The Power of No at Work
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Photo: hoyasmeg
Whether you work in an office or not, there are plenty of ways to burn the day away at work. Whether it’s checking your e-mail constantly or even dropping in on coworkers to analyze last night’s ball game, you can find plenty of distractions if you’re looking for them. However, what about the distractions you aren’t looking for, the ones that find you? We’re talking about the requests to help out with a project, 10 minutes of your time to discuss a new idea or that meeting that isn’t mandatory, but you really ought to be there for it. All of these things can take over your day without you realizing it. So, if you’re in the middle of something big that’s genuinely important, how do you keep the lesser stuff from distracting you from the bigger issues?
It’s easy. Just say: “No.”
Of course, there’s a little more to it than that, so read on as we cover the reasons “no” is so hard to say, and then set out the reasons you should say it anyway.
Why “no” is so hard to say
Because you want to move your career forward
If you’re moving forward in your career, you’re growing. Often, that means taking on new tasks, learning that new accounting program or even going to a meeting you weren’t invited to before. Often we don’t say no because we like the feeling of forward motion we get from doing new things. It’s pretty easy to convince yourself that you’re improving your visibility within the company by attending that weekly meeting, and on the one hand you’re right. The more aspects of a company we’re involved in, the more we know what’s going on in the workplace around us, and the more we feel like we’re making a difference. So, we make the mistake of thinking every extra thing we pile on our plate is improving us.
Because you want to help out
Secondly, most guys don’t want to let others down. Most of us have a pretty strong desire to be seen as friendly and helpful at work, and we don’t want to leave a coworker stuck with a difficult problem. Even if you couldn’t care less what your coworkers think, you still want to be the guy who gets things done — Rambo, the Terminator. The guy people call on to save the day when the chips are down. That “people are depending on me” feeling goes very deep into what drives us as men — being relied on is important to feeling manly. So, in turn, we want to feel reliable, and that means always jumping in, even when we can’t.
Because you don’t want to do your other work
Finally, and this one might sting a little, it’s possible that you’re taking on these extra commitments to avoid the work you should be doing. Given the option of letting a coworker interrupt you for 10 minutes in the middle of a difficult project or actually working on that difficult project, sometimes we unconsciously choose to avoid the task at hand. We don’t really want to do it, and it’s easier to do something else. Often the things we distract ourselves with are much smaller and simpler than the big, important, complicated projects. Rather than plow a couple of hours into a project that’s going to produce a big result, we take on smaller tasks like e-mails — it’s much easier to check these things off as “done,” and enjoy the small rush of good feelings that come from accomplishing something.
Why you should say “no” at work
You want to make the most of your time
When you rush around from task to task, it makes the day go by, sure. But are you really accomplishing anything? Every day will always have some “fire-fighting” — there will be some things that interrupt your day that you really do need to attend to immediately. However, if you allow yourself to be constantly distracted by whatever jumps up and shouts at you, the last thing that you’ll get to will often be the most important. Big, meaningful projects are rarely urgent, at least until the last minute.
There’s more to discover about the power of “no” at work and how it can further your career and keep you sane.
Encouraging others to respect your time
Secondly, time is valuable. They say time is money, and in a certain sense that’s true. However, time is also valuable on its own — you can only spend your time on one thing or the other, not both. The way you distribute your time and your attention will make a big difference in what you accomplish at the end of the day, week, month, year, and throughout your career. You have the same number of hours in the day as everyone else — just, at the moment, your time and attention are a huge bargain. If you don’t guard your time, nobody else will.
That’s an ugly fact of time management: The more extra work you say “yes” to, the more work you’re going to get. That can be a good thing — you take on extra projects at work and start receiving more responsibilities and more recognition. However, not everything that’s put in front of you is as valuable as everything else. You need to pick and choose what’s worth your time, or people will begin to pile everything on you. If you have employees who report directly to you, try this little experiment: For the next month, every time an employee comes to you with a problem (even those that have nothing to do with you), jump up, rush out and solve it personally. Don’t involve the employee or train them to fix the problem next time, just make everything all better. The standard for what is worth “bothering the boss” about will fall through the floor — you’ll be getting calls to go to the break room and kill a spider in no time.
You want to solidify your position
If you’ve ever analyzed all the different things you do as part of your job, you’ve no doubt noticed something. While every job has many important parts, there are a few key areas that are absolutely critical. These are the parts of your job that make the biggest difference, and that you simply can’t afford to ignore. You’re much better off focusing on the things you do best (and better than anyone else) than spending your time crossing off little things you’re “decent” at. The more things you say no to, the more time you can spend on what really matters. Likewise, the more things you don’t do, the more it becomes clear to yourself and others what your turf is: your strengths, what you bring to the table and just what exactly it is you do around your workplace. If there’s one thing you want, it’s for those around and above you to know your strengths and to have a very clear picture of what you produce.
how to say no
When something new that wants your time comes along, start by looking at it rationally. Is it going to improve your career? Will it provide big results for the company? If you were to take it on, what if anything that’s currently on your schedule would have to get bumped to make room for the new stuff? Finally, what would the consequences of turning it down be?
No means No
By now, it should be clear that saying no isn’t always easy. However, if you think that’s bad, consider being strapped down with a bunch of busywork that isn’t in your wheelhouse because you were to afraid to even try to decline it. Stick up for yourself — it’s better for you, and better for your company too.
Provided by AskMen.
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13 Comments so far
leave a commentI hope to be starting a new job on Monday and this post will be a very important strategy for me to remain sane.
That was weird…I’m reading away until I get to the sentence “everyone wants to be the guy that…” really, the “guy”?
Then I scroll to the bottom and see that the article is credited as “provided by AskMen”, a men’s focus website. Geez, Mint, you don’t have to write original content, but at least get someone to check this stuff out before posting and tweeting….
This article appears to masterbatory in nature. Designed for people who want to imagine telling their coworkers off while simultaneously reveling in how valuable their time/effort is. Chances are, the people who take this article to heart are precisely the ones who cannot really afford to say no in a work context.
People (who retain employment) don’t say “no” at work because instead of implying that you are unable to help, it implies that you are unwilling to help. You do what you can for your co-workers as long as their requests are reasonable. If they are not, you don’t say no, you tell them what you can do instead.
I say no to stupid articles……stop wasting my time.
Easier said than done. I especially think younger workers are prone to say yes to everything because our career counselors tell us it’s the best thing to do. I’m usually willing to take on more responsibility, but it’s very very important to make sure you have your own stuff covered first.
I really need to take this to heart. Saying no more often would definitely help my current stress levels.
This article appears to masterbatory in nature. Designed for people who want to imagine telling their coworkers off while simultaneously reveling in how valuable their time/effort is. Chances are, the people who take this article to heart are precisely the ones who cannot really afford to say no in a work context.
People (who retain employment) dont say "no" at work because instead of implying that you are unable to help, it implies that you are unwilling to help. You do what you can for your co-workers as long as their requests are reasonable. If they are not, you dont say no, you tell them what you can do instead.
Like Rebecca, I was interested in the article until this line:
“That “people are depending on me” feeling goes very deep into what drives us as men — being relied on is important to feeling manly. So, in turn, we want to feel reliable, and that means always jumping in, even when we can’t.”
It’s also what drives us as women. Really clouded my ability to digest the rest of the article.
Perhaps commissioning a judicious edit in future? Or posting right at the top that it’s a cross-post form a men’s magazine? Either would have helped.
It is hard to say No because we tends to want to be every way at the same time. Sometimes we need to ask another if he/she can take over because we cannot manage it at that time. There are times where this not saying NO well be a rope around our neck. Thanks for a wonderful article.
A great post!!!
Apathy…catch the wave!
One of the biggest reasons we can’t say no at work, is because we are not conscious of what the no really means. Sometimes it is easier to do the busy work than tackle the important, more strategic work we may not be as comfortable with.
If you stay aligned to your goals- what you need to accomplish to earn enough money to take care of your concerns- I think you see more clearly what you must say no to…even if you have to say it to yourself!
Maureen Ennis.
Seize Tomorrow!
http://www.colemanennis.com/blog
There is a feeling that it is selfish to say “no”. I dislike when somebody says “yes” to me but has made no judgement about his capacity to deliver on the promise (usually my request will come below his current priorities). It is far better to say “no” clearly to the large majority of requests and be really clear that when you say “yes” you know that you have the time, resources, motivation and discipline required to carry through on your promise. Too many people say “yes” to be “nice” and then fail miserably to deliver on their promise. I am all for a policy of more “no”s.