time debt. You have to pay back your commitment at some point. No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.
Saying no is an important skill to develop at any stage of your career because it retains the most important asset in life: your time. You need to say no to whatever isn’t leading you toward your goals. You need to say no to distractions.
Although, most of us probably know we need to say no more often - but it’s hard to find the right balance. James Clear recommends: If you have trouble saying no, you may find the following strategy proposed by Tim Harford, the British economist, to be helpful. He writes, “One trick is to ask, “If I had to do this today, would I agree to it?” It’s not a bad rule of thumb, since any future commitment, no matter how far away it might be, will eventually become an imminent problem.”
You’ve only got so many hours in a day. And it’s your responsibility to use your time how you want to use it. “No” is your most powerful weapon against wasted time.
James Clear writes about habits, decision making, and continuous improvement. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits. The book has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
Sheepmowers Have Numerous Benefits: If you’re one of the lucky students at the University of California at Davis, you will have spotted the sheepmowers. These are the university’s flock of domestic sheep that have been campus lawnmowers since 2021, when Covid masking and social-distancing protocols were adopted, dramatically altering campus life. Besides keeping the lawns neatly trimmed, the sheep have proved to be a powerful mood boost for students, staff, faculty and visitors. More...