Yes or No

Both very simple words in our vocabulary that we take for granted. The consequences of using these two common words can be hugely beneficial and actually make you more productive.

This is something I stumbled across on social media this morning and actually it opened my eyes a lot. The discussion was titled ‘do you remember saying no for the first time?’. Later in the thread it is the word NO is then described as a super power and it is easy to see why.

Whilst saying ‘yes’ to things opens the door for new opportunities and to learn new skills, saying yes to everything fills your say with unnecessary tasks that can distract you from the goal you have set out to achieve.

You cannot remove ‘yes’ from your vocabulary entirely as it can be the building blocks for strong working relationships, great collaborative pieces and can give you something in reserve when you are in dire need of a favour. My point is to not remove the word ‘yes’ as it leads to many positive outcomes however the majority of us probably say yes too much.

I am guilty of this myself; playing a lot of team sports, I believe in helping those around you to achieve a common goal, however sometimes I take on tasks to help others when I should be helping myself to achieve that goal. This leads to me saying YES a whole lot more than I need to, which in turn does not make the best use of my time.

Now if we introduce the super powered NO to the equation, by saying NO you can shut yourself off to potential opportunities but you can streamline your day and make your day more efficient/productive.

What we see a lot in an office setting is ‘can you look over this?’ ‘Can you proof read this?’ ‘Am I doing this right?’ ‘Can you jump in on this meeting’ which if they are not scheduled should get a NO the majority of the time (not all). Due to our nature, the majority of us are being distracted from our plan to add a small amount of value to someone else’s day.  If we look at being ‘meeting-napped’ it is one of the worst culprits for time thievery across many many businesses. 

I am interested to see how many times people say no to a request during their working day? Are you a ‘yes man’ (Like Jim Carrey became), or do you control your own day by saying no? 

If you say yes too often, what is the biggest task taking you away from your day plan that you could have said no to?

Very quick summary below of the two words below:

Yes

The positives

·        Encourages teamwork

·        Opens you to new possibilities/opportunities

·        Is very easy to say

The negatives

·        Open you to a world of tasks you have not planned for

·        People will come to you with problems that are not your concern

No

The positives

·        Keeps you on track

·        Increases efficiency

·        Increases productivity

·        Can improve self confidence

The negatives

·        Can be seen as rude if not said correctly

·        Can shut you off from new things

For more information on how to say no and suggest alternatives please follow this link https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254796

One thing you can never earn back is your time and saying no gives you more time! Therefore it seems to be an invaluable word to add to your everyday vocabulary and you would be mad to keep yes as your default response.