I don’t mean this in any negative or arrogant way. It’s just you have limits to amount of time you have to spend and so one of most powerful words in your Time Management vocabulary is word, “no”. Almost everyone you encounter will think they have a better idea about how you should be spending your time. It doesn’t make others bad. It’s just way world works. If there is a void in your Time Management life, someone, or many for that matter, will jump in to fill that spot. The problem is that they do not have full understanding of where you are taking your life and if you keep saying “yes”, they will continue to take up your time, possibly keeping you from accomplishing what you really want to do.

“No” is sometimes difficult to say because you have been taught differently. You have been taught to say, “yes”, to please, to serve, and to accommodate. There is nothing wrong with saying “yes” most of time, but occasionally there is a line you choose not to cross, when saying “yes” is really not best use of your time to get you to where you need and want to be.

If you had unlimited amounts of time, you could “yes” all time to everyone. But you don’t. You have 24 hours each day, 7 days a week for a total of 168 hours. And you get to spend that time only once, so you have to spend it wisely.

I have listed seventeen ways here to say “no”. Don’t let me put words in your mouth. Take ones you like, change them around and you use words that are comfortable for you. The point is, if you are ever in a position when you can never say “no”, then you are always saying “yes”, and like song says, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for everything”.

Try these:

“I’m sorry. That’s not a priority for me right now.”

Can you imagine being that frustrated for that long? Neither could my friend, so she sent an email to everyone in her address book asking if anyone knew anyone that could help. It sounds pretty unlikely, doesn't it? You'd think there would be a better chance of winning lottery than fixing a government paperwork problem with an e-mail shot out into universe! Why bother even asking?

Guess what? A member of my motorcycle club works for INS, in same office where problem has been! What are odds??

There is a very important lesson in all of this, and here it is: if you want something, no matter how unlikely it may seem, ya gotta ask! My friend could have easily thought that it was ridiculous to send out such a message because of overwhelming odds against getting results. But she did it anyway. Ya gotta ask!

How does this affect your business? There are a million ways; here are just a few.