Learning How to Say No

We're taught almost from birth that we should happily give of ourselves and our time to help the others around us. Most of us try to do that-and in doing that, manage to overschedule ourselves to the point of stress, excessive fatigue, burnout and complete and utter apathy about the things we're supposed to care about!

It's hard to get worked up about something when you're too tired to see straight.

Since you can't be everything to everybody, and you're going to kill yourself if you try, you need to know how to say no. Know which projects are important and which can easily be passed on to someone else, do favors gladly but without running yourself ragged. In other words, you have to prioritize who you're going to give your time to the same way you prioritize your to-do list during the work day.

Nobody likes to say no, and don't be surprised if there's a certain amount of guilt about it at the beginning-especially if you're usually a "yes" kind of person!Don't let guilt wear you down. Remember, you're learning how to say no because you've been spending too much time saying yes. You're worn out, and you don't deserve to feel that way. Saying no gets easier after a while. It's all about practice.